keyok(3X) Library calls keyok(3X)

keyok - enable or disable an ncurses function key code

#include <curses.h>
int keyok(int key-code, bool bf);

The keyok ncurses extension permits a curses application to disable a function key key-code returned by wgetch(3X) (wide-character API users: wget_wch(3X)). Key codes that have been disabled can be re-enabled. bf selects the desired enablement status. This operation is more fine-grained than calling keypad(3X), which affects all function keys.

keyok returns ERR if

  • key-code is nonpositive,
  • key-code is not a recognized value, or
  • enablement of key-code is already in the desired state.

Otherwise, keyok returns OK.

keyok is an ncurses extension.

Applications employing ncurses extensions should condition their use on the visibility of the NCURSES_VERSION preprocessor macro.

NetBSD curses since 2.0 (2004) supports keyok.

Thomas Dickey

curses(3X), define_key(3X), keybound(3X), keyok(3X), key_defined(3X)

2025-10-04 ncurses 6.6