https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/
curs_outopts(3x) Library calls curs_outopts(3x)
clearok, idcok, idlok, immedok, leaveok, scrollok, setscrreg, wsetscrreg - set curses output options
#include <curses.h> int clearok(WINDOW *win, bool bf); void idcok(WINDOW *win, bool bf); int idlok(WINDOW *win, bool bf); void immedok(WINDOW *win, bool bf); int leaveok(WINDOW *win, bool bf); int scrollok(WINDOW *win, bool bf); int setscrreg(int top, int bot); int wsetscrreg(WINDOW *win, int top, int bot);
These routines set options that change the style of output within curses. All options are initially FALSE, unless otherwise stated. It is not necessary to turn these options off before calling endwin(3x).
If clearok is called with TRUE as argument, the next call to wrefresh with this window will clear the screen completely and redraw the entire screen from scratch. This is useful when the contents of the screen are uncertain, or in some cases for a more pleasing visual effect. If the win argument to clearok is the global variable curscr, the next call to wrefresh with any window causes the screen to be cleared and repainted from scratch.
If idcok is called with FALSE as second argument, curses no longer considers using the hardware insert/delete character feature of terminals so equipped. Use of character insert/delete is enabled by default. Calling idcok with TRUE as second argument re-enables use of character insertion and deletion.
If idlok is called with TRUE as second argument, curses considers using the hardware insert/delete line feature of terminals so equipped. Calling idlok with FALSE as second argument disables use of line insertion and deletion. This option should be enabled only if the application needs insert/delete line, for example, for a screen editor. It is disabled by default because insert/delete line tends to be visually annoying when used in applications where it is not really needed. If insert/delete line cannot be used, curses redraws the changed portions of all lines.
If immedok is called with TRUE as second argument, any change in the window image, such as the ones caused by waddch, wclrtobot, wscrl, etc., automatically causes a call to wrefresh. However, it may degrade performance considerably, due to repeated calls to wrefresh. Calling immedok with FALSE as second argument restores the default behavior, i.e., deferring screen updates until a refresh is needed.
Normally, the hardware cursor is left at the location of the window cursor being refreshed. The leaveok option allows the cursor to be left wherever the update happens to leave it. It is useful for applications where the cursor is not used, since it reduces the need for cursor motions.
The scrollok option controls what happens when the cursor of a window is moved off the edge of the window or scrolling region, either as a result of a newline action on the bottom line, or typing the last character of the last line. If disabled, (bf is FALSE), the cursor is left on the bottom line. If enabled, (bf is TRUE), the window is scrolled up one line (Note that to get the physical scrolling effect on the terminal, it is also necessary to call idlok).
The setscrreg and wsetscrreg routines allow the application programmer to set a software scrolling region in a window. The top and bot parameters are the line numbers of the top and bottom margin of the scrolling region. (Line 0 is the top line of the window.) If this option and scrollok are enabled, an attempt to move off the bottom margin line causes all lines in the scrolling region to scroll one line in the direction of the first line. Only the text of the window is scrolled. (Note that this has nothing to do with the use of a physical scrolling region capability in the terminal, like that in the VT100. If idlok is enabled and the terminal has either a scrolling region or insert/delete line capability, they will probably be used by the output routines.)
The functions setscrreg and wsetscrreg return OK upon success and ERR upon failure. All other routines that return an integer always return OK. In this implementation, o those functions that have a window pointer will return ERR if the window pointer is null o wsetscrreg returns ERR if the scrolling region limits extend outside the window boundaries.
Note that clearok, leaveok, scrollok, idcok, and setscrreg may be macros. The immedok routine is useful for windows that are used as terminal emulators.
X/Open Curses, Issue 4 describes these functions. It specifies no error conditions for them. Some historic curses implementations, as an undocumented feature, did the equivalent of "clearok(..., 1)" when touchwin(stdstr) or clear(stdstr) were used. This trick does not work with ncurses. Early System V curses implementations specified that with scrollok enabled, any window modification triggering a scroll also forced a physical refresh. X/Open Curses does not require this, and ncurses avoids doing so to better optimize vertical motions upon a wrefresh(3x). X/Open Curses does not mention that the cursor should be made invisible as a side-effect of leaveok. SVr4 curses documentation notes this, but the code neglects it. Use curs_set(3x) to make the cursor invisible.
ncurses formerly treated nl(3x) and nonl(3x) as both input and output options, but no longer; see curs_inopts(3x).
curses(3x), curs_addch(3x), curs_clear(3x), curs_initscr(3x), curs_refresh(3x), curs_scroll(3x), curs_variables(3x) ncurses 6.5 2024-09-14 curs_outopts(3x)