Termcap Notation Conventions
The string fields of a termcap entry (those with "=") usually describe escape sequences. Because escape sequences frequently contain the ESCAPE character as well as several other control characters, a form of notation has been implemented to allow easy expression of those codes. For example, a backslash followed by an "E" ("\E") is understood to mean the ESCAPE character. The table below contains a list of recognized characters:
|
Notation |
Character |
|
\E |
ESCAPE |
|
\n |
linefeed |
|
\r |
carriage return |
|
\t |
tab |
|
\b |
backspace |
|
\f |
formfeed |
|
\\ |
backslash |
Control characters may be specified by using the "^" followed by the character. For example, "^A" represents "control A". If the "^" itself is desired, it must be preceded with a backslash "\^".
In addition, a character code may be expressed in octal. A backslash followed by three digits will be treated as an octal code as follows:
|
\012 |
linefeed |
|
\177 |
DELcharacter |
If a colon must be used within a termcap sequence, it must be expressed in octal as "\072" to avoid confusion with a colon used as a field separator. If the null character (ASCII 0) is required, it must be expressed in octal as "\200".