NAME

notcurses_render - sync the physical display to the virtual ncplanes

SYNOPSIS

#include <notcurses/notcurses.h>

int notcurses_render(struct notcurses nc);*

char notcurses_at_yx(struct notcurses nc, int yoff, int xoff, uint16_t* styles, uint64_t* channels);**

int notcurses_render_to_file(struct notcurses nc, FILE fp);**

int notcurses_render_to_buffer(struct notcurses nc, char* buf, size_t* buflen);**

DESCRIPTION

notcurses_render syncs the physical display to the context's prepared ncplanes. It is necessary to call notcurses_render to generate any visible output; the various notcurses_output(3) calls only draw to the virtual ncplanes. Most of the notcurses statistics are updated as a result of a render (see notcurses_stats(3)), and screen geometry is refreshed (similarly to notcurses_refresh) following the render.

While notcurses_render is called, you must not call any other functions on the same notcurses context, with the one exception of notcurses_getc (and its input-related helpers; see notcurses_input(3).).

notcurses_render_to_buffer performs the render and raster processes of notcurses_render, but does not write the resulting buffer to the terminal. The user is responsible for writing the buffer to the terminal in its entirety. If there is an error, subsequent frames will be out of sync, and notcurses_refresh(3) must be called.

A render operation consists of two logical phases: generation of the rendered scene, and blitting this scene to the terminal (these two phases might actually be interleaved, streaming the output as it is rendered). Frame generation requires determining an extended grapheme cluster, foreground color, background color, and style for each cell of the physical terminal. Writing the scene requires synthesizing a set of UTF-8-encoded characters and escape codes appropriate for the terminal (relying on terminfo(5)), and writing this sequence to the output FILE. If the renderfp value was not NULL in the original call to notcurses_init, the frame will be written to that FILE as well. This write does not affect statistics.

Each cell can be rendered in isolation, though synthesis of the stream carries dependencies between cells.

Cell rendering algorithm

Recall that there is a total ordering on the N ncplanes, and that the standard plane always exists, with geometry equal to the physical screen. Each cell of the physical screen is thus intersected by some totally ordered subset of planes P0, P1...Pi, where 0 < i ≤ N. At each cell, rendering starts at the topmost intersecting plane P0. The algorithm descends until either:

it has locked in an extended grapheme cluster, and fore/background colors, or
all i planes have been examined

At each plane P, we consider a cell C. This cell is the intersecting cell, unless that cell has no EGC. In that case, C is the plane's default cell.

If we have not yet determined an EGC, and C has a non-zero EGC, use the EGC and style of C.
If we have not yet locked in a foreground color, and C is not foreground-transparent, use the foreground color of C (see [BUGS][] below). If C is CELL_ALPHA_OPAQUE, lock the color in.
If we have not yet locked in a background color, and C is not background-transparent, use the background color of C (see [BUGS][] below). If C is CELL_ALPHA_OPAQUE, lock the color in.

If the algorithm concludes without an EGC, the cell is rendered with no glyph and a default background. If the algorithm concludes without a color locked in, the color as computed thus far is used.

notcurses_at_yx retrieves a call as rendered. The EGC in that cell is copied and returned; it must be **free(3)**d by the caller.

RETURN VALUES

On success, 0 is returned. On failure, a non-zero value is returned. A success will result in the renders stat being increased by 1. A failure will result in the failed_renders stat being increased by 1.

notcurses_at_yx returns a heap-allocated copy of the cell's EGC on success, and NULL on failure.

BUGS

In addition to the RGB colors, it is possible to use the "default foreground color" and "default background color" inherited from the terminal. Since notcurses doesn't know what these colors are, they are not considered for purposes of color blending.

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