tik
General Form:
tik [-vmb] [-t termname] source_file
The tik utility converts a source text file created by a text editor into a number of TERMINFO keyboard/screen definition files or GPDINFO printer definition files in the same directory. Generally text mode terminals are only used on Unix systems but they can also be used with NT servers by connecting through a terminal server. This utility, and the terminal database, is not generally shipped with NT systems but it is available for download from the kcml.com website.
The source_file is a free format text file conventionally called TERMINFO/src for the Terminal Information database and GPDINFO/src for the General Printer Driver database. It consists of a number of sections starting with section names enclosed in []s e.g. [vt220]. The section name corresponds to the terminal/printer type described inside the section. Terminal types are specified by the environment variable KTERM which must be set and exported before KCML is executed. Some terminals/printers are similar but known by several names and in these cases the alternative names can be listed in the section name separated by `|' characters e.g. [wyse30|wyse50]. tik will create a file with the same name as the section name in the same directory as the source file. KCML expects to find these files in the directory TERMINFO or GPDINFO which must be in one of the directories specified in the PATH environment variable. So for a Wyse 60 terminal with a KTERM of wy60 then KCML will search its path for the file TERMINFO/wy60. UNIX links are used for those descriptions that have alternative names. Typically for terminals the source file will be /usr/local/kcml/TERMINFO/src and the usual way of compiling it will be
tik /usr/local/kcml/TERMINFO/src
which will leave the new terminal description files in the directory /usr/local/kcml/TERMINFO.
The switches available with the tik utility are as follows:
| Switch | Purpose |
|---|---|
| -b | Generate NPL type $KEYBOARD files from the specified source file. |
| -m | If specified, will cause tik to merge any description taken from the UNIX /usr/lib/terminfo database with the source file when compiling. |
| -p | If specified, will compile the GPDINFO database. |
| -v | If specified instructs tik to run in verbose mode. |
| -t termname | If specified, will default a description for the terminal specified by termname from the UNIX /usr/lib/terminfo database. The description is sent to the standard output in a form that can be appended to a KCML TERMINFO/src file e.g.
tik -t $TERM >>/usr/local/kcml/TERMINFO/src when run on a new type of terminal will add a minimal description for that terminal. Usually this will specify only a few function keys, insert, delete and the arrow keys. However most of the screen controlling parameters should be defined and any missing capabilities can be later added by hand with an editor. |
See also:
tiklist, Terminal support