-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--- Copyright (c) 1998-2005,2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc. --
+-- Copyright (c) 1998-2014,2015 Free Software Foundation, Inc. --
-- --
-- Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a --
-- copy of this software and associated documentation files (the --
-- sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written --
-- authorization. --
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--- $Id: INSTALL,v 1.114 2006/12/17 19:58:19 tom Exp $
+-- $Id: INSTALL,v 1.194 2015/10/24 19:03:42 Tomas.Cech Exp $
---------------------------------------------------------------------
How to install Ncurses/Terminfo on your system
---------------------------------------------------------------------
including `c++', `form', `man', `menu', 'misc', `ncurses', `panel', `progs',
and `test'. See the README file for a roadmap to the package.
-If you are a Linux or FreeBSD or NetBSD distribution integrator or packager,
-please read and act on the section titled IF YOU ARE A SYSTEM INTEGRATOR
-below.
+If you are a distribution integrator or packager, please read and act on the
+section titled IF YOU ARE A SYSTEM INTEGRATOR below.
If you are converting from BSD curses and do not have root access, be sure
to read the BSD CONVERSION NOTES section below.
If you want to build the Ada95 binding, go to the Ada95 directory and
follow the instructions there. The Ada95 binding is not covered below.
-If you are using anything but (a) Linux, or (b) one of the 4.4BSD-based
-i386 Unixes, go read the Portability section in the TO-DO file before you
-do anything else.
-
REQUIREMENTS:
------------
The --prefix option to configure changes the root directory for installing
ncurses. The default is normally in subdirectories of /usr/local, except
- for systems where ncurses is normally installed as a system library, e.g.,
- Linux, the various BSD systems and Cygwin. Use --prefix=/usr to replace
- your default curses distribution.
+ for systems where ncurses is normally installed as a system library (see
+ "IF YOU ARE A SYSTEM INTEGRATOR"). Use --prefix=/usr to replace your
+ default curses distribution.
The package gets installed beneath the --prefix directory as follows:
In $(prefix)/bin: tic, infocmp, captoinfo, tset,
- reset, clear, tput, toe
+ reset, clear, tput, toe, tabs
In $(prefix)/lib: libncurses*.* libcurses.a
In $(prefix)/share/terminfo: compiled terminal descriptions
In $(prefix)/include: C header files
Do not use commands such as
- make install prefix=XXX
+ make install prefix=XXX
to change the prefix after configuration, since the prefix value is used
for some absolute pathnames such as TERMINFO. Instead do this
- make install DESTDIR=XXX
+ make install DESTDIR=XXX
See also the discussion of --with-install-prefix.
library interfaces are not binary-compatible with the non-wide-character
version. Building and running the wide-character code relies on a fairly
recent implementation of libiconv. We have built this configuration on
- Linux using libiconv, sometimes requiring libutf8.
+ various systems using libiconv, sometimes requiring libutf8.
+
+ If you configure using the --with-pthread option, a "t" is appended to
+ the library names (e.g., libncursest.a, libncursestw.a).
If you do not specify any models, the normal and debug libraries will be
configured. Typing `configure' with no arguments is equivalent to:
./configure --with-shared --without-normal --without-debug
Rules for generating shared libraries are highly dependent upon the choice
- of host system and compiler. We've been testing shared libraries on Linux
- and SunOS with gcc, but more work needs to be done to make shared libraries
+ of host system and compiler. We've been testing shared libraries on
+ several systems, but more work needs to be done to make shared libraries
work on other systems.
If you have libtool installed, you can type
NOTE: You must have installed the terminfo database, or set the
environment variable $TERMINFO to point to a SVr4-compatible terminfo
database before running the test programs. Not all vendors' terminfo
- databases are SVr4-compatible, but most seem to be. Exceptions include
- DEC's Digital Unix (formerly known as OSF/1).
+ databases are SVr4-compatible, but most seem to be.
+
+ It is possible to configure ncurses to use other terminfo database formats.
+ A few are provided as examples in the include-directory (see --with-caps).
If you run the test programs WITHOUT installing terminfo, ncurses may
read the termcap file and cache that in $HOME/.terminfo, which will
thereafter be used instead of the terminfo database. See the comments
on "--enable-getcap-cache", to see why this is a Bad Thing.
- It is possible to configure ncurses to use other terminfo database formats.
- A few are provided as examples in the include-directory (see --with-caps).
-
The ncurses program is designed specifically to test the ncurses library.
You can use it to verify that the screen highlights work correctly, that
cursor addressing and window scrolling works OK, etc.
############################################################################
# CAVEAT EMPTOR: `install.data' run as root will NUKE any existing #
# terminfo database. If you have any custom or unusual entries SAVE them #
- # before you install ncurses. I have a file called terminfo.custom for #
- # this purpose. Don't forget to run tic on the file once you're done. #
+ # before you install ncurses. #
############################################################################
The terminfo(5) manual page must be preprocessed with tbl(1) before
return deceptive results, so you may have to override the configure
script. Or you may be building tic for a smaller machine.
+ --disable-big-strings
+ Disable compile-time optimization of predefined tables which puts
+ all of their strings into a very long string, to reduce relocation
+ overhead.
+
--disable-database
Use only built-in data. The ncurses libraries normally read terminfo
and termcap data from disk. You can configure ncurses to have a
programs are useful in this configuration, e.g., reset and tput versus
infocmp and tic.
+ --disable-db-install
+ Do not install the terminal database. This is used to omit features
+ for packages, as done with --without-progs.
+
--disable-ext-funcs
Disable function-extensions. Configure ncurses without the functions
that are not specified by XSI. See ncurses/modules for the exact
--disable-largefile
Disable compiler flags needed to use large-file interfaces.
+ --disable-lib-suffixes
+ Suppress the "w", "t" or "tw" suffixes which normally would be added
+ to the library names for the --enable-widec and --with-pthread options.
+
+ --disable-libtool-version
+ when using --with-libtool, control how the major/minor version numbers
+ are used for constructing the library name.
+
+ The default uses the -version-number feature of libtool, which makes
+ the library names compatible (though not identical) with the standard
+ build using --with-shared.
+
+ Use --disable-libtool-version to use the libtool -version-info feature.
+ This corresponds to the setting used before patch 20100515.
+
+ Starting with patch 20141115, using this option causes the configure
+ script to apply the top-level VERSION file to the ABI version used
+ for libtool.
+
--disable-leaks
For testing, compile-in code that frees memory that normally would not
be freed, to simplify analysis of memory-leaks.
+ Any implementation of curses must not free the memory associated with
+ a screen, since (even after calling endwin()), it must be available
+ for use in the next call to refresh(). There are also chunks of
+ memory held for performance reasons. That makes it hard to analyze
+ curses applications for memory leaks. To work around this, build a
+ debugging version of the ncurses library which frees those chunks
+ which it can, and provides the _nc_free_and_exit() function to free
+ the remainder and then exit. The ncurses utility and test programs
+ use this feature, e.g., via the ExitProgram() macro.
+
+ Because this lies outside of the library's intended usage, it is not
+ normally considered part of the ABI. If there were some (as yet
+ unplanned) extension which frees memory in a manner that would let the
+ library resume and reallocate memory, then that would not use a "_nc_"
+ prefix.
+
--disable-lp64
The header files will ignore use of the _LP64 symbol to make chtype
and mmask_t types 32 bits (they may be long on 64-bit hosts, for
rather than the include directory. This makes it simpler to avoid
compile-time conflicts with other versions of curses.h
+ Putting the header files into a subdirectory assumes that applications
+ will follow the (standard) practice of including the headers with
+ reference to the subdirectory name. For instance, the normal ncurses
+ header would be included using
+
+ #include <ncurses/curses.h>
+ #include <ncurses/term.h>
+
+ while the ncursesw headers would be found this way:
+
+ #include <ncursesw/curses.h>
+ #include <ncursesw/term.h>
+
+ In either case (with or without the --disable-overwrite option),
+ almost all applications are designed to include a related set of
+ curses header files from the same directory.
+
+ Manipulating the --includedir configure option to put header files
+ directly in a subdirectory of the normal include-directory defeats
+ this, and breaks builds of portable applications. Likewise, putting
+ some headers in /usr/include, and others in a subdirectory is a good
+ way to break builds.
+
+ When configured with --disable-overwrite, the installed header files'
+ embedded #include's are adjusted to use the same style of includes
+ noted above. In particular, the unctrl.h header is included from
+ curses.h, which means that a makefile which tells the compiler to
+ include directly from the subdirectory will fail to compile correctly.
+ Without some special effort, it will either fail to compile at all,
+ or the compiler may find a different unctrl.h file.
+
+ --disable-relink
+ If --enable-rpath is given, the generated makefiles normally will
+ rebuild the libraries during install. Use this option to simply
+ copy whatever the linked produced.
+
+ This option is ignored if --enable-rpath is not given.
+
--disable-root-environ
Compile with environment restriction, so certain environment variables
are not available when running as root, or via a setuid/setgid
application. These are (for example $TERMINFO) those that allow the
search path for the terminfo or termcap entry to be customized.
+ --disable-rpath-hack
+ Normally the configure script helps link libraries found in unusual
+ places by adding an rpath option to the link command. If you are
+ building packages, this feature may be redundant. Use this option
+ to suppress the feature.
+
--disable-scroll-hints
Compile without scroll-hints code. This option is ignored when
hashmap scrolling is configured, which is the default.
+ --disable-tic-depends
+ When building shared libraries, normally the tic library is linked to
+ depend upon the ncurses library (or equivalently, on the tinfo-library
+ if the --with-termlib option was given). The tic- and tinfo-library
+ ABIs do not depend on the --enable-widec option. Some packagers have
+ used this to reduce the number of library files which are packaged by
+ using only one copy of those libraries. To make this work properly,
+ the tic library must be built without an explicit dependency on the
+ underlying library (ncurses vs ncursesw, tinfo vs tinfow). Use this
+ configure option to do that.
+ For example
+ configure --with-ticlib --with-shared --disable-tic-depends
+
--disable-tparm-varargs
Portable programs should call tparm() using the fixed-length parameter
list documented in X/Open. ncurses provides varargs support for this
changes several data references to functions to work around this
problem.
- NOTE: With ncurses 5.1, this may not be necessary, since we are
+ NOTE: With ncurses 5.1, this may not be necessary, since we are
told that some linkers interpret uninitialized global data as a
different type of reference which behaves as described above. We have
explicitly initialized all of the global data to work around the
warning. There will still be warnings due to subtle inconsistencies
in the interface, but at a lower level.
- NOTE: configuring ncurses with this option may detract from the
+ NOTE: configuring ncurses with this option may detract from the
portability of your applications by encouraging you to use const in
places where the XSI curses interface would not allow them. Similar
issues arise when porting to SVr4 curses, which uses const in even
encoded. This applies only to the wide-character (--enable-widec)
configuration.
- NOTE: using this option will make libraries which are not binary-
+ NOTE: using this option will make libraries which are not binary-
compatible with libncursesw 5.4. None of the interfaces change, but
applications which have an array of cchar_t's must be recompiled.
That allows one to use ncurses with a wheel mouse with xterm or
similar X terminal emulators.
- NOTE: using this option will make libraries which are not binary-
+ NOTE: using this option will make libraries which are not binary-
compatible with libncursesw 5.4. None of the interfaces change, but
applications which have mouse mask mmask_t's must be recompiled.
+ --enable-ext-putwin
+ Modify the file-format written by putwin() to use printable text rather
+ than binary files, allowing getwin() to read screen dumps written by
+ differently-configured ncurses libraries. The extended getwin() can
+ still read binary screen dumps from the "same" configuration of
+ ncurses. This does not change the ABI (the binary interface seen by
+ calling applications).
+
--enable-getcap
Use the 4.4BSD getcap code if available, or a bundled version of it to
fetch termcap entries. Entries read in this way cannot use (make
--enable-getcap-cache
Cache translated termcaps under the directory $HOME/.terminfo
- NOTE: this sounds good - it makes ncurses run faster the second time.
+ NOTE: this sounds good - it makes ncurses run faster the second time.
But look where the data comes from - an /etc/termcap containing lots of
entries that are not up to date. If you configure with this option and
forget to install the terminfo database before running an ncurses
may not be accurate, or that your stty settings have disabled the use
of tabs.
+ --enable-interop
+ Compile-in experimental interop bindings. These provide generic types
+ for the form-library.
+
+ --enable-mixed-case
+ Controls whether the filesystem on which the terminfo database resides
+ supports mixed-case filenames (normal for UNIX, but not on other
+ systems). If you do not specify this option, the configure script
+ checks the current filesystem.
+
--enable-no-padding
Compile-in support for the $NCURSES_NO_PADDING environment variable,
which allows you to suppress the effect of non-mandatory padding in
terminfo entries. This is the default, unless you have disabled the
extended functions.
+ --enable-pc-files
+ If pkg-config is found (see --with-pkg-config), generate ".pc" files
+ for each of the libraries, and install them in pkg-config's library
+ directory.
+
+ --enable-pthreads-eintr
+ add logic in threaded configuration to ensure that a read(2) system
+ call can be interrupted for SIGWINCH.
+
+ --enable-reentrant
+ Compile experimental configuration which improves reentrant use of the
+ library by reducing global and static variables. This option is also
+ set if --with-pthread is used.
+
+ Enabling this option adds a "t" to the library names, except for the
+ special case when --enable-weak-symbols is also used.
+
--enable-rpath
Use rpath option when generating shared libraries, and (with some
restrictions) when linking the corresponding programs. This originally
environment variable, they do not work with setuid applications since
the LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable would be unset in that situation.
+ This option does not apply to --with-libtool, since libtool makes
+ extra assumptions about rpath.
+
--enable-safe-sprintf
Compile with experimental safe-sprintf code. You may consider using
this if you are building ncurses for a system that has neither
is not strictly compatible. This option allows one to implement this
alteration without patching the source code.
+ --enable-sp-funcs
+ Compile-in support for extended functions which accept a SCREEN pointer,
+ reducing the need for juggling the global SP value with set_term() and
+ delscreen().
+
+ --enable-string-hacks
+ Controls whether strlcat and strlcpy may be used. The same issue
+ applies to OpenBSD's warnings about snprintf, noting that this function
+ is weakly standardized.
+
+ Aside from stifling these warnings, there is no functional improvement
+ in ncurses.
+
--enable-symlinks
If your system supports symbolic links, make tic use symbolic links
rather than hard links to save diskspace when writing aliases in the
capabilities as user-defined strings. This option is the default,
unless you have disabled the extended functions.
+ --enable-term-driver
+ Enable experimental terminal-driver. This is currently used for the
+ MinGW port, by providing a way to substitute the low-level terminfo
+ library with different terminal drivers.
+
--enable-termcap
Compile in support for reading terminal descriptions from termcap if no
match is found in the terminfo database. See also the --enable-getcap
and --enable-getcap-cache options.
+ Termcap support requires run-time parsing rather than loading
+ predigested data. If you have specified --with-ticlib, then you
+ cannot have termcap support since run-time parsing is done in the
+ tic library, which is intentionally not part of normal linkage
+ dependencies.
+
--enable-warnings
Turn on GCC compiler warnings. There should be only a few.
+ --enable-weak-symbols
+ If the --with-pthread option is set, check if the compiler supports
+ weak-symbols. If it does, then name the thread-capable library without
+ the "t" (libncurses rather than libncursest), and provide for
+ dynamically loading the pthreads entrypoints at runtime. This allows
+ one to reduce the number of library files for ncurses.
+
--enable-wgetch-events
Compile with experimental wgetch-events code. See ncurses/README.IZ
Normally this is the same as the release version; some ports have
special requirements for compatibility.
+ This option does not affect linking with libtool, which uses the
+ release major/minor numbers.
+
--with-ada-compiler=CMD
Specify the Ada95 compiler command (default "gnatmake")
--with-ada-objects=DIR
Tell where to install the Ada objects (default: PREFIX/lib/ada/adalib)
+ --with-ada-sharedlib
+ Build a shared library for Ada95 binding, if the compiler permits.
+
+ NOTE: You must also set the --with-shared option on some platforms
+ for a successful build. You need not use this option when you set
+ --with-shared, unless you want to use the Ada shared library.
+
--with-bool=TYPE
If --without-cxx is specified, override the type used for the "bool"
declared in curses.h (normally the type is automatically chosen to
correspond with that in <stdbool.h>, or defaults to platform-specific
sizes).
+ --with-build-cpp=XXX
+ This option is provided by the same macro used for $BUILD_CC, etc.,
+ but is not directly used by ncurses.
+
--with-build-cc=XXX
If cross-compiling, specify a host C compiler, which is needed to
compile a few utilities which generate source modules for ncurses.
to do this if the target compiler has unusual flags which confuse the
host compiler.
+ You can also set the environment variable $BUILD_CFLAGS rather than
+ use this option.
+
--with-build-cppflags=XXX
If cross-compiling, specify the host C preprocessor-flags. You might
need to do this if the target compiler has unusual flags which confuse
the host compiler.
+ You can also set the environment variable $BUILD_CPPFLAGS rather than
+ use this option.
+
--with-build-ldflags=XXX
If cross-compiling, specify the host linker-flags. You might need to
do this if the target linker has unusual flags which confuse the host
compiler.
+ You can also set the environment variable $BUILD_LDFLAGS rather than
+ use this option.
+
--with-build-libs=XXX
If cross-compiling, the host libraries. You might need to do this if
the target environment requires unusual libraries.
+ You can also set the environment variable $BUILD_LIBS rather than
+ use this option.
+
--with-caps=XXX
Specify an alternate terminfo capabilities file, which makes the
configure script look for "include/Caps.XXX". A few systems, e.g.,
to use a terminfo database which is compatible with the native
applications.
+ --with-ccharw-max=XXX
+ Override the size of the wide-character array in cchar_t structures.
+ Changing this will alter the binary interface. This defaults to 5.
+
--with-chtype=TYPE
Override type of chtype, which stores the video attributes and (if
--enable-widec is not given) a character. Prior to ncurses 5.5, this
was always unsigned long, but with ncurses 5.5, it may be unsigned.
Use this option if you need to preserve compatibility with 64-bit
- executables.
+ executables, e.g., by setting "--with-chtype=long" (the configure
+ script supplies "unsigned").
+
+ --with-cxx-shared
+ When --with-shared is set, build libncurses++ as a shared library.
+ This implicitly relies upon building with gcc/g++, since other
+ compiler suites may have differences in the way shared libraries are
+ built. libtool by the way has similar limitations.
--with-database=XXX
Specify the terminfo source file to install. Usually you will wish
For testing, compile and link with Gray Watson's dmalloc library.
This also sets the --disable-leaks option.
+ --with-export-syms[=XXX]
+ Limit exported symbols using libtool. The configure script
+ automatically chooses an appropriate ".sym" file, which lists the
+ symbols which are part of the ABI.
+
+ --with-extra-suffix[=XXX]
+ Add the given suffix to header- and library-names to simplify
+ installing incompatible ncurses libraries, e.g., those using a
+ different ABI. The renaming affects the name of the
+ include-subdirectory if --disable-overwrite is given.
+
--with-fallbacks=XXX
Specify a list of fallback terminal descriptions which will be
compiled into the ncurses library. See CONFIGURING FALLBACK ENTRIES.
use Alessandro Rubini's GPM library to provide mouse support on the
Linux console. Prior to ncurses 5.5, this introduced a dependency on
the GPM library.
-
+
Currently ncurses uses the dlsym() function to bind to the library at
runtime, so it is only necessary that the library be present when
ncurses is built, to obtain the filename (or soname) used in the
See also --without-dlsym
- --with-hashed-db
+ --with-hashed-db[=XXX]
Use a hashed database for storing terminfo data rather than storing
each compiled entry in a separate binary file within a directory
tree.
+ In particular, this uses the Berkeley database 1.8.5 interface, as
+ provided by that and its successors db 2, 3, and 4. The actual
+ interface is slightly different in the successor versions of the
+ Berkeley database. The database should have been configured using
+ "--enable-compat185".
+
If you use this option for configuring ncurses, tic will only be able
to write entries in the hashed database. infocmp can still read
entries from a directory tree as well as reading entries from the
You cannot have a directory containing both hashed-database and
filesystem-based terminfo entries.
+ Use the parameter value to give the install-prefix used for the
+ database, e.g.,
+ --with-hashed-db=/usr/local/BigBase
+ to find the corresponding include- and lib-directories under the
+ given directory. Alternatively, you can specify a directory leaf
+ name, e.g.,
+ --with-hashed-db=db4
+ to make the configure script look for files in a subdirectory such as
+ /usr/include/db4/db.h
+ /usr/lib/db4/libdb.so
+
See also the --enable-getcap option.
--with-install-prefix=XXX
make install DESTDIR=XXX
since the makefiles pass that variable to subordinate makes.
- NOTE: a few systems build shared libraries with fixed pathnames; this
+ NOTE: a few systems build shared libraries with fixed pathnames; this
option probably will not work for those configurations.
- --with-libtool[=XXX]
+ --with-lib-prefix=XXX
+ OS/2 EMX used a different naming convention from most Unix-like
+ platforms. It required that the "lib" part of a library name was
+ omitted. Newer EMX as part of eComStation does not follow that
+ convention. Use this option to override the configure script's
+ assumptions about the library-prefix. If this option is omitted, it
+ uses the original OS/2 EMX convention for that platform. Use
+ "--with-lib-prefix=lib" for the newer EMX in eComStation. Use
+ "--without-lib-prefix" to suppress it for other odd platforms.
+
+ --with-libtool[=XXX]
Generate libraries with libtool. If this option is selected, then it
overrides all other library model specifications. Note that libtool
must already be installed, uses makefile rules dependent on GNU make,
using the appropriate patch for autoconf from
http://invisible-island.net/autoconf/
+ --with-libtool-opts=XXX
+ Specify additional libtool options.
+
--with-manpage-aliases
Tell the configure script you wish to create entries in the
man-directory for aliases to manpages which list them, e.g., the
--with-manpage-renames=XXX
Tell the configure script that you wish to rename the manpages while
- installing. Currently the only distribution which does this is
- the Linux Debian. The option value specifies the name of a file
- that lists the renamed files, e.g., $srcdir/man/man_db.renames
+ installing. Currently the only distribution which does this is Debian.
+ The option value specifies the name of a file that lists the renamed
+ files, e.g., $srcdir/man/man_db.renames
--with-manpage-symlinks
Tell the configure script that you wish to make symbolic links in the
copying the man-page for each alias.
--with-manpage-tbl
- Tell the configure script that you with to preprocess the manpages
+ Tell the configure script that you wish to preprocess the manpages
by running them through tbl to generate tables understandable by
nroff.
may be unsigned. Use this option if you need to preserve compatibility
with 64-bit executables.
+ --with-normal
+ Generate normal (i.e., static) libraries (default).
+
+ Note: on Linux, the configure script will attempt to use the GPM
+ library via the dlsym() function call. Use --without-dlsym to disable
+ this feature, or --without-gpm, depending on whether you wish to use
+ GPM.
+
--with-ospeed=TYPE
Override type of ospeed variable, which is part of the termcap
compatibility interface. In termcap, this is a 'short', which works
those using termcap, do not use the higher speeds. Your application
(or system, in general) may or may not.
- --with-normal
- Generate normal (i.e., static) libraries (default).
+ --with-pc-suffix=SUFFIX
+ If ".pc" files are installed, optionally add a suffix to the files
+ and corresponding package names to separate unusual configurations.
+ If no option value is given (or if it is "none"), no suffix is added.
- Note: on Linux, the configure script will attempt to use the GPM
- library via the dlsym() function call. Use --without-dlsym to disable
- this feature, or --without-gpm, depending on whether you wish to use
- GPM.
+ --with-pkg-config=[DIR]
+ Check for pkg-config, optionally specifying its path.
+
+ --with-pkg-config-libdir=[DIR]
+ If pkg-config was found, override the automatic check for its library
+ path.
--with-profile
Generate profile-libraries These are named by adding "_p" to the root,
e.g., libncurses_p.a
+ --with-pthread
+ Link with POSIX threads, set --enable-reentrant. The use_window() and
+ use_screen() functions will use mutex's, allowing rudimentary support
+ for multithreaded applications.
+
--with-rcs-ids
Compile-in RCS identifiers. Most of the C files have an identifier.
which you are building, typically using a ".so" suffix, along with
symbolic links that refer to the release version.
- NOTE: Unless you override the configure script by setting the $CFLAGS
+ NOTE: Unless you override the configure script by setting the $CFLAGS
environment variable, these will not be built with the -g debugging
option.
shared libraries, you may encounter problems with the linker.
For example, it may prevent you from running the build tree's
copy of tic (for installing the terminfo database) because it
- loads the system's copy of the ncurses shared libraries. In that
- case, using the misc/shlib script may be helpful, since it sets
- $LD_LIBRARY_PATH to point to the build tree, e.g.,
- ./misc/shlib make install
+ loads the system's copy of the ncurses shared libraries.
+
+ In that case, using the misc/shlib script may be helpful, since it
+ sets $LD_LIBRARY_PATH to point to the build tree, e.g.,
+
+ ./misc/shlib make install
+
+ Alternatively, for most platforms, the linker accepts a list of
+ directories which will be searched for libraries at run-time. The
+ configure script allows you to modify this list using the
+ RPATH_LIST environment variable. It is a colon-separated list of
+ directories (default: the "libdir" set via the configure script).
+ If you set that to put "../lib" first in the list, the linker will
+ look first at the build-directory, and avoid conflict with libraries
+ already installed. One drawback to this approach is that libraries
+ can be accidentally searched in any "../lib" directory.
+
+ NOTE: If you use the --with-ada-sharedlib option, you should also
+ set this option, to ensure that C-language modules needed for the
+ Ada binding use appropriate compiler options.
--with-shlib-version=XXX
Specify whether to use the release or ABI version for shared libraries.
Specify a search-list of terminfo directories which will be compiled
into the ncurses library (default: DATADIR/terminfo)
+ This is a colon-separated list, like the TERMINFO_DIRS environment
+ variable.
+
--with-termlib[=XXX]
When building the ncurses library, organize this as two parts: the
curses library (libncurses) and the low-level terminfo library
Specify a search-list of termcap files which will be compiled into the
ncurses library (default: /etc/termcap:/usr/share/misc/termcap)
+ --with-ticlib[=XXX]
+ When building the ncurses library, build a separate library for
+ the modules that are used only by the utility programs. Normally
+ those would be bundled with the termlib or ncurses libraries.
+
+ If an option value is given, that overrides the name of the tic
+ library. As in termlib, there is no ABI difference between the
+ "wide" libticw.so and libtic.so
+
+ NOTE: Overriding the name of the tic library may be useful if you are
+ also using the --with-termlib option to rename libtinfo. If you are
+ not doing that, renaming the tic library can result in conflicting
+ library dependencies for tic and other programs built with the tic
+ library.
+
+ --with-tparm-arg[=XXX]
+ Override the type used for tparm() arguments, which normally is a
+ "long". However the function must assume that its arguments can hold a
+ pointer to char's which is not always workable for 64-bit platforms. A
+ better choice would be intptr_t, which was not available at the time
+ tparm's interface was defined.
+
+ If the option is not given, this defaults to "long".
+
--with-trace
Configure the trace() function as part of the all models of the ncurses
library. Normally it is part of the debug (libncurses_g) library only.
+ --with-versioned-syms[=XXX]
+ The Solaris, GNU and reportedly some other linkers (ld) accept a
+ "--version-script" option which tells the linker to annotate the
+ resulting objects with version identifiers.
+
+ Use "objdump -T" on a library to see the annotations.
+
+ The configure script attempts to automatically apply a suitable ".map"
+ file to provide this information for Linux. Solaris mapfiles differ:
+
+ a) comments are not accepted
+ b) wildcards are not accepted, except for a special case of "_*".
+ c) each symbol listed in the map file must exist in the library
+
+ The Solaris limitations conflict with the development goal of providing
+ a small set of ".map" files as examples, which cover the most common
+ configurations. Because that coverage is done by merging together
+ several builds, some symbols will be listed in the the ".map" files
+ that do not happen to be present in one configuration or another.
+
+ The sample ".map" (and ".sym") files are generated using a set of
+ scripts which build several configurations for each release version,
+ checking to see which of the "_nc_" symbols can be made local. In
+ addition to the ncurses libraries and programs, the symbols used
+ by the "tack" program are made global.
+
+ These sample ".map" files will not cover all possible combinations.
+ In some cases, e.g., when using the --with-weak-symbols option, you
+ may prefer to use a different ".map" file by setting this option's
+ value.
+
+ --with-xterm-kbs=XXX
+ Configure xterm's terminfo entries to use either BS (^H, i.e., ASCII
+ backspace) or DEL (^?, or 127). XXX can be BS (or bs, 8) or DEL
+ (or del, 127).
+
+ During installation, the makefile and scripts modifies the "xterm+kbs"
+ terminfo entry to use this setting.
+
--with-valgrind
For testing, compile with debug option.
This also sets the --disable-leaks option.
+ --with-wrap-prefix=XXX
+ When using the --enable-reentrant option, ncurses redefines variables
+ that would be global in curses, e.g., LINES, as a macro that calls a
+ "wrapping" function which fetches the data from the current SCREEN
+ structure. Normally that function is named by prepending "_nc_" to the
+ variable's name. The function is technically private (since portable
+ applications would not refer directly to it). But according to one
+ line of reasoning, it is not the same type of "private" as functions
+ which applications should not call even via a macro. This configure
+ option lets you choose the prefix for these wrapped variables.
+
--without-ada
Suppress the configure script's check for Ada95, do not build the
Ada95 binding and related demo.
install as "ncurses.h" and modify the installed headers and manpages
accordingly.
+ Likewise, do not install an alias "curses" for the ncurses manpage.
+
--without-cxx
XSI curses declares "bool" as part of the interface. C++ also declares
"bool". Neither specifies the size and type of booleans, but both
--without-dlsym
Do not use dlsym() to load GPM dynamically.
+ --without-manpages
+ Tell the configure script to suppress the install of ncurses' manpages.
+
--without-progs
Tell the configure script to suppress the build of ncurses' application
programs (e.g., tic). The test applications will still be built if you
type "make", though not if you simply do "make install".
+ --without-tests
+ Tell the configure script to suppress the build of ncurses' test
+ programs.
+
--without-xterm-new
Tell the configure script to use "xterm-old" for the entry used in
the terminfo database. This will work with variations such as
COMPATIBILITY WITH OLDER VERSIONS OF NCURSES:
--------------------------------------------
- Because ncurses implements the X/Open Curses Specification, its interface
- is fairly stable. That does not mean the interface does not change.
- Changes are made to the documented interfaces when we find differences
- between ncurses and X/Open or implementations which they certify (such as
- Solaris). We add extensions to those interfaces to solve problems not
- addressed by the original curses design, but those must not conflict with
- the X/Open documentation.
+ Because ncurses implements X/Open Curses, its interface is fairly stable.
+ That does not mean the interface does not change. Changes are made to the
+ documented interfaces when we find differences between ncurses and X/Open
+ or implementations which largely correspond to X/Open (such as Solaris).
+ We add extensions to those interfaces to solve problems not addressed by
+ the original curses design, but those must not conflict with the X/Open
+ documentation.
Here are some of the major interface changes, and related problems which
you may encounter when building a system with different versions of
ncurses:
+ 6.0 (Aug 08, 2015)
+ Interface changes:
+
+ + The 6.0 ABI modifies the defaults for these configure options:
+ --enable-const
+ --enable-ext-colors
+ --enable-ext-mouse
+ --enable-ext-putwin
+ --enable-interop
+ --enable-lp64
+ --enable-sp-funcs
+ --with-chtype=uint32_t
+ --with-mmask_t=uint32_t
+ --with-tparm-arg=intptr_t
+
+ + ncurses supports symbol versioning. If you use this feature, about
+ half of the "_nc_" private symbols are changed to local symbols.
+
+ + a few applications may need to explicitly flush the standard output
+ when switching between printf's and (curses) printw.
+
+ Added extensions:
+
+ + use_tioctl is an improvement over use_env
+
+ + added wgetdelay to support the NCURSES_OPAQUE feature.
+
+ Added internal functions (other than "_sp" variants):
+ _nc_init_termtype
+ _nc_mvcur
+ _nc_putchar
+ _nc_setenv_num
+ _nc_trace_mmask_t
+
+ Removed internal functions:
+ none
+
+ Modified internal functions:
+ _nc_do_color - change parameters from short/bool to int
+ _nc_keypad - change parameter from bool to int
+ _nc_setupscreen - change parameter from bool to int
+ _nc_signal_handler - change parameter from bool to int
+
+ 5.9 (Apr 04, 2011)
+ 5.8 (Feb 26, 2011)
+ Interface changes:
+
+ + add an alternate library configuration, i.e., "terminal driver" to
+ support port to Windows, built with MinGW. There are two drivers
+ (terminfo and Windows console). The terminfo driver works on other
+ platforms.
+
+ + add a new set of functions which accept a SCREEN* parameter, in
+ contrast with the original set which use the global value "sp".
+ By default, these names end with "_sp", and are otherwise
+ functionally identical with the originals.
+
+ In addition to the "_sp" functions, there are a few new functions
+ associated with this feature: ceiling_panel, ground_panel,
+ new_prescr.
+
+ If the library is not built with the sp-funcs extension, there
+ are no related interface changes.
+
+ + add tiparm function based on review of X/Open Curses Issue 7.
+
+ + change internal _nc_has_mouse function to public has_mouse function
+
+ Added extensions:
+
+ + add a few more functions to support the NCURSES_OPAQUE feature:
+ get_escdelay, is_pad, is_subwin
+
+ Added internal functions (other than "_sp" variants):
+ _nc_curscr_of
+ _nc_format_slks
+ _nc_get_alias_table
+ _nc_get_hash_info
+ _nc_insert_wch
+ _nc_newscr_of
+ _nc_outc_wrapper
+ _nc_retrace_char
+ _nc_retrace_int_attr_t
+ _nc_retrace_mmask_t
+ _nc_setup_tinfo
+ _nc_stdscr_of
+ _nc_tinfo_cmdch
+
+ Removed internal functions:
+ _nc_makenew (some configurations replace by _nc_makenew_sp)
+
+ Modified internal functions:
+ _nc_UpdateAttrs
+ _nc_get_hash_table
+ _nc_has_mouse
+ _nc_insert_ch
+ _nc_wgetch
+
+ 5.7 (November 2, 2008)
+ Interface changes:
+
+ + generate linkable stubs for some macros:
+ getattrs
+
+ + Add new library configuration for tic-library (the non-curses portion
+ of the ncurses library used for the tic program as well as some
+ others such as tack. There is no API change, but makefiles would be
+ changed to use the tic-library built separately.
+
+ tack, distributed separately from ncurses, uses some of the internal
+ _nc_XXX functions, which are declared in the tic.h header file.
+
+ The reason for providing this separate library is that none of the
+ functions in it are suitable for threaded applications.
+
+ + Add new library configuration (ncursest, ncurseswt) which provides
+ rudimentary support for POSIX threads. This introduces opaque
+ access functions to the WINDOW structure and adds a parameter to
+ several internal functions.
+
+ + move most internal variables (except tic-library) into data blocks
+ _nc_globals and _nc_prescreen to simplify analysis. Those were
+ globally accessible, but since they were not part of the documented
+ API, there is no ABI change.
+
+ + changed static tables of strings to be indices into long strings, to
+ improve startup performance. This changes parameter lists for some
+ of the internal functions.
+
+ Added extensions:
+
+ + add NCURSES_OPAQUE definition in curses.h to control whether internal
+ details of the WINDOW structure are visible to an application. This
+ is always defined when the threaded library is built, and is optional
+ otherwise. New functions for this: is_cleared, is_idcok, is_idlok,
+ is_immedok, is_keypad, is_leaveok, is_nodelay, is_notimeout,
+ is_scrollok, is_syncok, wgetparent and wgetscrreg.
+
+ + the threaded library (ncursest) also disallows direct updating of
+ global curses-level variables, providing functions (via macros) for
+ obtaining their value. A few of those variables can be modified by
+ the application, using new functions: set_escdelay, set_tabsize
+
+ + added functions use_window() and use_screen() which wrap a mutex
+ (if threading is configured) around a call to a user-supplied
+ function.
+
+ Added internal functions:
+ _nc_get_alias_table
+ _nc_get_screensize
+ _nc_keyname
+ _nc_screen_of
+ _nc_set_no_padding
+ _nc_tracechar
+ _nc_tracemouse
+ _nc_unctrl
+ _nc_ungetch
+
+ These are used for leak-testing, and are stubs for
+ ABI compatibility when ncurses is not configured for that
+ using the --disable-leaks configure script option:
+
+ _nc_free_and_exit
+ _nc_leaks_tinfo
+
+ Removed internal functions:
+ none
+
+ Modified internal functions:
+ _nc_fifo_dump
+ _nc_find_entry
+ _nc_handle_sigwinch
+ _nc_init_keytry
+ _nc_keypad
+ _nc_locale_breaks_acs
+ _nc_timed_wait
+ _nc_update_screensize
+
+ Use new typedef TRIES to replace "struct tries":
+
+ _nc_add_to_try
+ _nc_expand_try
+ _nc_remove_key
+ _nc_remove_string
+ _nc_trace_tries
+
5.6 (December 17, 2006)
Interface changes:
still used in this release to allow compiling with not-so-old
compilers.
- + form and menu libraries now work with wide-character data.
+ + form and menu libraries now work with wide-character data.
Applications which bypassed the form library and manipulated the
FIELD.buf data directly will not work properly with libformw, since
that no longer points to an array of char. The set_field_buffer()
4.0 (December 24, 1996)
- We bumped to version 4.0 because the newly released dynamic loader
- (ld.so.1.8.5) on Linux did not load shared libraries whose ABI and REL
+ We bumped to version 4.0 because the newly released Linux dynamic
+ loader (ld.so.1.8.5) did not load shared libraries whose ABI and REL
versions were inconsistent. At that point, ncurses ABI was 3.4 and the
REL was 1.9.9g, so we made them consistent.
Configuration and Installation:
- On platforms where ncurses is assumed to be installed in /usr/lib,
- the configure script uses "/usr" as a default:
+ On platforms where ncurses is assumed to be installed in /usr/lib,
+ the configure script uses "/usr" as a default. These include any
+ that use the Linux kernel, as well as these special cases:
- Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Cygwin
+ FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Cygwin, MinGW
For other platforms, the default is "/usr/local". See the discussion
of the "--disable-overwrite" option.
bsdos -- BSD/OS
If you are responsible for integrating ncurses for one of these
- distribution, please either use the recommended name or get back
+ distributions, please either use the recommended name or get back
to us explaining why you don't want to, so we can work out nomenclature
that will make users' lives easier rather than harder.
tree is accessible (that is, in single-user mode or at OS installation
time) the ncurses library can be compiled to include an array of
pre-fetched fallback entries. This must be done on a machine which
- has ncurses' infocmp and terminfo database installed.
+ has ncurses' infocmp and terminfo database installed (as well as
+ ncurses' tic and infocmp programs).
These entries are checked by setupterm() only when the conventional
fetches from the terminfo tree and the termcap fallback (if configured)
By default, there are no entries on the fallback list. After you have
built the ncurses suite for the first time, you can change the list
(the process needs infocmp(1)). To do so, use the script
- ncurses/tinfo/MKfallback.sh. A configure script option
+ ncurses/tinfo/MKfallback.sh. The configure script option
--with-fallbacks does this (it accepts a comma-separated list of the
names you wish, and does not require a rebuild).
If you wanted (say) to have linux, vt100, and xterm fallbacks, you
- would use the commands
+ might use the commands
cd ncurses;
- tinfo/MKfallback.sh linux vt100 xterm >fallback.c
+ tinfo/MKfallback.sh \
+ $TERMINFO \
+ ../misc/terminfo.src \
+ `which tic` \
+ linux vt100 xterm >fallback.c
+
+ The first three parameters of the script are normally supplied by
+ the configured makefiles via the "--with-fallbacks" option. They
+ are
+
+ 1) the location of the terminfo database
+ 2) the source for the terminfo entries
+ 3) the location of the tic program, used to create a terminfo
+ database.
Then just rebuild and reinstall the library as you would normally.
You can restore the default empty fallback list with
- tinfo/MKfallback.sh >fallback.c
+ tinfo/MKfallback.sh \
+ $TERMINFO \
+ ../misc/terminfo.src \
+ `which tic` \
+ >fallback.c
The overhead for an empty fallback list is one trivial stub function.
Any non-empty fallback list is const-ed and therefore lives in sharable
They have to do with the ncurses library, which uses terminfo rather
than termcap for describing terminal characteristics.
-Though the ncurses library is terminfo-based, it will interpret your
+Though the ncurses library is terminfo-based, it can interpret your
TERMCAP variable (if present), any local termcap files you reference
-through it, and the system termcap file. However, in order to avoid
-slowing down your application startup, it will only do this once per
-terminal type!
+through it, and the system termcap file. However, to avoid slowing
+down your application startup, it does this only once per terminal type!
The first time you load a given terminal type from your termcap
database, the library initialization code will automatically write it
with this by making tic use symbolic links.
USING NCURSES WITH GPM:
- Ncurses 4.1 and up can be configured to use GPM (General Purpose
- Mouse) which is used on Linux console. Be aware that GPM is commonly
+ Ncurses 4.1 and up can be configured to use GPM (General Purpose Mouse)
+ which is used with Linux console. Be aware that GPM is commonly
installed as a shared library which contains a wrapper for the curses
wgetch() function (libcurses.o). Some integrators have simplified
linking applications by combining all or part of libcurses.so into the
option), ncurses uses the development platform's tic to do the
"make install.data" portion.
+ The system's tic program is used to install the terminal database,
+ even for cross-compiles. For best results, the tic program should
+ be from the most current version of ncurses.
+
BUGS:
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