+This release is designed to be upward compatible from ncurses 5.0 through 5.5;
+very few applications will require recompilation, depending on the platform.
+These are the highlights from the change-log since ncurses 5.5 release.
+<p>
+Interface changes:
+<ul>
+ <li>generate linkable stubs for some macros:
+ <br>
+ getbegx, getbegy, getcurx, getcury, getmaxx, getmaxy, getparx,
+ getpary, getpary,
+ <br>
+ and (for libncursesw)
+ <br>
+ wgetbkgrnd
+
+</ul>
+New features and improvements:
+<ul>
+ <li>library
+ <ul>
+ <li>support hashed databases for the terminal descriptions.
+ This uses the Berkeley database, has been tested for
+ several versions on different platforms.
+
+ <li>add <code>use_legacy_coding()</code> function to support
+ lynx's font-switching feature.
+
+ <li>add extension <code>nofilter()</code>, to cancel a prior
+ <code>filter()</code> call.
+
+ <li>add/install a package config script, e.g.,
+ <code>ncurses5-config</code> or
+ <code>ncursesw5-config</code>, according to
+ configuration options.
+
+ <li>provide ifdef for <code>NCURSES_NOMACROS</code> which
+ suppresses most macro definitions from curses.h, i.e.,
+ where a macro is defined to override a function to improve
+ performance.
+
+ <li>make ifdef's consistent in <code>curses.h</code> for the
+ extended colors so the header file can be used for the
+ normal curses library. The header file installed for
+ extended colors is a variation of the wide-character
+ configuration.
+
+ <li>improve <code>tgetstr()</code> by making the return value
+ point into the user's buffer, if provided.
+
+ <li>add ifdef's allowing ncurses to be built with
+ <code>tparm()</code> using either varargs (the existing
+ status), or using a fixed-parameter list (to match X/Open).
+
+ <li>widen the test for xterm <code>kmous</code> a little to
+ <code>allow</code> for other
+ strings than "\E[M", e.g., for <code>xterm-sco</code>
+ functionality in xterm.
+
+ <li>modify <code>wgetnstr()</code> to return
+ <code>KEY_RESIZE</code> if a sigwinch occurs.
+
+ <li>move prototypes for wide-character trace functions from
+ curses.tail to curses.wide to avoid accidental reference to
+ those if <code>_XOPEN_SOURCE_EXTENDED</code> is defined
+ without ensuring that <wchar.h> is included.
+
+ <li>change the way shared libraries (other than libtool) are
+ installed. Rather than copying the build-tree's libraries,
+ link the shared objects into the install directory. This
+ makes the <code>--with-rpath</code> option work except with
+ <code>$(DESTDIR)</code>.
+
+ <li>several improvements for rendering in hpterm. These are
+ only available if the library is configured using
+ <code>--enable-xmc-glitch</code>.
+
+ <li>Add <code>NCURSES_NO_HARD_TABS</code> and
+ <code>NCURSES_NO_MAGIC_COOKIE</code> environment variables
+ to allow runtime suppression of the related hard-tabs and
+ xmc-glitch features.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>programs:
+ <ul>
+ <li>add new test programs: chgat.c, demo_altkeys.c,
+ echochar.c, foldkeys.c, movewindow.c, redraw.c, (noting
+ that existing test programs also were modified to test
+ additional features).
+
+ <li>modify tack to test extended capability function-key
+ strings.
+
+ <li>modify toe to access termcap data, e.g., via <code>cgetent()</code>
+ functions, or as a text file if those are not available.
+
+ <li>improve infocmp/tic <code>-f</code> option formatting.
+
+ <li>add <code>toe -a</code> option, to show all databases.
+ This uses new private interfaces in the ncurses library for
+ iterating through the list of databases.
+
+ <li>modify <code>MKfallback.sh</code> to use
+ <code>tic -x</code> when constructing fallback tables to
+ allow extended capabilities to be retrieved from a fallback entry.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>terminal database
+ <ul>
+ <li>add terminfo entries for xfce terminal (xfce) and multi gnome terminal (mgt)
+ <li>add nsterm-16color entry
+ <li>updated mlterm terminfo entry
+ <li>add kon, kon2 and jfbterm terminfo entry
+ <li>remove invis capability from klone+sgr, mainly used by linux entry, since it does not really do this
+ <li>add ka2, kb1, kb3, kc2 to vt220-keypad as an extension
+ <li>add shifted up/down arrow codes to xterm-new as kind/kri strings
+ <li>add hpterm-color terminfo entry
+ <li>add 256color variants of terminfo entries for programs which are reported to implement this feature
+ <li>correct order of use-clauses in rxvt-basic entry which made codes for f1-f4 vt100-style rather than vt220-style.
+ </ul>
+</ul>
+Major bug fixes:
+<ul>
+ <li>correct a typo in configure <code>--with-bool</code> option for the
+ case where <code>--without-cxx</code> is used.
+
+ <li>move assignment from environment variable <code>ESCDELAY</code>
+ from <code>initscr()</code> down to <code>newterm()</code> so the
+ environment variable affects timeouts for terminals opened with
+ newterm() as well.
+
+ <li>modify <code>werase</code> to clear multicolumn characters that
+ extend into a derived window.
+
+ <li>modify <code>wchgat()</code> to mark updated cells as changed so a
+ refresh will repaint those cells.
+
+ <li>correct logic in <code>wadd_wch()</code> and
+ <code>wecho_wch()</code>, which did not guard against passing the
+ multi-column attribute into a call on <code>waddch()</code>, e.g.,
+ using data returned by <code>win_wch()</code>
+
+ <li>fix redrawing of windows other than <code>stdscr</code> using
+ <code>wredrawln()</code> by touching the corresponding rows in
+ <code>curscr</code>.
+
+ <li>reduce memory leaks in repeated calls to <code>tgetent()</code> by
+ remembering the last <code>TERMINAL*</code> value allocated to hold
+ the corresponding data and freeing that if the
+ <code>tgetent()</code> result buffer is the same as the previous
+ call.
+
+ <li>modify <code>read_termtype()</code> so the <code>term_names</code>
+ data is always allocated as part of the <code>str_table</code>, a
+ better fix for a memory leak.
+
+ <li>fix <code>wins_nwstr(),</code> which did not handle single-column
+ non-8bit codes.
+
+ <li>modify <code>wbkgrnd()</code> to avoid clearing the
+ <code>A_CHARTEXT</code> attribute bits since those record the state
+ of multicolumn characters.
+
+ <li>improve <code>SIGWINCH</code> handling by postponing its effect
+ during <code>newterm()</code>, etc., when allocating screens.
+
+ <li>remove 970913 feature for copying subwindows as they are moved in
+ <code>mvwin()</code>.
+
+ <li>add checks in <code>waddchnstr()</code> and
+ <code>wadd_wchnstr()</code> to stop copying when a null character
+ is found.
+
+ <li>add some checks to ensure current position is within scrolling
+ region before scrolling on a new line.
+
+ <li>add a workaround to ACS mapping to allow applications such as
+ test/blue.c to use the "PC ROM" characters by masking them with
+ A_ALTCHARSET. This worked up til 5.5, but was lost in the revision
+ of legacy coding.
+</ul>
+
+Portability:
+<ul>
+ <li>configure script:
+ <ul>
+ <li>new options:
+ <dl>
+
+ <dt>--with-hashed-db
+ <dd>Use Berkeley hashed database for storing terminfo data rather than storing
+ each compiled entry in a separate binary file within a directory
+ tree.
+
+ <dt>--without-dlsym
+ <dd>Do not use <code>dlsym()</code> to load GPM dynamically.
+
+ <dt>--with-valgrind
+ <dd>Simplify building for testing with valgrind.
+
+ <dt>--enable-wgetch-events
+ <dd>Compile with experimental wgetch-events code.
+
+ <dt>--enable-signed-char
+ <dd>Store booleans in "signed char" rather than "char".
+
+ </dl>
+
+ <li>improved options:
+ <dl>
+
+ <dt>--disable-largefile
+ <dd>make the option work both ways.
+
+ <dt>--with-gpm
+ <dd>The option now accepts a parameter,
+ i.e., the name of the dynamic GPM library to load via
+ <code>dlopen()</code>
+
+ <dt>--disable-symlinks
+ <dd>The option now allows one to
+ disable <code>symlink()</code> in <code>tic</code> even when
+ <code>link()</code> does not work.
+
+ </dl>
+
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>other configure/build issues: <ul> <li>remove special case for
+ Darwin in <code>CF_XOPEN_SOURCE</code> configure macro.
+
+ <li>add configure check to ensure that <code>SIGWINCH</code> is
+ defined on platforms such as OS X which exclude that when
+ <code>_XOPEN_SOURCE,</code> etc., are defined
+
+ <li>use ld's <code>-search_paths_first</code> option on Darwin
+ to work around odd search rules on that platform.
+
+ <li>improve ifdef's for <code>_POSIX_VDISABLE</code> in tset to
+ work with Mac OS X.
+
+ <li>modify configure script to ensure that if the C compiler is
+ used rather than the loader in making shared libraries, the
+ <code>$(CFLAGS)</code> variable is also used.
+
+ <li>use <code>${CC}</code> rather than <code>${LD}</code> in
+ shared library rules for IRIX64, Solaris to help ensure
+ that initialization sections are provided for extra linkage
+ requirements, e.g., of C++ applications.
+
+ <li>improve some shared-library configure scripting for Linux,
+ FreeBSD and NetBSD to make
+ <code>--with-shlib-version</code> work.
+
+ <li>split up dependency of <code>names.c</code> and
+ <code>codes.c</code> in <code>ncurses/Makefile</code> to
+ work with parallel make.
+
+ <li>modify <code>MKlib_gen.sh</code> to change
+ preprocessor-expanded <code>_Bool</code> back to <code>bool</code>.
+
+ <li>modify <code>progs/Makefile.in</code> to make
+ <code>tput init</code> work properly with cygwin,
+ i.e., do not pass a <code>.exe</code> in the reference
+ string used in check_aliases.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>library:
+ <ul>
+ <li>ignore wide-acs line-drawing characters that
+ <code>wcwidth()</code> claims are not one-column. This is
+ a workaround for Solaris' broken locale support.
+
+ <li>reduce name-pollution in <code>term.h</code> by removing
+ <code>#define</code>'s for HAVE_xxx symbols.
+
+ <li>fix <code>#ifdef</code> in <code>c++/internal.h</code> for
+ QNX 6.1
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>test programs: <ul> <li>modify <code>test/configure</code> script
+ to allow building test programs with PDCurses/X11.
+
+ <li>modified test programs to allow some to work with NetBSD
+ curses. Several do not because NetBSD curses implements a
+ subset of X/Open curses, and also lacks much of SVr4
+ additions. But it is enough for comparison.
+
+ <li>improved <code>test/configure</code> to build test/ncurses
+ on HPUX 11 using the vendor curses.
+
+ <li>change configure script to produce
+ <code>test/Makefile</code> from data file.
+ </ul>
+</ul>
+
+<H1>Features of Ncurses</H1>
+
+The ncurses package is fully compatible with SVr4 (System V Release 4) curses: