+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.
+<p>
+Interface changes:
+<ul>
+ <li>generate linkable stubs for some macros:
+ <br>
+ getattrs
+
+</ul>
+New features and improvements:
+<ul>
+ <li>library
+ <ul>
+ <li>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.<br>
+ (This is <em>API</em>-compatible,
+ but not <em>ABI</em>-compatible with the normal library).
+
+ <li>add <code>NCURSES_OPAQUE</code> symbol to curses.h, will
+ use to make structs opaque in selected configurations.
+
+ <li>add <code>NCURSES_EXT_FUNCS</code> and
+ <code>NCURSES_EXT_COLORS</code> symbols to curses.h to make
+ it simpler to tell if the extended functions and/or colors
+ are declared.
+
+ <li>add wresize() to C++ binding
+
+ <li>eliminate fixed-buffer vsprintf() calls in C++ binding.
+
+ <li>add several functions to C++ binding which wrap C functions
+ that pass a WINDOW* parameter.
+
+ <li>adapt mouse-handling code from menu library in form-library
+
+ <li>improve tracing for form library, showing created forms,
+ fields, etc.
+
+ <li>make $NCURSES_NO_PADDING feature work for termcap interface .
+
+ <li>add check to trace-file open, if the given name is a
+ directory, add ".log" to the name and try again.
+
+ <li>several new manpages: curs_legacy.3x, curs_memleaks.3x,
+ curs_opaque.3x and curs_threads.3x
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>programs:
+ <ul>
+ <li>modified three test-programs to demonstrate the threading
+ support in this version: ditto, rain, worm.
+
+ <li>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.
+
+ <li>add <code>adacurses-config</code> to the Ada95 install.
+
+ <li>modify tic <code>-f</code> option to format spaces as
+ <code>\s</code> to prevent them from being lost when that
+ is read back in unformatted strings.
+
+ <li>The <code>tack</code> program is now distributed separately
+ from ncurses.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>terminal database
+ <ul>
+ <li>added entries:
+ <ul>
+ <li><code>Eterm-256color</code>,
+ <code>Eterm-88color</code> and
+ <code>rxvt-88color</code>
+ <li><code>aterm</code>
+ <li><code>konsole-256color</code>
+ <li><code>mrxvt</code>
+ <li><code>screen.mlterm</code>
+ <li><code>screen.rxvt</code>
+ <li><code>teraterm4.59</code> is now the primary primary
+ teraterm entry, renamed original to
+ <code>teraterm2.3</code>
+ <li><code>9term</code> terminal
+ <li>Newbury Data entries
+ </ul>
+ <li>updated/improved entries:
+ <ul>
+ <li><code>gnome</code> to version 2.22.3
+ <li><code>h19</code>, <code>z100</code>
+ <li><code>konsole</code> to version 1.6.6
+ <li><code>mlterm</code>, <code>mlterm+pcfkeys</code>
+ <li><code>xterm</code>, and building-blocks for function-keys
+ to <a href="http://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.log.html#xterm_230">xterm patch #230</a>.
+ </ul>
+ </ul>
+</ul>
+Major bug fixes:
+<ul>
+ <li>add logic to tic for cancelling strings in user-defined
+ capabilities
+ (this is <em>needed</em> for
+ current <code>konsole</code> terminfo entry).
+
+ <li>modify <code>mk-1st.awk</code> 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., <code>libncurses.so</code> by
+ <code>/bin/sh</code>.
+
+ <li>correct check for notimeout() in wgetch().
+
+ <li>fix a sign-extension bug in infocmp's repair_acsc() function.
+
+ <li>change winnstr() to stop at the end of the line.
+
+ <li>make Ada95 demo_panels() example work.
+
+ <li>fix for adding a non-spacing character at the beginning of a line.
+
+ <li>fill in extended-color pair to make colors work
+ for wide-characters using extended-colors.
+
+ <li>improve refresh of window on top of multi-column characters,
+ taking into account split characters on left/right window
+ boundaries.
+
+ <li>modify <code>win_wchnstr()</code> to ensure that only a base cell
+ is returned for each multi-column character.
+
+ <li>improve <code>waddch()</code> and <code>winsch()</code> handling of
+ EILSEQ from <code>mbrtowc()</code> by using <code>unctrl()</code>
+ to display illegal bytes rather than trying to append further bytes
+ to make up a valid sequence.
+
+ <li>restore <code>curs_set()</code> state after
+ <code>endwin()</code>/<code>refresh()</code>
+
+ <li>modify <code>keyname()</code> to use "^X" form only if
+ <code>meta()</code> has been called, or if <code>keyname()</code>
+ is called without initializing curses, e.g., via
+ <code>initscr()</code> or <code>newterm()</code>.
+
+ <li>modify <code>unctrl()</code> to check codes in 128-255 range versus
+ <code>isprint()</code>.
+ If they are not printable, and locale was set, use a "M-" or "~"
+ sequence.
+
+ <li>improve <code>resizeterm()</code> by moving ripped-off lines, and
+ repainting the soft-keys.
+
+ <li>modify form library to accept control characters such as newline
+ in set_field_buffer(), which is compatible with Solaris.
+
+ <li>use <code>NCURSES_MOUSE_MASK()</code> in definition of
+ <code>BUTTON_RELEASE()</code>, etc., to make those work properly
+ with the <code>--enable-ext-mouse</code> configuration
+
+ <li>correct some functions in Ada95 binding which were using return
+ value from C where none was returned.
+
+ <li>reviewed/fixed issues reported by Coverity and Klocwork tools.
+</ul>
+
+Portability:
+<ul>
+ <li>configure script:
+ <ul>
+ <li>new options:
+ <dl>
+
+ <dt>--disable-big-strings
+ <dd>control whether static string tables are generated as single
+ large strings (to improve startup performance), or as array
+ of individual strings.
+
+ <dt>--disable-relink
+ <dd>control whether shared libraries are relinked (during install)
+ when rpath is enabled.
+
+ <dt>--disable-tic-depends
+ <dd>make explicit whether tic library depends on ncurses/ncursesw
+ library.
+
+ <dt>--enable-mixed-case
+ <dd>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
+
+ <dt>--enable-reentrant
+ <dd>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).
+
+ <dt>--enable-weak-symbols
+ <dd>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).
+
+ <dt>--with-pthread
+ <dd>build with the POSIX thread library (tested with AIX,
+ Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, HPUX, IRIX64, Solaris, Tru64).
+
+ <dt>--with-ticlib
+ <dd>build/install the tic-support functions in a separate library
+
+ </dl>
+
+ <li>improved options:
+ <dl>
+
+ <dt>--enable-ext-colors
+ <dd>requires the wide-character configuration.
+
+ <dt>--with-chtype
+ <dd>ignore option value "unsigned" is always added to
+ the type in curses.h; do the same for --with-mmask-t.
+
+ <dt>--with-dmalloc
+ <dd>build-fix for redefinition of <code>strndup</code>.
+
+ <dt>--with-hashed-db
+ <dd>accepts a parameter which is the install-prefix of a given
+ Berkeley Database.
+
+ <dt>--with-hashed-db
+ <dd>the $LIBS environment variable overrides the search for the db
+ library.
+
+ <dt>--without-hashed-db
+ <dd>assumed when "--disable-database" is used.
+
+ </dl>
+
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>other configure/build issues:
+ <ul>
+ <li>build-fixes for LynxOS
+ <li>modify shared-library rules to allow FreeBSD 3.x to use rpath.
+ <li>build-fix for FreeBSD "contemporary" TTY interface.
+ <li>build-fixes for AIX with libtool.
+ <li>build-fixes for Darwin and libtool.
+ <li>modify BeOS-specific ifdef's to build on Haiku.
+ <li>corrected gcc options for building shared libraries on Solaris
+ and IRIX64.
+ <li>change shared-library configuration for OpenBSD, make rpath work.
+ <li>build-fixes for using libutf8, e.g., on OpenBSD 3.7
+ <li>add "-e" option in ncurses/Makefile.in when generating source-files
+ to force earlier exit if the build environment fails unexpectedly.
+ <li>add support for shared libraries for QNX.
+ <li>change delimiter in <code>MKlib_gen.sh</code> from '%' to '@', to
+ avoid substitution by IBM xlc to '#' as part of its extensions to
+ digraphs.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>library:
+ <ul>
+ <li>rewrite wrapper for <code>wcrtomb()</code>, making it work on
+ Solaris. This is used in the form library to determine the length
+ of the buffer needed by <code>field_buffer</code>.
+ <li>add/use configure script macro CF_SIG_ATOMIC_T, use the corresponding
+ type for data manipulated by signal handlers.
+ <li>set locale in misc/ncurses-config.in since it uses a range
+ <li>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.
+ <li>reset mouse file-descriptor when unloading GPM library.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>test programs:
+ <ul>
+ <li>update test programs to build/work with various UNIX curses for
+ comparisons.
+ </ul>
+</ul>
+
+<H1>Features of Ncurses</H1>
+
+The ncurses package is fully compatible with SVr4 (System V Release 4) curses: