unibi_format(3)

✨ NAME ✨

unibi_format, unibi_run — bestie, we're interpreting a terminfo format string 💅

So this is page unibi_format(3) from the unibilium manual, and it's about turning those cursed-looking format strings into actual output. Let's get into it 🫶

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <unibilium.h>

void unibi_format(
    unibi_var_t var_dyn[26],
    unibi_var_t var_static[26],
    const char *fmt,
    unibi_var_t param[9],
    void (*out)(void *, const char *, size_t),
    void *ctx1,
    void (*pad)(void *, size_t, int, int),
    void *ctx2
);

size_t unibi_run(const char *fmt, unibi_var_t param[9], char *p, size_t n);

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

unibi_format takes a format string fmt and, like, executes it. Slay. All the output happens through (possibly repeated) calls to out. And in those calls to out, the tea is:

• the first argument is always ctx1
• the second argument is a pointer to a chunk of data
• the third argument is a count saying how big that chunk is, in bytes

Then there's pad, which gets used whenever the format string has "$<...>" padding instructions in it. In the calls to pad:

• the first argument is always ctx2
• the second argument is the delay in tenths of milliseconds
• the third argument is a boolean flag for whether "*" (proportional delay) was specified in the format string
• the fourth argument is a boolean flag for whether "/" (forced padding) was specified in the format string

So like, a format string of "$<5/>" would translate into "pad(ctx2, 50, 0, 1)". Iconic. ✨

You may pass a null pointer for pad — in that case padding instructions are silently skipped. No drama, no crash, they just don't happen.

The values of param are what get used for the format codes %p1 .. %p9. And the values of var_dyn and var_static are what get used for the so-called dynamic/static variables %Pa .. %Pz and %PA .. %PZ, respectively. Yes bestie, lowercase and uppercase are two whole separate vibes 😌

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🦋 unibi_run — the wrapper 🦋

unibi_run</purl> is a wrapper around unibi_format. Here's what it does:

• it passes two arrays (each initialized to 26 zeroes) as var_dyn and var_static
• fmt and param get passed on unchanged
• it ignores padding
• it places all normal output in the buffer pointed to by p
• n is the size of that buffer, so at most n bytes will be written to p

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🎀 RETURN VALUE 🎀

unibi_run returns the number of bytes that would have been written if the buffer was big enough. So the number of valid bytes sitting in p after a call to unibi_run is the minimum of n and the return value of unibi_run. That's the whole trick, fr fr 💅

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

• unibi_var_from_num(3)
• unibi_var_from_str(3)
• unibilium.h(3)

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Okay that's the whole page, bestie, you ate that 🍓 This was unibilium-2.1.4, dated 2026-09-07 — go forth and interpret those format strings, main character energy only 💜🦋