1 -- $Id: TO-DO,v 1.41 2002/08/31 21:32:43 tom Exp $
3 SHORT-TERM TO-DO ITEMS:
7 * GNAT does not put libraries in the correct order, so a build only links
8 properly if you use shared libraries since -lncurses is first.
10 * The screen optimization has been tested only in an ad hoc manner. We should
11 develop a good set of regression tests to cover lib_doupdate.c and
14 * Magic cookie support does not work, since the logic does not take into account
15 refresh. Also, the initial optimize does not adjust the current location
16 when a cookie is emitted.
18 * Scrolling optimization has holes: for example, it forces repaints of the
19 screen between calls to refresh().
21 * SVr4 uses slightly different rules for determining when softkeys are shown.
22 For example, they are initially displayed (before the ncurses 'e' test
23 activates them), and a touchwin can apparently also force them to be
26 + The code departs from perfect 8-bit cleanness in one respect; you cannot
27 specify a character \200 as part of a capability string, because the terminfo
28 library interprets \200 as a request to embed NUL (\000) at that point. This
29 is a legacy terminfo property we can't mess with.
31 * The window classes defined in the c++ subdirectory need documentation.
32 Some C++ programmer could earn a lot of good karma by doing this...
34 * The resizeterm() function does not handle ripped-off lines such as that
35 done for the slk_XXX functions.
37 Portability (or lack thereof):
39 * Users of older System V UNIXes (but not Solaris, and probably not SVr4)
40 may trip over a known problem with the signal-handling code which causes
41 abrupt termination of ncurses applications following resume from a ^Z
42 suspend (this problem was first seen running lynx). You will not see
43 this problem if you are running Linux or one of the 4.4BSD derivatives
44 like FreeBSD, NetBSD, or BSDI. For details, see the analysis in the
45 header comment of ncurses/lib_tstp.c.
47 * In theory, vwprintw and vwscanf are supposed to use the older varargs.h
48 interface for handling variadic argument lists. Linux doesn't have
49 varargs.h, it has the newer X/Open-standard stdargs.h equivalent. So
50 these functions use stdargs instead. This is unlikely to be a problem
51 unless you're building ncurses on a System V old enough to only have
52 varargs.h. (Solaris 2.5.1 uses the stdarg.h binding as well).
54 * If you're using a BSD earlier than 4.4BSD, or a Linux old enough not to
55 have a native vsscanf(3) in its library, vwscanw() will not work. You lose.
56 (It should work on any System V, however). If you want to fix this, add
57 an implementation to ncurses/vsscanf.c.
59 * The demo build for the c++ library craps out with many link errors under gcc
60 2.6.3. We're told the C++ support in 2.6.3 is broken and that the right
61 fix is to upgrade to 2.7.0. This demo is also known to not build with
62 the Sun SPARCworks 4.1 C++ compiler, due to a problem resolving templates.
64 * Under Ultrix, configure craps out (Ultrix sh is lame). Run it under ksh.
66 * We've not tested the configure script with cross-compilers. The autoconf
67 tests are supposed to be able to support this (please report bugs). You will
68 have to configure and build in two steps. The first step must create the
69 automatically-generated sources (e.g., comp_captab.c) on your host machine.
70 Then, run "make mostlyclean", remove config.* from the top-level directory
71 and configure for the cross-compiler.
73 + terminfo.5 does not format with the SunOS (and most other platform's) tbl
74 utility because it relies on a diversion for each table entry. Get the groff
79 * The code for the HP color model using set_color_pair is untested.
81 * The code for handling soft labels on a terminal type with built-in support
82 for them (num_labels > 0, label_height, label_width, label_format, label_off,
83 label_on, plab_norm, lab_f*) has not been tested. The label_format and
84 lab_f* capabilities aren't presently used.
86 * The wide-character input functions need testing.
88 LONGER-TERM TO-DO ITEMS:
90 1. Extended COSE conformance
92 There is an XPG4 standard recently released which describes a superset
93 of the SVr4 API. The library is BASE conformant with this standard.
94 We would like to make ncurses fully conformant at the EXTENDED level
95 supporting internationalization.
98 pecho_wchar() not implemented.
99 slk_wset not implemented.
103 Only 16 of the 55 files in the library depend on the terminfo format.
104 It should be possible to further kernelize the package, then rewrite
105 a small number of core files to produce a functionally-compatible
106 port that would do updates to a memory-mapped screen area. The first
107 result of this would be a DOS port.
111 It would be nice if ncurses could recognize when it was running under X and
112 maintain its own window. With this feature, all ncurses programs would
113 automatically become X programs. The challenge is to handle resize events
116 4. Unused capabilities
118 The currently unused capabilities fall naturally into several groups:
120 A. Status-line capabilities:
122 Booleans: has_status_line, status_line_esc_ok.
123 Numerics: width_status_line.
124 Strings: dis_status_line, from_status_line, to_status_line.
126 System V Release 1 curses made no use of these at all. SVr4's use, if
127 any, is unknown. From the AT&T termcap file it looks like curses, in general,
128 shouldn't use them; terminal variants with status lines have their line count
129 decremented by 1, suggesting that curses is supposed to leave the status line
132 B. Printer capabilities:
134 Boolean: col_addr_glitch, cr_cancels_micro_mode, has_print_wheel,
135 row_addr_glitch, semi_auto_right_margin, cpi_changes_res,
137 Numeric: buffer_capacity, dot_horz_spacing, dot_vert_spacing,
138 max_micro_address, max_micro_jump, micro_col_size,
139 micro_line_size, number_of_pins, output_res_char,
140 output_res_line, output_res_horz_inch, print_rate,
141 wide_char_size, bit_image_entwining, bit_image_type.
142 String: down_half_line, form_feed, up_half_line, set_left_margin,
143 set_right_margin, clear_margins, change_char_pitch
144 ... set_page_length (all the SVr4 printer caps),
146 Curses doesn't use these.
148 C. Printer-control capabilities:
150 Boolean: prtr_silent.
151 Strings: print_screen, prtr_on, prtr_off, prtr_non.
153 Curses doesn't use these.
157 Strings: hangup, dial_phone, quick_dial, tone, pulse, flash_hook,
158 fixed_pause, wait_tone.
160 Curses doesn't use these.
162 E. Window and virtual-terminal capabilities:
164 Numerics: maximum_windows, virtual_terminal.
165 Strings: req_for_input, create_window, goto_window, set_window.
167 These seem to be fossils from some AT&T experiments on character-based
168 window systems that never escaped the lab. The virtual_terminal cap had
169 something to do with building terminal emulations into tty line disciplines.
171 F. Unused VDT capabilities:
173 Booleans: erase_overstrike, has_meta_key, insert_null_glitch,
174 move_insert, dest_tabs_magic_smso, transparent_underline,
175 needs_xon_xoff, hard_cursor.
176 Numerics: lines_of_memory, buttons.
177 Strings: pkey_key, pkey_local, pkey_xmit, underline_char,
178 enter_xon_mode, exit_xon_mode, xon_character, xoff_character,
179 display_clock, remove_clock, user[0-5], display_pc_char,
180 enter_scancode_mode, exit_scancode_mode, pc_term_options,
181 scancode_escape, alt_scancode_esc.
183 These are the potentially important ones for ncurses. Notes:
185 i) ncurses doesn't need move_insert; it never uses cup/hpa/vpa while
188 ii) We probably don't care about dest_tabs_magic_smso; only
189 Telerays used it and they're all long obsolete.