legacy(3NCURSES)

💖 NAME 💖

curs_legacy — bestie, this is your lil cheat sheet for grabbing curses cursor coords, window coords, and attributes ✨ it's the legacy page, and it's giving "old money but still cute"

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

#include <curses.h>

int getattrs(const WINDOW *win);

int getbegx(const WINDOW *win);
int getbegy(const WINDOW *win);

int getcurx(const WINDOW *win);
int getcury(const WINDOW *win);

int getmaxx(const WINDOW *win);
int getmaxy(const WINDOW *win);

int getparx(const WINDOW *win);
int getpary(const WINDOW *win);

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

okay so here's the tea 🫖 — these legacy functions are lowkey simpler to use than the X/Open Curses functions. Like, they're the no-fuss version, the "just tell me the number" version. Let's go one by one 💅

• The getattrs function returns the same attribute data as wattr_get.

But here's the catch, bestie 😭 — getattrs returns an integer (actually a chtype), while wattr_get returns the current color pair in a separate parameter. And in the wide-character library configuration, color pairs may not fit into a chtype, so wattr_get is the only way to obtain the color information. fr fr, that's just how it is.

And because getattrs returns the attributes in a single parameter, it would not be possible for an application to distinguish that from ERR (a -1). So if the window parameter is null, getattrs returns A_NORMAL (zero). 💀

• The getbegy and getbegx functions return the same data as getbegyx. twin energy, no cap 👑
• The getcury and getcurx functions return the same data as getyx. same vibe, different font 🌸
• The getmaxy and getmaxx functions return the same data as getmaxyx. iconic behavior honestly 🦋
• The getpary and getparx functions return the same data as getparyx. matching sets, we love to see it ✨

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🔥 RETURN VALUE 🔥

Except as noted up there ☝️, these functions return an integer, or ERR if the window parameter is null. that's it, that's the whole vibe check 😌

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💅 NOTES 💅

All of these interfaces are provided as macros and functions — yes, both, she contains multitudes 💖

The macros are suppressed (and only the functions provided) when NCURSES_OPAQUE is defined. 👀

The standard forms such as getyx must be implemented as macros, and (in this implementation) are defined in terms of the functions described here — that way they avoid relying on the internal details of the WINDOW structure. it's giving "abstraction, but make it practical" 🧚

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🌈 PORTABILITY 🌈

These functions were supported on Version 7, BSD or System V implementations. And ngl, none of those implementations checked the window parameter 😭 so yeah, that's a thing that happened.

The getattrs function and macro are defined to return a (signed) integer for compatibility with those implementations — even though an unsigned type would have been more appropriate. the things we do for backwards compat, I swear 🙈

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🫶 SEE ALSO 🫶

• ncurses(3NCURSES)
• getyx(3NCURSES)
• opaque(3NCURSES)

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and that's the whole page, bestie 🎀 this was the legacy(3NCURSES) page from the ncurses manual — manual page, section 3NCURSES, ya girl stays documented 💜 go forth and grab those coordinates ✨