curs_beep(3x) Library calls curs_beep(3x)
beep, flash - ring the (visual) bell of the terminal with curses
#include <curses.h>
int beep(void);
int flash(void);
beep and flash alert the terminal user: the former by sounding the
terminal's audible alarm, and the latter by visibly attracting
attention. Commonly, a terminal implements a visual bell by
momentarily reversing the character foreground and background colors on
the entire display; even a monochrome device can do this. These
functions each attempt the other alert type if the one requested is
unavailable. If neither is available, curses performs no action.
Nearly all terminals have an audible alert mechanism such as a bell or
piezoelectric buzzer, but only some can flash the screen.
These functions return OK on success and ERR on failure.
In ncurses, beep and flash return OK if the terminal type supports the
corresponding capability: bell (bel) for beep and flash_screen (flash)
for flash. Otherwise they return ERR.
In ncurses, these functions can return ERR.
X/Open Curses Issue 4 describes these functions. It specifies no error
conditions for them.
On SVr4 curses, they always return OK, and X/Open Curses specifies them
as doing so.
SVr2 (1984) introduced beep and flash.
curses(3x), terminfo(5)
ncurses 6.5 2025-02-01 curs_beep(3x)