Terminfo is a library and database that enables programs to use display terminals in a device-independent manner. Mary Ann Horton implemented the first terminfo library in 1981–1982 as an improvement over termcap.[1] The improvements include
faster access to stored terminal descriptions,[citation needed]
longer, more understandable names for terminal capabilities and
general expression evaluation for strings sent to the terminal.
Terminfo was included with UNIX System V Release 2 and soon became the preferred form of terminal descriptions in System V, rather than termcap (which BSD continued to use).[2] This was imitated in pcurses in 1982–1984 by Pavel Curtis, and was available on other UNIX implementations, adapting or incorporating fixes from Mary Horton.[3] For more information, refer to the posting on the comp.sources.unix newsgroup from December 1986.[4]
A terminfo database can describe the capabilities of hundreds of different display terminals. This allows external programs to be able to have character-based display output, independent of the type of terminal.
Some configurations are:
Number of lines on the screen
Mono mode; suppress color
Use visible bell instead of beep
^Horton, Mark. "The New Curses and Terminfo Package". USENIX Conference Proceedings. Summer 1982. Boston, MA: USENIX: 79–91.
^"fa.info-terms mailing list comments on termcap/terminfo in 1985".
^"pcurses shar file from 1986 showing change history". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27.
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