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The Termcap Library

3.18 Status Line

A status line is a line on the terminal that is not used for ordinary display output but instead used for a special message. The intended use is for a continuously updated description of what the user's program is doing, and that is where the name "status line" comes from, but in fact it could be used for anything. The distinguishing characteristic of a status line is that ordinary output to the terminal does not affect it; it changes only if the special status line commands of this section are used.

`hs'

Flag whose presence means that the terminal has a status line. If a terminal description specifies that there is a status line, it must provide the `ts' and `fs' capabilities.

`ts'

String of commands to move the terminal cursor into the status line. Usually these commands must specifically record the old cursor position for the sake of the `fs' string.

`fs'

String of commands to move the cursor back from the status line to its previous position (outside the status line).

`es'

Flag whose presence means that other display commands work while writing the status line. In other words, one can clear parts of it, insert or delete characters, move the cursor within it using `ch' if there is a `ch' capability, enter and leave standout mode, and so on.

`ds'

String of commands to disable the display of the status line. This may be absent, if there is no way to disable the status line display.

`ws'

Numeric value, the width of the status line. If this capability is absent in a terminal that has a status line, it means the status line is the same width as the other lines.

Note that the value of `ws' is sometimes as small as 8.