- Announcing ncurses 5.0
-
- 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
+ Announcing ncurses 5.4
+
+ 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.
-
- 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
+
+ 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
ncurses.
-
- The ncurses code was developed under GNU/Linux. It should port easily
- to any ANSI/POSIX-conforming UNIX. It has even been ported to OS/2
- Warp!
-
+
+ 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!
+
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
+ 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.
-
- The ncurses distribution is available via anonymous FTP at the GNU
- distribution site [1]ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/ncurses. It is also
- available at [2]ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ncurses.
-
+
+ The ncurses distribution is available via anonymous FTP at the GNU
+ distribution site [1]ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/ .
+ It is also available at [2]ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ .
+
Release Notes
-
- We decided to release ncurses as a new whole number release (5.0)
- because it incorporates several interface changes, including some that
- would invalidate existing shared libraries. These are the highlights
- from the change-log since ncurses 4.2 release.
-
+
+ This release is designed to be upward compatible from ncurses 5.0 and
+ 5.3; very few applications will require recompilation, depending on
+ the platform. These are the highlights from the change-log since
+ ncurses 5.3 release.
+
Interface changes:
- * The principal source of changes to the interface comes from the
- release of X/Open Curses in 1997. Earlier versions of ncurses (4.0
- and before) were based on a draft version of the specification.
- The release version adds parameters to some functions to support
- the evolving internationalization of curses. These summarize the
- impact:
- + modified several prototypes to correspond with 1997 version
- of X/Open Curses (affects ABI since developers have used
- attr_get).
- + corrected prototypes for slk_* functions, using chtype rather
- than attr_t.
- + the slk_attr_{set,off,on} functions need an additional void*
- parameter according to XSI.
- + correct macros for wattr_set, wattr_get, separate wattrset
- macro from these to preserve behavior that allows attributes
- to be combined with color pair numbers.
- + reviewed/updated curses.h, term.h against X/Open Curses Issue
- 4 Version 2. This includes making some parameters
- NCURSES_CONST rather than const, e.g., in termcap.h.
- + reviewed/corrected macros in curses.h as per XSI document.
- + add set_a_attributes and set_pglen_inch to terminfo
- structure, as per XSI and Solaris 2.5.
- * The newest version of the X/Open Curses is implemented on Solaris
- and other vendor's systems. It adds new features to the terminfo
- descriptions:
- + implement tparm %l format.
- + implement tparm printf-style width and precision for %s, %d,
- %x, %o as per XSI.
- * We made additional changes to reduce impact by future interface
- changes:
- + rename key_names[] array to _nc_key_names since it is not
- part of the curses interface.
- + move macro winch to a function, to hide details of struct
- ldat
- * modify configure script to embed ABI in shared libraries for HP-UX
- 10.x (detailed request by Tim Mooney).
- * modify configuration of shared libraries on Digital Unix so that
- versioning is embedded in the library, rather than implied by
- links (patch by Tim Mooney).
-
- New features:
- * enable sigwinch handler by default.
- * turn on hashmap scrolling code by default
- * improved support for termcap applications
- + modify tput to accept termcap names as an alternative to
- terminfo names.
- + provide support for termcap PC variable by copying it from
- terminfo data and using it as the padding character in tputs.
- + provide support for termcap ospeed variable by copying it
- from the internal cur_term member, and using ospeed as the
- baudrate reference for the delay_output and tputs functions.
- + change name-comparisons in lib_termcap to compare no more
- than 2 characters.
- + add configure option --enable-tcap-names, which essentially
- allows users to define new capabilities as in termcap.
- * add mouse support to ncurses menus.
- * add mouse and dll support for OS/2 EMX
- * modify terminfo parsing to accept octal and hexadecimal constants
- * add configure option --enable-no-padding, to allow environment
- variable $NCURSES_NO_PADDING to eliminate non-mandatory padding,
- thereby making terminal emulators (e.g., for vt100) a little more
- efficient.
- * modify lib_color.c to eliminate dependency on orig_colors and
- orig_pair, since SVr4 curses does not require these either, but
- uses them when they are available.
- * add -f option to infocmp and tic, which formats the terminfo
- if/then/else/endif so that they are readable (with newlines and
- tabs).
- * modify tic to compile into %'char' form in preference to
- %{number}, since that is a little more efficient.
-
+ * add the remaining functions for X/Open curses wide-character
+ support.
+ + pecho_wchar()
+ + slk_wset()
+ These are only available if the library is configured using the
+ --enable-widec option.
+ * write getyx() and related 2-return macros in terms of getcury(),
+ getcurx(), etc.
+ * simplify ifdef for bool declaration in curses.h
+ * modify ifdef's in curses.h that disabled use of __attribute__()
+ for g++, since recent versions implement the cases which ncurses
+ uses.
+ * add key_defined() function, to tell which keycode a string is
+ bound to.
+
+ New features and improvements:
+ * library
+ + 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.
+ + 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".
+ + add configure option for FreeBSD sysmouse, --with-sysmouse,
+ and implement library support for that.
+ * programs:
+ + tack:
+ o allow it to run from fallback terminfo data.
+ o reset colors after each color test, correct a place
+ where exit_standout_mode was used instead of
+ exit_attribute_mode.
+ o improve bce test by making it set colors other than
+ black on white.
+ + tic:
+ o handle a case where an entry has no description, and
+ capabilities begin on the same line as the entry name.
+ o allow a terminfo entry with a leading 2-character name.
+ o improved warnings when suppressing items to fit in
+ termcap's 1023-byte limit.
+ o add check for multiple "tc=" clauses in a termcap.
+ o correct logic for resolving "use=" clauses allow infocmp
+ and tic to show cancelled capabilities.
+ o check for incomplete line-drawing character mapping.
+ o check for missing/empty/illegal terminfo name.
+ + tput:
+ o 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,
+ + tset:
+ o use the system's default values for CKILL and other
+ default control characters.
+ o correct interchanged defaults for kill and interrupt
+ characters, which caused it to report unnecessarily.
+
Major bug fixes:
- * modify lib_tstp.c to block SIGTTOU when handling SIGTSTP, fixes a
- problem where ncurses applications which were run via a shell
- script would hang when given a ^Z. Also, check if the terminal's
- process group is consistent, i.e., a shell has not taken ownership
- of it, before deciding to save the current terminal settings in
- the SIGTSTP handler.
- * suppress sc/rc capabilities from terminal description if they
- appear in smcup/rmcup. This affects only scrolling optimization,
- to fix a problem reported by several people with xterm's alternate
- screen, though the problem is more general.
- * modify relative_move and tputs to avoid an interaction with the
- BSD-style padding. The relative_move function could produce a
- string to replace on the screen which began with a numeric
- character, which was then interpreted by tputs as padding.
- * modify setupterm so that cancelled strings are treated the same as
- absent strings, cancelled and absent booleans false (does not
- affect tic, infocmp).
- * modify lib_vidattr.c to allow for terminal types (e.g.,
- xterm-color) which may reset all attributes in the 'op'
- capability, so that colors are set before turning on bold and
- other attributes, but still after turning attributes off.
- * use 'access()' to check if ncurses library should be permitted to
- open or modify files with fopen/open/link/unlink/remove calls, in
- case the calling application is running in setuid mode.
- * correction to doupdate, for case where terminal does not support
- insert/delete character. The logic did not check that there was a
- difference in alignment of changes to old/new screens before
- repainting the whole non-blank portion of the line. Modified to
- fall through into logic that reduces by the portion which does not
- differ.
-
+ * prevent recursion in wgetch() via wgetnstr() if the connection
+ cannot be switched between cooked/raw modes because it is not a
+ TTY.
+ * correct a case in _nc_remove_string(), used by define_key(), to
+ avoid infinite loop if the given string happens to be a substring
+ of other strings which are assigned to keys.
+ * modify logic of acsc to use the original character if no mapping
+ is defined, rather than a null.
+ * several improvements for handling multi-cell display of wide
+ characters.
+ + modify setcchar() to allow converting control characters to
+ complex characters.
+ + correct handling of multibyte characters in waddch_literal()
+ which force wrapping because they are started too late on the
+ line.
+ + modify setcchar() to allow for wchar_t input strings that
+ have more than one spacing character.
+ * other fixes for wide-character support:
+ + 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.
+ + 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.
+ + corrections to lib_get_wstr.c:
+ o null-terminate buffer passed to setcchar(), which
+ occasionally failed.
+ o 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.
+ * modify setupterm() to check if the terminfo and terminal-modes
+ have already been read. This ensures that it does not reinvoke
+ def_prog_mode() when an application calls more than one function,
+ such as tgetent() and initscr().
+ * 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.
+ * correct keybound(), which reported definitions in the wrong table,
+ i.e., the list of definitions which are disabled by keyok().
+ * fixes related to safe_sprintf.c:
+ + correct an allocation size in safe_sprintf.c for the "*"
+ format code.
+ + correct safe_sprintf.c to not return a null pointer if the
+ format happens to be an empty string.
+ + make return value from _nc_printf_string() consistent.
+ Before, depending on whether --enable-safe-sprintf was used,
+ it might not be cached for reallocating.
+ * other low-level improvements to the optimization code include:
+ + 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.
+ + modify lib_getch.c to avoid recursion via wgetnstr() when the
+ input is not a tty and consequently mode-changes do not work.
+ + fix several places in tack/pad.c which tested and used the
+ parameter- and parameterless strings inconsistently.
+ + change several tputs() calls in scrolling code to use putp(),
+ to enable padding which may be needed for some terminals.
+ + 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.
+ + 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.
+ * correct line/column reference in adjust_window(), needed to make
+ special windows such as curscr track properly when resizing.
+ * fix a potential recursion between napms() and _nc_timed_wait()
+ * rewrote lib_insch.c, combining it with lib_insstr.c so both handle
+ tab and other control characters consistently.
+ * do not try to open gpm mouse driver if standard output is not a
+ tty; the gpm library does not make this check.
+
+ Portability:
+ * configure script:
+ + new options:
+
+ --with-abi-version option.
+ addresses platforms where packagers have diverged
+ from ncurses ABI numbering.
+
+ --with-manpage-format=catonly
+ addresses behavior of BSDI, allow install of
+ man+cat files on NetBSD, whose behavior has
+ diverged by requiring both to be present.
+
+ --with-manpage-aliases
+ extends "--with-manpage-aliases" to provide the
+ option of generating ".so" files rather than
+ symbolic links for manpage aliases.
+
+ --with-rel-version
+ 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.
+
+ --with-trace
+ simplifies defining TRACE to incorporate trace() in
+ libraries.
+
+ + fixes/improvements for cross-compiling:
+ o allow BUILD_CC and related configure script variables to
+ be overridden from the environment.
+ o use AC_CHECK_TOOL to get proper values for AR and LD for
+ cross compiling.
+ o use $cross_compiling variable in configure script rather
+ than comparing $host_alias and $target alias, since
+ "host" is traditionally misused in autoconf to refer to
+ the target platform.
+ o modify run_tic.in to avoid using wrong shared libraries
+ when cross-compiling.
+ + fixes for Mac OS X:
+ o fix a redefinition of $RANLIB in the configure script
+ when libtool is used.
+ o 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.
+ + workarounds for broken tools:
+ o add configure check for wchar_t and wint_t types, rather
+ than rely on preprocessor definitions. Also work around
+ for gcc fixinclude bug which creates a shadow copy of
+ curses.h if it sees these symbols apparently typedef'd.
+ o modify configure script to omit -Winline for gcc 3.3,
+ since that feature is broken.
+ o several script fixes to work around the ironically named
+ POSIXLY_CORRECT feature of GNU sed 4.0.
+ o modify configure script to avoid using "head -1", which
+ does not work if POSIXLY_CORRECT (sic) is set.
+ o 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.
+ o repair check for missing C++ compiler, which is broken
+ in autoconf 2.5x by hardcoding it to g++.
+ + corrected ifdef's relating to configure check for wchar_t,
+ etc.
+ + remove configure script check to allow -Wconversion for older
+ versions of gcc
+ + 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.
+ + 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.
+ + use '%' as sed substitute delimiter in run_tic script to
+ avoid problems with pathname delimiters such as ':' and '@'.
+ + add -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=500 if needed when configuring with
+ "--enable-widec", to get mbstate_t declaration on HPUX 11.11.
+ * library:
+ + adjust include-options in CF_ETIP_DEFINES to avoid missing
+ ncurses_dll.h, fixing special definitions that may be needed
+ for etip.h.
+ + modify CF_LIB_SUFFIX for Itanium releases of HP-UX, which use
+ a ".so" suffix.
+ + improve ifdef's to guard against redefinition of wchar_t and
+ wint_t in curses.h.
+ + remove an #undef for KEY_EVENT from curses.tail used in the
+ experimental NCURSES_WGETCH_EVENTS feature. The #undef
+ confuses Debian dpkg's build script.
+
Features of Ncurses
-
+
The ncurses package is fully compatible with SVr4 (System V Release 4)
curses:
- * All 257 of the SVr4 calls have been implemented (and are
+ * All 257 of the SVr4 calls have been implemented (and are
documented).
- * Full support for SVr4 curses features including keyboard mapping,
- color, forms-drawing with ACS characters, and automatic
+ * Full support for SVr4 curses features including keyboard mapping,
+ color, forms-drawing with ACS characters, and automatic
recognition of keypad and function keys.
- * An emulation of the SVr4 panels library, supporting a stack of
+ * An emulation of the SVr4 panels library, supporting a stack of
windows with backing store, is included.
- * An emulation of the SVr4 menus library, supporting a uniform but
+ * An emulation of the SVr4 menus library, supporting a uniform but
flexible interface for menu programming, is included.
- * An emulation of the SVr4 form library, supporting data collection
+ * An emulation of the SVr4 form library, supporting data collection
through on-screen forms, is included.
- * Binary terminfo entries generated by the ncurses tic(1)
- implementation are bit-for-bit-compatible with the entry format
+ * Binary terminfo entries generated by the ncurses tic(1)
+ implementation are bit-for-bit-compatible with the entry format
SVr4 curses uses.
* The utilities have options to allow you to filter terminfo entries
- for use with less capable curses/terminfo versions such as the
+ for use with less capable curses/terminfo versions such as the
HP/UX and AIX ports.
-
+
The ncurses package also has many useful extensions over SVr4:
- * 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
+ * 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 calls is
+ support are implemented, including many function calls not
+ supported under SVr4 curses (but portability of all calls is
documented so you can use the SVr4 subset only).
- * Unlike SVr3 curses, ncurses can write to the rightmost-bottommost
- corner of the screen if your terminal has an insert-character
+ * Unlike SVr3 curses, ncurses can write to the rightmost-bottommost
+ corner of the screen if your terminal has an insert-character
capability.
* Ada95 and C++ bindings.
- * Support for mouse event reporting with X Window xterm and OS/2
+ * Support for mouse event reporting with X Window xterm and OS/2
console windows.
* Extended mouse support via Alessandro Rubini's gpm package.
- * The function wresize() allows you to resize windows, preserving
+ * The function wresize() allows you to resize windows, preserving
their data.
* The function use_default_colors() allows you to use the terminal's
default colors for the default color pair, achieving the effect of
transparent colors.
* The functions keyok() and define_key() 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
+ 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.
* Support for 16-color terminals, such as aixterm and XFree86 xterm.
- * Better cursor-movement optimization. The package now features a
+ * Better cursor-movement optimization. The package now features a
cursor-local-movement computation more efficient than either BSD's
or System V's.
- * 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
+ * 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.
- * 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
+ * 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.
- * 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
+ * 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).
* The tic(1)/captoinfo utility provided with ncurses has the ability
- to translate many termcaps from the XENIX, IBM and AT&T extension
+ to translate many termcaps from the XENIX, IBM and AT&T extension
sets.
* A BSD-like tset(1) utility is provided.
* 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
+ 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.
- * 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
+ * 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.)
- * In terminfo source files, use capabilities may refer not just to
+ * 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
+ compiled entries in either the system terminfo directory or the
user's $HOME/.terminfo directory.
- * A script (capconvert) 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
+ * A script (capconvert) 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.
- * 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
+ * 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.
- * The table-of-entries utility toe makes it easy for users to see
+ * The table-of-entries utility toe makes it easy for users to see
exactly what terminal types are available on the system.
* 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
+ have a corresponding function which may be linked (and will be
+ prototype-checked) if the macro definition is disabled with
#undef.
- * An HTML "Introduction to Programming with NCURSES" document
- provides a narrative introduction to the curses programming
+ * An HTML "Introduction to Programming with NCURSES" document
+ provides a narrative introduction to the curses programming
interface.
-
+
State of the Package
-
+
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
+ 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.
-
- The ncurses code has been tested with a wide variety of applications
+
+ The ncurses code has been tested with a wide variety of applications
including (versions starting with those noted):
-
+
cdk
- Curses Development Kit [3]Curses Development Kit
- [4]ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/cdk.
-
+ Curses Development Kit
+ [3]http://invisible-island.net/cdk/
+ [4]http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/
+
ded
- directory-editor [5]ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ded.
-
+ directory-editor
+ [5]http://invisible-island.net/ded/
+
dialog
- the underlying application used in Slackware's setup, and the
+ the underlying application used in Slackware's setup, and the
basis for similar applications on GNU/Linux.
-
+ [6]http://invisible-island.net/dialog/
+
lynx
the character-screen WWW browser
-
- Midnight Commander 4.1
+ [7]http://lynx.isc.org/release/
+
+ Midnight Commander
file manager
-
+ [8]http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/
+
mutt
mail utility
-
+ [9]http://www.mutt.org/
+
ncftp
file-transfer utility
-
+ [10]http://www.ncftp.com/
+
nvi
New vi versions 1.50 are able to use ncurses versions 1.9.7 and
later.
-
+ [11]http://www.bostic.com/vi/
+
+ pinfo
+ Lynx-like info browser.
+ [12]http://dione.ids.pl/~pborys/software/pinfo/
+
tin
- newsreader, supporting color, MIME
- [6]ftp://ftp.akk.uni-karlsruhe.de/pub/news/clients/tin-unoff.
-
- taper
- tape archive utility
-
+ newsreader, supporting color, MIME [13]http://www.tin.org/
+
vh-1.6
Volks-Hypertext browser for the Jargon File
-
+ [14]http://www.debian.org/Packages/unstable/text/vh.html
+
as well as some that use ncurses for the terminfo support alone:
-
+
minicom
terminal emulator
-
+ [15]http://www.netsonic.fi/~walker/minicom.html
+
vile
- vi-like-emacs [7]ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/vile.
-
- The ncurses distribution includes a selection of test programs
+ vi-like-emacs
+ [16]http://invisible-island.net/vile/
+
+ The ncurses distribution includes a selection of test programs
(including a few games).
-
+
Who's Who and What's What
- The original developers of ncurses are [8]Zeyd Ben-Halim and [9]Eric
- S. Raymond. Ongoing work is being done by [10]Thomas Dickey and
- [11]Jürgen Pfeifer. [12]Thomas Dickey acts as the maintainer for the
- Free Software Foundation, which holds the copyright on ncurses.
- Contact the current maintainers at [13]bug-ncurses@gnu.org.
-
- To join the ncurses mailing list, please write email to
+ 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 [17]Thomas Dickey. Thomas Dickey acts as the maintainer for the
+ Free Software Foundation, which holds the copyright on ncurses.
+ Contact the current maintainers at [18]bug-ncurses@gnu.org.
+
+ To join the ncurses mailing list, please write email to
bug-ncurses-request@gnu.org containing the line:
subscribe <name>@<host.domain>
This list is open to anyone interested in helping with the development
and testing of this package.
-
- Beta versions of ncurses and patches to the current release are made
- available at [14]ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ncurses.
-
+
+ Beta versions of ncurses and patches to the current release are made
+ available at [19]ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ .
+
Future Plans
- * Extended-level XPG4 conformance, with internationalization
+ * Extended-level XPG4 conformance, with internationalization
support.
* Ports to more systems, including DOS and Windows.
-
- We need people to help with these projects. If you are interested in
+
+ We need people to help with these projects. If you are interested in
working on them, please join the ncurses list.
-
+
Other Related Resources
- The distribution includes and uses a version of the terminfo-format
- terminal description file maintained by Eric Raymond.
- [15]http://earthspace.net/~esr/terminfo.
-
- You can find lots of information on terminal-related topics not
- covered in the terminfo file at [16]Richard Shuford's archive.
+ The distribution provides a newer version of the terminfo-format
+ terminal description file maintained by [20]Eric Raymond . Unlike the
+ older version, the termcap and terminfo data are provided in the same
+ file.
+
+ You can find lots of information on terminal-related topics not
+ covered in the terminfo file at [21]Richard Shuford's archive .
References
- 1. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/ncurses
- 2. ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ncurses
- 3. http://www.vexus.ca/CDK.html
- 4. ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/cdk
- 5. ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ded
- 6. ftp://ftp.akk.uni-karlsruhe.de/pub/news/clients/tin-unoff
- 7. ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/vile
- 8. mailto:zmbenhal@netcom.com
- 9. http://www.ccil.org/~esr/home.html
- 10. mailto:dickey@clark.net
- 11. mailto:juergen.pfeifer@gmx.net
- 12. mailto:dickey@clark.net
- 13. mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org
- 14. ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ncurses
- 15. http://earthspace.net/~esr/terminfo
- 16. http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal_index.html
+ 1. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/
+ 2. ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/
+ 3. http://invisible-island.net/cdk/
+ 4. http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/
+ 5. http://invisible-island.net/ded/
+ 6. http://invisible-island.net/dialog/
+ 7. http://lynx.isc.org/release/
+ 8. http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/
+ 9. http://www.mutt.org/
+ 10. http://www.ncftp.com/
+ 11. http://www.bostic.com/vi/
+ 12. http://dione.ids.pl/~pborys/software/pinfo/
+ 13. http://www.tin.org/
+ 14. http://www.debian.org/Packages/unstable/text/vh.html
+ 15. http://www.netsonic.fi/~walker/minicom.html
+ 16. http://invisible-island.net/vile/
+ 17. mailto:dickey@invisible-island.net
+ 18. mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org
+ 19. ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/
+ 20. http://www.catb.org/~esr/terminfo/
+ 21. http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal_index.html
projects / ncurses.git / blobdiff