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<HTML>
<HEAD>
-<TITLE>Announcing ncurses 5.4</TITLE>
+<TITLE>Announcing ncurses 5.6</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 5.4</H1>
+<H1>Announcing ncurses 5.6</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,
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 is encouraging the keepers of
-Unix releases such as BSD/OS, freeBSD and netBSD to switch over to
+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.
<H1>Release Notes</H1>
-This release is designed to be upward compatible from ncurses 5.0 and 5.3;
+This release is designed to be upward compatible from ncurses 5.0 through 5.5;
very few applications will require recompilation, depending on the platform.
-These are the highlights from the change-log since ncurses 5.3 release.
+These are the highlights from the change-log since ncurses 5.5 release.
<p>
Interface changes:
<ul>
- <li>add the remaining functions for X/Open curses wide-character
- support.
- <ul>
- <li>pecho_wchar()
- <li>slk_wset()
- </ul>
- These are only available if the library is configured using the
- <kbd>--enable-widec</kbd> option.
-
- <li>write <code>getyx()</code> and related 2-return macros in terms of
- <code>getcury()</code>,
- <code>getcurx()</code>, etc.
-
- <li>simplify ifdef for <code>bool</code> declaration in curses.h
-
- <li>modify ifdef's in curses.h that disabled use of
- <code>__attribute__()</code> for g++, since recent versions
- implement the cases which ncurses uses.
-
- <li>add <code>key_defined()</code> function, to tell which keycode a
- string is bound to.
+ <li>generate linkable stubs for some macros:
+ <br>
+ getbegx, getbegy, getcurx, getcury, getmaxx, getmaxy, getparx,
+ getpary, getpary,
+ <br>
+ and (for libncursesw)
+ <br>
+ wgetbkgrnd
+
</ul>
New features and improvements:
<ul>
<li>library
- <ul>
- <li>implement logic in lib_mouse.c to handle position reports which
- are generated when XFree86 xterm is initialized with private
- modes 1002 or 1003. These are returned to the application as the
- REPORT_MOUSE_POSITION mask, which was not implemented.
- <li>modify soft-key initialization to use A_REVERSE if A_STANDOUT
- would not be shown when colors are used, i.e., if ncv#1 is set in
- the terminfo as is done in "screen".
- <li>add configure option for FreeBSD sysmouse, --with-sysmouse, and
- implement library support for that.
- </ul>
+ <ul>
+ <li>support hashed databases for the terminal descriptions.
+ This uses the Berkeley database, has been tested for
+ several versions on different platforms.
+
+ <li>add <code>use_legacy_coding()</code> function to support
+ lynx's font-switching feature.
+
+ <li>add extension <code>nofilter()</code>, to cancel a prior
+ <code>filter()</code> call.
+
+ <li>add/install a package config script, e.g.,
+ <code>ncurses5-config</code> or
+ <code>ncursesw5-config</code>, according to
+ configuration options.
+
+ <li>provide ifdef for <code>NCURSES_NOMACROS</code> which
+ suppresses most macro definitions from curses.h, i.e.,
+ where a macro is defined to override a function to improve
+ performance.
+
+ <li>make ifdef's consistent in <code>curses.h</code> for the
+ extended colors so the header file can be used for the
+ normal curses library. The header file installed for
+ extended colors is a variation of the wide-character
+ configuration.
+
+ <li>improve <code>tgetstr()</code> by making the return value
+ point into the user's buffer, if provided.
+
+ <li>add ifdef's allowing ncurses to be built with
+ <code>tparm()</code> using either varargs (the existing
+ status), or using a fixed-parameter list (to match X/Open).
+
+ <li>widen the test for xterm <code>kmous</code> a little to
+ <code>allow</code> for other
+ strings than "\E[M", e.g., for <code>xterm-sco</code>
+ functionality in xterm.
+
+ <li>modify <code>wgetnstr()</code> to return
+ <code>KEY_RESIZE</code> if a sigwinch occurs.
+
+ <li>move prototypes for wide-character trace functions from
+ curses.tail to curses.wide to avoid accidental reference to
+ those if <code>_XOPEN_SOURCE_EXTENDED</code> is defined
+ without ensuring that <wchar.h> is included.
+
+ <li>change the way shared libraries (other than libtool) are
+ installed. Rather than copying the build-tree's libraries,
+ link the shared objects into the install directory. This
+ makes the <code>--with-rpath</code> option work except with
+ <code>$(DESTDIR)</code>.
+
+ <li>several improvements for rendering in hpterm. These are
+ only available if the library is configured using
+ <code>--enable-xmc-glitch</code>.
+
+ <li>Add <code>NCURSES_NO_HARD_TABS</code> and
+ <code>NCURSES_NO_MAGIC_COOKIE</code> environment variables
+ to allow runtime suppression of the related hard-tabs and
+ xmc-glitch features.
+ </ul>
<li>programs:
-
- <ul>
- <li>tack:
-
- <ul>
- <li>allow it to run from fallback terminfo data.
- <li>reset colors after each color test, correct a place
- where <code>exit_standout_mode</code> was used instead of
- <code>exit_attribute_mode</code>.
- <li>improve <code>bce</code> test by making it set colors other
- than black on white.
- </ul>
-
- <li>tic:
-
- <ul>
- <li>handle a case where an entry has no
- description, and capabilities begin on the same line as the entry
- name.
- <li>allow a terminfo entry with a leading 2-character name.
- <li>improved warnings when suppressing items to fit in termcap's
- 1023-byte limit.
- <li>add check for multiple "tc=" clauses in a termcap.
- <li>correct logic for resolving "use=" clauses
- allow infocmp and tic to show cancelled capabilities.
- <li>check for incomplete line-drawing character mapping.
- <li>check for missing/empty/illegal terminfo name.
- </ul>
-
- <li>tput:
- <ul>
- <li>modify tput to use the same parameter analysis as tparm() does,
- to provide for user-defined strings, e.g., for xterm title, a
- corresponding capability might be
- title=\E]2;%p1%s^G,
- </ul>
-
- <li>tset:
-
- <ul>
- <li>use the system's default values for CKILL and other default
- control characters.
- <li>correct interchanged defaults for kill and interrupt
- characters, which caused it to report unnecessarily.
- </ul>
-
- </ul>
+ <ul>
+ <li>add new test programs: chgat.c, demo_altkeys.c,
+ echochar.c, foldkeys.c, movewindow.c, redraw.c, (noting
+ that existing test programs also were modified to test
+ additional features).
+
+ <li>modify tack to test extended capability function-key
+ strings.
+
+ <li>modify toe to access termcap data, e.g., via <code>cgetent()</code>
+ functions, or as a text file if those are not available.
+
+ <li>improve infocmp/tic <code>-f</code> option formatting.
+
+ <li>add <code>toe -a</code> option, to show all databases.
+ This uses new private interfaces in the ncurses library for
+ iterating through the list of databases.
+
+ <li>modify <code>MKfallback.sh</code> to use
+ <code>tic -x</code> when constructing fallback tables to
+ allow extended capabilities to be retrieved from a fallback entry.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>terminal database
+ <ul>
+ <li>add terminfo entries for xfce terminal (xfce) and multi gnome terminal (mgt)
+ <li>add nsterm-16color entry
+ <li>updated mlterm terminfo entry
+ <li>add kon, kon2 and jfbterm terminfo entry
+ <li>remove invis capability from klone+sgr, mainly used by linux entry, since it does not really do this
+ <li>add ka2, kb1, kb3, kc2 to vt220-keypad as an extension
+ <li>add shifted up/down arrow codes to xterm-new as kind/kri strings
+ <li>add hpterm-color terminfo entry
+ <li>add 256color variants of terminfo entries for programs which are reported to implement this feature
+ <li>correct order of use-clauses in rxvt-basic entry which made codes for f1-f4 vt100-style rather than vt220-style.
+ </ul>
</ul>
Major bug fixes:
<ul>
- <li>prevent recursion in wgetch() via wgetnstr() if the connection
- cannot be switched between cooked/raw modes because it is not a TTY.
+ <li>correct a typo in configure <code>--with-bool</code> option for the
+ case where <code>--without-cxx</code> is used.
- <li>correct a case in _nc_remove_string(), used by
- <code>define_key()</code>, to avoid infinite loop if the given string
- happens to be a substring of other strings which are assigned to keys.
+ <li>move assignment from environment variable <code>ESCDELAY</code>
+ from <code>initscr()</code> down to <code>newterm()</code> so the
+ environment variable affects timeouts for terminals opened with
+ newterm() as well.
- <li>modify logic of acsc to use the original character if no mapping is
- defined, rather than a null.
+ <li>modify <code>werase</code> to clear multicolumn characters that
+ extend into a derived window.
- <li>several improvements for handling multi-cell display of wide
- characters.
- <ul>
- <li>modify setcchar() to allow converting control characters to complex
- characters.
- <li>correct handling of multibyte characters in waddch_literal() which
- force wrapping because they are started too late on the line.
- <li>modify setcchar() to allow for wchar_t input strings that have
- more than one spacing character.
- </ul>
-
- <li>other fixes for wide-character support:
- <ul>
- <li>rewrote lib_acs.c to allow PutAttrChar() to decide how to render
- alternate-characters, i.e., to work with Linux console and UTF-8
- locale.
- <li>implement a workaround so that line-drawing works with screen's
- crippled UTF-8 support (tested with 3.9.13). This only works with
- the wide-character support (--enable-widec); the normal library
- will simply suppress line-drawing when running in a UTF-8 locale in
- screen.
- <li>corrections to lib_get_wstr.c:
- <ul>
- <li>null-terminate buffer passed to setcchar(), which occasionally
- failed.
- <li>map special characters such as erase- and kill-characters into
- key-codes so those will work as expected even if they are not
- mentioned in the terminfo.
- </ul>
- </ul>
-
- <li>modify <code>setupterm()</code> to check if the terminfo and
- terminal-modes have already been read. This ensures that it does not
- reinvoke <code>def_prog_mode()</code> when an application calls more
- than one function, such as <code>tgetent()</code> and
- <code>initscr()</code>.
-
- <li>fix form_driver() cases for REQ_CLR_EOF, REQ_CLR_EOL, REQ_DEL_CHAR,
- REQ_DEL_PREV and REQ_NEW_LINE, which did not ensure the cursor was at
- the editing position before making modifications.
-
- <li>correct <code>keybound()</code>, which reported definitions in the
- wrong table, i.e., the list of definitions which are disabled by
- <code>keyok()</code>.
-
- <li>fixes related to safe_sprintf.c:
- <ul>
- <li>correct an allocation size in safe_sprintf.c for the "*" format
- code.
- <li>correct safe_sprintf.c to not return a null pointer if the format
- happens to be an empty string.
- <li>make return value from _nc_printf_string() consistent. Before,
- depending on whether --enable-safe-sprintf was used, it might not
- be cached for reallocating.
- </ul>
-
- <li>other low-level improvements to the optimization code include:
- <ul>
- <li>if the output is a socket or other non-tty device, use 1
- millisecond
- for the cost in mvcur; previously it was 9 milliseconds because the
- baudrate was not known.
- <li>modify lib_getch.c to avoid recursion via wgetnstr() when the
- input
- is not a tty and consequently mode-changes do not work.
- <li>fix several places in tack/pad.c which tested and used the
- parameter- and parameterless strings inconsistently.
- <li>change several tputs() calls in scrolling code to use putp(), to
- enable padding which may be needed for some terminals.
- <li>improve mvcur() by checking if it is safe to move when video
- attributes are set (msgr), and if not, reset/restore attributes
- within that function rather than doing it separately in the GoTo()
- function in tty_update.c.
- <li>use tputs() rather than putp() in a few cases in tty_update.c
- since the corresponding delays are proportional to the number of
- lines affected: repeat_char, clr_eos, change_scroll_region.
- </ul>
-
- <li>correct line/column reference in adjust_window(), needed to make
- special windows such as curscr track properly when resizing.
-
- <li>fix a potential recursion between napms() and _nc_timed_wait()
-
- <li>rewrote lib_insch.c, combining it with lib_insstr.c so both handle
- tab and other control characters consistently.
-
- <li>do not try to open gpm mouse driver if standard output is not a
- tty; the gpm library does not make this check.
+ <li>modify <code>wchgat()</code> to mark updated cells as changed so a
+ refresh will repaint those cells.
+
+ <li>correct logic in <code>wadd_wch()</code> and
+ <code>wecho_wch()</code>, which did not guard against passing the
+ multi-column attribute into a call on <code>waddch()</code>, e.g.,
+ using data returned by <code>win_wch()</code>
+
+ <li>fix redrawing of windows other than <code>stdscr</code> using
+ <code>wredrawln()</code> by touching the corresponding rows in
+ <code>curscr</code>.
+
+ <li>reduce memory leaks in repeated calls to <code>tgetent()</code> by
+ remembering the last <code>TERMINAL*</code> value allocated to hold
+ the corresponding data and freeing that if the
+ <code>tgetent()</code> result buffer is the same as the previous
+ call.
+
+ <li>modify <code>read_termtype()</code> so the <code>term_names</code>
+ data is always allocated as part of the <code>str_table</code>, a
+ better fix for a memory leak.
+
+ <li>fix <code>wins_nwstr(),</code> which did not handle single-column
+ non-8bit codes.
+
+ <li>modify <code>wbkgrnd()</code> to avoid clearing the
+ <code>A_CHARTEXT</code> attribute bits since those record the state
+ of multicolumn characters.
+
+ <li>improve <code>SIGWINCH</code> handling by postponing its effect
+ during <code>newterm()</code>, etc., when allocating screens.
+
+ <li>remove 970913 feature for copying subwindows as they are moved in
+ <code>mvwin()</code>.
+
+ <li>add checks in <code>waddchnstr()</code> and
+ <code>wadd_wchnstr()</code> to stop copying when a null character
+ is found.
+
+ <li>add some checks to ensure current position is within scrolling
+ region before scrolling on a new line.
+
+ <li>add a workaround to ACS mapping to allow applications such as
+ test/blue.c to use the "PC ROM" characters by masking them with
+ A_ALTCHARSET. This worked up til 5.5, but was lost in the revision
+ of legacy coding.
</ul>
Portability:
<ul>
<li>new options:
<dl>
- <dt>--with-abi-version option.
- <dd>addresses platforms where packagers have diverged from
- ncurses ABI numbering.
- <dt>--with-manpage-format=catonly
- <dd>addresses
- behavior of BSDI, allow install of man+cat files on NetBSD,
- whose behavior has diverged by requiring both to be present.
- <dt>--with-manpage-aliases
- <dd>extends
- "--with-manpage-aliases" to provide the option of generating
- ".so" files rather than symbolic links for manpage aliases.
- <dt>--with-rel-version
- <dd>workaround to force
- libtool on Darwin generate the "same" library names as with
- the "--with-shared" option. The Darwin ld program does not
- work well with a zero as the minor-version value.
- <dt>--with-trace
- <dd>simplifies defining TRACE to incorporate trace() in libraries.
+
+ <dt>--with-hashed-db
+ <dd>Use Berkeley hashed database for storing terminfo data rather than storing
+ each compiled entry in a separate binary file within a directory
+ tree.
+
+ <dt>--without-dlsym
+ <dd>Do not use <code>dlsym()</code> to load GPM dynamically.
+
+ <dt>--with-valgrind
+ <dd>Simplify building for testing with valgrind.
+
+ <dt>--enable-wgetch-events
+ <dd>Compile with experimental wgetch-events code.
+
+ <dt>--enable-signed-char
+ <dd>Store booleans in "signed char" rather than "char".
+
</dl>
-
- <li>fixes/improvements for cross-compiling:
-
- <ul>
- <li>allow BUILD_CC and related configure script variables to be
- overridden from the environment.
- <li>use AC_CHECK_TOOL to get proper values for AR and LD for cross
- compiling.
- <li>use <code>$cross_compiling</code> variable in configure script
- rather than comparing <code>$host_alias</code> and
- <code>$target</code> alias, since "host" is traditionally misused
- in autoconf to refer to the target platform.
- <li>modify run_tic.in to avoid using wrong shared libraries when
- cross-compiling.
- </ul>
-
- <li>fixes for Mac OS X:
- <ul>
- <li>fix a redefinition of <code>$RANLIB</code> in the configure
- script when libtool is used.
- <li>modify MKlib_gen.sh to avoid passing "#" tokens through the C
- preprocessor. This works around Mac OS X's preprocessor, which
- insists on adding a blank on each side of the token.
- </ul>
-
- <li>workarounds for broken tools:
- <ul>
- <li>add configure check for wchar_t and wint_t types, rather than
- rely on preprocessor definitions. Also work around for gcc
- <code>fixinclude</code> bug which creates a shadow copy of
- curses.h if it sees these symbols apparently typedef'd.
- <li>modify configure script to omit -Winline for gcc 3.3, since
- that feature is broken.
- <li>several script fixes to work around the ironically named
- <em>POSIXLY_CORRECT</em> feature of GNU sed 4.0.
- <li>modify configure script to avoid using "head -1", which does
- not work if POSIXLY_CORRECT (sic) is set.
- <li>update configure script to reflect fix for
- AC_PROG_GCC_TRADITIONAL, which is broken in autoconf 2.5x for Mac
- OS X 10.2.3.
- <li>repair check for missing C++ compiler, which is broken in
- autoconf 2.5x by hardcoding it to g++.
- </ul>
-
- <li>corrected ifdef's relating to configure check for wchar_t, etc.
- <li>remove configure script check to allow -Wconversion for older
- versions of gcc
- <li>modify configure script to accommodate libtool 1.5, as well as
- add an parameter to the "--with-libtool" option which can specify
- the pathname of libtool.
- <li>change several sed scripts to avoid using "\+" since it is not a
- BRE (basic regular expression). One instance caused terminfo.5 to
- be misformatted on FreeBSD.
- <li>use '%' as sed substitute delimiter in run_tic script to avoid
- problems with pathname delimiters such as ':' and '@'.
- <li>add -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=500 if needed when configuring with
- "--enable-widec", to get <code>mbstate_t</code> declaration on HPUX
- 11.11.
- </ul>
-
- <li>library:
- <ul>
- <li>adjust include-options in CF_ETIP_DEFINES to avoid missing
- ncurses_dll.h, fixing special definitions that may be needed for
- etip.h.
- <li>modify CF_LIB_SUFFIX for Itanium releases of HP-UX, which use a
- ".so" suffix.
- <li>improve ifdef's to guard against redefinition of wchar_t and wint_t
- in curses.h.
- <li>remove an #undef for KEY_EVENT from curses.tail used in the
- experimental NCURSES_WGETCH_EVENTS feature. The #undef confuses
- Debian <code>dpkg</code>'s build script.
- </ul>
+
+ <li>improved options:
+ <dl>
+
+ <dt>--disable-largefile
+ <dd>make the option work both ways.
+
+ <dt>--with-gpm
+ <dd>The option now accepts a parameter,
+ i.e., the name of the dynamic GPM library to load via
+ <code>dlopen()</code>
+
+ <dt>--disable-symlinks
+ <dd>The option now allows one to
+ disable <code>symlink()</code> in <code>tic</code> even when
+ <code>link()</code> does not work.
+
+ </dl>
+
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>other configure/build issues: <ul> <li>remove special case for
+ Darwin in <code>CF_XOPEN_SOURCE</code> configure macro.
+
+ <li>add configure check to ensure that <code>SIGWINCH</code> is
+ defined on platforms such as OS X which exclude that when
+ <code>_XOPEN_SOURCE,</code> etc., are defined
+
+ <li>use ld's <code>-search_paths_first</code> option on Darwin
+ to work around odd search rules on that platform.
+
+ <li>improve ifdef's for <code>_POSIX_VDISABLE</code> in tset to
+ work with Mac OS X.
+
+ <li>modify configure script to ensure that if the C compiler is
+ used rather than the loader in making shared libraries, the
+ <code>$(CFLAGS)</code> variable is also used.
+
+ <li>use <code>${CC}</code> rather than <code>${LD}</code> in
+ shared library rules for IRIX64, Solaris to help ensure
+ that initialization sections are provided for extra linkage
+ requirements, e.g., of C++ applications.
+
+ <li>improve some shared-library configure scripting for Linux,
+ FreeBSD and NetBSD to make
+ <code>--with-shlib-version</code> work.
+
+ <li>split up dependency of <code>names.c</code> and
+ <code>codes.c</code> in <code>ncurses/Makefile</code> to
+ work with parallel make.
+
+ <li>modify <code>MKlib_gen.sh</code> to change
+ preprocessor-expanded <code>_Bool</code> back to <code>bool</code>.
+
+ <li>modify <code>progs/Makefile.in</code> to make
+ <code>tput init</code> work properly with cygwin,
+ i.e., do not pass a <code>.exe</code> in the reference
+ string used in check_aliases.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>library:
+ <ul>
+ <li>ignore wide-acs line-drawing characters that
+ <code>wcwidth()</code> claims are not one-column. This is
+ a workaround for Solaris' broken locale support.
+
+ <li>reduce name-pollution in <code>term.h</code> by removing
+ <code>#define</code>'s for HAVE_xxx symbols.
+
+ <li>fix <code>#ifdef</code> in <code>c++/internal.h</code> for
+ QNX 6.1
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>test programs: <ul> <li>modify <code>test/configure</code> script
+ to allow building test programs with PDCurses/X11.
+
+ <li>modified test programs to allow some to work with NetBSD
+ curses. Several do not because NetBSD curses implements a
+ subset of X/Open curses, and also lacks much of SVr4
+ additions. But it is enough for comparison.
+
+ <li>improved <code>test/configure</code> to build test/ncurses
+ on HPUX 11 using the vendor curses.
+
+ <li>change configure script to produce
+ <code>test/Makefile</code> from data file.
+ </ul>
</ul>
<H1>Features of Ncurses</H1>
<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,
-but not all EXTENDED features). Most EXTENDED-level features not directly
-concerned with wide-character support are implemented, including many
-function calls not supported under SVr4 curses (but portability of all
+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 OS/2 console windows.
+<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.
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 16-color terminals, such as aixterm and XFree86 xterm.
+<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.
<DT> minicom
<DD> terminal emulator
<br>
-<A HREF="http://www.netsonic.fi/~walker/minicom.html">http://www.netsonic.fi/~walker/minicom.html</A>
+<A HREF="http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/">
+http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/</A>
<DT> vile
<DD> vi-like-emacs
<br>
<H2>Other Related Resources</H2>
The distribution provides a newer version of the terminfo-format
-terminal description file maintained by
+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.<P>
+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