+ <li>It is used in environments such as Cygwin and MinGW. The
+ first of these was EMX on OS/2 Warp.</li>
+
+ <li>It is used (though usually not as the <em>system</em>
+ curses) on all of the vendor <span class=
+ "main-name">unix</span> systems, e.g., AIX, HP-UX, IRIX64, SCO,
+ Solaris, Tru64.</li>
+
+ <li>It should work readily on any ANSI/POSIX-conforming
+ <span class="main-name">unix</span>.</li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <p>The distribution includes the library and support utilities,
+ including</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li><a href="https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/captoinfo.1m.html"><span class=
+ "part-name">captoinfo</span></a>, a termcap conversion
+ tool</li>
+
+ <li><a href="https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/clear.1.html"><span class=
+ "part-name">clear</span></a>, utility for clearing the
+ screen</li>
+
+ <li><a href="https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/infocmp.1m.html"><span class=
+ "part-name">infocmp</span></a>, the terminfo decompiler</li>
+
+ <li><a href="https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/tabs.1.html"><span class=
+ "part-name">tabs</span></a>, set tabs on a terminal</li>
+
+ <li><a href="https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/tic.1m.html"><span class=
+ "part-name">tic</span></a>, the terminfo compiler</li>
+
+ <li><a href="https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/toe.1m.html"><span class=
+ "part-name">toe</span></a>, list (table of) terminfo
+ entries</li>
+
+ <li><a href="https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/tput.1.html"><span class=
+ "part-name">tput</span></a>, utility for retrieving terminal
+ capabilities in shell scripts</li>
+
+ <li><a href="https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/tset.1.html"><span class=
+ "part-name">tset</span></a>, to initialize the terminal</li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <p>Full manual pages are provided for the library and tools.</p>
+
+ <p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> distribution is
+ available at <span class="main-name">ncurses</span>' <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/">homepage</a>:</p>
+
+ <blockquote>
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/archives/ncurses/">https://invisible-island.net/archives/ncurses/</a>
+ or<br>
+ <a href=
+ "https://invisible-mirror.net/archives/ncurses/">https://invisible-mirror.net/archives/ncurses/</a> .</p>
+ </blockquote>
+
+ <p>It is also available at the GNU distribution site</p>
+
+ <blockquote>
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/">https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/</a> .</p>
+ </blockquote>
+
+ <h2><a name="h2-release-notes" id="h2-release-notes">Release
+ Notes</a></h2>
+
+ <p>These notes are for <span class="main-name">ncurses</span>
+ 6.4, released <strong>December 31, 2022</strong>.</p>
+
+ <p>This release is designed to be source-compatible with
+ <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> 5.0 through 6.3; providing
+ extensions to the application binary interface (ABI). Although
+ the source can still be configured to support the <span class=
+ "main-name">ncurses</span> 5 ABI, the reason for the release is
+ to reflect improvements to the <span class=
+ "main-name">ncurses</span> 6 ABI and the supporting utility
+ programs.</p>
+
+ <p>There are, of course, numerous other improvements, listed in
+ this announcement.</p>
+
+ <p>The most <a href="#h3-bug-fixes">important
+ bug-fixes/improvements</a> dealt with robustness issues. The
+ release notes also mention some other bug-fixes, but are focused
+ on new features and improvements to existing features since
+ <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> 6.3 release.</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="h3-library" id="h3-library">Library improvements</a></h3>
+
+ <h4><a name="h4-new-library" id="h4-new-library">New features</a></h4>
+
+ <p>There are no new features in this release.</p>
+
+ <h4><a name="h4-fixes-library" id="h4-fixes-library">Other
+ improvements</a></h4>
+
+ <p>These are improvements to existing features:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>modify <tt>delscreen</tt> to more effectively delete all
+ windows on the given screen.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>modify <tt>wnoutrefresh</tt> to call <tt>pnoutrefresh</tt>
+ if its parameter is a pad, rather than treating it as an
+ error, and modify new_panel to permit its window-parameter to
+ be a pad</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>modify curses_trace() to show the trace-mask as symbols,
+ e.g., <tt>TRACE_ORDINARY</tt>, <tt>DEBUG_LEVEL(3)</tt>.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>improve checks for valid mouse events when an intermediate
+ mouse state is not part of the mousemask specified by the
+ caller</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>allow extended-color number in <em>opts</em> parameter of
+ <tt>wattr_on</tt>.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>improve <tt>_tracecchar_t2</tt> formatting of
+ base+combining character.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>trim out some unwanted linker options from ncurses*config
+ and .pc files seen in Fedora 36+.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>improve shell-scripts with <em>shellcheck</em></p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>improve use of "trap" in shell scripts, using a
+ script.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>modify <tt>make-tar.sh</tt> scripts to make timestamps
+ more predictable.</p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <p>These are corrections to existing features:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>modify <tt>misc/gen-pkgconfig.in</tt> to allow for the
+ case where the library directory does not yet exist, since
+ this is processed before doing an install</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>set trailing null on string passed from <tt>winsnstr</tt>
+ to <tt>wins_nwstr</tt>.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>modify <tt>waddch_literal</tt> to allow for double-width
+ base character when merging a combining character</p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <h3><a name="h3-programs" id="h3-programs">Program
+ improvements</a></h3>
+
+ <p id="h4-utilities">Several improvements were made to the
+ utility programs:</p>
+
+ <dl>
+ <dt><span class="part-name"><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/infocmp.1m.html">infocmp</a></span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <ul>
+ <li>rewrite <tt>canonical_name</tt> function of
+ <tt>infocmp</tt> to ensure buffer size</li>
+
+ <li>improve readability of long parameterized expressions
+ with the infocmp “<tt>-f</tt>” option by
+ allowing split before a “<tt>%p</tt>”
+ marker.</li>
+
+ <li>modify verbose-option of <tt>infocmp</tt>,
+ <tt>tic</tt>, <tt>toe</tt> to enable debug-tracing if that
+ is configured.</li>
+ </ul>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name"><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/tabs.1.html">tabs</a></span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>limit tab-stop values to max-columns</dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name"><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/tic.1m.html">tic</a></span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>add consistency check in tic for u6/u7/u8/u9 and NQ
+ capabilities.</dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name"><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/tput.1.html">tput</a></span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>corrected use of original tty-modes in <em>init/reset</em>
+ subcommands</dd>
+ </dl>
+
+ <h4><a name="h4-examples" id="h4-examples">Examples</a></h4>
+
+ <p>Along with the library and utilities, improvements were made
+ to the <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-examples.html">ncurses-examples</a>. Most of
+ this activity aimed at improving the test-packages:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>add minimal <tt>-h</tt> (usage) and <tt>-V</tt> (version)
+ getopt logic to all ncurses-examples programs.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>fix an error in "@" command in <tt>test/ncurses.c</tt>
+ F-menu</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>add curses_trace to ifdef's for <tt>START_TRACE</tt> in
+ <tt>test/test.priv.h</tt></p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>improve pthread-configuration for test/worm.c</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>add <tt>setlocale</tt> call to several test-programs.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>workaround in <tt>test/picsmap.c</tt> for use of floating
+ point for rgb values by ImageMagick 6.9.11, which appears to
+ use the wrong upper limit.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>use static libraries for AdaCurses test-package for
+ Mageia, since no gprbuild package is available.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>install Ada95 sample programs in libexecdir, adding a
+ wrapper script to invoke those.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>install ncurses-examples programs in libexecdir, adding a
+ wrapper script to invoke those.</p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <p>There are other new demo/test programs and reusable
+ examples:</p>
+
+ <dl>
+ <dt><span class="part-name"><em>test/combine</em></span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>demonstrate combining characters</dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name"><em>test/test_delwin</em></span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>demonstrate deleting a window</dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name"><em>test/test_mouse</em></span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>observe mouse events in the raw terminal or parsed ncurses
+ modes</dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name"><em>test/test_unget_wch</em></span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>demonstrate the unget_wch and unget functions</dd>
+ </dl>
+
+ <h3><a name="h3-database" id="h3-database">Terminal database</a></h3>
+
+ <p>There are several new terminal descriptions:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li><tt><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-mosh">mosh</a></tt>
+ </li>
+
+ <li><tt><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-mosh-256color">mosh-256color</a></tt>
+ </li>
+
+ <li><tt><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-teken-16color">teken-16color</a></tt>
+ </li>
+
+ <li><tt><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-teken-sc">teken-sc</a></tt>
+ </li>
+
+ <li><tt><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-teken-vt">teken-vt</a></tt>
+ </li>
+
+ <li><tt><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-xgterm">xgterm</a></tt>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <p>There are many changes to existing terminal descriptions. Some
+ were updates to several descriptions:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>make description-fields distinct</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>fix errata in description fields</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>add/use several building-blocks:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-aixterm_sl"><tt>aixterm+sl</tt></a></li>
+
+ <li><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-ansi_cpr"><tt>ansi+cpr</tt></a></li>
+
+ <li><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-apollo_vt132"><tt>apollo+vt132</tt></a></li>
+
+ <li><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-decid_cpr"><tt>decid+cpr</tt></a></li>
+
+ <li><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-ncr260vp_sl"><tt>ncr260vp+sl</tt></a></li>
+
+ <li><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-wyse_sl"><tt>wyse+sl</tt></a></li>
+
+ <li><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-x10term_sl"><tt>x10term+sl</tt></a></li>
+
+ <li><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm_acs"><tt>xterm+acs</tt></a></li>
+
+ <li><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm_alt47"><tt>xterm+alt47</tt></a></li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <p>while others affected specific descriptions. These were
+ retested, to take into account changes by their developers:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p><tt><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-kitty">kitty</a></tt>
+ </p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p><tt><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-teken">teken</a></tt>
+ </p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <p>while these are specific fixes based on reviewing
+ documentation, user reports, or warnings from <span class=
+ "part-name">tic</span>:</p>
+
+ <dl>
+ <dt><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-att610_cvis0">att610+cvis0</a>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>amended note as per documentation for att610, att620,
+ att730</dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-kon">kon</a>,
+ kon2, jfbterm</dt>
+
+ <dd>revise to undo "linux2.6" change to smacs/rmacs/enacs</dd>
+
+ <dt><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-st-0_6">st-0.6</a>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>add dim, ecma+strikeout</dd>
+
+ <dt><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-foot_base">foot+base</a>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>add xterm+sl-alt</dd>
+
+ <dt><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-dec_sl">dec+sl</a>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>correct dsl in dec+sl</dd>
+
+ <dt><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-mintty">mintty</a> and
+ tmux</dt>
+
+ <dd>correct setal in mintty/tmux entries, add to vte-2018</dd>
+
+ <dt><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-nsterm">nsterm</a>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>modify nsterm to use xterm+alt1049</dd>
+
+ <dt><a href="https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-putty">putty</a>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>modify putty to use xterm+alt1049</dd>
+
+ <dt><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-vte-2018">vte-2018</a>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>add blink and setal</dd>
+ </dl>
+
+ <p>A few entries use extensions (user-defined terminal
+ capabilities):</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>use <tt>ansi+enq</tt> and <tt>decid+cpr</tt> in cases
+ where the terminal probably supported the u6-u9 extension</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>remove u6-u9 from teken-2018</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>use <tt>NQ</tt> to flag entries where the terminal does
+ not support query and response</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>add/use <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-bracketed_paste"><tt>bracketed+paste</tt></a>
+ to help identify terminals supporting this xterm feature</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>modify samples for xterm mouse 1002/1003 modes to use 1006
+ mode, and also provide for focus in/out responses</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>xterm patch #371 supports DEC-compatible status-line. add
+ <tt>dec+sl</tt> to xterm-new, per xterm #371, add <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm-p371"><tt>xterm-p371</tt></a>,
+ add <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm-p370"><tt>xterm-p370</tt></a>,
+ for use in older terminals, and set “xterm-new”
+ to “xterm-p370” (to ease adoption).</p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <h3><a name="h3-documentation" id=
+ "h3-documentation">Documentation</a></h3>
+
+ <p>As usual, this release</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>improves documentation by describing new features,</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>attempts to improve the description of features which
+ users have found confusing</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>fills in overlooked descriptions of features which were
+ described in the <a href="https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/NEWS.html">NEWS</a> file
+ but treated sketchily in manual pages.</p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <p>In addition to providing background information to explain
+ these features and show how they evolved, there are corrections,
+ clarifications, etc.:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>Corrections:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>remove a stray '/' from description of <tt>%g</tt> in
+ <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/terminfo.5.html#h3-Parameterized-Strings">
+ terminfo(5)</a>.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>correct/improve font-formatting in <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/curs_getch.3x.html">curs_getch.3x</a>, as
+ well as other manual pages.</p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>New/improved history and portability sections:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>add portability notes for <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/curs_initscr.3x.html#h2-PORTABILITY">delscreen</a>
+ and <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/curs_window.3x.html#h2-PORTABILITY">delwin</a>
+ in manual.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>improve <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/curs_slk.3x.html#h2-EXTENSIONS">curs_slk.3x</a>
+ discussion of extensions and portability</p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Other improvements:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>improve <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/curs_bkgd.3x.html">curs_bkgd.3x</a>,
+ explaining that <tt>bkgdset</tt> can affect results for
+ <tt>bkgd</tt></p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>add note on portable memory-leak checking in <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/curs_memleaks.3x.html#h2-PORTABILITY">curs_memleaks.3x</a></p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>expanded description in <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/resizeterm.3x.html">resizeterm.3x</a></p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>add section on releasing memory to <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/curs_termcap.3x.html#h3-Releasing-Memory">
+ curs_termcap.3x</a> and <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/curs_terminfo.3x.html#h3-Releasing-Memory">
+ curs_terminfo.3x</a> manpages.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>add clarification of the scope of dynamic variables in
+ <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</a>.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>improve formatting of <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-intro.html">ncurses-intro.html</a>
+ and <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/hackguide.html">hackguide.html</a></p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>improve <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/curs_clear.3x.html">curs_clear.3x</a>
+ links to other pages</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>update <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/howto/NCURSES-Programming-HOWTO.html">ncurses-howto</a>,
+ making documentation fixes along with corrections to
+ example programs.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>use newer version 1.36 of gnathtml for generating Ada
+ html files.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>update external links in <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/Ada95.html">Ada95.html</a></p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <p>There are no new manual pages (all of the manual page updates
+ are to existing pages).</p>
+
+ <h3><a name="h3-bug-fixes" id="h3-bug-fixes">Interesting
+ bug-fixes</a></h3>
+
+ <p>While there were many bugs fixed during development of ncurses
+ 6.4, only a few (the reason for this release) were both important
+ and interesting. Most of the bug-fixes were for local issues
+ which did not affect compatibility across releases. Since those
+ are detailed in the <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/NEWS.html#t20221231">NEWS</a> file no elaboration is
+ needed here.</p>
+
+ <p>The interesting bugs were those dealing with memory leaks and
+ buffer overflows. Although the utilities are designed for
+ <em>text</em> files (which they do properly), some choose to test
+ them with <strong>non-</strong><em>text</em> files.</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>Text files contain no embedded nulls. Also, they end with
+ a newline. Feeding <strong>tic</strong> non-text files
+ exposed a few cases where the program did not check for those
+ issues. As a result, further processing of the input found
+ limit-checks whose assumptions were invalid.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Fixing the limit-checks (first) found a problem with
+ <strong>tic</strong> managing the list of strings in a
+ terminal description. In merging two terminal descriptions
+ (i.e., the “use=” feature), <strong>tic</strong>
+ was not allocating a complete copy. A quick repair for that
+ introduced a memory leak.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>The checks for non-text files are improved (i.e., embedded
+ nulls in the input file will cause <strong>tic</strong> to
+ reject it rather than attempting to process it).</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>The string allocations in <strong>tic</strong> are
+ likewise improved.</p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <h3><a name="h3-config-config" id=
+ "h3-config-config">Configuration changes</a></h3>
+
+ <h4><a name="h4-config-major" id="h4-config-major">Major
+ changes</a></h4>
+
+ <p>There are no major changes. No new options were added. Several
+ improvements were made to configure checks.</p>
+
+ <h4><a name="h4-config-options" id=
+ "h4-config-options">Configuration options</a></h4>
+
+ <p>There are a few new/modified configure options:</p>
+
+ <dl>
+ <dt><tt>--with-abi-version</tt>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>add ABI 7 defaults to configure script.</p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><tt>--with-caps</tt>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>add warning in configure script if file specified for
+ “<tt>--with-caps</tt>” does not exist.</p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><tt>--with-manpage-format</tt>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>bzip2 and xz compression are now supported</p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><tt>--with-xterm-kbs</tt>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>add check/warning in configure script if option
+ “<tt>--with-xterm-kbs</tt>” is missing or
+ inconsistent</p>
+ </dd>
+ </dl>
+
+ <h3><a name="h3-portability" id="h3-portability">Portability</a></h3>
+
+ <p>Many of the portability changes are implemented via the
+ configure script:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>amend configure option's auto-search to account for
+ systems where none of the directories known to
+ <em>pkg-config</em> exist</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>corrected regex needed for older <em>pkg-config</em> used
+ in Solaris 10</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>improve handling of <tt>--with-pkg-config-libdir</tt>
+ option, allowing for the case where either
+ <tt>$PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR</tt> or the option value has a
+ colon-separated list of directories</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>if the <tt>--with-pkg-config-libdir</tt> option is not
+ given, use <tt>${libdir}/pkgconfig</tt> as a default</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>improve search-path check for <em>pkg-config</em>, e.g.,
+ for Debian testing which installs <em>pkg-config</em> with
+ architecture-prefixes.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>build-fix for cross-compiling to MingW, conditionally add
+ <tt>-lssp</tt></p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>improve configure check for <tt>getttynam</tt></p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>fixes to build with <em>dietlibc</em>:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>add configure check for <tt>fpathconf</tt></li>
+
+ <li>add configure check for math sine/cosine, needed in
+ test/tclock, and eliminate <tt>pow()</tt> from
+ test/hanoi</li>
+
+ <li>use <tt>wcsnlen</tt> as an alternative to
+ <tt>wmemchr</tt> if it is not found</li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>modify configure macro <tt>CF_BUILD_CC</tt> to check if
+ the build-compiler works, rather than that it is different
+ from the cross-compiler, e.g., to accommodate a compiler
+ which can be used for either purpose with different flags</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>modify configure/scripts to work around interference by
+ GNU grep 3.8</p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <p>Here are some of the other portability fixes:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>change <tt>man_db.renames</tt> to template, to handle
+ <em>ncurses*-config</em> script with the
+ <tt>--extra-suffix</tt> configure option.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>update <tt>CF_XOPEN_SOURCE</tt> macro, adding variants
+ “gnueabi" and “gnueabihf" to get
+ <tt>_DEFAULT_SOURCE</tt> special case, as well as adding GNU
+ libc suffixes for “abi64”, “abin32”,
+ “x32” to distinguish it from other libc
+ flavors.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>work around <em>musl</em>'s nonstandard use of feature
+ test macros by adding a definition for
+ <tt>NCURSES_WIDECHAR</tt> to the generated “.pc”
+ and <em><tt>*-config</tt></em> files.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>use “<tt>command -v</tt>” rather than
+ “<tt>type</tt>” in <tt>Ada95/gen/Makefile.in</tt>
+ to fix a portability issue.</p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <hr>
+
+ <h2><a name="h2-features" id="h2-features">Features of
+ <span class="main-name">ncurses</span></a></h2>
+
+ <p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> package is fully
+ upward-compatible with SVr4 (System V Release 4) curses:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>All of the SVr4 calls have been implemented (and are
+ documented).</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p><span class="main-name">ncurses</span> supports all of the
+ for SVr4 curses features including keyboard mapping, color,
+ forms-drawing with ACS characters, and automatic recognition
+ of keypad and function keys.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p><span class="main-name">ncurses</span> provides these SVr4
+ add-on libraries (not part of X/Open Curses):</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>the panels library, supporting a stack of windows with
+ backing store.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>the menus library, supporting a uniform but flexible
+ interface for menu programming.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>the form library, supporting data collection through
+ on-screen forms.</p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p><span class="main-name">ncurses</span>'s terminal database
+ is fully compatible with that used by SVr4 curses.</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p><span class="main-name">ncurses</span> supports
+ user-defined capabilities which it can see, but which are
+ hidden from SVr4 curses applications using the
+ <em>same</em> terminal database.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>It can be optionally configured to match the format
+ used in related systems such as AIX and Tru64.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Alternatively, <span class="main-name">ncurses</span>
+ can be configured to use hashed databases rather than the
+ directory of files used by SVr4 curses.</p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> utilities have
+ options to allow you to filter terminfo entries for use with
+ less capable <em>curses</em>/<em>terminfo</em> versions such
+ as the HP-UX and AIX ports.</p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> package also has
+ many useful extensions over SVr4:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>The API is 8-bit clean and base-level conformant with the
+ X/OPEN curses specification, XSI curses (that is, it
+ implements all <em>BASE</em> level features, and most
+ <em>EXTENDED</em> 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).</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Unlike SVr3 curses, <span class="main-name">ncurses</span>
+ can write to the rightmost-bottommost corner of the screen if
+ your terminal has an insert-character capability.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Ada95 and C++ bindings.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Support for mouse event reporting with X Window xterm and
+ FreeBSD and OS/2 console windows.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Extended mouse support via Alessandro Rubini's gpm
+ package.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>The function <code>wresize</code> allows you to resize
+ windows, preserving their data.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>The function <code>use_default_colors</code> allows you to
+ use the terminal's default colors for the default color pair,
+ achieving the effect of transparent colors.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>The functions <code>keyok</code> and
+ <code>define_key</code> allow you to better control the use
+ of function keys, e.g., disabling the <span class=
+ "main-name">ncurses</span> KEY_MOUSE, or by defining more
+ than one control sequence to map to a given key code.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Support for direct-color terminals, such as modern
+ xterm.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Support for 256-color terminals, such as modern xterm.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Support for 16-color terminals, such as <em>aixterm</em>
+ and <em>modern xterm</em>.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Better cursor-movement optimization. The package now
+ features a cursor-local-movement computation more efficient
+ than either BSD's or System V's.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Super hardware scrolling support. The screen-update code
+ incorporates a novel, simple, and cheap algorithm that
+ enables it to make optimal use of hardware scrolling,
+ line-insertion, and line-deletion for screen-line movements.
+ This algorithm is more powerful than the 4.4BSD curses
+ <code>quickch</code> routine.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Real support for terminals with the magic-cookie glitch.
+ The screen-update code will refrain from drawing a highlight
+ if the magic- cookie unattributed spaces required just before
+ the beginning and after the end would step on a non-space
+ character. It will automatically shift highlight boundaries
+ when doing so would make it possible to draw the highlight
+ without changing the visual appearance of the screen.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>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).</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>The <a href="https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/tic.1m.html"><span class=
+ "part-name">tic</span></a>/<a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/captoinfo.1m.html">captoinfo</a> utility
+ provided with <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> has the
+ ability to translate many termcaps from the XENIX, IBM and
+ AT&T extension sets.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>A BSD-like <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/tset.1.html"><span class=
+ "part-name">tset</span></a> utility is provided.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> library and
+ utilities will automatically read terminfo entries from
+ $HOME/.terminfo if it exists, and compile to that directory
+ 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.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>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.)</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>In terminfo source files, use capabilities may refer not
+ just to other entries in the same source file (as in System
+ V) but also to compiled entries in either the system terminfo
+ directory or the user's $HOME/.terminfo directory.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>The table-of-entries utility <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/toe.1m.html"><span class=
+ "part-name">toe</span></a> makes it easy for users to see
+ exactly what terminal types are available on the system.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>The library meets the XSI requirement that every macro
+ entry point has a corresponding function which may be linked
+ (and will be prototype-checked) if the macro definition is
+ disabled with <code>#undef</code>.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Extensive documentation is provided (see the <em><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses.faq.html#additional_reading">Additional
+ Reading</a></em> section of the <em><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses.faq.html"><span class=
+ "main-name">ncurses</span> FAQ</a></em> for online
+ documentation).</p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <h2><a name="h2-who-uses" id="h2-who-uses">Applications using
+ <span class="main-name">ncurses</span></a></h2>
+
+ <p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> distribution
+ includes a selection of test programs (including a few games).
+ These are available separately as <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-examples.html">ncurses-examples</a></p>
+
+ <p>The ncurses library has been tested with a wide variety of
+ applications including:</p>
+
+ <blockquote>
+ <dl>
+ <dt><span class="part-name">aptitude</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>FrontEnd to Apt, the debian package manager</p>
+
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://wiki.debian.org/Aptitude">https://wiki.debian.org/Aptitude</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">cdk</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>Curses Development Kit</p>
+
+ <p><a href="https://invisible-island.net/cdk/">https://invisible-island.net/cdk/</a><br>
+ </p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">ded</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>directory-editor</p>
+
+ <p><a href="https://invisible-island.net/ded/">https://invisible-island.net/ded/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">dialog</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>the underlying application used in Slackware's setup,
+ and the basis for similar install/configure applications on
+ many systems.</p>
+
+ <p><a href="https://invisible-island.net/dialog/">https://invisible-island.net/dialog/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">lynx</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>the text WWW browser</p>
+
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://lynx.invisible-island.net/">https://lynx.invisible-island.net/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">mutt</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>mail utility</p>
+
+ <p><a href="http://www.mutt.org/">http://www.mutt.org/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">ncftp</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>file-transfer utility</p>
+
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://www.ncftp.com/">https://www.ncftp.com/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">nvi</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>New vi uses ncurses.</p>
+
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://sites.google.com/a/bostic.com/keithbostic/vi">https://sites.google.com/a/bostic.com/keithbostic/vi</a><br>
+
+ </p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">ranger</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>A console file manager with VI key bindings in
+ <em>Python</em>.</p>
+
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://ranger.github.io/">https://ranger.github.io/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">tin</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>newsreader, supporting color, MIME</p>
+
+ <p><a href="http://www.tin.org/">http://www.tin.org/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">vifm</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>File manager with vi like keybindings</p>
+
+ <p><a href="https://vifm.info/">https://vifm.info/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+ </dl>
+ </blockquote>
+
+ <p>as well as some that use <span class=
+ "main-name">ncurses</span> for the terminfo support alone:</p>
+
+ <blockquote>
+ <dl>
+ <dt><span class="part-name">minicom</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>terminal emulator for serial modem connections</p>
+
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/">https://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">mosh</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>a replacement for <code>ssh</code>.</p>
+
+ <p><a href="https://mosh.org/">https://mosh.org/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">tack</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>terminfo action checker</p>
+
+ <p><a href="https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/tack.html">https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/tack.html</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">tmux</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>terminal multiplexor</p>
+
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://github.com/tmux/tmux/wiki">https://github.com/tmux/tmux/wiki</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">vile</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p><em>vi-like-emacs</em> may be built to use the terminfo,
+ termcap or curses interfaces.</p>
+
+ <p><a href="https://invisible-island.net/vile/">https://invisible-island.net/vile/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+ </dl>
+ </blockquote>
+
+ <p>and finally, those which use only the termcap interface:</p>
+
+ <blockquote>
+ <dl>
+ <dt><span class="part-name">emacs</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>text editor</p>
+
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/">https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">less</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>The most commonly used <em>pager</em> (a program that
+ displays text files).</p>
+
+ <p><a href=
+ "http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less/">http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">screen</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>terminal multiplexor</p>
+
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://www.gnu.org/software/screen/">https://www.gnu.org/software/screen/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">vim</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>text editor</p>
+
+ <p><a href="https://www.vim.org/">https://www.vim.org/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+ </dl>
+ </blockquote>
+
+ <h2><a name="h2-development" id="h2-development">Development
+ activities</a></h2>
+
+ <p>Zeyd Ben-Halim started <span class="main-name">ncurses</span>
+ from a previous package pcurses, written by Pavel Curtis. Eric S.
+ Raymond continued development. Jürgen Pfeifer wrote most of
+ the form and menu libraries.</p>
+
+ <p>Ongoing development work is done by <a href=
+ "mailto:dickey@invisible-island.net">Thomas E. Dickey</a>. Thomas
+ E. Dickey has acted as the maintainer for the Free Software
+ Foundation, which held a <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-license.html">copyright on ncurses</a> for
+ releases 4.2 through 6.1. Following the release of ncurses 6.1,
+ effective as of release 6.2, copyright for ncurses reverted to
+ Thomas E. Dickey (see the <a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses.faq.html#relicensed">ncurses FAQ</a> for
+ additional information).</p>
+
+ <p>Contact the current maintainers at</p>
+
+ <blockquote>
+ <a href="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">bug-ncurses@gnu.org</a>
+ </blockquote>
+
+ <p>To join the ncurses mailing list, please write email to</p>
+
+ <blockquote>
+ <a href=
+ "mailto:bug-ncurses-request@gnu.org">bug-ncurses-request@gnu.org</a>
+ </blockquote>
+ containing the line:
+ <blockquote>
+ <p><code>subscribe</code>
+ <em><name>@<host.domain></em></p>
+ </blockquote>
+
+ <p>This list is open to anyone interested in helping with the
+ development and testing of this package.</p>
+
+ <p>Beta versions of <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> are
+ made available at</p>
+
+ <blockquote>
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/archives/ncurses/current/">https://invisible-island.net/archives/ncurses/current/</a>
+ and<br>
+ <a href=
+ "https://invisible-mirror.net/archives/ncurses/current/">https://invisible-mirror.net/archives/ncurses/current/</a> .</p>
+ </blockquote>
+
+ <p>Patches to the current release are made available at</p>
+
+ <blockquote>
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/archives/ncurses/6.3/">https://invisible-island.net/archives/ncurses/6.3/</a>
+ and<br>
+ <a href=
+ "https://invisible-mirror.net/archives/ncurses/6.3/">https://invisible-mirror.net/archives/ncurses/6.3/</a> .</p>
+ </blockquote>
+
+ <p>There is an archive of the mailing list here:</p>
+
+ <blockquote>
+ <p><a href=
+ "http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-ncurses">http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-ncurses</a>
+ (also <a href=
+ "https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-ncurses">https</a>)</p>
+ </blockquote>
+
+ <h2><a name="h2-this-stuff" id="h2-this-stuff">Related
+ resources</a></h2>
+
+ <p>The release notes make scattered references to these pages,
+ which may be interesting by themselves:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li><a href="https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-license.html"><span class=
+ "main-name">ncurses</span> licensing</a></li>
+
+ <li><a href="https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-mapsyms.html">Symbol versioning
+ in <span class="main-name">ncurses</span></a></li>
+
+ <li><a href="https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-slang.html">Comments on
+ <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> versus <span class=
+ "main-name">slang</span> (S-Lang)</a></li>
+
+ <li><a href="https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-openbsd.html">Comments on
+ <span class="main-name">OpenBSD</span></a></li>
+
+ <li><a href="https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/tack.html">tack – terminfo action
+ checker</a></li>
+
+ <li><a href="https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/tctest.html">tctest – termcap
+ library checker</a></li>
+
+ <li><a href=
+ "https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses.html#download_database">Terminal
+ Database</a></li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <h2><a name="h2-other-stuff" id="h2-other-stuff">Other
+ resources</a></h2>
+
+ <p>The distribution provides a newer version of the
+ terminfo-format terminal description file once 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, which also provides
+ several user-definable extensions beyond the X/Open
+ specification.</p>
+
+ <p>You can find lots of information on terminal-related topics
+ not covered in the terminfo file at <a href=
+ "http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal">
+ Richard Shuford's archive</a> . The collection of computer
+ manuals at <a href=
+ "http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/">bitsavers.org</a> has also been
+ useful.</p>
+
+ <div class="nav">
+ <ul>
+ <li><a href="#h2-overview">Overview</a></li>
+
+ <li>
+ <a href="#h2-release-notes">Release Notes</a>
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <a href="#h3-library">Library improvements</a>