keybound(3X)

💖 keybound(3X) — Library calls 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the keybound page, it's giving niche-but-iconic and I'm obsessed 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

keybound — get the definition of a curses function key code 👑

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <curses.h>

char * keybound(int key-code, int count);

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So keybound is an ncurses extension, and what it does is let a curses app grab the value of the string that's bound to the function key key-code 💅 (peep wgetch(3X) for the deets — and if you're on the wide-character API, that's wget_wch(3X) for you specifically 🫶).

By default, those bindings are string capabilities coming straight out of the terminfo database entry that matches your terminal type. no cap, that's just where they live 🌈

Now here's the slay part: your app can override those definitions with define_key(3X), and it can do it non-destructively and repeatedly — like it's pushing new definitions onto a stack. it's giving stack energy fr fr 📚✨

The count parameter is how you access the *n*th most recently defined binding. and 0? that one selects the binding that actually gets used on input. periodt 💅

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🔥 RETURN VALUE 🔥

If key-code corresponds to a function key that's defined by the application or by the terminal type in use, keybound allocates and returns a string — and heads up, that string must be freed by the application 🫶 don't leave it hanging bestie, that's a leak 😭

keybound returns NULL if key-code is not positive, or if it doesn't correspond to a key code definition. that's it, that's the whole vibe check 💀

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🌈 EXTENSIONS 🌈

keybound is an ncurses extension ✨

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💜 PORTABILITY 💜

If you're using ncurses extensions, you should condition your use of them on whether the NCURSES_VERSION preprocessor macro is visible. fr fr, gate it 👑

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👑 AUTHORS 👑

Thomas Dickey 💖

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🎀 SEE ALSO 🎀

• curses(3X)
• define_key(3X)
• keyok(3X)
• key_defined(3X)
• terminfo(5)

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🦋 quick reminder bestie: NULL means free nothing, a real string means free() it. the way that memory management is literally main character energy 😭💅

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and that's the whole page, mwah 💋 this one's from ncurses 6.6, dated 2024-12-28 — yes it's serving vintage but it's still iconic, bye bestie 🎀✨