<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="SGML-Tools 1.0.9"> <TITLE>Building and Installing Software Packages for Linux: Termcap and Terminfo Issues</TITLE> <LINK HREF="Software-Building-HOWTO-6.html" REL=next> <LINK HREF="Software-Building-HOWTO-4.html" REL=previous> <LINK HREF="Software-Building-HOWTO.html#toc5" REL=contents> </HEAD> <BODY> <A HREF="Software-Building-HOWTO-6.html">Next</A> <A HREF="Software-Building-HOWTO-4.html">Previous</A> <A HREF="Software-Building-HOWTO.html#toc5">Contents</A> <HR> <H2><A NAME="s5">5. Termcap and Terminfo Issues</A></H2> <P> <P> <P>According to its man page, <EM>"terminfo is a data base describing terminals, used by screen-oriented programs..."</EM>. It defines a generic set of control sequences (escape codes) used to display text on terminals, and makes possible support for different terminal hardware without the need for special drivers. The <EM>terminfo</EM> libraries are located in <CODE>/usr/share/terminfo</CODE> on modern Linux distributions. <P>The <EM>terminfo</EM> database has largely supplanted the older <EM>termcap</EM> and the totally obsolete <EM>termlib</EM> ones. This is usually of no concern for program installation except when dealing with a package that requires <EM>termcap</EM>. <P>Most Linux distributions now use <EM>terminfo</EM>, but still retain the older termcap libraries for compatibility with legacy applications (see <CODE>/etc/termcap</CODE>). Sometimes there is a special compatibility package that needs to be installed to facilitate use of termcap linked binaries. Very occasionally, an <EM>#define termcap</EM> statement might need to be commented out of a source file. Check the appropriate doc files for your particular distribution for definitive information on this. <P> <P> <P> <HR> <A HREF="Software-Building-HOWTO-6.html">Next</A> <A HREF="Software-Building-HOWTO-4.html">Previous</A> <A HREF="Software-Building-HOWTO.html#toc5">Contents</A> </BODY> </HTML>
