term(5)
NAME
term − conventional names for terminals
DESCRIPTION
These names are used by certain commands (e.g., man(1), tabs(1), tput(1), vi(1)) and certain functions (e.g., curses(3X)) and are maintained as part of the shell environment in the environment variable TERM (see sh(1), profile(4), and environ(5)).
Files under /usr/share/lib/terminfo are used to name terminals and describe their capabilities. These files are in the format described in terminfo(4). Entries in terminfo source files consist of a number of comma-separated fields. (To obtain the source description for a terminal, use the −I option of infocmp(1M).) White space after each comma is ignored. The first line of each terminal description in the terminfo(4) database gives the names by which terminfo(4) knows the terminal, separated by bar ( | ) characters. The first name given is the most common abbreviation for the terminal, the last name given should be a long name fully identifying the terminal, and all others are understood as synonyms for the terminal name. All names but the last should contain no blanks and must be unique in the first 14 characters; the last name may contain blanks for readability.
Terminal names (except for the last, verbose entry) should be chosen using the following conventions. The particular piece of hardware making up the terminal should have a root name chosen, for example, for the AT&T 4425 terminal, att4425. This name should not contain hyphens, except that synonyms may be chosen that do not conflict with other names. Up to 8 characters, chosen from [a−z0−9], make up a basic terminal name. Names should generally be based on original vendors, rather than local distributors. A terminal acquired from one vendor should not have more than one distinct basic name. Terminal sub-models, operational modes that the hardware can be in, or user preferences, should be indicated by appending a hyphen and an indicator of the mode. Thus, an AT&T 4425 terminal in 132 column (wide) mode would be att4425−w. The following suffixes should be used where possible:
| Suffix | Meaning | Example |
| −w | Wide mode (more than 80 columns) | att4425−w |
| −am | With auto. margins (usually default) | vt100−am |
| −nam | Without automatic margins | vt100−nam |
| −n | Number of lines on the screen | aaa−60 |
| −na | No arrow keys (leave them in local) | c100−na |
| −np | Number of pages of memory | c100−4p |
| −rv | Reverse video | att4415−rv |
| −att | AT&T version; differs from Harris | vt100−att |
To avoid conflicts with the naming conventions used in describing the different modes of a terminal (e.g., −w), it is recommended that a terminal’s root name not contain hyphens. Further, it is good practice to make all terminal names used in the terminfo(4) database unique. Terminal entries that are present only for inclusion in other entries via the use= facilities should have a ’+’ in their name, as in 4415+nl.
Some of the known terminal names may include the following (for a complete list, type: ls -C /usr/share/lib/terminfo/?):
| 2621,hp2621 | Hewlett-Packard 2621 series |
| 2631 | Hewlett-Packard 2631 line printer |
| 2631−c | Hewlett-Packard 2631 line printer − compressed mode |
| 2631−e | Hewlett-Packard 2631 line printer − expanded mode |
| 2640,hp2640 | Hewlett-Packard 2640 series |
| 2645,hp2645 | Hewlett-Packard 2645 series |
| 3270 | IBM Model 3270 |
| 33,tty33 | AT&T Teletype Model 33 KSR |
| 35,tty35 | AT&T Teletype Model 35 KSR |
| 37,tty37 | AT&T Teletype Model 37 KSR |
| 4014,tek4014 | TEKTRONIX 4014 |
| 4410,5410 | AT&T 4410/5410 in 80-column mode − version 2 |
| 4410−nfk,5410−nfk | AT&T 4410/5410 without function keys − ver 1 |
| 4415−rv,5420−rv | AT&T 4415/5420 80 columns in reverse video |
| 4415−w,5420−w | AT&T 4415/5420 in 132-column mode |
| 4415−w−nl,5420−w−nl | AT&T 4415/5420 in 132-column mode without |
| changing labels | |
| 4415−w−rv,5420−w−rv | AT&T 4415/5420 132 columns in reverse video |
| 4418,5418 | AT&T 5418 in 80-column mode |
| 450 | DASI 450 (same as Diablo 1620) |
| 450−12 | DASI 450 in 12-pitch mode |
| 500,att500 | AT&T-IS 500 terminal |
| 7300,pc7300,unix_pc | AT&T UNIX PC Model 7300 |
| 735,ti | Texas Instruments TI735 and TI725 |
| 745 | Texas Instruments TI745 |
| h8665,wy50 | Harris 8665 or Wyse 50 |
| h8665−w,wy50−w | Harris 8665 or Wyse 50 with 132 columns |
| h8685 | Harris 8685 (based on Beehive DM5+) |
| h8691 | Harris 8691 |
| h8691−w | Harris 8691 in 132 column mode |
| h8691−sl | Harris 8691 with status line at bottom |
| HS−xx | Harris Station workstation |
| pt505 | AT&T Personal Terminal 505 (22 lines) |
| pt505−24 | AT&T Personal Terminal 505 (24-line mode) |
| vt100,vt100−am | DEC VT100 with advanced video option |
| vt100−s−bot | DEC VT100 with status line at bottom |
| vt100−ed | DEC VT100 with Harris editing capabilities |
| vt200 | DEC VT200 in 7-bit mode |
| vt200−8 | DEC VT200 in 8-bit mode |
| dw4 | DEC Decwriter IV |
| dumb | generic name for terminals that lack reverse |
| line-feed and other special escape sequences | |
| hp | Hewlett-Packard (same as 2645) |
| lp | generic name for a line printer |
| sync | generic name for synchronous Teletype Model |
| 4540-compatible terminals |
The generic names dialup (for a dial-up connection), switch (for a port switcher), network (for a network connection), and unknown are often used in ttytype(4) and with tset(1) until the terminal can be more accurately identified.
Commands whose behavior depends on the type of terminal should accept arguments of the form −Tterm where term is one of the names given above; if no such argument is present, such commands should obtain the terminal type from the environment variable TERM, which, in turn, should contain term.
FILES
/usr/share/lib/terminfo/?/∗ compiled terminal description database
SEE ALSO
curses(3X), profile(4), terminfo(4), ttytype(4), environ(5).
man(1), mm(1), nroff(1), sh(1), stty(1), tabs(1), tplot(1G), tput(1), tset(1), vi(1) in the CX/UX User´s Reference Manual.
tic(1M), infocmp(1M) in the CX/UX Administrator’s Reference Manual.
NOTES
Not all programs follow the above naming conventions.
Use of the Harris hed(1) editor on a DEC VT100 terminal requires the vt100-ed terminal, because that terminfo entry (arbitrarily) defines capabilities that do not really exist on a true VT100 terminal. VT100 emulator terminals, however, often do provide those capabilities and might better be described by the VT131 or VT132 terminal descriptions.
CX/UX Programmer’s Reference Manual