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diff --git a/doc/html/announce.html b/doc/html/announce.html index 961e7571cf61..234c703145a7 100644 --- a/doc/html/announce.html +++ b/doc/html/announce.html @@ -1,8 +1,8 @@ -<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 3.0//EN"> <!-- - $Id: announce.html,v 1.55 2011/04/04 09:46:33 tom Exp $ + $Id: announce.html,v 1.52 2008/11/02 01:05:08 tom Exp $ **************************************************************************** - * Copyright (c) 1998-2010,2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc. * + * Copyright (c) 1998-2006,2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc. * * * * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a * * copy of this software and associated documentation files (the * @@ -29,361 +29,560 @@ * authorization. * **************************************************************************** --> - -<html> -<head> - <meta name="generator" content= - "HTML Tidy for Linux/x86 (vers 6 November 2007), see www.w3.org"> - - <title>Announcing ncurses 5.9</title> - <link rev="made" href="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org"> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= - "text/html; charset=us-ascii"> -</head> - -<body> - <h1>Announcing ncurses 5.9</h1>The ncurses (new curses) - library is a free software emulation of curses in System V - Release 4.0, and more. It uses terminfo format, supports pads and - color and multiple highlights and forms characters and - function-key mapping, and has all the other SYSV-curses - enhancements over BSD curses. - - <p>In mid-June 1995, the maintainer of 4.4BSD curses declared - that he considered 4.4BSD curses obsolete, and encouraged the - keepers of Unix releases such as BSD/OS, FreeBSD and NetBSD to - switch over to ncurses.</p> - - <p>The ncurses code was developed under GNU/Linux. It has been in - use for some time with OpenBSD as the system curses library, and - on FreeBSD and NetBSD as an external package. It should port - easily to any ANSI/POSIX-conforming UNIX. It has even been ported - to OS/2 Warp!</p> - - <p>The distribution includes the library and support utilities, - including a terminfo compiler tic(1), a decompiler infocmp(1), - clear(1), tput(1), tset(1), and a termcap conversion tool - captoinfo(1). Full manual pages are provided for the library and - tools.</p> - - <p>The ncurses distribution is available via anonymous FTP at the - GNU distribution site <a href= - "ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/">ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/</a> .<br> - - It is also available at <a href= - "ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/">ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/</a> .</p> - - <h1>Release Notes</h1>This release is designed to be upward - compatible from ncurses 5.0 through 5.8; very few applications - will require recompilation, depending on the platform. These are - the highlights from the change-log since ncurses 5.8 release. - <p> - This is a bug-fix release, correcting a small number of urgent problems - in the ncurses library from the 5.8 release. - <p> - It also improves the Ada95 binding: - <ul> - <li>fixes a longstanding portability problem with its use of the - <a href="http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/form_fieldtype.3x">set_field_type</a> - function. Because that function uses variable-length argument lists, - its interface with gnat does not work with certain platforms. - <li>improves configurability and portability, particularly when built - separately from the main ncurses tree. The 5.8 release introduced - scripts which can be used to construct separate tarballs for the - Ada95 and ncurses examples. - <p>Those were a proof of concept. For the 5.9 release, those - scripts are augmented with rpm- and dpkg-scripts used in test builds - against a variety of gnat- and system ncurses versions as old as - gnat 3.15 and ncurses 5.4 (see snapshots and systems tested - <a href="http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-Ada95.html">here</a>. - <li>additional improvements were made for portability of the - ncurses examples, adding rpm- and dpkg-scripts for test-builds. - See - <a href="http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-examples.html">this page</a> - for snapshots and other information. - </ul> - - <h1>Features of Ncurses</h1>The ncurses package is fully - compatible with SVr4 (System V Release 4) curses: - - <ul> - <li>All 257 of the SVr4 calls have been implemented (and are - documented).</li> - - <li>Full support for SVr4 curses features including keyboard - mapping, color, forms-drawing with ACS characters, and - automatic recognition of keypad and function keys.</li> - - <li>An emulation of the SVr4 panels library, supporting a stack - of windows with backing store, is included.</li> - - <li>An emulation of the SVr4 menus library, supporting a - uniform but flexible interface for menu programming, is - included.</li> - - <li>An emulation of the SVr4 form library, supporting data - collection through on-screen forms, is included.</li> - - <li>Binary terminfo entries generated by the ncurses tic(1) - implementation are bit-for-bit-compatible with the entry format - SVr4 curses uses.</li> - - <li>The utilities have options to allow you to filter terminfo - entries for use with less capable - <strong>curses</strong>/<strong>terminfo</strong> versions such - as the HP/UX and AIX ports.</li> - </ul>The ncurses package also has many useful extensions over - SVr4: - - <ul> - <li>The API is 8-bit clean and base-level conformant with the - X/OPEN curses specification, XSI curses (that is, it implements - all BASE level features, and most EXTENDED features). It - includes many function calls not supported under SVr4 curses - (but portability of all calls is documented so you can use the - SVr4 subset only).</li> - - <li>Unlike SVr3 curses, ncurses can write to the - rightmost-bottommost corner of the screen if your terminal has - an insert-character capability.</li> - - <li>Ada95 and C++ bindings.</li> - - <li>Support for mouse event reporting with X Window xterm and - FreeBSD and OS/2 console windows.</li> - - <li>Extended mouse support via Alessandro Rubini's gpm - package.</li> - - <li>The function <code>wresize</code> allows you to resize - windows, preserving their data.</li> - - <li>The function <code>use_default_colors</code> allows you to - use the terminal's default colors for the default color pair, - achieving the effect of transparent colors.</li> - - <li>The functions <code>keyok</code> and - <code>define_key</code> allow you to better control the use of - function keys, e.g., disabling the ncurses KEY_MOUSE, or by - defining more than one control sequence to map to a given key - code.</li> - - <li>Support for 256-color terminals, such as modern xterm, when - configured using the <code>--enable-ext-colors</code> - option.</li> - - <li>Support for 16-color terminals, such as <em>aixterm</em> - and <em>modern xterm</em>.</li> - - <li>Better cursor-movement optimization. The package now - features a cursor-local-movement computation more efficient - than either BSD's or System V's.</li> - - <li>Super hardware scrolling support. The screen-update code - incorporates a novel, simple, and cheap algorithm that enables - it to make optimal use of hardware scrolling, line-insertion, - and line-deletion for screen-line movements. This algorithm is - more powerful than the 4.4BSD curses <code>quickch</code> - routine.</li> - - <li>Real support for terminals with the magic-cookie glitch. - The screen-update code will refrain from drawing a highlight if - the magic- cookie unattributed spaces required just before the - beginning and after the end would step on a non-space - character. It will automatically shift highlight boundaries - when doing so would make it possible to draw the highlight - without changing the visual appearance of the screen.</li> - - <li>It is possible to generate the library with a list of - pre-loaded fallback entries linked to it so that it can serve - those terminal types even when no terminfo tree or termcap file - is accessible (this may be useful for support of - screen-oriented programs that must run in single-user - mode).</li> - - <li>The tic(1)/captoinfo utility provided with ncurses has the - ability to translate many termcaps from the XENIX, IBM and - AT&T extension sets.</li> - - <li>A BSD-like tset(1) utility is provided.</li> - - <li>The ncurses library and utilities will automatically read - terminfo entries from $HOME/.terminfo if it exists, and compile - to that directory if it exists and the user has no write access - to the system directory. This feature makes it easier for users - to have personal terminfo entries without giving up access to - the system terminfo directory.</li> - - <li>You may specify a path of directories to search for - compiled descriptions with the environment variable - TERMINFO_DIRS (this generalizes the feature provided by - TERMINFO under stock System V.)</li> - - <li>In terminfo source files, use capabilities may refer not - just to other entries in the same source file (as in System V) - but also to compiled entries in either the system terminfo - directory or the user's $HOME/.terminfo directory.</li> - - <li>A script (<strong>capconvert</strong>) is provided to help - BSD users transition from termcap to terminfo. It gathers the - information in a TERMCAP environment variable and/or a - ~/.termcap local entries file and converts it to an equivalent - local terminfo tree under $HOME/.terminfo.</li> - - <li>Automatic fallback to the /etc/termcap file can be compiled - in when it is not possible to build a terminfo tree. This - feature is neither fast nor cheap, you don't want to use it - unless you have to, but it's there.</li> - - <li>The table-of-entries utility <strong>toe</strong> makes it - easy for users to see exactly what terminal types are available - on the system.</li> - - <li>The library meets the XSI requirement that every macro - entry point have a corresponding function which may be linked - (and will be prototype-checked) if the macro definition is - disabled with <code>#undef</code>.</li> - - <li>An HTML "Introduction to Programming with NCURSES" document - provides a narrative introduction to the curses programming - interface.</li> - </ul> - - <h1>State of the Package</h1>Numerous bugs present in earlier - versions have been fixed; the library is far more reliable than - it used to be. Bounds checking in many `dangerous' entry points - has been improved. The code is now type-safe according to gcc - -Wall. The library has been checked for malloc leaks and arena - corruption by the Purify memory-allocation tester. - - <p>The ncurses code has been tested with a wide variety of - applications including (versions starting with those noted):</p> - - <dl> - <dt>cdk</dt> - - <dd>Curses Development Kit<br> - <a href= - "http://invisible-island.net/cdk/">http://invisible-island.net/cdk/</a><br> - - <a href= - "http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/">http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/</a></dd> - - <dt>ded</dt> - - <dd>directory-editor<br> - <a href= - "http://invisible-island.net/ded/">http://invisible-island.net/ded/</a></dd> - - <dt>dialog</dt> - - <dd>the underlying application used in Slackware's setup, and - the basis for similar applications on GNU/Linux.<br> - <a href= - "http://invisible-island.net/dialog/">http://invisible-island.net/dialog/</a></dd> - - <dt>lynx</dt> - - <dd>the character-screen WWW browser<br> - <a href= - "http://lynx.isc.org/release/">http://lynx.isc.org/release/</a></dd> - - <dt>Midnight Commander</dt> - - <dd>file manager<br> - <a href= - "http://www.midnight-commander.org/">http://www.midnight-commander.org/</a></dd> - - <dt>mutt</dt> - - <dd>mail utility<br> - <a href="http://www.mutt.org/">http://www.mutt.org/</a></dd> - - <dt>ncftp</dt> - - <dd>file-transfer utility<br> - <a href="http://www.ncftp.com/">http://www.ncftp.com/</a></dd> - - <dt>nvi</dt> - - <dd>New vi versions 1.50 are able to use ncurses versions 1.9.7 - and later.<br> - <a href= - "https://sites.google.com/a/bostic.com/keithbostic/nvi">https://sites.google.com/a/bostic.com/keithbostic/nvi</a><br> - </dd> - - <dt>pinfo</dt> - - <dd>Lynx-like info browser. <a href= - "https://alioth.debian.org/projects/pinfo/">https://alioth.debian.org/projects/pinfo/</a></dd> - - <dt>tin</dt> - - <dd>newsreader, supporting color, MIME <a href= - "http://www.tin.org/">http://www.tin.org/</a></dd> - </dl>as well as some that use ncurses for the terminfo support - alone: - - <dl> - <dt>minicom</dt> - - <dd>terminal emulator<br> - <a href= - "http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/">http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/</a></dd> - - <dt>vile</dt> - - <dd>vi-like-emacs<br> - <a href= - "http://invisible-island.net/vile/">http://invisible-island.net/vile/</a></dd> - </dl> - - <p>The ncurses distribution includes a selection of test programs - (including a few games).</p> - - <h2>Who's Who and What's What</h2>Zeyd Ben-Halim started it from - a previous package pcurses, written by Pavel Curtis. Eric S. - Raymond continued development. Jürgen Pfeifer wrote most of - the form and menu libraries. Ongoing work is being done by - <a href="mailto:dickey@invisible-island.net">Thomas Dickey</a>. - Thomas Dickey acts as the maintainer for the Free Software - Foundation, which holds the copyright on ncurses. Contact the - current maintainers at <a href= - "mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">bug-ncurses@gnu.org</a>. - - <p>To join the ncurses mailing list, please write email to - <code>bug-ncurses-request@gnu.org</code> containing the line:</p> - <pre> +<HTML> +<HEAD> +<TITLE>Announcing ncurses 5.7</TITLE> +<link rev=made href="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org"> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +</HEAD> +<BODY> + +<H1>Announcing ncurses 5.7</H1> + +The ncurses (new curses) library is a free software emulation of +curses in System V Release 4.0, and more. It uses terminfo format, +supports pads and color +and multiple highlights and forms characters and function-key mapping, +and has all the other SYSV-curses enhancements over BSD curses.<P> + +In mid-June 1995, the maintainer of 4.4BSD curses declared that he +considered 4.4BSD curses obsolete, and encouraged the keepers of +Unix releases such as BSD/OS, FreeBSD and NetBSD to switch over to +ncurses.<P> + +The ncurses code was developed under GNU/Linux. +It has been in use for some time with OpenBSD as the system curses library, +and on FreeBSD and NetBSD as an external package. +It should port easily to any ANSI/POSIX-conforming UNIX. +It has even been ported to OS/2 Warp!<P> + +The distribution includes the library and support utilities, including a +terminfo compiler tic(1), a decompiler infocmp(1), clear(1), tput(1), tset(1), +and a termcap conversion tool captoinfo(1). Full manual pages are provided for +the library and tools.<P> + +The ncurses distribution is available via anonymous FTP at +the GNU distribution site +<A HREF="ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/">ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/</A> . +<br>It is also available at +<A HREF="ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/">ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/</A> . + +<H1>Release Notes</H1> + +This release is designed to be upward compatible from ncurses 5.0 through 5.6; +very few applications will require recompilation, depending on the platform. +These are the highlights from the change-log since ncurses 5.6 release. +<p> +Interface changes: +<ul> + <li>generate linkable stubs for some macros: + <br> + getattrs + +</ul> +New features and improvements: +<ul> + <li>library + <ul> + <li>new flavor of the ncurses library provides rudimentary + support for POSIX threads. Several functions are + reentrant, but most require either a window-level or + screen-level mutex.<br> + (This is <em>API</em>-compatible, + but not <em>ABI</em>-compatible with the normal library). + + <li>add <code>NCURSES_OPAQUE</code> symbol to curses.h, will + use to make structs opaque in selected configurations. + + <li>add <code>NCURSES_EXT_FUNCS</code> and + <code>NCURSES_EXT_COLORS</code> symbols to curses.h to make + it simpler to tell if the extended functions and/or colors + are declared. + + <li>add wresize() to C++ binding + + <li>eliminate fixed-buffer vsprintf() calls in C++ binding. + + <li>add several functions to C++ binding which wrap C functions + that pass a WINDOW* parameter. + + <li>adapt mouse-handling code from menu library in form-library + + <li>improve tracing for form library, showing created forms, + fields, etc. + + <li>make $NCURSES_NO_PADDING feature work for termcap interface . + + <li>add check to trace-file open, if the given name is a + directory, add ".log" to the name and try again. + + <li>several new manpages: curs_legacy.3x, curs_memleaks.3x, + curs_opaque.3x and curs_threads.3x + </ul> + + <li>programs: + <ul> + <li>modified three test-programs to demonstrate the threading + support in this version: ditto, rain, worm. + + <li>several new test-programs: demo_panels, dots_mvcur, + inch_wide, inchs, key_name, key_names, savescreen, + savescreen.sh test_arrays, test_get_wstr, test_getstr, + test_instr, test_inwstr and test_opaque. + + <li>add <code>adacurses-config</code> to the Ada95 install. + + <li>modify tic <code>-f</code> option to format spaces as + <code>\s</code> to prevent them from being lost when that + is read back in unformatted strings. + + <li>The <code>tack</code> program is now distributed separately + from ncurses. + </ul> + + <li>terminal database + <ul> + <li>added entries: + <ul> + <li><code>Eterm-256color</code>, + <code>Eterm-88color</code> and + <code>rxvt-88color</code> + <li><code>aterm</code> + <li><code>konsole-256color</code> + <li><code>mrxvt</code> + <li><code>screen.mlterm</code> + <li><code>screen.rxvt</code> + <li><code>teraterm4.59</code> is now the primary primary + teraterm entry, renamed original to + <code>teraterm2.3</code> + <li><code>9term</code> terminal + <li>Newbury Data entries + </ul> + <li>updated/improved entries: + <ul> + <li><code>gnome</code> to version 2.22.3 + <li><code>h19</code>, <code>z100</code> + <li><code>konsole</code> to version 1.6.6 + <li><code>mlterm</code>, <code>mlterm+pcfkeys</code> + <li><code>xterm</code>, and building-blocks for function-keys + to <a href="http://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.log.html#xterm_230">xterm patch #230</a>. + </ul> + </ul> +</ul> +Major bug fixes: +<ul> + <li>add logic to tic for cancelling strings in user-defined + capabilities + (this is <em>needed</em> for + current <code>konsole</code> terminfo entry). + + <li>modify <code>mk-1st.awk</code> so the generated makefile rules for + linking or installing shared libraries do not first remove the + library, in case it is in use, e.g., <code>libncurses.so</code> by + <code>/bin/sh</code>. + + <li>correct check for notimeout() in wgetch(). + + <li>fix a sign-extension bug in infocmp's repair_acsc() function. + + <li>change winnstr() to stop at the end of the line. + + <li>make Ada95 demo_panels() example work. + + <li>fix for adding a non-spacing character at the beginning of a line. + + <li>fill in extended-color pair to make colors work + for wide-characters using extended-colors. + + <li>improve refresh of window on top of multi-column characters, + taking into account split characters on left/right window + boundaries. + + <li>modify <code>win_wchnstr()</code> to ensure that only a base cell + is returned for each multi-column character. + + <li>improve <code>waddch()</code> and <code>winsch()</code> handling of + EILSEQ from <code>mbrtowc()</code> by using <code>unctrl()</code> + to display illegal bytes rather than trying to append further bytes + to make up a valid sequence. + + <li>restore <code>curs_set()</code> state after + <code>endwin()</code>/<code>refresh()</code> + + <li>modify <code>keyname()</code> to use "^X" form only if + <code>meta()</code> has been called, or if <code>keyname()</code> + is called without initializing curses, e.g., via + <code>initscr()</code> or <code>newterm()</code>. + + <li>modify <code>unctrl()</code> to check codes in 128-255 range versus + <code>isprint()</code>. + If they are not printable, and locale was set, use a "M-" or "~" + sequence. + + <li>improve <code>resizeterm()</code> by moving ripped-off lines, and + repainting the soft-keys. + + <li>modify form library to accept control characters such as newline + in set_field_buffer(), which is compatible with Solaris. + + <li>use <code>NCURSES_MOUSE_MASK()</code> in definition of + <code>BUTTON_RELEASE()</code>, etc., to make those work properly + with the <code>--enable-ext-mouse</code> configuration + + <li>correct some functions in Ada95 binding which were using return + value from C where none was returned. + + <li>reviewed/fixed issues reported by Coverity and Klocwork tools. +</ul> + +Portability: +<ul> + <li>configure script: + <ul> + <li>new options: + <dl> + + <dt>--disable-big-strings + <dd>control whether static string tables are generated as single + large strings (to improve startup performance), or as array + of individual strings. + + <dt>--disable-relink + <dd>control whether shared libraries are relinked (during install) + when rpath is enabled. + + <dt>--disable-tic-depends + <dd>make explicit whether tic library depends on ncurses/ncursesw + library. + + <dt>--enable-mixed-case + <dd>override the configure script's check if the filesystem + supports mixed-case filenames. + This allows one to control how the terminal database + maps to the filesystem. + For filesystems that do not support mixed-case, the library + uses generate 2-character (hexadecimal) codes for the + lower-level of the filesystem terminfo database + + <dt>--enable-reentrant + <dd>builds a different flavor of the ncurses library (ncursest) + which improves reentrant use of the + library by reducing global and static variables + (see the "--with-pthread" option for the threaded support). + + <dt>--enable-weak-symbols + <dd>use weak-symbols for linking to the POSIX thread library, + and use the same soname for the ncurses shared library + as the normal library (caveat: the ABI is for the threaded + library, which makes global data accessed via functions). + + <dt>--with-pthread + <dd>build with the POSIX thread library (tested with AIX, + Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, HPUX, IRIX64, Solaris, Tru64). + + <dt>--with-ticlib + <dd>build/install the tic-support functions in a separate library + + </dl> + + <li>improved options: + <dl> + + <dt>--enable-ext-colors + <dd>requires the wide-character configuration. + + <dt>--with-chtype + <dd>ignore option value "unsigned" is always added to + the type in curses.h; do the same for --with-mmask-t. + + <dt>--with-dmalloc + <dd>build-fix for redefinition of <code>strndup</code>. + + <dt>--with-hashed-db + <dd>accepts a parameter which is the install-prefix of a given + Berkeley Database. + + <dt>--with-hashed-db + <dd>the $LIBS environment variable overrides the search for the db + library. + + <dt>--without-hashed-db + <dd>assumed when "--disable-database" is used. + + </dl> + + </ul> + + <li>other configure/build issues: + <ul> + <li>build-fixes for LynxOS + <li>modify shared-library rules to allow FreeBSD 3.x to use rpath. + <li>build-fix for FreeBSD "contemporary" TTY interface. + <li>build-fixes for AIX with libtool. + <li>build-fixes for Darwin and libtool. + <li>modify BeOS-specific ifdef's to build on Haiku. + <li>corrected gcc options for building shared libraries on Solaris + and IRIX64. + <li>change shared-library configuration for OpenBSD, make rpath work. + <li>build-fixes for using libutf8, e.g., on OpenBSD 3.7 + <li>add "-e" option in ncurses/Makefile.in when generating source-files + to force earlier exit if the build environment fails unexpectedly. + <li>add support for shared libraries for QNX. + <li>change delimiter in <code>MKlib_gen.sh</code> from '%' to '@', to + avoid substitution by IBM xlc to '#' as part of its extensions to + digraphs. + </ul> + + <li>library: + <ul> + <li>rewrite wrapper for <code>wcrtomb()</code>, making it work on + Solaris. This is used in the form library to determine the length + of the buffer needed by <code>field_buffer</code>. + <li>add/use configure script macro CF_SIG_ATOMIC_T, use the corresponding + type for data manipulated by signal handlers. + <li>set locale in misc/ncurses-config.in since it uses a range + <li>disable GPM mouse support when $TERM does not happen to contain + "linux", since Gpm_Open() no longer limits its assertion to terminals + that it might handle, e.g., within "screen" in xterm. + <li>reset mouse file-descriptor when unloading GPM library. + </ul> + + <li>test programs: + <ul> + <li>update test programs to build/work with various UNIX curses for + comparisons. + </ul> +</ul> + +<H1>Features of Ncurses</H1> + +The ncurses package is fully compatible with SVr4 (System V Release 4) curses: + +<UL> +<LI>All 257 of the SVr4 calls have been implemented (and are documented). +<LI>Full support for SVr4 curses features including keyboard mapping, color, +forms-drawing with ACS characters, and automatic recognition of keypad +and function keys. +<LI>An emulation of the SVr4 panels library, supporting +a stack of windows with backing store, is included. +<LI>An emulation of the SVr4 menus library, supporting +a uniform but flexible interface for menu programming, is included. +<LI>An emulation of the SVr4 form library, supporting +data collection through on-screen forms, is included. +<LI>Binary terminfo entries generated by the ncurses tic(1) implementation +are bit-for-bit-compatible with the entry format SVr4 curses uses. +<LI>The utilities have options to allow you to filter terminfo +entries for use with less capable <STRONG>curses</STRONG>/<STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> +versions such as the HP/UX and AIX ports.</UL> + +The ncurses package also has many useful extensions over SVr4: + +<UL> +<LI>The API is 8-bit clean and base-level conformant with the X/OPEN curses +specification, XSI curses (that is, it implements all BASE level features, +and most EXTENDED features). +It includes many function calls not supported under SVr4 curses +(but portability of all +calls is documented so you can use the SVr4 subset only). +<LI>Unlike SVr3 curses, ncurses can write to the rightmost-bottommost corner +of the screen if your terminal has an insert-character capability. +<LI>Ada95 and C++ bindings. +<LI>Support for mouse event reporting with X Window xterm +and FreeBSD and OS/2 console windows. +<LI>Extended mouse support via Alessandro Rubini's gpm package. +<LI>The function <CODE>wresize()</CODE> allows you to resize windows, preserving +their data. +<LI>The function <CODE>use_default_colors()</CODE> allows you to +use the terminal's default colors for the default color pair, +achieving the effect of transparent colors. +<LI>The functions <CODE>keyok()</CODE> +and <CODE>define_key()</CODE> allow +you to better control the use of function keys, +e.g., disabling the ncurses KEY_MOUSE, +or by defining more than one control sequence to map to a given key code. +<LI>Support for 256-color terminals, such as modern xterm, when configured +using the <code>--enable-ext-colors</code> option. +<LI>Support for 16-color terminals, such as aixterm and modern xterm. +<LI>Better cursor-movement optimization. The package now features a +cursor-local-movement computation more efficient than either BSD's +or System V's. +<LI>Super hardware scrolling support. The screen-update code incorporates +a novel, simple, and cheap algorithm that enables it to make optimal +use of hardware scrolling, line-insertion, and line-deletion +for screen-line movements. This algorithm is more powerful than +the 4.4BSD curses quickch() routine. +<LI>Real support for terminals with the magic-cookie glitch. The +screen-update code will refrain from drawing a highlight if the magic- +cookie unattributed spaces required just before the beginning and +after the end would step on a non-space character. It will +automatically shift highlight boundaries when doing so would make it +possible to draw the highlight without changing the visual appearance +of the screen. +<LI>It is possible to generate the library with a list of pre-loaded +fallback entries linked to it so that it can serve those terminal types even +when no terminfo tree or termcap file is accessible (this may be useful +for support of screen-oriented programs that must run in single-user mode). +<LI>The tic(1)/captoinfo utility provided with ncurses has the +ability to translate many termcaps from the XENIX, IBM and +AT&T extension sets. +<LI>A BSD-like tset(1) utility is provided. +<LI>The ncurses library and utilities will automatically read terminfo +entries from $HOME/.terminfo if it exists, and compile to that directory +if it exists and the user has no write access to the system directory. +This feature makes it easier for users to have personal terminfo entries +without giving up access to the system terminfo directory. +<LI>You may specify a path of directories to search for compiled +descriptions with the environment variable TERMINFO_DIRS (this +generalizes the feature provided by TERMINFO under stock System V.) +<LI>In terminfo source files, use capabilities may refer not just to +other entries in the same source file (as in System V) but also to +compiled entries in either the system terminfo directory or the user's +$HOME/.terminfo directory. +<LI>A script (<STRONG>capconvert</STRONG>) is provided to help BSD users +transition from termcap to terminfo. It gathers the information in a +TERMCAP environment variable and/or a ~/.termcap local entries file +and converts it to an equivalent local terminfo tree under $HOME/.terminfo. +<LI>Automatic fallback to the /etc/termcap file can be compiled in +when it is not possible to build a terminfo tree. This feature is neither +fast nor cheap, you don't want to use it unless you have to, +but it's there. +<LI>The table-of-entries utility <STRONG>toe</STRONG> makes it easy for users to +see exactly what terminal types are available on the system. +<LI>The library meets the XSI requirement that every macro entry +point have a corresponding function which may be linked (and will be +prototype-checked) if the macro definition is disabled with +<CODE>#undef</CODE>. +<LI>An HTML "Introduction to Programming with NCURSES" document provides +a narrative introduction to the curses programming interface. +</UL> + +<H1>State of the Package</H1> + +Numerous bugs present in earlier versions have been fixed; the +library is far more reliable than it used to be. Bounds checking in many +`dangerous' entry points has been improved. The code is now type-safe +according to gcc -Wall. The library has been checked for malloc leaks and +arena corruption by the Purify memory-allocation tester.<P> + +The ncurses code has been tested with a wide variety of applications +including (versions starting with those noted): +<DL> +<DT> cdk +<DD> Curses Development Kit +<br> +<A HREF="http://invisible-island.net/cdk/">http://invisible-island.net/cdk/</A> +<br> +<A HREF="http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/">http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/</a> +<DT> ded +<DD> directory-editor +<br> +<A HREF="http://invisible-island.net/ded/">http://invisible-island.net/ded/</A> +<DT> dialog +<DD> the underlying application used in Slackware's setup, and the basis +for similar applications on GNU/Linux. +<br> +<A HREF="http://invisible-island.net/dialog/">http://invisible-island.net/dialog/</A> +<DT> lynx +<DD> the character-screen WWW browser +<br> +<A HREF="http://lynx.isc.org/release/">http://lynx.isc.org/release/</A> +<DT> Midnight Commander +<DD> file manager +<br> +<A HREF="http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/">http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/</A> +<DT> mutt +<DD> mail utility +<br> +<A HREF="http://www.mutt.org/">http://www.mutt.org/</A> +<DT> ncftp +<DD> file-transfer utility +<br> +<A HREF="http://www.ncftp.com/">http://www.ncftp.com/</A> +<DT> nvi +<DD> New vi versions 1.50 are able to use ncurses versions 1.9.7 and later. +<br> +<A HREF="http://www.bostic.com/vi/">http://www.bostic.com/vi/</A> +<br> +<DT> pinfo +<DD> Lynx-like info browser. +<A HREF="https://alioth.debian.org/projects/pinfo/">https://alioth.debian.org/projects/pinfo/</A> +<DT> tin +<DD> newsreader, supporting color, MIME +<A HREF="http://www.tin.org/">http://www.tin.org/</A> +</DL> +as well as some that use ncurses for the terminfo support alone: +<DL> +<DT> minicom +<DD> terminal emulator +<br> +<A HREF="http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/"> +http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/</A> +<DT> vile +<DD> vi-like-emacs +<br> +<A HREF="http://invisible-island.net/vile/">http://invisible-island.net/vile/</A> +</DL> +<P> + +The ncurses distribution includes a selection of test programs (including +a few games). + +<H2>Who's Who and What's What</H2> + +Zeyd Ben-Halim +started it from a previous package pcurses, written by Pavel Curtis. +Eric S. Raymond +continued development. +Jürgen Pfeifer wrote most of the form and menu libraries. +Ongoing work is being done by +<A HREF="mailto:dickey@invisible-island.net">Thomas Dickey</A>. +Thomas Dickey +acts as the maintainer for the Free Software Foundation, +which holds the copyright on ncurses. +Contact the current maintainers at +<A HREF="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">bug-ncurses@gnu.org</A>. +<P> + +To join the ncurses mailing list, please write email to +<CODE>bug-ncurses-request@gnu.org</CODE> containing the line: +<PRE> subscribe <name>@<host.domain> -</pre> - - <p>This list is open to anyone interested in helping with the - development and testing of this package.</p> - - <p>Beta versions of ncurses and patches to the current release - are made available at <a href= - "ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/">ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/</a> .</p> - - <h2>Future Plans</h2> - - <ul> - <li>Extended-level XPG4 conformance, with internationalization - support.</li> - - <li>Ports to more systems, including DOS and Windows.</li> - </ul>We need people to help with these projects. If you are - interested in working on them, please join the ncurses list. - - <h2>Other Related Resources</h2>The distribution provides a newer - version of the terminfo-format terminal description file once - maintained by <a href="http://www.catb.org/~esr/terminfo/">Eric - Raymond</a> . Unlike the older version, the termcap and - terminfo data are provided in the same file, and provides several - user-definable extensions beyond the X/Open specification. - - <p>You can find lots of information on terminal-related topics - not covered in the terminfo file at <a href= - "http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal"> - Richard Shuford's archive</a> .</p> -</body> -</html> +</PRE> + +This list is open to anyone interested in helping with the development and +testing of this package.<P> + +Beta versions of ncurses and patches to the current release are made available at +<A HREF="ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/">ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/</A> . + +<H2>Future Plans</H2> +<UL> +<LI>Extended-level XPG4 conformance, with internationalization support. +<LI>Ports to more systems, including DOS and Windows. +</UL> +We need people to help with these projects. If you are interested in working +on them, please join the ncurses list. + +<H2>Other Related Resources</H2> + +The distribution provides a newer version of the terminfo-format +terminal description file once maintained by +<A HREF="http://www.catb.org/~esr/terminfo/">Eric Raymond</A> . +Unlike the older version, the termcap and terminfo data are provided +in the same file, and provides several user-definable extensions +beyond the X/Open specification.<P> + +You can find lots of information on terminal-related topics +not covered in the terminfo file at +<A HREF="http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal_index.html">Richard Shuford's +archive</A> . +</BODY> +</HTML> +<!-- +# The following sets edit modes for GNU EMACS +# Local Variables: +# mode:html +# case-fold-search:nil +# fill-column:70 +# End: +--> |