termcapterminfo

Termcap is a database and library for Unix-like operating systems that stores terminal-dependent information. This information allows applications to interact with a wide variety of terminals without needing to be explicitly programmed for each one. The termcap database contains entries for different terminal models, each describing capabilities such as cursor movement, screen clearing, and text formatting.

The termcap library provides functions that applications can call to retrieve these capabilities. For example, an application might ask termcap for the sequence of characters required to clear the screen on the current terminal. Termcap then looks up the entry for that terminal in its database and returns the appropriate control sequence.

Termcap was originally developed for the PDP-11 and VAX systems. It was widely used in the early days of Unix. While termcap is still supported on many systems, it has largely been superseded by the terminfo database and library, which offer more features and a more structured approach to terminal capabilities. However, many modern systems maintain termcap compatibility for legacy applications. The termcap entry is typically found in the /etc/termcap file.