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<TITLE>Announcing ncurses @VERSION@</TITLE>
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<H1>Announcing ncurses @VERSION@</H1>
-The ncurses (new curses) library is a freeware emulation of System V
-Release 4.0 curses. It uses terminfo format, supports pads and color
+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.<P>
Unix releases such as BSD/OS, freeBSD and netBSD to switch over to
ncurses.<P>
-The ncurses code was developed under Linux. It should port easily to
-any ANSI/POSIX-conforming UNIX. It has even been ported to OS/2 Warp!<P>
+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!<P>
The distribution includes the library and support utilities, including a
terminfo compiler tic(1), a decompiler infocmp(1), clear(1), tput(1), tset(1),
The ncurses distribution is available via anonymous FTP at
the GNU distribution site
-<A HREF="ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu">ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu</A>.
-It is also available at
-<A HREF="ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ncurses">ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ncurses</A>.
+<A HREF="ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/">ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/</A> .
+<br>It is also available at
+<A HREF="ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/">ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/</A> .
-<H1>Features of ncurses</H1>
+<H1>Release Notes</H1>
-The ncurses package is fully compatible with SVr4 (System V Release 4) curses:<P>
+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.
+<p>
+Interface changes:
+<ul>
+ <li>add the remaining functions for X/Open curses wide-character
+ support.
+ <ul>
+ <li>pecho_wchar()
+ <li>slk_wset()
+ </ul>
+ These are only available if the library is configured using the
+ <kbd>--enable-widec</kbd> option.
+
+ <li>write <code>getyx()</code> and related 2-return macros in terms of
+ <code>getcury()</code>,
+ <code>getcurx()</code>, etc.
+
+ <li>simplify ifdef for <code>bool</code> declaration in curses.h
+
+ <li>modify ifdef's in curses.h that disabled use of
+ <code>__attribute__()</code> for g++, since recent versions
+ implement the cases which ncurses uses.
+
+ <li>add <code>key_defined()</code> function, to tell which keycode a
+ string is bound to.
+</ul>
+New features and improvements:
+<ul>
+ <li>library
+ <ul>
+ <li>implement logic in lib_mouse.c to handle position reports which
+ are generated when XFree86 xterm is initialized with private
+ modes 1002 or 1003. These are returned to the application as the
+ REPORT_MOUSE_POSITION mask, which was not implemented.
+ <li>modify soft-key initialization to use A_REVERSE if A_STANDOUT
+ would not be shown when colors are used, i.e., if ncv#1 is set in
+ the terminfo as is done in "screen".
+ <li>add configure option for FreeBSD sysmouse, --with-sysmouse, and
+ implement library support for that.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>programs:
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>tack:
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>allow it to run from fallback terminfo data.
+ <li>reset colors after each color test, correct a place
+ where <code>exit_standout_mode</code> was used instead of
+ <code>exit_attribute_mode</code>.
+ <li>improve <code>bce</code> test by making it set colors other
+ than black on white.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>tic:
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>handle a case where an entry has no
+ description, and capabilities begin on the same line as the entry
+ name.
+ <li>allow a terminfo entry with a leading 2-character name.
+ <li>improved warnings when suppressing items to fit in termcap's
+ 1023-byte limit.
+ <li>add check for multiple "tc=" clauses in a termcap.
+ <li>correct logic for resolving "use=" clauses
+ allow infocmp and tic to show cancelled capabilities.
+ <li>check for incomplete line-drawing character mapping.
+ <li>check for missing/empty/illegal terminfo name.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>tput:
+ <ul>
+ <li>modify tput to use the same parameter analysis as tparm() does,
+ to provide for user-defined strings, e.g., for xterm title, a
+ corresponding capability might be
+ title=\E]2;%p1%s^G,
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>tset:
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>use the system's default values for CKILL and other default
+ control characters.
+ <li>correct interchanged defaults for kill and interrupt
+ characters, which caused it to report unnecessarily.
+ </ul>
+
+ </ul>
+</ul>
+Major bug fixes:
+<ul>
+ <li>prevent recursion in wgetch() via wgetnstr() if the connection
+ cannot be switched between cooked/raw modes because it is not a TTY.
+
+ <li>correct a case in _nc_remove_string(), used by
+ <code>define_key()</code>, to avoid infinite loop if the given string
+ happens to be a substring of other strings which are assigned to keys.
+
+ <li>modify logic of acsc to use the original character if no mapping is
+ defined, rather than a null.
+
+ <li>several improvements for handling multi-cell display of wide
+ characters.
+ <ul>
+ <li>modify setcchar() to allow converting control characters to complex
+ characters.
+ <li>correct handling of multibyte characters in waddch_literal() which
+ force wrapping because they are started too late on the line.
+ <li>modify setcchar() to allow for wchar_t input strings that have
+ more than one spacing character.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>other fixes for wide-character support:
+ <ul>
+ <li>rewrote lib_acs.c to allow PutAttrChar() to decide how to render
+ alternate-characters, i.e., to work with Linux console and UTF-8
+ locale.
+ <li>implement a workaround so that line-drawing works with screen's
+ crippled UTF-8 support (tested with 3.9.13). This only works with
+ the wide-character support (--enable-widec); the normal library
+ will simply suppress line-drawing when running in a UTF-8 locale in
+ screen.
+ <li>corrections to lib_get_wstr.c:
+ <ul>
+ <li>null-terminate buffer passed to setcchar(), which occasionally
+ failed.
+ <li>map special characters such as erase- and kill-characters into
+ key-codes so those will work as expected even if they are not
+ mentioned in the terminfo.
+ </ul>
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>modify <code>setupterm()</code> to check if the terminfo and
+ terminal-modes have already been read. This ensures that it does not
+ reinvoke <code>def_prog_mode()</code> when an application calls more
+ than one function, such as <code>tgetent()</code> and
+ <code>initscr()</code>.
+
+ <li>fix form_driver() cases for REQ_CLR_EOF, REQ_CLR_EOL, REQ_DEL_CHAR,
+ REQ_DEL_PREV and REQ_NEW_LINE, which did not ensure the cursor was at
+ the editing position before making modifications.
+
+ <li>correct <code>keybound()</code>, which reported definitions in the
+ wrong table, i.e., the list of definitions which are disabled by
+ <code>keyok()</code>.
+
+ <li>fixes related to safe_sprintf.c:
+ <ul>
+ <li>correct an allocation size in safe_sprintf.c for the "*" format
+ code.
+ <li>correct safe_sprintf.c to not return a null pointer if the format
+ happens to be an empty string.
+ <li>make return value from _nc_printf_string() consistent. Before,
+ depending on whether --enable-safe-sprintf was used, it might not
+ be cached for reallocating.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>other low-level improvements to the optimization code include:
+ <ul>
+ <li>if the output is a socket or other non-tty device, use 1
+ millisecond
+ for the cost in mvcur; previously it was 9 milliseconds because the
+ baudrate was not known.
+ <li>modify lib_getch.c to avoid recursion via wgetnstr() when the
+ input
+ is not a tty and consequently mode-changes do not work.
+ <li>fix several places in tack/pad.c which tested and used the
+ parameter- and parameterless strings inconsistently.
+ <li>change several tputs() calls in scrolling code to use putp(), to
+ enable padding which may be needed for some terminals.
+ <li>improve mvcur() by checking if it is safe to move when video
+ attributes are set (msgr), and if not, reset/restore attributes
+ within that function rather than doing it separately in the GoTo()
+ function in tty_update.c.
+ <li>use tputs() rather than putp() in a few cases in tty_update.c
+ since the corresponding delays are proportional to the number of
+ lines affected: repeat_char, clr_eos, change_scroll_region.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>correct line/column reference in adjust_window(), needed to make
+ special windows such as curscr track properly when resizing.
+
+ <li>fix a potential recursion between napms() and _nc_timed_wait()
+
+ <li>rewrote lib_insch.c, combining it with lib_insstr.c so both handle
+ tab and other control characters consistently.
+
+ <li>do not try to open gpm mouse driver if standard output is not a
+ tty; the gpm library does not make this check.
+</ul>
+
+Portability:
+<ul>
+ <li>configure script:
+ <ul>
+ <li>new options:
+ <dl>
+ <dt>--with-abi-version option.
+ <dd>addresses platforms where packagers have diverged from
+ ncurses ABI numbering.
+ <dt>--with-manpage-format=catonly
+ <dd>addresses
+ behavior of BSDI, allow install of man+cat files on NetBSD,
+ whose behavior has diverged by requiring both to be present.
+ <dt>--with-manpage-aliases
+ <dd>extends
+ "--with-manpage-aliases" to provide the option of generating
+ ".so" files rather than symbolic links for manpage aliases.
+ <dt>--with-rel-version
+ <dd>workaround to force
+ libtool on Darwin generate the "same" library names as with
+ the "--with-shared" option. The Darwin ld program does not
+ work well with a zero as the minor-version value.
+ <dt>--with-trace
+ <dd>simplifies defining TRACE to incorporate trace() in libraries.
+ </dl>
+
+ <li>fixes/improvements for cross-compiling:
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>allow BUILD_CC and related configure script variables to be
+ overridden from the environment.
+ <li>use AC_CHECK_TOOL to get proper values for AR and LD for cross
+ compiling.
+ <li>use <code>$cross_compiling</code> variable in configure script
+ rather than comparing <code>$host_alias</code> and
+ <code>$target</code> alias, since "host" is traditionally misused
+ in autoconf to refer to the target platform.
+ <li>modify run_tic.in to avoid using wrong shared libraries when
+ cross-compiling.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>fixes for Mac OS X:
+ <ul>
+ <li>fix a redefinition of <code>$RANLIB</code> in the configure
+ script when libtool is used.
+ <li>modify MKlib_gen.sh to avoid passing "#" tokens through the C
+ preprocessor. This works around Mac OS X's preprocessor, which
+ insists on adding a blank on each side of the token.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>workarounds for broken tools:
+ <ul>
+ <li>add configure check for wchar_t and wint_t types, rather than
+ rely on preprocessor definitions. Also work around for gcc
+ <code>fixinclude</code> bug which creates a shadow copy of
+ curses.h if it sees these symbols apparently typedef'd.
+ <li>modify configure script to omit -Winline for gcc 3.3, since
+ that feature is broken.
+ <li>several script fixes to work around the ironically named
+ <em>POSIXLY_CORRECT</em> feature of GNU sed 4.0.
+ <li>modify configure script to avoid using "head -1", which does
+ not work if POSIXLY_CORRECT (sic) is set.
+ <li>update configure script to reflect fix for
+ AC_PROG_GCC_TRADITIONAL, which is broken in autoconf 2.5x for Mac
+ OS X 10.2.3.
+ <li>repair check for missing C++ compiler, which is broken in
+ autoconf 2.5x by hardcoding it to g++.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>corrected ifdef's relating to configure check for wchar_t, etc.
+ <li>remove configure script check to allow -Wconversion for older
+ versions of gcc
+ <li>modify configure script to accommodate libtool 1.5, as well as
+ add an parameter to the "--with-libtool" option which can specify
+ the pathname of libtool.
+ <li>change several sed scripts to avoid using "\+" since it is not a
+ BRE (basic regular expression). One instance caused terminfo.5 to
+ be misformatted on FreeBSD.
+ <li>use '%' as sed substitute delimiter in run_tic script to avoid
+ problems with pathname delimiters such as ':' and '@'.
+ <li>add -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=500 if needed when configuring with
+ "--enable-widec", to get <code>mbstate_t</code> declaration on HPUX
+ 11.11.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>library:
+ <ul>
+ <li>adjust include-options in CF_ETIP_DEFINES to avoid missing
+ ncurses_dll.h, fixing special definitions that may be needed for
+ etip.h.
+ <li>modify CF_LIB_SUFFIX for Itanium releases of HP-UX, which use a
+ ".so" suffix.
+ <li>improve ifdef's to guard against redefinition of wchar_t and wint_t
+ in curses.h.
+ <li>remove an #undef for KEY_EVENT from curses.tail used in the
+ experimental NCURSES_WGETCH_EVENTS feature. The #undef confuses
+ Debian <code>dpkg</code>'s build script.
+ </ul>
+</ul>
+
+<H1>Features of Ncurses</H1>
+
+The ncurses package is fully compatible with SVr4 (System V Release 4) curses:
<UL>
<LI>All 257 of the SVr4 calls have been implemented (and are documented).
<LI>Full support for SVr4 curses features including keyboard mapping, color,
forms-drawing with ACS characters, and automatic recognition of keypad
and function keys.
-<LI>An emulation of the SVr4 panels library, supporting
+<LI>An emulation of the SVr4 panels library, supporting
a stack of windows with backing store, is included.
-<LI>An emulation of the SVr4 menus library, supporting
+<LI>An emulation of the SVr4 menus library, supporting
a uniform but flexible interface for menu programming, is included.
-<LI>An emulation of the SVr4 form library, supporting
+<LI>An emulation of the SVr4 form library, supporting
data collection through on-screen forms, is included.
<LI>Binary terminfo entries generated by the ncurses tic(1) implementation
are bit-for-bit-compatible with the entry format SVr4 curses uses.
entries for use with less capable <STRONG>curses</STRONG>/<STRONG>terminfo</STRONG>
versions such as the HP/UX and AIX ports.</UL>
-The ncurses package also has many useful extensions over SVr4:<P>
+The ncurses package also has many useful extensions over SVr4:
<UL>
<LI>The API is 8-bit clean and base-level conformant with the X/OPEN curses
-specification, XSI Curses (that is, it implements all BASE level features,
+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).
-<LI>Unlike SVr4 curses, ncurses can write to the rightmost-bottommost corner
+<LI>Unlike SVr3 curses, ncurses can write to the rightmost-bottommost corner
of the screen if your terminal has an insert-character capability.
-<LI>(PC-clone boxes only) Support for access to the IBM PC ROM characters
-0-32 through the highlight A_ALTCHARSET.
<LI>Ada95 and C++ bindings.
-<LI>Support for mouse event reporting under xterm.
+<LI>Support for mouse event reporting with X Window xterm and OS/2 console windows.
<LI>Extended mouse support via Alessandro Rubini's gpm package.
<LI>The function <CODE>wresize()</CODE> allows you to resize windows, preserving
their data.
automatically shift highlight boundaries when doing so would make it
possible to draw the highlight without changing the visual appearance
of the screen.
-<LI>It is possible to generate the library with a list of pre-loaded
+<LI>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).
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.
-<LI>You may specify a path of directories to search for compiled
+<LI>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.)
<LI>In terminfo source files, use capabilities may refer not just to
<H1>State of the Package</H1>
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
+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 and
arena corruption by the Purify memory-allocation tester.<P>
The ncurses code has been tested with a wide variety of applications
-including:<P>
+including (versions starting with those noted):
<DL>
+<DT> cdk
+<DD> Curses Development Kit
+<br>
+<A HREF="http://invisible-island.net/cdk/">http://invisible-island.net/cdk/</A>
+<br>
+<A HREF="http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/">http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/</a>
<DT> ded
<DD> directory-editor
-<A HREF="ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ded">ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ded</A>.
+<br>
+<A HREF="http://invisible-island.net/ded/">http://invisible-island.net/ded/</A>
<DT> dialog
<DD> the underlying application used in Slackware's setup, and the basis
-for similar applications on Linux.
-<DT> lynx-2.7
+for similar applications on GNU/Linux.
+<br>
+<A HREF="http://invisible-island.net/dialog/">http://invisible-island.net/dialog/</A>
+<DT> lynx
<DD> the character-screen WWW browser
-<DT> Midnight Commander 4.1
+<br>
+<A HREF="http://lynx.isc.org/release/">http://lynx.isc.org/release/</A>
+<DT> Midnight Commander
<DD> file manager
-<DT> mutt 0.88
+<br>
+<A HREF="http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/">http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/</A>
+<DT> mutt
<DD> mail utility
-<DT> ncftp 2.0
+<br>
+<A HREF="http://www.mutt.org/">http://www.mutt.org/</A>
+<DT> ncftp
<DD> file-transfer utility
+<br>
+<A HREF="http://www.ncftp.com/">http://www.ncftp.com/</A>
<DT> nvi
<DD> New vi versions 1.50 are able to use ncurses versions 1.9.7 and later.
-<DT> taper
-<DD> tape archive utility
+<br>
+<A HREF="http://www.bostic.com/vi/">http://www.bostic.com/vi/</A>
+<br>
+<DT> pinfo
+<DD> Lynx-like info browser.
+<A HREF="http://dione.ids.pl/~pborys/software/pinfo/">http://dione.ids.pl/~pborys/software/pinfo/</A>
+<DT> tin
+<DD> newsreader, supporting color, MIME
+<A HREF="http://www.tin.org/">http://www.tin.org/</A>
<DT> vh-1.6
<DD> Volks-Hypertext browser for the Jargon File
+<br>
+<A HREF="http://www.debian.org/Packages/unstable/text/vh.html">http://www.debian.org/Packages/unstable/text/vh.html</A>
</DL>
as well as some that use ncurses for the terminfo support alone:
<DL>
-<DT> minicom-1.75
+<DT> minicom
<DD> terminal emulator
-<DT> tin-unoff
-<DD> tin 1.4 newsreader, supporting color, MIME
-<A HREF="ftp://ftp.akk.uni-karlsruhe.de/pub/news/clients/tin-unoff">ftp://ftp.akk.uni-karlsruhe.de/pub/news/clients/tin-unoff</A>.
+<br>
+<A HREF="http://www.netsonic.fi/~walker/minicom.html">http://www.netsonic.fi/~walker/minicom.html</A>
<DT> vile
<DD> vi-like-emacs
-<A HREF="ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/vile">ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/vile</A>.
+<br>
+<A HREF="http://invisible-island.net/vile/">http://invisible-island.net/vile/</A>
</DL>
<P>
<H2>Who's Who and What's What</H2>
-The original developers of ncurses are <A
-HREF="mailto:zmbenhal@netcom.com">Zeyd Ben-Halim</A> and
-<A HREF="http://www.ccil.org/~esr/home.html">Eric S. Raymond</A>.
+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
-<A HREF="mailto:dickey@clark.net">Thomas Dickey</A>
-and
-<A HREF="mailto:Juergen.Pfeifer@T-Online.de">Jürgen Pfeifer</A>.
-<A HREF="mailto:florian@gnu.org">Florian La Roche</A>
-acts as the maintainer for the Free Software Foundation, which holds the
-copyright on ncurses.
+<A HREF="mailto:dickey@invisible-island.net">Thomas Dickey</A>.
+Thomas Dickey
+acts as the maintainer for the Free Software Foundation,
+which holds the copyright on ncurses.
Contact the current maintainers at
<A HREF="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">bug-ncurses@gnu.org</A>.
<P>
testing of this package.<P>
Beta versions of ncurses and patches to the current release are made available at
-<A HREF="ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ncurses">ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ncurses</A>.
+<A HREF="ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/">ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/</A> .
<H2>Future Plans</H2>
<UL>
<LI>Extended-level XPG4 conformance, with internationalization support.
<LI>Ports to more systems, including DOS and Windows.
</UL>
-We need people to help with these projects. If you are interested in working
+We need people to help with these projects. If you are interested in working
on them, please join the ncurses list.
<H2>Other Related Resources</H2>
-The distribution includes and uses a version of the terminfo-format
-terminal description file maintained by Eric Raymond.
-<A HREF="http://earthspace.net/~esr/terminfo">http://earthspace.net/~esr/terminfo</A>.<P>
+The distribution provides a newer version of the terminfo-format
+terminal description file maintained by
+<A HREF="http://www.catb.org/~esr/terminfo/">Eric Raymond</A> .
+Unlike the older version, the termcap and terminfo data are provided
+in the same file.<P>
You can find lots of information on terminal-related topics
not covered in the terminfo file at
<A HREF="http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal_index.html">Richard Shuford's
-archive</A>.
+archive</A> .
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