NAME¶

instr, innstr, winstr, winnstr, mvinstr, mvinnstr, mvwinstr, mvwinnstr - get a string from a curses window

SYNOPSIS¶

#include <curses.h>

int instr(char *str);
int innstr(char *str, int n);
int winstr(WINDOW *win, char *str);
int winnstr(WINDOW *win, char *str, int n);

int mvinstr(int y, int x, char *str);
int mvinnstr(int y, int x, char *str, int n);
int mvwinstr(WINDOW *win, int y, int x, char *str);
int mvwinnstr(WINDOW *win, int y, int x, char *str, int n);

DESCRIPTION¶

These routines return a string of characters in str, starting at the current cursor position in the named window. Attributes are stripped from the characters.

The four functions with n as the last argument return a leading substring at most n characters long (exclusive of the trailing NUL). Transfer stops at the end of the current line, or when n characters have been stored at the location referenced by str.

RETURN VALUE¶

All of the functions return ERR upon failure, or the number of characters actually read into the string.

X/Open Curses defines no error conditions. This implementation returns an error

• if the win parameter is null or
• if the chstr parameter is null.

Functions prefixed with “mv” first perform cursor movement and fail if the position (y, x) is outside the window boundaries.

NOTES¶

All routines except winnstr may be macros.

Reading a line that overflows the array pointed to by str with instr, mvinstr, mvwinstr or winstr causes undefined results. Therefore, the use of innstr, mvinnstr, mvwinnstr, or winnstr is recommended.

PORTABILITY¶

SVr4 does not document whether a length limit includes or excludes the trailing NUL.

The ncurses library extends the X/Open Curses description by allowing a negative value for n. In this case, the functions return the string ending at the right margin.

SEE ALSO¶

ins_wstr(3NCURSES) describes comparable functions of the ncurses library in its wide-character configuration (ncursesw).

ncurses(3NCURSES), inch(3NCURSES), inchstr(3NCURSES)