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36 <title>Announcing ncurses @VERSION@</title>
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59 <h1 class="no-header">Announcing ncurses @VERSION@</h1>
61 <h2><a name="h2-overview" id="h2-overview">Overview</a></h2>
63 <p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> (new curses)
64 library is a free software emulation of curses in System V
65 Release 4.0 (SVr4), and more. It uses terminfo format, supports
66 pads and color and multiple highlights and forms characters and
67 function-key mapping, and has all the other SVr4-curses
68 enhancements over BSD curses. SVr4 curses became the basis of
71 <p>In mid-June 1995, the maintainer of 4.4BSD curses declared
72 that he considered 4.4BSD curses obsolete, and encouraged the
73 keepers of <span class="main-name">unix</span> releases such as
74 BSD/OS, FreeBSD and NetBSD to switch over to <span class=
75 "main-name">ncurses</span>.</p>
77 <p>Since 1995, <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> has been
78 ported to many systems:</p>
81 <li>It is used in almost every system based on the Linux kernel
82 (aside from some embedded applications).</li>
84 <li>It is used as the system curses library on OpenBSD, FreeBSD
87 <li>It is used in environments such as Cygwin and MinGW. The
88 first of these was EMX on OS/2 Warp.</li>
90 <li>It is used (though usually not as the <em>system</em>
91 curses) on all of the vendor <span class=
92 "main-name">unix</span> systems, e.g., AIX, HP-UX, IRIX64, SCO,
95 <li>It should work readily on any ANSI/POSIX-conforming
96 <span class="main-name">unix</span>.</li>
99 <p>The distribution includes the library and support utilities,
103 <li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/captoinfo.1m.html"><span class=
104 "part-name">captoinfo</span></a>, a termcap conversion
107 <li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/clear.1.html"><span class=
108 "part-name">clear</span></a>, utility for clearing the
111 <li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/infocmp.1m.html"><span class=
112 "part-name">infocmp</span></a>, the terminfo decompiler</li>
114 <li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/tabs.1.html"><span class=
115 "part-name">tabs</span></a>, set tabs on a terminal</li>
117 <li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/tic.1m.html"><span class=
118 "part-name">tic</span></a>, the terminfo compiler</li>
120 <li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/toe.1m.html"><span class=
121 "part-name">toe</span></a>, list (table of) terminfo
124 <li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/tput.1.html"><span class=
125 "part-name">tput</span></a>, utility for retrieving terminal
126 capabilities in shell scripts</li>
128 <li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/tset.1.html"><span class=
129 "part-name">tset</span></a>, to initialize the terminal</li>
132 <p>Full manual pages are provided for the library and tools.</p>
134 <p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> distribution is
135 available at <span class="main-name">ncurses</span>' <a href=
136 "@HOMEPAGE@/">homepage</a>:</p>
140 "ftp://ftp.invisible-island.net/ncurses/">ftp://ftp.invisible-island.net/ncurses/</a>
143 "https://invisible-mirror.net/archives/ncurses/">https://invisible-mirror.net/archives/ncurses/</a> .</p>
146 <p>It is also available via anonymous FTP at the GNU distribution
151 "ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/">ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/</a> .</p>
154 <h2><a name="h2-release-notes" id="h2-release-notes">Release
157 <p>These notes are for <span class="main-name">ncurses</span>
158 @VERSION@, released <strong>October 21, 2021</strong>.</p>
160 <p>This release is designed to be source-compatible with
161 <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> 5.0 through 6.2; providing
162 extensions to the application binary interface (ABI). Although
163 the source can still be configured to support the <span class=
164 "main-name">ncurses</span> 5 ABI, the reason for the release is
165 to reflect improvements to the <span class=
166 "main-name">ncurses</span> 6 ABI and the supporting utility
169 <p>There are, of course, numerous other improvements, listed in
170 this announcement.</p>
172 <p>The most <a href="#h3-bug-fixes">important
173 bug-fixes/improvements</a> dealt with portability issues. The
174 release notes also mention some other bug-fixes, but are focused
175 on new features and improvements to existing features since
176 <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> 6.2 release.</p>
178 <h3><a name="h3-library" id="h3-library">Library improvements</a></h3>
180 <h4><a name="h4-new-library" id="h4-new-library">New features</a></h4>
182 <p>There are a few new features:</p>
186 <p>A new (experimental) driver, for the Windows Terminal
187 configuration is provided.</p>
191 <p>A script is provided which enables <a href=
192 "@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses-openbsd.html">OpenBSD</a> users to
193 upgrade their system to use ncurses 6.3 (OpenBSD developers
194 are also invited to do this).</p>
198 <p>Additionally, to improve performance other changes (and
199 extensions) are provided in this release:</p>
203 <p>modify lib_mouse.c to check for out-of-range button
204 numbers, convert those to position reports.</p>
208 <p>add sp-funcs for <a href=
209 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_termattrs.3x.html#h3-erasechar_-erasewchar">
210 erasewchar</a>, <a href=
211 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_termattrs.3x.html#h3-killchar_-killwchar">
216 <h4><a name="h4-fixes-library" id="h4-fixes-library">Other
217 improvements</a></h4>
219 <p>These are revised features:</p>
222 <li>modify wgetnstr, wgetn_wstr to improve compatibility with
223 SVr4 curses in its treatment of interrupt and quit
227 <p>These were done to limit or ultimately deprecate features:</p>
231 <p>mark wgetch-events feature as deprecated.</p>
235 <p>prevent <tt>KEY_EVENT</tt> from appearing in
236 <tt>curses.h</tt> unless the configure option
237 <code>--enable-wgetch-events</code> is used.</p>
241 <p>modify <tt>MKkey_defs.sh</tt> to hide ncurses'
242 definition of <tt>KEY_EVENTS</tt> to reduce <em>Visual
243 Studio C++</em> redefinition warnings.</p>
249 <p>reduce build-warnings by excluding ncurses-internals from
250 deprecation warnings.</p>
254 <p>These are improvements to existing features:</p>
258 <p>drop symbols <em>GCC_PRINTF</em> and <em>GCC_SCANF</em>
259 from <curses.h>, to simplify use.</p>
263 <p>apply gcc format attribute to prototypes which use a
264 va_list parameter rather than a “<tt>...</tt>”
265 variable-length parameter list.</p>
269 <p>modify <term.h> so that it is not necessary to
270 include <curses.h> before <term.h>.</p>
274 <p>provide for wide-characters as background character in
279 <p>improve parameter-checking for tparm, adding function
280 _nc_tiparm() to handle the most-used case, which accepts only
281 numeric parameters.</p>
285 <p>use return-value from <em>vsnprintf</em> to reallocate as
286 needed to allow for buffers larger than the screen size.</p>
290 <p>add another <em>fflush(stdout)</em> in <em>_nc_flush</em>
291 to handle time-delays in the middle of strings such as flash
292 when the application uses low-level calls rather than
297 <p>These are corrections to existing features:</p>
301 <p>add a check to guard against <em>repeat_char</em> emitting
302 digits which could be interpreted as BSD-style padding when
303 <tt>--enable-bsdpad</tt> is configured.</p>
307 <p>check for screen size-change in <a href=
308 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_scr_dump.3x.html">scr_init</a> and
310 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_scr_dump.3x.html">scr_restore</a>, in
311 case a screen dump does not match the current screen
316 <h3><a name="h3-programs" id="h3-programs">Program
317 improvements</a></h3>
319 <p id="h4-utilities">Several improvements were made to the
320 utility programs:</p>
323 <dt><span class="part-name"><a href=
324 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/tabs.1.html">tabs</a></span>
330 <p>implement “<tt>+m</tt>” option</p>
335 <dt><span class="part-name"><a href=
336 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/tic.1m.html">tic</a></span>
342 <p>add check for duplicate “<tt>use=</tt>”
347 <p>add check to report instances where <tt>tparm</tt>
348 would detect an error in an expression.</p>
352 <p>add user-defined capabilities from <em>mintty</em> to
353 <tt>Caps-ncurses</tt>, for checking consistency.</p>
357 <p>improve warning when oc/op do not mention SGR 39/49
358 for <em>xterm</em> compatible <code>XT</code> flag.</p>
362 <p>improve checks for number of parameters of
363 <code>smglp</code>, <code>smgrp</code>,
364 <code>smgtp</code>, and <code>smgbp</code>.</p>
368 <p>improve “<tt>-c</tt>” option to validate
369 the number and type of parameters and compare against
370 expected number/type before deciding which set of
371 parameter-lists to use in tparm calls.</p>
375 <p>improve check for errors detected in
376 <code>tparm</code>.</p>
380 <p>improve format of output, to ensure that the messages
381 contain only printable text.</p>
385 <p>modify to eliminate unnecessary
386 “<code>\</code>” to escape
387 “<code>:</code>” in terminfo format.</p>
391 <p>remove check that assumes that none or both
392 parameterized and non-parameterized margin-setting
393 capabilities are present.</p>
398 <dt><span class="part-name"><a href=
399 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/toe.1m.html">toe</a></span>
405 <p>modify output of “<tt>toe -as</tt>” to
406 show first description found rather than the last.</p>
410 <p>add a check to ensure that a “termcap
411 file” is text rather than binary.</p>
416 <dt><span class="part-name"><a href=
417 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/tput.1.html">tput</a></span>
423 <p>modify to allow multiple commands per line.</p>
427 <p>improve parameter-checking by analyzing all extended
428 string capabilities, e.g., as used in the <code>Cs</code>
429 and <code>Ms</code> capabilities of the <em>tmux</em>
434 <p>make warning messages consistently using alias names
435 when those are used, rather than the underlying program's
440 <p>improve usage message for aliases such as
441 <em>clear</em>, by eliminating <em>tput</em>-specific
446 <p>modify initialization to avoid opening
447 <tt>/dev/tty</tt> for cases other than
448 <em>reset/init</em>, e.g., for <em>clear</em>.</p>
454 <h4><a name="h4-examples" id="h4-examples">Examples</a></h4>
456 <p>Along with the library and utilities, improvements were made
458 "@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses-examples.html">ncurses-examples</a>. Most of
459 this activity aimed at improving the test-packages. A few changes
460 are more generally useful, e.g., for the main ncurses
461 test-program, and for analyzing traces using the
462 <em>tracemunch</em> script:</p>
466 <p>add “<tt>-r</tt>” option to the <em>dots</em>
467 test-programs, to help with scripting a performance
472 <p>build-fix for <em>test_opaque</em>, for configurations
473 without opaque curses structs, e.g., ncurses 5.7.</p>
477 <p>improve <em>tracemunch</em> logic for "RUN"
482 <p>improve <em>tracemunch</em>'s coverage of form/menu/panel
487 <p>improve <em>tracemunch</em>'s checking/reporting the type
488 for the first parameter, e.g., "WINDOW*" rather than
493 <p>modify <em>tracemunch</em> and the panel library to show
494 readable traces for panel- and user-pointers.</p>
498 <p>There are other new demo/test programs and reusable
502 <dt><span class="part-name"><em>back_ground</em></span>
505 <dd>to exercise the wide-character background functions.</dd>
507 <dt><span class="part-name"><em>move_field</em></span>
510 <dd>to demonstrate <a href=
511 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/form_field.3x.html">move_field</a>, and a stub
512 for a corresponding demo of <a href=
513 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/form_field_new.3x.html">dup_field</a>.</dd>
515 <dt><span class="part-name"><em>test_tparm</em></span>
518 <dd>for checking <em>tparm</em> changes.</dd>
521 <h3><a name="h3-database" id="h3-database">Terminal database</a></h3>
523 <p>There are several new terminal descriptions:</p>
525 <blockquote style="word-break:keep-all">
527 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-absolute">absolute</a></tt>,
529 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-att610_cvis">att610+cvis</a></tt>,
531 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-foot">foot</a></tt>,
533 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-foot-direct">foot-direct</a></tt>,
535 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-hp98550-color">hp98550-color</a></tt>,
537 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-hpterm-color2">hpterm-color2</a></tt>,
539 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-hterm">hterm</a></tt>,
541 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-hterm-256color">hterm-256color</a></tt>,
543 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-linux-s">linux-s</a></tt>,
545 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-putty_keypad">putty+keypad</a></tt>,
547 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-putty_screen">putty+screen</a></tt>,
549 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-putty-screen">putty-screen</a></tt>,
551 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-screen.linux-s">screen.linux-s</a></tt>,
553 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-scrt/securecrt">scrt/securecrt</a></tt>,
555 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-tmux-direct">tmux-direct</a></tt>,
557 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt220_cvis">vt220+cvis</a></tt>,
559 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt220_cvis8">vt220+cvis8</a></tt>,
561 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt220_pcedit">vt220+pcedit</a></tt>,
563 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt220_vtedit">vt220+vtedit</a></tt>,
565 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt220-base">vt220-base</a></tt>,
567 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt52_keypad">vt52+keypad</a></tt>,
569 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm_256color2">xterm+256color2</a></tt>,
571 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm_88color2">xterm+88color2</a></tt>,
573 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm-direct16">xterm-direct16</a></tt>,
575 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm-direct256">xterm-direct256</a></tt>,
577 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm_nofkeys">xterm+nofkeys</a></tt>,
579 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm_nopcfkeys">xterm+nopcfkeys</a></tt>.</p>
582 <p>There are many changes to existing terminal descriptions. Some
583 were updates to several descriptions:</p>
586 <li>correct use-ordering in some <a href=
587 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm-direct">xterm-direct</a>
590 <li>fix some sgr inconsistencies in <a href=
591 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-d230c">d230c</a>, <a href=
592 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-ibm6153">ibm6153</a>,
593 <a href="@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-ibm6154">ibm6154</a>,
595 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-ncrvt100an">ncrvt100an</a></li>
598 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt50h">vt50h</a> and <a href=
599 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt52">vt52</a> based on
603 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-hp_arrows">hp+arrows</a> in a
607 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-hp_pfk-cr">hp+pfk-cr</a> in a
611 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt220_cvis">vt220+cvis</a> in
612 <tt>st</tt>, <tt>terminology</tt>, <tt>termite</tt> since they
613 ignore blinking-cursor detail in <a href=
614 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-att610_cvis">att610+cvis</a></li>
617 <p>while others affected specific descriptions. These were
618 retested, to take into account changes by their developers:</p>
622 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-kitty_common">kitty+common</a></tt>,
624 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-mlterm3">mlterm3</a></tt>,
626 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-ms-terminal">ms-terminal</a></tt></p>
629 <p>while these are specific fixes based on reviewing
630 documentation, user reports, or warnings from <span class=
631 "part-name">tic</span>:</p>
635 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-aaa_dec">aaa+dec</a>,
638 <dd>correct rmacs/smacs</dd>
641 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-aaa_rv">aaa+rv</a>
647 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-icl6404">icl6404</a>
652 <dt><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-kitty">kitty</a>
655 <dd>use att610+cvis, xterm+tmux and ansi+enq</dd>
658 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-konsole-base">konsole-base</a>
661 <dd>re-enable "bel"</dd>
664 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-linux2.6">linux2.6</a>
667 <dd>fix pound-sign mapping in acsc</dd>
670 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-linux3.0">linux3.0</a>
673 <dd>modify to reflect default mapping of shift-tab by kbd
677 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-pccons">pccons</a>
680 <dd>fill in some missing pieces, to make it comparable to the
683 <dt><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-putty">putty</a>
686 <dd>use vt100+fnkeys, add rep</dd>
689 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-screen">screen</a>
692 <dd>use vt100+enq</dd>
695 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-terminator">terminator</a>
698 <dd>corrected tsl capability</dd>
700 <dt><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-ti916">ti916</a>
705 <dt><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-tmux">tmux</a>
708 <dd>change kbs to ^?</dd>
710 <dt><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt220">vt220</a>
713 <dd>use vt220+cvis</dd>
716 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt420_lrmm">vt420+lrmm</a>
719 <dd>add smglp and smgrp</dd>
721 <dt><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt420">vt420</a>
724 <dd>use vt420+lrmm</dd>
727 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm-new">xterm-new</a>
733 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm-vt52">xterm-vt52</a>
736 <dd>use vt52+keypad</dd>
739 <p>A few entries use extensions (user-defined terminal
743 <li>add shifted Linux console keys in <a href=
744 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-linux_sfkeys">linux+sfkeys</a>
746 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-screen.linux">screen.linux</a></li>
748 <li>add Smulx to <a href=
749 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-alacritty">alacritty</a></li>
751 <li>add kbeg to <a href=
752 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm_keypad">xterm+keypad</a>
753 to accommodate termcap applications</li>
755 <li>add extensions in <a href=
756 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm_tmux">xterm+tmux</a>
758 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-ecma_strikeout">ecma+strikeout</a>
760 "@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-ms-terminal">ms-terminal</a>,
761 but cancel the non-working Cr and Ms capabilities</li>
764 <h3><a name="h3-documentation" id=
765 "h3-documentation">Documentation</a></h3>
767 <p>As usual, this release</p>
771 <p>improves documentation by describing new features,</p>
775 <p>attempts to improve the description of features which
776 users have found confusing</p>
780 <p>fills in overlooked descriptions of features which were
781 described in the <a href="@HOMEPAGE@/NEWS.html">NEWS</a> file
782 but treated sketchily in manual pages.</p>
786 <p>In addition to providing background information to explain
787 these features and show how they evolved, there are corrections,
788 clarifications, etc.:</p>
796 <p>make <em>opts</em> extension for <a href=
797 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_getcchar.3x.html#h3-getcchar"><tt>getcchar</tt></a>
798 work as documented for <a href=
799 "@HOMEPAGE@/announce-6.1.htmll#h4-new-library">ncurses
800 6.1</a>, adding “<tt>-g</tt>” flag to
801 <em>demo_new_pair</em> to illustrate.</p>
805 <p>modify <a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/tset.1.html">tset</a>
806 “-q” option to refrain from modifying
807 terminal modes, to match the documentation.</p>
813 <p>New/improved history and portability sections:</p>
817 <p>improve documentation for <a href=
818 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/terminfo.5.html#h3-Parameterized-Strings">
819 tparm</a> and static/dynamic variables.</p>
823 <p>add history note to <a href=
824 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_scanw.3x.html#h2-HISTORY">curs_scanw.3x</a>
825 for <stdarg.h> and <varargs.h></p>
829 <p>add history note to <a href=
830 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_printw.3x.html#h2-HISTORY">curs_printw.3x</a>
831 for <stdarg.h> and <varargs.h></p>
835 <p>add portability note to <a href=
836 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/ncurses.3x.html#h3-Header-files">ncurses.3x</a>
837 regarding <stdarg.h></p>
841 <p>add historical notes to <a href=
842 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/tput.1.html#h2-HISTORY">tput</a>,
843 <a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_terminfo.3x.html#h2-HISTORY">
844 curses-terminfo</a> and <a href=
845 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_color.3x.html#h2-HISTORY">curses-color</a>
846 manpages based on source-code for SVr2, SVr3 and
851 <p>improve history section for <a href=
852 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/tset.1.html#h2-HISTORY">tset</a> manpage
853 based on the 1BSD tarball, which preceded BSD's SCCS
854 checkins by more than three years.</p>
860 <p>Other improvements:</p>
864 <p>explain in <a href=
865 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/ncurses.3x.html#h2-ALTERNATE-CONFIGURATIONS">
866 ncurses.3x</a> that functions in the tinfo library do not
867 rely upon wide-characters.</p>
871 <p>improve manual page for <a href=
872 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/panel.3x.html#h2-PORTABILITY">panel</a>
873 library, extending the portability section as well as
874 documenting error-returns.</p>
878 <p>add section on margins to <a href=
879 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/terminfo.5.html#h3-Margins">terminfo.5</a>,
880 adapted from X/Open Curses.</p>
885 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/term.5.html#h3-LEGACY-STORAGE-FORMAT">man/term.5</a>
886 section on legacy storage format.</p>
890 <p>add a note in <a href=
891 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/terminfo.5.html#h3-Predefined-Capabilities">
892 terminfo.5</a> explaining that no-parameter strings such
893 as <em><tt>sgr0</tt></em> or <em><tt>cnorm</tt></em>
894 should not be used with tparm.</p>
898 <p>improve description of BSD-style padding in <a href=
899 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_termcap.3x.html#h2-BUGS">curs_termcap.3x</a></p>
903 <p>improve discussion of padding versus <tt>tparm</tt>
904 and <tt>tputs</tt> in <a href=
905 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_terminfo.3x.html#h3-Formatting-Output">
906 man/curs_terminfo.3x</a></p>
910 <p>add a note in manual page to explain <a href=
911 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_getch.3x.html#h3-Ungetting-characters">
912 ungetch</a> vs <a href=
913 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_get_wch.3x.html#h3-unget_wch">unget_wch</a>.</p>
917 <p>improve description of error-returns in <a href=
918 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_addch.3x.html#h2-RETURN-VALUE">waddch</a>
920 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_addstr.3x.html#h2-RETURN-VALUE">waddnstr</a>
927 <p>There are no new manual pages (all of the manual page updates
928 are to existing pages).</p>
930 <p>Some of the improvements are more subtle, relating to the way
931 the information is presented. For instance, hyphenation is
932 suppressed in the HTML files generated from manual pages because
933 an upgrade to <em>groff</em> gave noticeably poorer results,
934 interfering with the process of creating links between the
935 resulting webpages.</p>
937 <h3><a name="h3-bug-fixes" id="h3-bug-fixes">Interesting
940 <p>While there were many bugs fixed during development of ncurses
941 6.3, only a few (the reason for this release) were both important
942 and interesting. Most of the bug-fixes were for local issues
943 which did not affect compatibility across releases. Since those
944 are detailed in the <a href=
945 "@HOMEPAGE@/NEWS.html#t20211018">NEWS</a> file no elaboration is
948 <p>The interesting bugs were:</p>
953 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_bkgd.3x.html#h3-bkgd">wbkgd</a> and
955 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_bkgrnd.3x.html#h3-bkgrnd">wbkgrnd</a> to
956 avoid storing a null in the background character, because it
957 may be used in cases where the corresponding 0x80 is not
958 treated as a null.</p>
960 <p>This was a regression introduced in ncurses 6.2 (<a href=
961 "https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-ncurses/2020-03/msg00000.html">reported</a>
962 on the mailing list), for which the workaround was to specify
963 a blank for the background character.</p>
967 <p>remove output-related checks for <a href=
968 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_outopts.3x.html">nl/nonl</a> (also
970 "https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-ncurses/2020-09/msg00018.html">
971 reported</a> on the mailing list).</p>
975 <p>improve tparm implementation of <tt>%P</tt> and
976 <tt>%g</tt>, more closely matching SVr4 terminfo. Those
977 denote <em>static</em> and <em>dynamic</em> variables in
978 terminfo expressions.</p>
980 <p>Exactly what those terms meant was never documented before
981 in any implementation of curses, aside from source code.
982 Unlike the other two fixes, the problem was discovered while
983 studying OpenBSD's version of <a href=
984 "@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses-openbsd.html#issue_tput">tset</a>.</p>
988 <h3><a name="h3-config-config" id=
989 "h3-config-config">Configuration changes</a></h3>
991 <h4><a name="h4-config-major" id="h4-config-major">Major
994 <p>There are no major changes. Several new options were added to
995 ease integration of packages with systems using different
996 versions of <em>GNAT</em> and <em>ncurses</em>. Also,
997 improvements were made to configure checks.</p>
999 <h4><a name="h4-config-options" id=
1000 "h4-config-options">Configuration options</a></h4>
1002 <p>There are a few new/modified configure options:</p>
1005 <dt><tt>--enable-fvisibility</tt>
1009 <p>new configure option and check for <em>gcc</em>
1010 <tt>-fvisibility=hidden</tt> feature</p>
1013 <dt><tt>--enable-leaks</tt>
1017 <p>corrected to allow turning leak-checking off later in a
1021 <dt><tt>--enable-stdnoreturn</tt>
1025 <p>new configure option makes the <code>_Noreturn</code>
1026 keyword optional to ease transition.</p>
1029 <dt><tt>--disable-pkg-ldflags</tt>
1033 <p>revised option also controls whether <code>$LDFLAGS</code>
1034 from the build is provided in “<tt>-config</tt>”
1035 and “<tt>.pc</tt>” files.</p>
1038 <dt><tt>--disable-root-access</tt>
1042 <p>add configure option which tells ncurses to disallow most
1043 file-opens by setuid processes.</p>
1046 <dt><tt>--disable-wattr-macros</tt>
1050 <p>changed default to help packagers who reuse wide ncursesw
1051 header file with non-wide ncurses library.</p>
1054 <dt><tt>--with-pkg-config-libdir</tt>
1058 <p>revised option uses the actual search path from
1059 <em>pkg-config</em> or <em>pkgconf</em> using the output from
1060 <tt>--debug</tt>.</p>
1063 <dt><tt>--with-ada-libname</tt><br>
1064 <tt>--with-form-libname</tt><br>
1065 <tt>--with-menu-libname</tt><br>
1066 <tt>--with-panel-libname</tt>
1070 <p>new several <tt>--with-<em>xxx</em>-libname</tt> options,
1071 to help with pkgsrc</p>
1075 <h3><a name="h3-portability" id="h3-portability">Portability</a></h3>
1077 <p>Many of the portability changes are implemented via the
1078 configure script:</p>
1082 <p>add a special case in the configure script to work around
1083 one of the build-time breakages reported for <a href=
1084 "@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses-openbsd.html">OpenBSD 6</a> here:</p>
1088 "https://www.mail-archive.com/bugs@openbsd.org/msg13200.html">
1089 https://www.mail-archive.com/bugs@openbsd.org/msg13200.html</a></p>
1094 <p>modify configure check for <em>libtool</em> to prevent
1095 accidental use of an OpenBSD program which uses the same
1100 <p>modify configuration checks for build-time tic/infocmp to
1101 use <em>AC_CHECK_TOOL</em>. That can still be overridden by
1102 <tt>--with-tic-path</tt> and <tt>--with-infocmp-path</tt>
1103 when fallbacks are used, but even if not using fallbacks, the
1104 improved check may help with cross-compiling.</p>
1108 <p>relax modification-time comparison in
1109 <em>CF_LINK_FUNCS</em> to allow it to accept link() function
1110 with NFS filesystems which change the mtime on the link
1111 target, e.g., several BSD systems.</p>
1115 <p>modify configure check for c89/c99 aliases of
1116 <em>clang</em> to use its <tt>-std</tt> option instead,
1117 because some platforms, in particular macOS, do not provide
1118 workable c89/c99 aliases.</p>
1122 <p>modify <em>CF_NCURSES_CONFIG</em> to work around
1123 <em>Xcode</em>'s c99 "-W" option, which conflicts with
1124 conventional use for passing linker options.</p>
1128 <p>modify configure scripts to filter out redefinitions of
1129 _XOPEN_SOURCE, e.g., for NetBSD which generally supports 500,
1130 but 600 is needed for ncursesw.</p>
1134 <p>Here are some of the other portability fixes:</p>
1138 <p>change configure-check and source-code for gcc's noreturn
1139 attribute to assume it is a prefix rather than suffix,
1140 matching c11's _Noreturn convention.</p>
1144 <p>modify mk-1st.awk to account for extra-suffix configure
1149 <p>build-fix for termsort module when configured with
1154 <p>modify configure script and makefiles to support ".PHONY"
1155 make program feature.</p>
1159 <p>amend <em>libtool</em> configuration to add dependency for
1160 install.tic, etc., in ncurses/Makefile on the lower-level
1165 <p>modify Ada95 source-generation utility to write to a file
1166 given as parameter rather than to the standard output,
1167 allowing builds with MinGW.</p>
1171 <p>amend tic/infocmp check to allow for the respective tool's
1176 <p>build-fixes for gnat 10.1.1, whose gnatmake drops
1177 integration with gprbuild.</p>
1181 <p>correct configure version-check/warning for g++ to allow
1188 <h2><a name="h2-features" id="h2-features">Features of
1189 <span class="main-name">ncurses</span></a></h2>
1191 <p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> package is fully
1192 upward-compatible with SVr4 (System V Release 4) curses:</p>
1196 <p>All of the SVr4 calls have been implemented (and are
1201 <p><span class="main-name">ncurses</span> supports all of the
1202 for SVr4 curses features including keyboard mapping, color,
1203 forms-drawing with ACS characters, and automatic recognition
1204 of keypad and function keys.</p>
1208 <p><span class="main-name">ncurses</span> provides these SVr4
1209 add-on libraries (not part of X/Open Curses):</p>
1213 <p>the panels library, supporting a stack of windows with
1218 <p>the menus library, supporting a uniform but flexible
1219 interface for menu programming.</p>
1223 <p>the form library, supporting data collection through
1224 on-screen forms.</p>
1230 <p><span class="main-name">ncurses</span>'s terminal database
1231 is fully compatible with that used by SVr4 curses.</p>
1235 <p><span class="main-name">ncurses</span> supports
1236 user-defined capabilities which it can see, but which are
1237 hidden from SVr4 curses applications using the
1238 <em>same</em> terminal database.</p>
1242 <p>It can be optionally configured to match the format
1243 used in related systems such as AIX and Tru64.</p>
1247 <p>Alternatively, <span class="main-name">ncurses</span>
1248 can be configured to use hashed databases rather than the
1249 directory of files used by SVr4 curses.</p>
1255 <p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> utilities have
1256 options to allow you to filter terminfo entries for use with
1257 less capable <em>curses</em>/<em>terminfo</em> versions such
1258 as the HP-UX and AIX ports.</p>
1262 <p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> package also has
1263 many useful extensions over SVr4:</p>
1267 <p>The API is 8-bit clean and base-level conformant with the
1268 X/OPEN curses specification, XSI curses (that is, it
1269 implements all <em>BASE</em> level features, and most
1270 <em>EXTENDED</em> features). It includes many function calls
1271 not supported under SVr4 curses (but portability of all calls
1272 is documented so you can use the SVr4 subset only).</p>
1276 <p>Unlike SVr3 curses, <span class="main-name">ncurses</span>
1277 can write to the rightmost-bottommost corner of the screen if
1278 your terminal has an insert-character capability.</p>
1282 <p>Ada95 and C++ bindings.</p>
1286 <p>Support for mouse event reporting with X Window xterm and
1287 FreeBSD and OS/2 console windows.</p>
1291 <p>Extended mouse support via Alessandro Rubini's gpm
1296 <p>The function <code>wresize</code> allows you to resize
1297 windows, preserving their data.</p>
1301 <p>The function <code>use_default_colors</code> allows you to
1302 use the terminal's default colors for the default color pair,
1303 achieving the effect of transparent colors.</p>
1307 <p>The functions <code>keyok</code> and
1308 <code>define_key</code> allow you to better control the use
1309 of function keys, e.g., disabling the <span class=
1310 "main-name">ncurses</span> KEY_MOUSE, or by defining more
1311 than one control sequence to map to a given key code.</p>
1315 <p>Support for direct-color terminals, such as modern
1320 <p>Support for 256-color terminals, such as modern xterm.</p>
1324 <p>Support for 16-color terminals, such as <em>aixterm</em>
1325 and <em>modern xterm</em>.</p>
1329 <p>Better cursor-movement optimization. The package now
1330 features a cursor-local-movement computation more efficient
1331 than either BSD's or System V's.</p>
1335 <p>Super hardware scrolling support. The screen-update code
1336 incorporates a novel, simple, and cheap algorithm that
1337 enables it to make optimal use of hardware scrolling,
1338 line-insertion, and line-deletion for screen-line movements.
1339 This algorithm is more powerful than the 4.4BSD curses
1340 <code>quickch</code> routine.</p>
1344 <p>Real support for terminals with the magic-cookie glitch.
1345 The screen-update code will refrain from drawing a highlight
1346 if the magic- cookie unattributed spaces required just before
1347 the beginning and after the end would step on a non-space
1348 character. It will automatically shift highlight boundaries
1349 when doing so would make it possible to draw the highlight
1350 without changing the visual appearance of the screen.</p>
1354 <p>It is possible to generate the library with a list of
1355 pre-loaded fallback entries linked to it so that it can serve
1356 those terminal types even when no terminfo tree or termcap
1357 file is accessible (this may be useful for support of
1358 screen-oriented programs that must run in single-user
1363 <p>The <a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/tic.1m.html"><span class=
1364 "part-name">tic</span></a>/<a href=
1365 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/captoinfo.1m.html">captoinfo</a> utility
1366 provided with <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> has the
1367 ability to translate many termcaps from the XENIX, IBM and
1368 AT&T extension sets.</p>
1372 <p>A BSD-like <a href=
1373 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/tset.1.html"><span class=
1374 "part-name">tset</span></a> utility is provided.</p>
1378 <p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> library and
1379 utilities will automatically read terminfo entries from
1380 $HOME/.terminfo if it exists, and compile to that directory
1381 if it exists and the user has no write access to the system
1382 directory. This feature makes it easier for users to have
1383 personal terminfo entries without giving up access to the
1384 system terminfo directory.</p>
1388 <p>You may specify a path of directories to search for
1389 compiled descriptions with the environment variable
1390 TERMINFO_DIRS (this generalizes the feature provided by
1391 TERMINFO under stock System V.)</p>
1395 <p>In terminfo source files, use capabilities may refer not
1396 just to other entries in the same source file (as in System
1397 V) but also to compiled entries in either the system terminfo
1398 directory or the user's $HOME/.terminfo directory.</p>
1402 <p>The table-of-entries utility <a href=
1403 "@HOMEPAGE@/man/toe.1m.html"><span class=
1404 "part-name">toe</span></a> makes it easy for users to see
1405 exactly what terminal types are available on the system.</p>
1409 <p>The library meets the XSI requirement that every macro
1410 entry point has a corresponding function which may be linked
1411 (and will be prototype-checked) if the macro definition is
1412 disabled with <code>#undef</code>.</p>
1416 <p>Extensive documentation is provided (see the <em><a href=
1417 "@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses.faq.html#additional_reading">Additional
1418 Reading</a></em> section of the <em><a href=
1419 "@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses.faq.html"><span class=
1420 "main-name">ncurses</span> FAQ</a></em> for online
1425 <h2><a name="h2-who-uses" id="h2-who-uses">Applications using
1426 <span class="main-name">ncurses</span></a></h2>
1428 <p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> distribution
1429 includes a selection of test programs (including a few games).
1430 These are available separately as <a href=
1431 "@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses-examples.html">ncurses-examples</a></p>
1433 <p>The ncurses library has been tested with a wide variety of
1434 applications including:</p>
1438 <dt><span class="part-name">aptitude</span>
1442 <p>FrontEnd to Apt, the debian package manager</p>
1445 "https://wiki.debian.org/Aptitude">https://wiki.debian.org/Aptitude</a></p>
1448 <dt><span class="part-name">cdk</span>
1452 <p>Curses Development Kit</p>
1454 <p><a href="@WEBSITE@/cdk/">@WEBSITE@/cdk/</a><br>
1458 <dt><span class="part-name">ded</span>
1462 <p>directory-editor</p>
1464 <p><a href="@WEBSITE@/ded/">@WEBSITE@/ded/</a></p>
1467 <dt><span class="part-name">dialog</span>
1471 <p>the underlying application used in Slackware's setup,
1472 and the basis for similar install/configure applications on
1475 <p><a href="@WEBSITE@/dialog/">@WEBSITE@/dialog/</a></p>
1478 <dt><span class="part-name">lynx</span>
1482 <p>the text WWW browser</p>
1485 "https://lynx.invisible-island.net/">https://lynx.invisible-island.net/</a></p>
1488 <dt><span class="part-name">mutt</span>
1494 <p><a href="http://www.mutt.org/">http://www.mutt.org/</a></p>
1497 <dt><span class="part-name">ncftp</span>
1501 <p>file-transfer utility</p>
1504 "https://www.ncftp.com/">https://www.ncftp.com/</a></p>
1507 <dt><span class="part-name">nvi</span>
1511 <p>New vi uses ncurses.</p>
1514 "https://sites.google.com/a/bostic.com/keithbostic/vi">https://sites.google.com/a/bostic.com/keithbostic/vi</a><br>
1519 <dt><span class="part-name">ranger</span>
1523 <p>A console file manager with VI key bindings in
1524 <em>Python</em>.</p>
1527 "https://ranger.github.io/">https://ranger.github.io/</a></p>
1530 <dt><span class="part-name">tin</span>
1534 <p>newsreader, supporting color, MIME</p>
1536 <p><a href="http://www.tin.org/">http://www.tin.org/</a></p>
1539 <dt><span class="part-name">vifm</span>
1543 <p>File manager with vi like keybindings</p>
1545 <p><a href="https://vifm.info/">https://vifm.info/</a></p>
1550 <p>as well as some that use <span class=
1551 "main-name">ncurses</span> for the terminfo support alone:</p>
1555 <dt><span class="part-name">minicom</span>
1559 <p>terminal emulator for serial modem connections</p>
1562 "https://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/">https://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/</a></p>
1565 <dt><span class="part-name">mosh</span>
1569 <p>a replacement for <code>ssh</code>.</p>
1571 <p><a href="https://mosh.org/">https://mosh.org/</a></p>
1574 <dt><span class="part-name">tack</span>
1578 <p>terminfo action checker</p>
1580 <p><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/tack.html">@HOMEPAGE@/tack.html</a></p>
1583 <dt><span class="part-name">tmux</span>
1587 <p>terminal multiplexor</p>
1590 "https://github.com/tmux/tmux/wiki">https://github.com/tmux/tmux/wiki</a></p>
1593 <dt><span class="part-name">vile</span>
1597 <p><em>vi-like-emacs</em> may be built to use the terminfo,
1598 termcap or curses interfaces.</p>
1600 <p><a href="@WEBSITE@/vile/">@WEBSITE@/vile/</a></p>
1605 <p>and finally, those which use only the termcap interface:</p>
1609 <dt><span class="part-name">emacs</span>
1616 "https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/">https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/</a></p>
1619 <dt><span class="part-name">less</span>
1623 <p>The most commonly used <em>pager</em> (a program that
1624 displays text files).</p>
1627 "http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less/">http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less/</a></p>
1630 <dt><span class="part-name">screen</span>
1634 <p>terminal multiplexor</p>
1637 "https://www.gnu.org/software/screen/">https://www.gnu.org/software/screen/</a></p>
1640 <dt><span class="part-name">vim</span>
1646 <p><a href="https://www.vim.org/">https://www.vim.org/</a></p>
1651 <h2><a name="h2-development" id="h2-development">Development
1654 <p>Zeyd Ben-Halim started <span class="main-name">ncurses</span>
1655 from a previous package pcurses, written by Pavel Curtis. Eric S.
1656 Raymond continued development. Jürgen Pfeifer wrote most of
1657 the form and menu libraries.</p>
1659 <p>Ongoing development work is done by <a href=
1660 "mailto:dickey@invisible-island.net">Thomas E. Dickey</a>. Thomas
1661 E. Dickey has acted as the maintainer for the Free Software
1662 Foundation, which held a <a href=
1663 "@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses-license.html">copyright on ncurses</a> for
1664 releases 4.2 through 6.1. Following the release of ncurses 6.1,
1665 effective as of release 6.2, copyright for ncurses reverted to
1666 Thomas E. Dickey (see the <a href=
1667 "@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses.faq.html#relicensed">ncurses FAQ</a> for
1668 additional information).</p>
1670 <p>Contact the current maintainers at</p>
1673 <a href="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">bug-ncurses@gnu.org</a>
1676 <p>To join the ncurses mailing list, please write email to</p>
1680 "mailto:bug-ncurses-request@gnu.org">bug-ncurses-request@gnu.org</a>
1682 containing the line:
1684 <p><code>subscribe</code>
1685 <em><name>@<host.domain></em></p>
1688 <p>This list is open to anyone interested in helping with the
1689 development and testing of this package.</p>
1691 <p>Beta versions of <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> are
1692 made available at</p>
1696 "ftp://ftp.invisible-island.net/ncurses/current/">ftp://ftp.invisible-island.net/ncurses/current/</a>
1699 "https://invisible-mirror.net/archives/ncurses/current/">https://invisible-mirror.net/archives/ncurses/current/</a> .</p>
1702 <p>Patches to the current release are made available at</p>
1706 "ftp://ftp.invisible-island.net/ncurses/6.2/">ftp://ftp.invisible-island.net/ncurses/6.2/</a>
1709 "https://invisible-mirror.net/archives/ncurses/6.2/">https://invisible-mirror.net/archives/ncurses/6.2/</a> .</p>
1712 <p>There is an archive of the mailing list here:</p>
1716 "http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-ncurses">http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-ncurses</a>
1718 "https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-ncurses">https</a>)</p>
1721 <h2><a name="h2-this-stuff" id="h2-this-stuff">Related
1724 <p>The release notes make scattered references to these pages,
1725 which may be interesting by themselves:</p>
1728 <li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses-license.html"><span class=
1729 "main-name">ncurses</span> licensing</a></li>
1731 <li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses-mapsyms.html">Symbol versioning
1732 in <span class="main-name">ncurses</span></a></li>
1734 <li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses-slang.html">Comments on
1735 <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> versus <span class=
1736 "main-name">slang</span> (S-Lang)</a></li>
1738 <li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses-openbsd.html">Comments on
1739 <span class="main-name">OpenBSD</span></a></li>
1741 <li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/tack.html">tack – terminfo action
1744 <li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/tctest.html">tctest – termcap
1745 library checker</a></li>
1748 "@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses.html#download_database">Terminal
1752 <h2><a name="h2-other-stuff" id="h2-other-stuff">Other
1755 <p>The distribution provides a newer version of the
1756 terminfo-format terminal description file once maintained by
1757 <a href="http://www.catb.org/~esr/terminfo/">Eric
1758 Raymond</a> . Unlike the older version, the termcap and
1759 terminfo data are provided in the same file, which also provides
1760 several user-definable extensions beyond the X/Open
1763 <p>You can find lots of information on terminal-related topics
1764 not covered in the terminfo file at <a href=
1765 "http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal">
1766 Richard Shuford's archive</a> . The collection of computer
1768 "http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/">bitsavers.org</a> has also been
1773 <li><a href="#h2-overview">Overview</a></li>
1776 <a href="#h2-release-notes">Release Notes</a>
1779 <a href="#h3-library">Library improvements</a>
1781 <li><a href="#h4-new-library">New features</a></li>
1783 <li><a href="#h4-fixes-library">Other
1784 improvements</a></li>
1789 <a href="#h3-programs">Program improvements</a>
1791 <li><a href="#h4-utilities">Utilities</a></li>
1793 <li><a href="#h4-examples">Examples</a></li>
1797 <li><a href="#h3-database">Terminal database</a></li>
1799 <li><a href="#h3-documentation">Documentation</a></li>
1801 <li><a href="#h3-bug-fixes">Interesting bug-fixes</a></li>
1804 <a href="#h3-config-config">Configuration changes</a>
1806 <li><a href="#h4-config-major">Major changes</a></li>
1808 <li><a href="#h4-config-options">Configuration
1813 <li><a href="#h3-portability">Portability</a></li>
1817 <li><a href="#h2-features">Features of <span class=
1818 "main-name">ncurses</span></a></li>
1820 <li><a href="#h2-who-uses">Applications using <span class=
1821 "main-name">ncurses</span></a></li>
1823 <li><a href="#h2-development">Development activities</a></li>
1825 <li><a href="#h2-this-stuff">Related resources</a></li>
1827 <li><a href="#h2-other-stuff">Other resources</a></li>