\" $NetBSD: curses_print.3,v 1.8 2025/04/11 23:57:20 uwe Exp $

\" $NetBSD: curses_print.3,v 1.8 2025/04/11 23:57:20 uwe Exp $
\"
\" Copyright (c) 2002
\" Brett Lymn ([email protected], [email protected])
\"
\" This code is donated to the NetBSD Foundation by the Author.
\"
\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
\" are met:
\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
\" 3. The name of the Author may not be used to endorse or promote
\" products derived from this software without specific prior written
\" permission.
\"
\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR ``AS IS'' AND
\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE
\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
\" SUCH DAMAGE.
\"
\"
Dd April 6, 2011
Dt CURSES_PRINT 3
Os
Sh NAME
Nm curses_print ,
Nm printw ,
Nm wprintw ,
Nm mvprintw ,
Nm mvwprintw ,
Nm unctrl
Nd curses print formatted strings on windows routines
Sh LIBRARY
Lb libcurses
Sh SYNOPSIS
In curses.h
Ft int
Fn printw "const char *fmt" "..."
Ft int
Fn wprintw "WINDOW *win" "const char *fmt" "..."
Ft int
Fn mvprintw "int y" "int x" "const char *fmt" "..."
Ft int
Fn mvwprintw "WINDOW *win" "int y" "int x" "const char *fmt" "..."
Ft char *
Fn unctrl "chtype ch"
Sh DESCRIPTION
These functions print formatted strings on
Va stdscr
or on the specified window.
Pp
The
Fn printw
function formats and prints its arguments on
Va stdscr .
The behavior is deliberately similar to that of
Xr printf 3 ,
but, notably, the return value differs.
Pp
The
Fn wprintw
function is the same as the
Fn printw
function, excepting that the resulting output is printed on the window
specified by
Fa win .
Pp
The
Fn mvprintw
and
Fn mvwprintw
functions are the same as the
Fn printw
and
Fn wprintw
functions, respectively, excepting that
Fn wmove
is called to move the cursor to the position specified by
Fa y ,
Fa x
before the output is printed on the window.
Pp
The
Fn unctrl
function returns a printable string representation of the character
Fa ch .
If
Fa ch
is a control character then it will be converted to the form ^Y.
Sh RETURN VALUES
Functions returning pointers will return
Dv NULL
if an error is detected.
The functions that return an int will return one of the following
values:
Pp
Bl -tag -width ERR -offset indent
It Er OK
The function completed successfully.
It Er ERR
An error occurred in the function.
El
Sh SEE ALSO
Xr curses_cursor 3 ,
Xr curses_scanw 3 ,
Xr printf 3
Sh STANDARDS
The
Nx
Curses library complies with the X/Open Curses specification, part of the
Single Unix Specification.
Sh HISTORY
The Curses package appeared in
Bx 4.0 .