.\" $OpenBSD: curs_pad.3,v 1.3 1997/12/03 05:45:02 millert Exp $
.TH curs_pad 3 ""
.SH NAME
\fBnewpad\fR, \fBsubpad\fR, \fBprefresh\fR,
\fBpnoutrefresh\fR, \fBpechochar\fR - create and display \fBcurses\fR
pads
.SH SYNOPSIS
\fB#include <curses.h>\fR

\fBWINDOW *newpad(int nlines, int ncols);\fR
.br
\fBWINDOW *subpad(WINDOW *orig, int nlines, int ncols,
      int begin_y, int begin_x);\fR
.br
\fBint prefresh(WINDOW *pad, int pminrow, int pmincol,
      int sminrow, int smincol, int smaxrow, int smaxcol);\fR
.br
\fBint pnoutrefresh(WINDOW *pad, int pminrow, int pmincol,
      int sminrow, int smincol, int smaxrow, int smaxcol);\fR
.br
\fBint pechochar(WINDOW *pad, chtype ch);\fR
.SH DESCRIPTION
The \fBnewpad\fR routine creates and returns a pointer to a new pad data
structure with the given number of lines, \fInlines\fR, and columns,
\fIncols\fR.  A pad is like a window, except that it is not restricted by the
screen size, and is not necessarily associated with a particular part of the
screen.  Pads can be used when a large window is needed, and only a part of the
window will be on the screen at one time.  Automatic refreshes of pads
(\fIe\fR.\fIg\fR., from scrolling or echoing of input) do not occur.  It is not
legal to call \fBwrefresh\fR with a \fIpad\fR as an argument; the routines
\fBprefresh\fR or \fBpnoutrefresh\fR should be called instead.  Note that these
routines require additional parameters to specify the part of the pad to be
displayed and the location on the screen to be used for the display.

The \fBsubpad\fR routine creates and returns a pointer to a subwindow within a
pad with the given number of lines, \fInlines\fR, and columns, \fIncols\fR.
Unlike \fBsubwin\fR, which uses screen coordinates, the window is at position
(\fIbegin\fR_\fIx\fR\fB,\fR \fIbegin\fR_\fIy\fR) on the pad.  The window is
made in the middle of the window \fIorig\fR, so that changes made to one window
affect both windows.  During the use of this routine, it will often be
necessary to call \fBtouchwin\fR or \fBtouchline\fR on \fIorig\fR before
calling \fBprefresh\fR.

The \fBprefresh\fR and \fBpnoutrefresh\fR routines are analogous to
\fBwrefresh\fR and \fBwnoutrefresh\fR except that they relate to pads instead
of windows.  The additional parameters are needed to indicate what part of the
pad and screen are involved.  \fIpminrow\fR and \fIpmincol\fR specify the upper
left-hand corner of the rectangle to be displayed in the pad.  \fIsminrow\fR,
\fIsmincol\fR, \fIsmaxrow\fR, and \fIsmaxcol\fR specify the edges of the
rectangle to be displayed on the screen.  The lower right-hand corner of the
rectangle to be displayed in the pad is calculated from the screen coordinates,
since the rectangles must be the same size.  Both rectangles must be entirely
contained within their respective structures.  Negative values of
\fIpminrow\fR, \fIpmincol\fR, \fIsminrow\fR, or \fIsmincol\fR are treated as if
they were zero.

The \fBpechochar\fR routine is functionally equivalent to a call to \fBaddch\fR
followed by a call to \fBrefresh\fR, a call to \fBwaddch\fR followed by a call
to \fBwrefresh\fR, or a call to \fBwaddch\fR followed by a call to
\fBprefresh.\fR The knowledge that only a single character is being output is
taken into consideration and, for non-control characters, a considerable
performance gain might be seen by using these routines instead of their
equivalents.  In the case of \fBpechochar\fR, the last location of the pad on
the screen is reused for the arguments to \fBprefresh\fR.
.SH RETURN VALUE
Routines that return an integer return \fBERR\fR upon failure and \fBOK\fR
(SVr4 only specifies "an integer value other than \fBERR\fR") upon successful
completion.

Routines that return pointers return \fBNULL\fR on error, and set \fBerrno\fR
to \fBENOMEM\fR.  
.SH NOTES
Note that \fBpechochar\fR may be a macro.
.SH PORTABILITY
The XSI Curses standard, Issue 4 describes these functions.
.SH SEE ALSO
\fBcurses\fR(3), \fBcurs_refresh\fR(3), \fBcurs_touch\fR(3), \fBcurs_addch\fR(3).
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