Re: Surprising tput behavior: `tput el` and `tput cuu1 el` generate identical output

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On Tue, Jun 02, 2026 at 04:21:54PM -0700, Parke wrote:
> Hello, [email protected],
>=20
> I am observing that the following two tput commands generate identical ou=
tput.
>=20
> tput el
> tput cuu1 el
>=20
> Is this expected and intentional?  (To me it seems unexpected and surpris=
ing.)

no - referring to

20210925
	+ modify tput to allow multiple commands per line.

which I documented thus:

           While  more  reliable than System V's utility, a portability pro=
blem
           is introduced by this analysis.  An OpenBSD  developer  adapted =
 the
           internal  library  function  from  ncurses to port NetBSD's term=
cap-
           based tput to terminfo, and modified it to interpret  multiple  =
cap-
           codes  (and  parameters) on the command line.  Portable applicat=
ions
           should not rely upon this feature; ncurses offers it to support =
 ap=E2=80=90
           plications written specifically for OpenBSD.
=20
This seems familiar (as if I recall fixing a regression in this a while bac=
k),
but I don't see it in the history.

In a quick check with your script, the results look ok (both with 202050216
which is Debian stable, and current):

xterm-256color
tput  cuu1                      0000000 1b 5b 41
tput  el                        0000000 1b 5b 4b
tput  cuu1  el                  0000000 1b 5b 41 1b 5b 4b
tput  cuu1  ;  tput  el         0000000 1b 5b 41 1b 5b 4b
tput  cuu 1  el                 0000000 1b 5b 31 41 1b 5b 4b

so... you're either referring to something before 20210925,
or I'm missing something.

> For your convenience, here is a test script:
>=20
> #! /bin/dash
>=20
> run_test  ()  {
>   local  command=3D"{ $1 ; }  |  od -t x1  |  head -n 1"
>   local  output=3D"$(  eval  $command  )"
>   printf  '%-30s  %s\n'  "$1"  "$output"
>   return  ;  }
>=20
> echo  "$TERM"                          #  xterm-256color
>=20
> run_test  'tput  cuu1'                 #  1b 5b 41
> run_test  'tput  el'                   #  1b 5b 4b
> run_test  'tput  cuu1  el'             #  1b 5b 4b
> run_test  'tput  cuu1  ;  tput  el'    #  1b 5b 41 1b 5b 4b
> run_test  'tput  cuu 1  el'            #  1b 5b 31 41 1b 5b 4b
>=20
>=20

--=20
Thomas E. Dickey <[email protected]>
https://invisible-island.net

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