Problem with NetBackup bp command. How do I check terminfo or termcap?

[Daniel M. Gonzales]

We are having a strange problem with the NetBackup bp (/opt/openv/netbackup/bin/bp) command. When executing the command (which should bring up a TUI menu), some of our Sys Admins get a blank screen. The menu is there, the screen is just blank. If you select one of the main menu options (b, r, or h), it will start displaying the menus...including the main menu. Other Sys Admins can run the bp command on the same system without any problems.

We thought something might be wrong with the emulation software or terminal settings. Most of our Sys Admins are using Chameleon...it's works for some people and not others. I think most of our Sys Admins set their TERM to vt100.

The NetBackup Guide says "bp can be used at any terminal for which you have a termcap or terminfo definition". What does this mean and how do I check it? Our test box is running HPUX 11 (I'm pretty sure it's happening on other boxes) and I'm not sure about the version on the bp command. The xbp command says it's version "2002022002"...whatever that means. Thanks for your help, Dan.

[Vincent Fleming]

Dan,

terminfo and termcap are the Terminal Information database and the Terminal Capabilities database, respectively. They define how to manipulate dumb terminals - such as move the cursor, clear the screen, etc..

See your "man" pages for details on terminfo and termcap - try "man terminfo".

Back in the old days we used to have to write new definitions all the time, but these days, there are very few dumb terminals left out there. I would not suggest modifying these files unless you *really* understand them.

Your problem is probably best solved by checking what emulation Chameleon is set for and what $TERM is set to. Compare working users to broken ones, and change the settings on the broken users to match the working ones.

Good luck!

[James Beamish-White]

... and you could take a look at the /usr/share/lib/termcap file.

Cheers!
James

[Hai Nguyen_1]

Dan,

Compare TERM in both working and non-working environments by running the following command:

# echo $TERM

If they are different, try setting TERM in the non-working env to the same value as in the working env as follows:

# export TERM=

And try launch the app again.

Hai

[Daniel M. Gonzales]

Vincent, James, and Hai-

Thanks for your replies. It's been a very frustrating problem. We have Sys Admins running the same emulation software (Chameleon) and using the exact same terminal settings, yet getting different results. We haven't found anything (yet) that's common just to the Sys Admins having the problem.

I did check the man page for "terminfo". This must be the longest (and narliest) man page I have ever seen! :o)

The search continues...