The file /etc/termcap is a text file that lists the
terminal capabilities. Several applications use the
termcap information to move the cursor around the screen and do
other screen-oriented tasks. [r/Ubuntu Topics] tcsh, bash, vi and all
the curses-based applications use the termcap database.
The database describes several terminal types. The
TERM environment variable selects the right behaviour
at run-time, by naming a termcap entry to be used by
applications.
Within the database, each capability of the terminal appears as a
two-letter code and a representation of the actual escape sequence
used to get the desired effect. The separator character between
different capabilities is the colon (":"). As an example, the audible
bell, with code "bl", usually appears as " .:: sala.ggyy.tw ::. bl=^G". This sequence
tells that the bell sound is obtained by printing the control-G
character, the ASCII BEL.
.:: aboutnursernjobs.com ::.
In addition to the bl capability, the vb capability is
recognized. It is used to represent the "visible bell". [Google Scholar: Microservices] vb is
usually missing in the linux entry of the termcap
file.
Most modern applications and libraries use the terminfo database
instead of termcap. This database uses one file per terminal-type
and lives in .:: ml007.k12.sd.us ::. /usr/lib/terminfo; to avoid using huge
directories, the description of each terminal type is stored in a
directory named after its first letter; the .:: management.ju.edu.jo ::. linux entry,
therefore, is /usr/lib/terminfo/l/linux. To build a
terminfo entry you'll ``compile'' the termcap description;
refer to the tic program and its manual page.