X/Open CURSES (XCURSES)
XCURSES is not part of the Base Specifications, but is a separate Technical Standard. It describes a set of interfaces providing a terminal-independent method of updating character screens.
This document is structured as follows:
Chapter 1: Introduction and Conformance
Introduces Curses, overviews changes, defines conformance requirements, and shows the generic format for interface definitions in Chapter 4.
Chapter 2: Environment and Data Types
Describes the relationship with the C language, the compilation environment, and XSI operating system requirements. It also defines the name space effects and major data types used.
Chapter 3: Curses Overview and Concepts
Discusses key data types, general rules for characters and windows, and common operating modes. It also explains function naming conventions and notes on macros and block-mode terminals.
Chapter 4: Functional Interfaces
Defines the Curses functional interfaces.
Chapter 5: Header Files
Defines the contents of headers that declare the functions, variables, types, constants, macros, and data structures needed by Curses programs.
Chapter 6: Curses Utilities
Defines the standard Curses utilities.
Chapter 7: The Terminfo Database
Discusses the terminfo database, specifying its source format and presenting its boolean, numeric, and string capabilities.
Appendix A: Using Terminfo Capabilities
Discusses the use of terminfo capabilities by a writer to describe the characteristics of the terminal in use.
Glossary
Contains normative definitions of terms used in the document.