curs_move(3X)

💖 curs_move(3X) — library calls, bestie edition 💖

okay so this is the curs_move page from the ncurses library calls section, and it's genuinely so useful it's not even funny. sit down, hydrate, let's talk about moving a cursor around a window 🦋

---

✨ NAME ✨

move, wmove — move the cursor in a curses window 💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <curses.h>

int move(int y, int x);
int wmove(WINDOW * win, int y, int x);

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

so wmove relocates the cursor that's chillin' with the curses window win, and it puts it at line y and column x. that's it. that's the whole job. 🫶

but here's the tea, bestie — the terminal's actual cursor does not move until you call refresh(3X). so you're basically doing a vibe-check move in the background and the terminal doesn't find out until refresh. it's giving secretive. 💀

the position (y, x) is relative to the upper left-hand corner of the window, and that corner has coordinates (0, 0). so like, top-left is home base, periodt. 🌈

move is the same deal but it moves the cursor in the stdscr window instead. iconic sibling behaviour honestly. 👑

💜 RETURN VALUE 💜

these functions return OK on success and ERR on failure. slay when it works, 😭 when it doesn't.

in ncurses, these functions fail if:

• the curses screen has not been initialized — like, you gotta set the whole thing up first, bestie, no skipping steps 🙈
• (for wmove) win is a null pointer — literally pointing at nothing, not the vibe 💀
• the position (y, x) is outside the window boundaries — you're trying to stand outside the window, that's not a thing, no cap ✨

⭐ NOTES ⭐

move may be implemented as a macro. so like, don't be weird about it, iykyk. 🧚

🔥 PORTABILITY 🔥

X/Open Curses Issue 4 describes these functions. it specifies no error conditions for them. so like, the spec is out here being mysterious and vague and honestly? respect. 💅

SVr4 describes a successful return value only as "an integer value other than ERR". that's the whole description. that's all they gave us. the audacity. 😭

🌟 HISTORY 🌟

4BSD (1980) introduced these functions. so they've been eating since before most of us were born. generational. 👑

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

• curses(3X)
• curs_refresh(3X)

---

and that's the whole page!! brought to you by ncurses 6.6, dated 2025-04-05, from the curs_move(3X) manual. go move a cursor, bestie, you got this 🎀✨💖