-
- Announcing ncurses 5.4
+ Announcing ncurses 5.7
The ncurses (new curses) library is a free software emulation of
curses in System V Release 4.0, and more. It uses terminfo format,
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
- ncurses.
+ considered 4.4BSD curses obsolete, and encouraged 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 has been in use for
some time with OpenBSD as the system curses library, and on FreeBSD
Release Notes
- 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.
+ This release is designed to be upward compatible from ncurses 5.0
+ through 5.6; very few applications will require recompilation,
+ depending on the platform. These are the highlights from the
+ change-log since ncurses 5.6 release.
Interface changes:
- * 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.
+ * generate linkable stubs for some macros:
+ getattrs
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.
+ + new flavor of the ncurses library provides rudimentary
+ support for POSIX threads. Several functions are reentrant,
+ but most require either a window-level or screen-level mutex.
+ (This is API-compatible, but not ABI-compatible with the
+ normal library).
+ + add NCURSES_OPAQUE symbol to curses.h, will use to make
+ structs opaque in selected configurations.
+ + add NCURSES_EXT_FUNCS and NCURSES_EXT_COLORS symbols to
+ curses.h to make it simpler to tell if the extended functions
+ and/or colors are declared.
+ + add wresize() to C++ binding
+ + eliminate fixed-buffer vsprintf() calls in C++ binding.
+ + add several functions to C++ binding which wrap C functions
+ that pass a WINDOW* parameter.
+ + adapt mouse-handling code from menu library in form-library
+ + improve tracing for form library, showing created forms,
+ fields, etc.
+ + make $NCURSES_NO_PADDING feature work for termcap interface .
+ + add check to trace-file open, if the given name is a
+ directory, add ".log" to the name and try again.
+ + several new manpages: curs_legacy.3x, curs_memleaks.3x,
+ curs_opaque.3x and curs_threads.3x
* 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.
+ + modified three test-programs to demonstrate the threading
+ support in this version: ditto, rain, worm.
+ + several new test-programs: demo_panels, dots_mvcur,
+ inch_wide, inchs, key_name, key_names, savescreen,
+ savescreen.sh test_arrays, test_get_wstr, test_getstr,
+ test_instr, test_inwstr and test_opaque.
+ + add adacurses-config to the Ada95 install.
+ + modify tic -f option to format spaces as \s to prevent them
+ from being lost when that is read back in unformatted
+ strings.
+ + The tack program is now distributed separately from ncurses.
+ * terminal database
+ + added entries:
+ o Eterm-256color, Eterm-88color and rxvt-88color
+ o aterm
+ o konsole-256color
+ o mrxvt
+ o screen.mlterm
+ o screen.rxvt
+ o teraterm4.59 is now the primary primary teraterm entry,
+ renamed original to teraterm2.3
+ o 9term terminal
+ o Newbury Data entries
+ + updated/improved entries:
+ o gnome to version 2.22.3
+ o h19, z100
+ o konsole to version 1.6.6
+ o mlterm, mlterm+pcfkeys
+ o xterm, and building-blocks for function-keys to [3]xterm
+ patch #230.
Major bug fixes:
- * 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.
+ * add logic to tic for cancelling strings in user-defined
+ capabilities (this is needed for current konsole terminfo entry).
+ * modify mk-1st.awk so the generated makefile rules for linking or
+ installing shared libraries do not first remove the library, in
+ case it is in use, e.g., libncurses.so by /bin/sh.
+ * correct check for notimeout() in wgetch().
+ * fix a sign-extension bug in infocmp's repair_acsc() function.
+ * change winnstr() to stop at the end of the line.
+ * make Ada95 demo_panels() example work.
+ * fix for adding a non-spacing character at the beginning of a line.
+ * fill in extended-color pair to make colors work for
+ wide-characters using extended-colors.
+ * improve refresh of window on top of multi-column characters,
+ taking into account split characters on left/right window
+ boundaries.
+ * modify win_wchnstr() to ensure that only a base cell is returned
+ for each multi-column character.
+ * improve waddch() and winsch() handling of EILSEQ from mbrtowc() by
+ using unctrl() to display illegal bytes rather than trying to
+ append further bytes to make up a valid sequence.
+ * restore curs_set() state after endwin()/refresh()
+ * modify keyname() to use "^X" form only if meta() has been called,
+ or if keyname() is called without initializing curses, e.g., via
+ initscr() or newterm().
+ * modify unctrl() to check codes in 128-255 range versus isprint().
+ If they are not printable, and locale was set, use a "M-" or "~"
+ sequence.
+ * improve resizeterm() by moving ripped-off lines, and repainting
+ the soft-keys.
+ * modify form library to accept control characters such as newline
+ in set_field_buffer(), which is compatible with Solaris.
+ * use NCURSES_MOUSE_MASK() in definition of BUTTON_RELEASE(), etc.,
+ to make those work properly with the --enable-ext-mouse
+ configuration
+ * correct some functions in Ada95 binding which were using return
+ value from C where none was returned.
+ * reviewed/fixed issues reported by Coverity and Klocwork tools.
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.
+ --disable-big-strings
+ control whether static string tables are generated
+ as single large strings (to improve startup
+ performance), or as array of individual strings.
+
+ --disable-relink
+ control whether shared libraries are relinked
+ (during install) when rpath is enabled.
+
+ --disable-tic-depends
+ make explicit whether tic library depends on
+ ncurses/ncursesw library.
+
+ --enable-mixed-case
+ override the configure script's check if the
+ filesystem supports mixed-case filenames. This
+ allows one to control how the terminal database
+ maps to the filesystem. For filesystems that do not
+ support mixed-case, the library uses generate
+ 2-character (hexadecimal) codes for the lower-level
+ of the filesystem terminfo database
+
+ --enable-reentrant
+ builds a different flavor of the ncurses library
+ (ncursest) which improves reentrant use of the
+ library by reducing global and static variables
+ (see the "--with-pthread" option for the threaded
+ support).
+
+ --enable-weak-symbols
+ use weak-symbols for linking to the POSIX thread
+ library, and use the same soname for the ncurses
+ shared library as the normal library (caveat: the
+ ABI is for the threaded library, which makes global
+ data accessed via functions).
+
+ --with-pthread
+ build with the POSIX thread library (tested with
+ AIX, Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, HPUX, IRIX64,
+ Solaris, Tru64).
+
+ --with-ticlib
+ build/install the tic-support functions in a
+ separate library
+
+ + improved options:
+
+ --enable-ext-colors
+ requires the wide-character configuration.
+
+ --with-chtype
+ ignore option value "unsigned" is always added to
+ the type in curses.h; do the same for
+ --with-mmask-t.
+
+ --with-dmalloc
+ build-fix for redefinition of strndup.
+
+ --with-hashed-db
+ accepts a parameter which is the install-prefix of
+ a given Berkeley Database.
+
+ --with-hashed-db
+ the $LIBS environment variable overrides the search
+ for the db library.
+
+ --without-hashed-db
+ assumed when "--disable-database" is used.
+
+ * other configure/build issues:
+ + build-fixes for LynxOS
+ + modify shared-library rules to allow FreeBSD 3.x to use
+ rpath.
+ + build-fix for FreeBSD "contemporary" TTY interface.
+ + build-fixes for AIX with libtool.
+ + build-fixes for Darwin and libtool.
+ + modify BeOS-specific ifdef's to build on Haiku.
+ + corrected gcc options for building shared libraries on
+ Solaris and IRIX64.
+ + change shared-library configuration for OpenBSD, make rpath
+ work.
+ + build-fixes for using libutf8, e.g., on OpenBSD 3.7
+ + add "-e" option in ncurses/Makefile.in when generating
+ source-files to force earlier exit if the build environment
+ fails unexpectedly.
+ + add support for shared libraries for QNX.
+ + change delimiter in MKlib_gen.sh from '%' to '@', to avoid
+ substitution by IBM xlc to '#' as part of its extensions to
+ digraphs.
* 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.
+ + rewrite wrapper for wcrtomb(), making it work on Solaris.
+ This is used in the form library to determine the length of
+ the buffer needed by field_buffer.
+ + add/use configure script macro CF_SIG_ATOMIC_T, use the
+ corresponding type for data manipulated by signal handlers.
+ + set locale in misc/ncurses-config.in since it uses a range
+ + disable GPM mouse support when $TERM does not happen to
+ contain "linux", since Gpm_Open() no longer limits its
+ assertion to terminals that it might handle, e.g., within
+ "screen" in xterm.
+ + reset mouse file-descriptor when unloading GPM library.
+ * test programs:
+ + update test programs to build/work with various UNIX curses
+ for comparisons.
Features of Ncurses
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
- 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
- documented so you can use the SVr4 subset only).
+ level features, and most EXTENDED features). It includes many
+ function calls not supported under SVr4 curses (but portability of
+ all calls is documented so you can use the SVr4 subset only).
* 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
- console windows.
+ * Support for mouse event reporting with X Window xterm and FreeBSD
+ and OS/2 console windows.
* Extended mouse support via Alessandro Rubini's gpm package.
* The function wresize() allows you to resize windows, preserving
their data.
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.
+ * Support for 256-color terminals, such as modern xterm, when
+ configured using the --enable-ext-colors option.
+ * Support for 16-color terminals, such as aixterm and modern xterm.
* Better cursor-movement optimization. The package now features a
cursor-local-movement computation more efficient than either BSD's
or System V's.
cdk
Curses Development Kit
- [3]http://invisible-island.net/cdk/
- [4]http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/
+ [4]http://invisible-island.net/cdk/
+ [5]http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/
ded
directory-editor
- [5]http://invisible-island.net/ded/
+ [6]http://invisible-island.net/ded/
dialog
the underlying application used in Slackware's setup, and the
basis for similar applications on GNU/Linux.
- [6]http://invisible-island.net/dialog/
+ [7]http://invisible-island.net/dialog/
lynx
the character-screen WWW browser
- [7]http://lynx.isc.org/release/
+ [8]http://lynx.isc.org/release/
Midnight Commander
file manager
- [8]http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/
+ [9]http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/
mutt
mail utility
- [9]http://www.mutt.org/
+ [10]http://www.mutt.org/
ncftp
file-transfer utility
- [10]http://www.ncftp.com/
+ [11]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/
+ [12]http://www.bostic.com/vi/
pinfo
Lynx-like info browser.
- [12]http://dione.ids.pl/~pborys/software/pinfo/
+ [13]https://alioth.debian.org/projects/pinfo/
tin
- 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
+ newsreader, supporting color, MIME [14]http://www.tin.org/
as well as some that use ncurses for the terminfo support alone:
minicom
terminal emulator
- [15]http://www.netsonic.fi/~walker/minicom.html
+ [15]http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/
vile
vi-like-emacs
Other Related Resources
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.
+ terminal description file once maintained by [20]Eric Raymond . Unlike
+ the older version, the termcap and terminfo data are provided in the
+ same file, and provides several user-definable extensions beyond the
+ X/Open specification.
You can find lots of information on terminal-related topics not
covered in the terminfo file at [21]Richard Shuford's archive .
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
+ 3. http://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.log.html#xterm_230
+ 4. http://invisible-island.net/cdk/
+ 5. http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/
+ 6. http://invisible-island.net/ded/
+ 7. http://invisible-island.net/dialog/
+ 8. http://lynx.isc.org/release/
+ 9. http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/
+ 10. http://www.mutt.org/
+ 11. http://www.ncftp.com/
+ 12. http://www.bostic.com/vi/
+ 13. https://alioth.debian.org/projects/pinfo/
+ 14. http://www.tin.org/
+ 15. http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/
16. http://invisible-island.net/vile/
17. mailto:dickey@invisible-island.net
18. mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org
projects / ncurses.git / blobdiff