+ Announcing ncurses 5.8
+
+ 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.
+
+ In mid-June 1995, the maintainer of 4.4BSD curses declared that he
+ considered 4.4BSD curses obsolete, and encouraged the keepers of Unix
+ releases such as BSD/OS, FreeBSD and NetBSD to switch over to ncurses.
+
+ 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!
- Announcing ncurses 4.1
-
- The ncurses (new curses) library is a freeware emulation of System V
- Release 4.0 curses. 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.
-
- In mid-June 1995, the maintainer of 4.4BSD curses declared that he
- considered 4.4BSD curses obsolete, and is encouraging the keepers of
- Unix releases such as BSD/OS, freeBSD and netBSD to switch over to
- ncurses.
-
- 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!
-
The distribution includes the library and support utilities, including
- a terminfo compiler tic(1), a decompiler infocmp(1), clear(1),
- tput(1), tset(1), and a termcap conversion tool captoinfo(1). Full
+ a terminfo compiler tic(1), a decompiler infocmp(1), clear(1),
+ tput(1), tset(1), and a termcap conversion tool captoinfo(1). Full
manual pages are provided for the library and tools.
-
- The ncurses distribution is available via anonymous FTP at:
- [1]ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ncurses. and
- [2]ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/zm/zmbenhal/ncurses. It is also carried on
- the GNU distribution site at [3]ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu.
-
- Features of ncurses
-
- The ncurses package is fully compatible with SVr4 curses:
-
- * All 257 of the SVr4 calls have been implemented (and are
+
+ The ncurses distribution is available via anonymous FTP at the GNU
+ distribution site [1]ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/ .
+ It is also available at [2]ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ .
+
+ Release Notes
+
+ This release is designed to be upward compatible from ncurses 5.0
+ through 5.7; very few applications will require recompilation,
+ depending on the platform. These are the highlights from the
+ change-log since ncurses 5.7 release.
+
+Interface changes
+
+ * turn on _XOPEN_CURSES definition in curses.h.
+ * change _nc_has_mouse to has_mouse, reflect its use in C++ and
+ Ada95.
+ * add is_pad and is_subwin functions for opaque access to the WINDOW
+ structure.
+ * add tiparm, based on review of X/Open Curses Issue 7.
+
+New features and improvements
+
+ Library Improvements
+
+ * add a terminal driver for Windows console, which supports a MinGW
+ port to Windows.
+ * add extended functions which specify the SCREEN pointer for
+ several curses functions which use the global SP.
+ * improve the NCURSES_NO_UTF8_ACS feature by adding a check for an
+ extended terminfo capability U8.
+ * improve performance of tigetstr, etc., by using hashing code from
+ tic.
+ * add WACS_xxx definitions to wide-character configuration for
+ thick- and double-lines.
+ * modify init_pair to allow caller to create extra color pairs
+ beyond the color_pairs limit, which use default colors.
+
+ Improvements to Programs
+
+ * add tabs program.
+ * modify tic's -I/-C dump to reformat acsc strings into canonical
+ form (sorted, unique mapping).
+ * add checks in tic for inconsistent cursor-movement controls, and
+ for inconsistent printer-controls.
+ * add special case to _nc_infotocap (used by tic and infocmp) to
+ recognize the setaf/setab strings from xterm+256color and
+ xterm+88color, and provide a reduced version which works with
+ termcap.
+
+ Terminal Database
+
+ * added entries:
+ + bterm terminfo entry, based on bogl 0.1.18
+ + cons25-debian entry
+ + eterm-color entry
+ + linux-16color
+ + mlterm+256color entry, for mlterm 3.0.0
+ + several screen-bce.xxx entries
+ + screen.Eterm terminfo entry
+ + vwmterm entry
+ + xterm-utf8 entry as a demo of the U8 feature
+ * updated/improved entries:
+ + use extended capabilities:
+ o add U8 feature to denote entries for terminal emulators
+ which do not support VT100 SI/SO when processing UTF-8
+ encoding
+ o add XT capability to entries for terminals that support
+ both xterm-style mouse- and title-controls, for screen
+ which special-cases TERM beginning with xterm or rxvt
+ + improvements based on new checks in tic:
+ +
+ o fill in no-parameter forms of cursor-movement where a
+ parameterized form is available
+ o fill in missing cursor controls where the form of the
+ controls is ANSI
+ o add parameterized cursor-controls to linux-basic
+ o modify nsterm, xnuppc and tek4115 to make sgr/sgr0
+ consistent
+ o change several terminfo entries to make consistent use
+ of ANSI clear-all-tabs
+ + extend ansi.sys pfkey capability from kf1-kf10 to kf1-kf48,
+ moving function key definitions from emx-base for
+ consistency.
+ + correct missing final 'p' in pfkey capability of
+ ansi.sys-old.
+ + rename atari and st52 terminfo entries to atari-old,
+ st52-old, use newer entries from FreeMiNT.
+ + repurpose gnome terminfo entries as vte, retaining gnome
+ variants for compatibility, but generally deprecating those
+ since the VTE library is what actually defines the behavior
+ of "gnome", etc., since 2003.
+ + improve interix smso terminfo capability by using reverse
+ rather than bold.
+ + correct initc capability of linux-c-nc end-of-range, make
+ similar change for dg+ccc and dgunix+ccc.
+ + update minix terminfo entry.
+ + updated nsterm* entries.
+ + remove unnecessary kcan assignment to ^C from putty.
+ + suppress ncv in screen and konsole-base entries, allowing
+ underline.
+ + change ncv and op capabilities in sun-color terminfo entry to
+ match Sun's entry for this.
+ + fix typo in rmso for tek4106 entry.
+ + improve acsc string for vt52, show arrow keys.
+ + add hard-reset for rs2 to wsvt25 to help ensure that reset
+ ends the alternate character set.
+ + add ccc and initc capabilities to xterm-16color.
+
+Major bug fixes
+
+ * ncurses library
+ + wide character support
+ o modify length returned by getcchar to count the trailing
+ null which is documented in X/Open.
+ o fix an infinite recursion when adding a legacy-coding
+ 8-bit value using insch.
+ o improve a workaround in adding wide-characters, when a
+ control character is found. The library uses unctrl to
+ obtain a printable version of the control character, but
+ was not passing color or video attributes.
+ o modify waddch_literal, updating line-pointer after a
+ multicolumn character is found to not fit on the current
+ row, and wrapping is done. Since the line-pointer was
+ not updated, the wrapped multicolumn character was
+ written to the beginning of the current row.
+ o fixes in wins_nwstr and related functions to ensure that
+ special characters, i.e., control characters are handled
+ properly with the wide-character configuration.
+ o correct internal _nc_insert_ch to use _nc_insert_wch
+ when inserting wide characters, since the wins_wch
+ function that it used did not update the cursor
+ position.
+ + mouse
+ o add check if Gpm_Open returns a -2, e.g., for "xterm".
+ This is normally suppressed but can be overridden using
+ $NCURSES_GPM_TERMS. Ensure that Gpm_Close is called in
+ this case.
+ o add check in mouse-driver to disable connection if GPM
+ returns a zero, indicating that the connection is
+ closed.
+ o modify getmouse to act as its documentation implied,
+ returning on each call the preceding event until none
+ are left. When no more events remain, it will return
+ ERR.
+ + miscellaneous
+ o improve handling of color-pairs embedded in attributes
+ for the extended-colors configuration.
+ o add check for failure to open hashed-database needed for
+ db4.6.
+ o modify use of $CC environment variable which is defined
+ by X/Open as a curses feature, to ignore it if it is not
+ a single character.
+ o modify declaration of cur_term when broken-linker is
+ used, but enable-reentrant is not, to match pre-5.7.
+ o correct limit-checks in derwin.
+ o remove old check in mvderwin which prevented moving a
+ derived window whose origin happened to coincide with
+ its parent's origin.
+ o correct limit-checks in newwin, to ensure that windows
+ have nonzero size.
+ o modify set_curterm to make broken-linker configuration
+ work with changes from 20090228.
+ o modify wgetch to ensure it checks SIGWINCH when it gets
+ an error in non-blocking mode.
+ o correct limit-check in wredrawln, accounting for
+ begy/begx values.
+ o fix a null-pointer check in _nc_format_slks in
+ lib_slk.c, from 20070704 changes.
+ o correct translation of "^" in _nc_infotocap, used to
+ transform terminfo to termcap strings.
+ o modify _nc_wgetch to check for a -1 in the fifo, e.g.,
+ after a SIGWINCH, and discard that value, to avoid
+ confusing application.
+ * other libraries
+ + correct transfer of multicolumn characters in multirow
+ field_buffer, which stopped at the end of the first row due
+ to filling of unused entries in a cchar_t array with nulls.
+ + correct buffer-size after internal resizing of wide-character
+ set_field_buffer, broken in 20081018 changes.
+ + correct layout of working window used to extract data in
+ wide-character configured by set_field_buffer
+
+Portability
+
+ * configure script:
+ + new options:
+
+ --disable-libtool-version
+ use the "-version-number" feature which was added
+ in libtool 1.5. The default value for the option
+ uses the newer feature, which makes libraries
+ generated using libtool compatible with the
+ standard builds of ncurses.
+
+ --disable-rpath-hack
+ disable a feature which adds rpath options for
+ libraries in unusual places.
+
+ --enable-interop
+ integrate changes for generic/interop support to
+ form-library.
+
+ --enable-pc-files
+ generate ".pc" files for each of the libraries, and
+ install them in pkg-config's library directory.
+
+ --enable-pthreads-eintr
+ control whether to allow EINTR to interrupt a read
+ operation in wgetch. This applies only to the
+ pthread configuration
+
+ --enable-sp-funcs
+ compile-in support for extended functions which
+ accept a SCREEN pointer, reducing the need for
+ juggling the global SP value with set_term and
+ delscreen.
+
+ --enable-term-driver
+ compile with terminal-driver. That is used in the
+ MinGW port, and (being somewhat more complicated)
+ is an experimental alternative to the conventional
+ termlib internals. Currently, it requires the
+ sp-funcs feature to be enabled.
+
+ --with-ncurses-wrap-prefix
+ allows setting the prefix for functions used to
+ wrap global variables to something other than
+ "_nc_".
+
+ --with-pkg-config=[DIR]
+ check for pkg-config, optionally specifying its
+ path.
+
+ --without-manpages
+ tells the configure script to suppress the install
+ of ncurses' manpages.
+
+ --without-tests
+ suppress building test programs.
+
+ + improved options:
+ o correct logic for --with-database, which was coded as an
+ enable-type switch.
+ o omit the opaque-functions from lib_gen.o when
+ --disable-ext-funcs is used.
+ * packaging:
+ + *-config scripts:
+ o modify adacurses-config to look for ".ali" files in the
+ adalib directory.
+ o correct install for the Ada95 tree, which omitted
+ libAdaCurses.a used in adacurses-config.
+ o change install for adacurses-config to provide
+ additional flavors such as adacursesw-config, for
+ ncursesw.
+ o modify scripts to generate ncurses*-config and pc-files
+ to add dependency for tinfo library.
+ o use ncurses*-config scripts if available for
+ test/configure.
+ o correct name for termlib in ncurses*-config, e.g., if it
+ is renamed to provide a single file for ncurses/ncursesw
+ libraries.
+ o generate manpages for the *-config scripts, adapted from
+ help2man.
+ o modify install-rule for manpages so that *-config
+ manpages will install when building with --srcdir.
+ o build-fixes for OpenSolaris aka Solaris 11, for
+ wide-character configuration as well as for rpath
+ feature in *-config scripts.
+ o use $includedir symbol in misc/ncurses-config.in, add
+ --includedir option.
+ o improve install-rules for pc-files.
+ o create the pkg-config library directory if needed.
+ o fix typo "==" where "=" is needed in ncurses-config.in
+ and gen-pkgconfig.in files.
+ o modify gen-pkgconfig.in to eliminate a dependency on
+ rpath when deciding whether to add $LIBS to --libs
+ output; that should be shown for the ncurses and tinfo
+ libraries without taking rpath into account.
+ o modify handling of $PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR to use only the
+ first item in a possibly colon-separated list.
+ + other packaging issues
+ o add make-tar.sh scripts to Ada95 and test subdirectories
+ to help with making those separately distributable.
+ o add Ada95/configure script, to use in tar-file created
+ by Ada95/make-tar.sh.
+ o remove tar-copy.sh and related configure/Makefile
+ chunks, since the Ada95 binding is now installed using
+ rules in Ada95/src.
+ * cross-compiling:
+ + improve configure checks for location of tic and infocmp
+ programs used for installing database and for generating
+ fallback data, e.g., for cross-compiling.
+ + modify #define's for build-compiler to suppress cchar_t
+ symbol from compile of make_hash and make_keys, improving
+ cross-compilation of ncursesw.
+ + simplify include-dependencies of make_hash and make_keys, to
+ reduce the need for setting BUILD_CPPFLAGS in cross-compiling
+ when the build- and target-machines differ.
+ + correct cross-compiling configure check for CF_MKSTEMP macro,
+ by adding a check cache variable set by AC_CHECK_FUNC.
+ * library dependencies:
+ + revise wadd_wch and wecho_wchar to eliminate dependency on
+ unctrl.
+ + adjust configure script so that "t" is not added to library
+ suffix when weak-symbols are used, allowing the pthread
+ configuration to more closely match the non-thread naming.
+ * building the Ada95 tree:
+ + changes to use gnatmake project files in the Ada95 tree.
+ + add/use configure check to turn on project rules for
+ Ada95/src.
+ + old gnatmake (3.15) does not produce libraries using
+ project-file; work around by adding script to generate
+ alternate makefile.
+ + add configure --with-ada-sharedlib option, for the test_make
+ rule.
+ + move Ada95-related logic into aclocal.m4, since additional
+ checks will be needed to distinguish old/new implementations
+ of gnat.
+ + add test_make / test_clean / test_install rules in Ada95/src
+ + change install-path for adainclude directory to
+ /usr/share/ada (was /usr/lib/ada).
+ * other configure/build issues:
+ + make CCHARW_MAX value configurable, noting that changing this
+ would change the size of cchar_t, and would be
+ ABI-incompatible.
+ + improve comparison of program-names when checking for linked
+ flavors such as "reset" by ignoring the executable suffix.
+ + drop mkdirs.sh, use "mkdir -p".
+ + drop misc/ncu-indent and misc/jpf-indent; they are provided
+ by an external package [3]cindent.
+ + change makefiles to use $ARFLAGS rather than $AR_OPTS,
+ provide a configure check to detect whether a "-" is needed
+ before "ar" options.
+ + modify CF_DISABLE_LEAKS configure macro so that the
+ --enable-leaks option is not the same as --disable-leaks.
+ + improve configure script macros CF_HEADER_PATH and
+ CF_LIBRARY_PATH by adding CFLAGS, CPPFLAGS and LDFLAGS, LIBS
+ values to the search-lists.
+ + improve configure macros CF_GCC_VERSION and CF_GCC_WARNINGS
+ to work with gcc 4.x's c89 alias, which gives warning
+ messages for cases where older versions would produce an
+ error.
+ + modify CF_WITH_LIBTOOL configure check to allow unreleased
+ libtool version numbers (e.g. which include alphabetic chars,
+ as well as digits, after the final '.').
+ + improve use of symbolic links in makefiles by using "-f"
+ option if it is supported, to eliminate temporary removal of
+ the target
+ + add a configure-time check to pick a suitable value for
+ CC_SHARED_OPTS for Solaris.
+ + add -shared option to MK_SHARED_LIB when -Bsharable is used,
+ for *BSD's, without which "main" might be one of the shared
+ library's dependencies.
+ + modify configure script to allow building shared libraries
+ with gcc on AIX 5 or 6.
+ + suppress configure check for static/dynamic linker flags for
+ gcc on Solaris 10, since gcc is confused by absence of static
+ libc, and does not switch back to dynamic mode before
+ finishing the libraries.
+ + suppress configure check for static/dynamic linker flags for
+ gcc on Darwin.
+ + modify misc/run_tic.in to create parent directory, in case
+ this is a new install of hashed database.
+ + modify configure check for tic program, used for fallbacks,
+ to a warning if not found. This makes it simpler to use
+ additonal scripts to bootstrap the fallbacks code using tic
+ from the build tree.
+ * test programs:
+ + add test/demo_terminfo, for comparison with demo_termcap.
+ + improve test/ncurses.c 'F' test, show combining characters in
+ color.
+ + fix logic for 'V' in test/ncurses.c tests f/F.
+ + improve test/ncurses.c 'a test to put mouse droppings in the
+ proper window.
+ + modify ncurses 'F' test to demo wborder_set with colored
+ lines.
+ + modify ncurses 'f' test to demo wborder with colored lines.
+ + improve test/ncurses.c 'a' test, using unctrl more
+ consistently to display meta-characters.
+ + correct use of key_name in test/ncurses.c 'A' test, which
+ only displays wide-characters, not key-codes since 20070612.
+ + add test/clip_printw.c to illustrate how to use printw
+ without wrapping.
+ + modify test-programs, e.g,. test/view.c, to address subtle
+ differences between Tru64/Solaris and HPUX/AIX getcchar
+ return values.
+ + add some test programs (and make these use the same special
+ keys by sharing linedata.h functions): test/test_addstr.c
+ test/test_addwstr.c test/test_addchstr.c
+ test/test_add_wchstr.c
+ + add test/xterm-256color.dat
+ + modify test programs to allow them to be built with NetBSD
+ curses.
+ + fixes for test programs to build/work on HPUX and AIX, etc.
+
+ Features of Ncurses
+
+ The ncurses package is fully compatible with SVr4 (System V Release 4)
+ curses:
+ * All 257 of the SVr4 calls have been implemented (and are
documented).
- * Full support for SVr4 curses features including keyboard mapping,
- color, forms-drawing with ACS characters, and automatic
+ * Full support for SVr4 curses features including keyboard mapping,
+ color, forms-drawing with ACS characters, and automatic
recognition of keypad and function keys.
- * An emulation of the System V Release 4 panels library, supporting
- a stack of windows with backing store, is included.
- * An emulation of the System V Release 4 menus library, supporting a
- uniform but flexible interface for menu programming, is included.
- * An emulation of the System V Release 4 form library, supporting
- data collection through on-screen forms, is included.
- * Binary terminfo entries generated by the ncurses tic(1)
- implementation are bit-for-bit-compatible with the entry format
+ * An emulation of the SVr4 panels library, supporting a stack of
+ windows with backing store, is included.
+ * An emulation of the SVr4 menus library, supporting a uniform but
+ flexible interface for menu programming, is included.
+ * An emulation of the SVr4 form library, supporting data collection
+ through on-screen forms, is included.
+ * Binary terminfo entries generated by the ncurses tic(1)
+ implementation are bit-for-bit-compatible with the entry format
SVr4 curses uses.
* The utilities have options to allow you to filter terminfo entries
- for use with less capable curses/terminfo versions such as the
+ for use with less capable curses/terminfo versions such as the
HP/UX and AIX ports.
-
+
The ncurses package also has many useful extensions over SVr4:
-
- * 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, 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).
- * Unlike SVr4 curses, ncurses can write to the rightmost-bottommost
- corner of the screen if your terminal has an insert-character
+ * 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, and most EXTENDED 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).
+ * Unlike SVr3 curses, ncurses can write to the rightmost-bottommost
+ corner of the screen if your terminal has an insert-character
capability.
- * (PC-clone boxes only) Support for access to the IBM PC ROM
- characters 0-32 through the highlight A_ALTCHARSET.
- * Support for mouse event reporting under xterm.
- * The function wresize() allows you to resize windows, preserving
+ * Ada95 and C++ bindings.
+ * 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
their data.
- * Better cursor-movement optimization. The package now features a
+ * 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.
+ * 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
or System V's.
- * 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 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
- 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
+ * 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 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
+ 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.
- * 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
+ * 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).
* The tic(1)/captoinfo utility provided with ncurses has the ability
- to translate many termcaps from the XENIX, IBM and AT&T extension
+ to translate many termcaps from the XENIX, IBM and AT&T extension
sets.
* A BSD-like tset(1) utility is provided.
* The ncurses 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
+ 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.
- * 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
+ * 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.)
- * In terminfo source files, use capabilities may refer not just to
+ * 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
+ compiled entries in either the system terminfo directory or the
user's $HOME/.terminfo directory.
- * A script (capconvert) is provided to help BSD users transition
- from termcap to terminfo. It gathers the information in a TERMCAP
- environment variable and/or a ~/.termcap local entries file and
- converts it to an equivalent local terminfo tree under
+ * A script (capconvert) is provided to help BSD users transition
+ from termcap to terminfo. It gathers the information in a TERMCAP
+ environment variable and/or a ~/.termcap local entries file and
+ converts it to an equivalent local terminfo tree under
$HOME/.terminfo.
- * Automatic fallback to the /etc/termcap file can be compiled in
- when it is not possible to build a terminfo tree. This feature is
- neither fast nor cheap, you don't want to use it unless you have
+ * Automatic fallback to the /etc/termcap file can be compiled in
+ when it is not possible to build a terminfo tree. This feature is
+ neither fast nor cheap, you don't want to use it unless you have
to, but it's there.
- * The table-of-entries utility toe makes it easy for users to see
+ * The table-of-entries utility toe makes it easy for users to see
exactly what terminal types are available on the system.
* The library meets the XSI requirement that every macro entry point
- have a corresponding function which may be linked (and will be
- prototype-checked) if the macro definition is disabled with
+ have a corresponding function which may be linked (and will be
+ prototype-checked) if the macro definition is disabled with
#undef.
- * An HTML "Introduction to Programming with NCURSES" document
- provides a narrative introduction to the curses programming
+ * An HTML "Introduction to Programming with NCURSES" document
+ provides a narrative introduction to the curses programming
interface.
-
+
State of the Package
-
+
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
- according to gcc -Wall. The library has been checked for malloc leaks
+ 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.
-
- The ncurses code has been tested with a wide variety of applications
- including:
-
+
+ The ncurses code has been tested with a wide variety of applications
+ including (versions starting with those noted):
+
+ cdk
+ Curses Development Kit
+ [4]http://invisible-island.net/cdk/
+ [5]http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/
+
ded
- directory-editor [4]ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ded.
-
+ directory-editor
+ [6]http://invisible-island.net/ded/
+
dialog
- the underlying application used in Slackware's setup, and the
- basis for similar applications on Linux.
-
- lynx-2.7
+ the underlying application used in Slackware's setup, and the
+ basis for similar applications on GNU/Linux.
+ [7]http://invisible-island.net/dialog/
+
+ lynx
the character-screen WWW browser
-
- ncftp 2.0
+ [8]http://lynx.isc.org/release/
+
+ Midnight Commander
+ file manager
+ [9]http://www.midnight-commander.org/
+
+ mutt
+ mail utility
+ [10]http://www.mutt.org/
+
+ ncftp
file-transfer utility
-
+ [11]http://www.ncftp.com/
+
nvi
New vi versions 1.50 are able to use ncurses versions 1.9.7 and
later.
-
- taper
- tape archive utility
-
- vh-1.6
- Volks-Hypertext browser for the Jargon File
-
+ [12]https://sites.google.com/a/bostic.com/keithbostic/nvi
+
+ pinfo
+ Lynx-like info browser.
+ [13]https://alioth.debian.org/projects/pinfo/
+
+ tin
+ newsreader, supporting color, MIME [14]http://www.tin.org/
+
as well as some that use ncurses for the terminfo support alone:
-
- minicom-1.75
+
+ minicom
terminal emulator
-
- tin-unoff
- tin (unofficial) newsreader, supporting color, MIME
- [5]ftp://ftp.akk.uni-karlsruhe.de/pub/news/clients/tin-unoff.
-
+ [15]http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/
+
vile
- vi-like-emacs [6]ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/vile.
-
- The ncurses distribution includes a selection of test programs
+ vi-like-emacs
+ [16]http://invisible-island.net/vile/
+
+ The ncurses distribution includes a selection of test programs
(including a few games).
-
+
Who's Who and What's What
- The original maintainer of ncurses is [7]Zeyd Ben-Halim.
- Unfortunately, he can only work on the package part time. As a result,
- since 1.8.1, much of the enhancement work and documentation has been
- done by [8]Eric S. Raymond. The current primary maintainers are
- [9]Thomas Dickey and [10]Juergen Pfeifer.
-
- There is an ncurses mailing list. It is a majordomo list; to join,
- write to ncurses-request@mailgate.bsdi.com with a message containing
- the line:
+ 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
+ Free Software Foundation, which holds the copyright on ncurses.
+ Contact the current maintainers at [18]bug-ncurses@gnu.org.
+ To join the ncurses mailing list, please write email to
+ bug-ncurses-request@gnu.org containing the line:
subscribe <name>@<host.domain>
This list is open to anyone interested in helping with the development
and testing of this package.
-
- Beta versions of ncurses and patches to the current release are made
- available at [11]ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ncurses.
-
+
+ Beta versions of ncurses and patches to the current release are made
+ available at [19]ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ .
+
Future Plans
- * Extended mouse support via Alessandro Rubini's gpm package.
- * Extended-level XPG4 conformance, with internationalization
+ * Extended-level XPG4 conformance, with internationalization
support.
* Ports to more systems, including DOS and Windows.
-
- We need people to help with these projects. If you are interested in
+
+ We need people to help with these projects. If you are interested in
working on them, please join the ncurses list.
-
-The terminfo/termcap Database
-
- The distribution includes and uses a copy of the terminfo-format
- terminal description file maintained by Eric Raymond. You can download
- either the [12]termcap or [13]terminfo versions of the terminal-type
- database from Eric's ncurses page,
- [14]http://www.ccil.org/~esr/ncurses.html.
-
+
Other Related Resources
- You can find lots of information on terminal-related topics not
- covered in the terminfo file at [15]Richard Shuford's archive.
+ The distribution provides a newer version of the terminfo-format
+ terminal description file once maintained by [20]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 .
References
- 1. ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ncurses
- 2. ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/zm/zmbenhal/ncurses
- 3. ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu
- 4. ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ded
- 5. ftp://ftp.akk.uni-karlsruhe.de/pub/news/clients/tin-unoff
- 6. ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/vile
- 7. mailto:zmbenhal@netcom.com
- 8. http://www.ccil.org/~esr/home.html
- 9. mailto:dickey@clark.net
- 10. mailto:Juergen.Pfeifer@T-Online.de
- 11. ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ncurses
- 12. http://www.ccil.org/~esr/terminfo/termtypes.tc.gz
- 13. http://www.ccil.org/~esr/terminfo/termtypes.ti.gz
- 14. http://www.ccil.org/~esr/ncurses.html
- 15. http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal_index.html
+ 1. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/
+ 2. ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/
+ 3. http://invisible-island.net/cindent/cindent.html
+ 4. http://invisible-island.net/cdk/
+ 5. http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/
+ 6. http://invisible-island.net/ded/
+ 7. http://invisible-island.net/dialog/
+ 8. http://lynx.isc.org/release/
+ 9. http://www.midnight-commander.org/
+ 10. http://www.mutt.org/
+ 11. http://www.ncftp.com/
+ 12. https://sites.google.com/a/bostic.com/keithbostic/nvi
+ 13. https://alioth.debian.org/projects/pinfo/
+ 14. http://www.tin.org/
+ 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://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal