curs_pad(S)

curs_pad: newpad, subpad, prefresh, pnoutrefresh, pechochar, pechowchar -- create and display curses pads

Syntax

cc ... -lcurses

#include <curses.h>

WINDOW *newpad(int nlines, int ncols);
WINDOW *subpad(WINDOW *orig, int nlines, int ncols,
	int begin_y, int begin_x);
int prefresh(WINDOW *pad, int pminrow, int pmincol,
	int sminrow, int smincol, int smaxrow, int smaxcol);
int pnoutrefresh(WINDOW *pad, int pminrow, int pmincol,
	int sminrow, int smincol, int smaxrow, int smaxcol);
int pechochar(WINDOW *pad, chtype ch);
int pechowchar(WINDOW *pad, chtype wch);

Description

newpad

newpad(S) creates and returns a pointer to a new pad data structure with the specified number of lines, nlines, and columns, ncols. A pad is like a window, except that it is not necessarily associated with a viewable part of the screen. Automatic refreshes of pads (for example, from scrolling or echoing of input) do not occur. It is not legal to call wrefresh(S) with a pad as an argument; call prefresh(S) or pnoutrefresh(S) instead. These routines need extra parameters to specify the part of the pad to display and where on the screen to display it.

subpad

The subpad(S) routine creates and returns a pointer to a subwindow within a pad with the specified number of lines, nlines, and columns, ncols. Unlike subwin(S), which uses screen coordinates, the window is at position (begin_x, begin_y) on the pad. The window is made in the middle of the window orig, so that changes made to one window affect both windows. This routine often needs to call touchwin(S) or touchline(S) on orig before calling prefresh( ).

prefresh and pnoutrefresh

The prefresh( ) and pnoutrefresh( ) routines are like wrefresh( ) and wnoutrefresh(S) except that they relate to pads instead of windows. The additional parameters are needed to indicate what part of the pad and screen are involved. pminrow and pmincol specify the upper left-hand corner of the rectangle to be displayed in the pad. sminrow, smincol, smaxrow, and smaxcol specify the edges of the rectangle to be displayed on the screen. The lower right-hand corner of the rectangle to be displayed in the pad is calculated from the screen coordinates, since the rectangles must be the same size. Both rectangles must be entirely contained within their respective structures. Negative values of pminrow, pmincol, sminrow, or smincol are treated as if they were zero.

pechochar

The routine pechochar(S) is functionally equivalent to one of the following:

a call to addch(S) followed by a call to refresh(S)
a call to waddch(S) followed by a call to wrefresh( )
a call to waddch( ) followed by a call to prefresh(S)

The knowledge that only a single character is being output is taken into consideration and, for non-control characters, a considerable performance gain might be seen by using these routines instead of their equivalents. In the case of pechochar( ), the last location of the pad on the screen is reused for the arguments to prefresh( ).

pechowchar

The routine pechowchar(S) is functionally equivalent to one of the following:

addwch(S) followed by a call to refresh( )
a call to waddwch(S) followed by a call to wrefresh( )
a call to waddwch( ) followed by a call to prefresh.( )

Return values

Routines that return an integer return ERR on failure and an integer value other than ERR on successful completion.

Routines that return pointers return NULL on error.

Warning

The header file curses.h automatically includes the header files stdio.h and unctrl.h.

pechochar( ) can be a macro.

Files

/usr/lib/libcurses.a: the library

Standards conformance

newpad(S), subpad(S), prefresh(S), pnoutrefresh(S), pechowchar(S), and pechochar(S) are not part of any currently supported standard; they were developed by UNIX System Laboratories, Inc. and are maintained by The SCO Group.