- Announcing ncurses 5.6
+ Announcing ncurses 5.9
The ncurses (new curses) library is a free software emulation of
curses in System V Release 4.0, and more. It uses terminfo format,
Release Notes
This release is designed to be upward compatible from ncurses 5.0
- through 5.5; very few applications will require recompilation,
+ through 5.8; very few applications will require recompilation,
depending on the platform. These are the highlights from the
- change-log since ncurses 5.5 release.
-
- Interface changes:
- * generate linkable stubs for some macros:
- getbegx, getbegy, getcurx, getcury, getmaxx, getmaxy, getparx,
- getpary, getpary,
- and (for libncursesw)
- wgetbkgrnd
-
- New features and improvements:
- * library
- + support hashed databases for the terminal descriptions. This
- uses the Berkeley database, has been tested for several
- versions on different platforms.
- + add use_legacy_coding() function to support lynx's
- font-switching feature.
- + add extension nofilter(), to cancel a prior filter() call.
- + add/install a package config script, e.g., ncurses5-config or
- ncursesw5-config, according to configuration options.
- + provide ifdef for NCURSES_NOMACROS which suppresses most
- macro definitions from curses.h, i.e., where a macro is
- defined to override a function to improve performance.
- + make ifdef's consistent in curses.h 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.
- + improve tgetstr() by making the return value point into the
- user's buffer, if provided.
- + add ifdef's allowing ncurses to be built with tparm() using
- either varargs (the existing status), or using a
- fixed-parameter list (to match X/Open).
- + widen the test for xterm kmous a little to allow for other
- strings than "\E[M", e.g., for xterm-sco functionality in
- xterm.
- + modify wgetnstr() to return KEY_RESIZE if a sigwinch occurs.
- + move prototypes for wide-character trace functions from
- curses.tail to curses.wide to avoid accidental reference to
- those if _XOPEN_SOURCE_EXTENDED is defined without ensuring
- that <wchar.h> is included.
- + 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 --with-rpath option work except with $(DESTDIR).
- + several improvements for rendering in hpterm. These are only
- available if the library is configured using
- --enable-xmc-glitch.
- + Add NCURSES_NO_HARD_TABS and NCURSES_NO_MAGIC_COOKIE
- environment variables to allow runtime suppression of the
- related hard-tabs and xmc-glitch features.
- * programs:
- + 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).
- + modify tack to test extended capability function-key strings.
- + modify toe to access termcap data, e.g., via cgetent()
- functions, or as a text file if those are not available.
- + improve infocmp/tic -f option formatting.
- + add toe -a option, to show all databases. This uses new
- private interfaces in the ncurses library for iterating
- through the list of databases.
- + modify MKfallback.sh to use tic -x when constructing fallback
- tables to allow extended capabilities to be retrieved from a
- fallback entry.
- * terminal database
- + add terminfo entries for xfce terminal (xfce) and multi gnome
- terminal (mgt)
- + add nsterm-16color entry
- + updated mlterm terminfo entry
- + add kon, kon2 and jfbterm terminfo entry
- + remove invis capability from klone+sgr, mainly used by linux
- entry, since it does not really do this
- + add ka2, kb1, kb3, kc2 to vt220-keypad as an extension
- + add shifted up/down arrow codes to xterm-new as kind/kri
- strings
- + add hpterm-color terminfo entry
- + add 256color variants of terminfo entries for programs which
- are reported to implement this feature
- + correct order of use-clauses in rxvt-basic entry which made
- codes for f1-f4 vt100-style rather than vt220-style.
-
- Major bug fixes:
- * correct a typo in configure --with-bool option for the case where
- --without-cxx is used.
- * move assignment from environment variable ESCDELAY from initscr()
- down to newterm() so the environment variable affects timeouts for
- terminals opened with newterm() as well.
- * modify werase to clear multicolumn characters that extend into a
- derived window.
- * modify wchgat() to mark updated cells as changed so a refresh will
- repaint those cells.
- * correct logic in wadd_wch() and wecho_wch(), which did not guard
- against passing the multi-column attribute into a call on
- waddch(), e.g., using data returned by win_wch()
- * fix redrawing of windows other than stdscr using wredrawln() by
- touching the corresponding rows in curscr.
- * reduce memory leaks in repeated calls to tgetent() by remembering
- the last TERMINAL* value allocated to hold the corresponding data
- and freeing that if the tgetent() result buffer is the same as the
- previous call.
- * modify read_termtype() so the term_names data is always allocated
- as part of the str_table, a better fix for a memory leak.
- * fix wins_nwstr(), which did not handle single-column non-8bit
- codes.
- * modify wbkgrnd() to avoid clearing the A_CHARTEXT attribute bits
- since those record the state of multicolumn characters.
- * improve SIGWINCH handling by postponing its effect during
- newterm(), etc., when allocating screens.
- * remove 970913 feature for copying subwindows as they are moved in
- mvwin().
- * add checks in waddchnstr() and wadd_wchnstr() to stop copying when
- a null character is found.
- * add some checks to ensure current position is within scrolling
- region before scrolling on a new line.
- * 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.
-
- Portability:
- * configure script:
- + new options:
-
- --with-hashed-db
- Use Berkeley hashed database for storing terminfo
- data rather than storing each compiled entry in a
- separate binary file within a directory tree.
-
- --without-dlsym
- Do not use dlsym() to load GPM dynamically.
-
- --with-valgrind
- Simplify building for testing with valgrind.
-
- --enable-wgetch-events
- Compile with experimental wgetch-events code.
-
- --enable-signed-char
- Store booleans in "signed char" rather than "char".
-
- + improved options:
-
- --disable-largefile
- make the option work both ways.
-
- --with-gpm
- The option now accepts a parameter, i.e., the name
- of the dynamic GPM library to load via dlopen()
-
- --disable-symlinks
- The option now allows one to disable symlink() in
- tic even when link() does not work.
-
- * other configure/build issues:
- + remove special case for Darwin in CF_XOPEN_SOURCE configure
- macro.
- + add configure check to ensure that SIGWINCH is defined on
- platforms such as OS X which exclude that when _XOPEN_SOURCE,
- etc., are defined
- + use ld's -search_paths_first option on Darwin to work around
- odd search rules on that platform.
- + improve ifdef's for _POSIX_VDISABLE in tset to work with Mac
- OS X.
- + modify configure script to ensure that if the C compiler is
- used rather than the loader in making shared libraries, the
- $(CFLAGS) variable is also used.
- + use ${CC} rather than ${LD} in shared library rules for
- IRIX64, Solaris to help ensure that initialization sections
- are provided for extra linkage requirements, e.g., of C++
- applications.
- + improve some shared-library configure scripting for Linux,
- FreeBSD and NetBSD to make --with-shlib-version work.
- + split up dependency of names.c and codes.c in
- ncurses/Makefile to work with parallel make.
- + modify MKlib_gen.sh to change preprocessor-expanded _Bool
- back to bool.
- + modify progs/Makefile.in to make tput init work properly with
- cygwin, i.e., do not pass a .exe in the reference string used
- in check_aliases.
- * library:
- + ignore wide-acs line-drawing characters that wcwidth() claims
- are not one-column. This is a workaround for Solaris' broken
- locale support.
- + reduce name-pollution in term.h by removing #define's for
- HAVE_xxx symbols.
- + fix #ifdef in c++/internal.h for QNX 6.1
- * test programs:
- + modify test/configure script to allow building test programs
- with PDCurses/X11.
- + 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.
- + improved test/configure to build test/ncurses on HPUX 11
- using the vendor curses.
- + change configure script to produce test/Makefile from data
- file.
+ change-log since ncurses 5.8 release.
+
+ This is a bug-fix release, correcting a small number of urgent
+ problems in the ncurses library from the 5.8 release.
+
+ It also improves the Ada95 binding:
+ * fixes a longstanding portability problem with its use of the
+ [3]set_field_type function. Because that function uses
+ variable-length argument lists, its interface with gnat does not
+ work with certain platforms.
+ * improves configurability and portability, particularly when built
+ separately from the main ncurses tree. The 5.8 release introduced
+ scripts which can be used to construct separate tarballs for the
+ Ada95 and ncurses examples.
+ Those were a proof of concept. For the 5.9 release, those scripts
+ are augmented with rpm- and dpkg-scripts used in test builds
+ against a variety of gnat- and system ncurses versions as old as
+ gnat 3.15 and ncurses 5.4 (see snapshots and systems tested
+ [4]here.
+ * additional improvements were made for portability of the ncurses
+ examples, adding rpm- and dpkg-scripts for test-builds. See
+ [5]this page for snapshots and other information.
Features of Ncurses
* Support for mouse event reporting with X Window xterm and FreeBSD
and OS/2 console windows.
* Extended mouse support via Alessandro Rubini's gpm package.
- * The function wresize() allows you to resize windows, preserving
+ * The function wresize allows you to resize windows, preserving
their data.
- * The function use_default_colors() allows you to use the terminal's
+ * The function use_default_colors allows you to use the terminal's
default colors for the default color pair, achieving the effect of
transparent colors.
- * The functions keyok() and define_key() allow you to better control
- the use of function keys, e.g., disabling the ncurses KEY_MOUSE,
- or by defining more than one control sequence to map to a given
- key code.
+ * The functions keyok and define_key allow you to better control the
+ use of function keys, e.g., disabling the ncurses KEY_MOUSE, or by
+ defining more than one control sequence to map to a given key
+ code.
+ * Support for 256-color terminals, such as modern xterm, when
+ configured using the --enable-ext-colors option.
* Support for 16-color terminals, such as aixterm and modern xterm.
* Better cursor-movement optimization. The package now features a
cursor-local-movement computation more efficient than either BSD's
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 quickch() routine.
+ powerful than the 4.4BSD curses quickch routine.
* 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
cdk
Curses Development Kit
- [3]http://invisible-island.net/cdk/
- [4]http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/
+ [6]http://invisible-island.net/cdk/
+ [7]http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/
ded
directory-editor
- [5]http://invisible-island.net/ded/
+ [8]http://invisible-island.net/ded/
dialog
the underlying application used in Slackware's setup, and the
basis for similar applications on GNU/Linux.
- [6]http://invisible-island.net/dialog/
+ [9]http://invisible-island.net/dialog/
lynx
the character-screen WWW browser
- [7]http://lynx.isc.org/release/
+ [10]http://lynx.isc.org/release/
Midnight Commander
file manager
- [8]http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/
+ [11]http://www.midnight-commander.org/
mutt
mail utility
- [9]http://www.mutt.org/
+ [12]http://www.mutt.org/
ncftp
file-transfer utility
- [10]http://www.ncftp.com/
+ [13]http://www.ncftp.com/
nvi
New vi versions 1.50 are able to use ncurses versions 1.9.7 and
later.
- [11]http://www.bostic.com/vi/
+ [14]https://sites.google.com/a/bostic.com/keithbostic/nvi
pinfo
Lynx-like info browser.
- [12]http://dione.ids.pl/~pborys/software/pinfo/
+ [15]https://alioth.debian.org/projects/pinfo/
tin
- newsreader, supporting color, MIME [13]http://www.tin.org/
-
- vh-1.6
- Volks-Hypertext browser for the Jargon File
- [14]http://www.debian.org/Packages/unstable/text/vh.html
+ newsreader, supporting color, MIME [16]http://www.tin.org/
as well as some that use ncurses for the terminfo support alone:
minicom
terminal emulator
- [15]http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/
+ [17]http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/
vile
vi-like-emacs
- [16]http://invisible-island.net/vile/
+ [18]http://invisible-island.net/vile/
The ncurses distribution includes a selection of test programs
(including a few games).
Zeyd Ben-Halim started it from a previous package pcurses, written by
Pavel Curtis. Eric S. Raymond continued development. Juergen Pfeifer
wrote most of the form and menu libraries. Ongoing work is being done
- by [17]Thomas Dickey. Thomas Dickey acts as the maintainer for the
+ by [19]Thomas Dickey. Thomas Dickey acts as the maintainer for the
Free Software Foundation, which holds the copyright on ncurses.
- Contact the current maintainers at [18]bug-ncurses@gnu.org.
+ Contact the current maintainers at [20]bug-ncurses@gnu.org.
To join the ncurses mailing list, please write email to
bug-ncurses-request@gnu.org containing the line:
and testing of this package.
Beta versions of ncurses and patches to the current release are made
- available at [19]ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ .
+ available at [21]ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ .
Future Plans
Other Related Resources
The distribution provides a newer version of the terminfo-format
- terminal description file once maintained by [20]Eric Raymond . Unlike
+ terminal description file once maintained by [22]Eric Raymond . Unlike
the older version, the termcap and terminfo data are provided in the
same file, and provides several user-definable extensions beyond the
X/Open specification.
You can find lots of information on terminal-related topics not
- covered in the terminfo file at [21]Richard Shuford's archive .
+ covered in the terminfo file at [23]Richard Shuford's archive .
References
1. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/
2. ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/
- 3. http://invisible-island.net/cdk/
- 4. http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/
- 5. http://invisible-island.net/ded/
- 6. http://invisible-island.net/dialog/
- 7. http://lynx.isc.org/release/
- 8. http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/
- 9. http://www.mutt.org/
- 10. http://www.ncftp.com/
- 11. http://www.bostic.com/vi/
- 12. http://dione.ids.pl/~pborys/software/pinfo/
- 13. http://www.tin.org/
- 14. http://www.debian.org/Packages/unstable/text/vh.html
- 15. http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/
- 16. http://invisible-island.net/vile/
- 17. mailto:dickey@invisible-island.net
- 18. mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org
- 19. ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/
- 20. http://www.catb.org/~esr/terminfo/
- 21. http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal_index.html
+ 3. http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/form_fieldtype.3x
+ 4. http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-Ada95.html
+ 5. http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-examples.html
+ 6. http://invisible-island.net/cdk/
+ 7. http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/
+ 8. http://invisible-island.net/ded/
+ 9. http://invisible-island.net/dialog/
+ 10. http://lynx.isc.org/release/
+ 11. http://www.midnight-commander.org/
+ 12. http://www.mutt.org/
+ 13. http://www.ncftp.com/
+ 14. https://sites.google.com/a/bostic.com/keithbostic/nvi
+ 15. https://alioth.debian.org/projects/pinfo/
+ 16. http://www.tin.org/
+ 17. http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/
+ 18. http://invisible-island.net/vile/
+ 19. mailto:dickey@invisible-island.net
+ 20. mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org
+ 21. ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/
+ 22. http://www.catb.org/~esr/terminfo/
+ 23. http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal
projects / ncurses.git / blobdiff