-<HTML>
-<HEAD>
-<TITLE>Announcing ncurses 5.6</TITLE>
-<link rev=made href="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">
-<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
-</HEAD>
-<BODY>
-
-<H1>Announcing ncurses 5.6</H1>
-
-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.<P>
-
-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.<P>
-
-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!<P>
-
-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 manual pages are provided for
-the library and tools.<P>
-
-The ncurses distribution is available via anonymous FTP at
-the GNU distribution site
-<A HREF="ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/">ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/</A> .
-<br>It is also available at
-<A HREF="ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/">ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/</A> .
-
-<H1>Release Notes</H1>
-
-This release is designed to be upward compatible from ncurses 5.0 through 5.5;
-very few applications will require recompilation, depending on the platform.
-These are the highlights from the change-log since ncurses 5.5 release.
-<p>
-Interface changes:
-<ul>
- <li>generate linkable stubs for some macros:
- <br>
- getbegx, getbegy, getcurx, getcury, getmaxx, getmaxy, getparx,
- getpary, getpary,
- <br>
- and (for libncursesw)
- <br>
- wgetbkgrnd
-
-</ul>
-New features and improvements:
-<ul>
- <li>library
- <ul>
- <li>support hashed databases for the terminal descriptions.
- This uses the Berkeley database, has been tested for
- several versions on different platforms.
-
- <li>add <code>use_legacy_coding()</code> function to support
- lynx's font-switching feature.
-
- <li>add extension <code>nofilter()</code>, to cancel a prior
- <code>filter()</code> call.
-
- <li>add/install a package config script, e.g.,
- <code>ncurses5-config</code> or
- <code>ncursesw5-config</code>, according to
- configuration options.
-
- <li>provide ifdef for <code>NCURSES_NOMACROS</code> which
- suppresses most macro definitions from curses.h, i.e.,
- where a macro is defined to override a function to improve
- performance.
-
- <li>make ifdef's consistent in <code>curses.h</code> for the
- extended colors so the header file can be used for the
- normal curses library. The header file installed for
- extended colors is a variation of the wide-character
- configuration.
-
- <li>improve <code>tgetstr()</code> by making the return value
- point into the user's buffer, if provided.
-
- <li>add ifdef's allowing ncurses to be built with
- <code>tparm()</code> using either varargs (the existing
- status), or using a fixed-parameter list (to match X/Open).
-
- <li>widen the test for xterm <code>kmous</code> a little to
- <code>allow</code> for other
- strings than "\E[M", e.g., for <code>xterm-sco</code>
- functionality in xterm.
-
- <li>modify <code>wgetnstr()</code> to return
- <code>KEY_RESIZE</code> if a sigwinch occurs.
-
- <li>move prototypes for wide-character trace functions from
- curses.tail to curses.wide to avoid accidental reference to
- those if <code>_XOPEN_SOURCE_EXTENDED</code> is defined
- without ensuring that <wchar.h> is included.
-
- <li>change the way shared libraries (other than libtool) are
- installed. Rather than copying the build-tree's libraries,
- link the shared objects into the install directory. This
- makes the <code>--with-rpath</code> option work except with
- <code>$(DESTDIR)</code>.
-
- <li>several improvements for rendering in hpterm. These are
- only available if the library is configured using
- <code>--enable-xmc-glitch</code>.
-
- <li>Add <code>NCURSES_NO_HARD_TABS</code> and
- <code>NCURSES_NO_MAGIC_COOKIE</code> environment variables
- to allow runtime suppression of the related hard-tabs and
- xmc-glitch features.
- </ul>
-
- <li>programs:
- <ul>
- <li>add new test programs: chgat.c, demo_altkeys.c,
- echochar.c, foldkeys.c, movewindow.c, redraw.c, (noting
- that existing test programs also were modified to test
- additional features).
-
- <li>modify tack to test extended capability function-key
- strings.
-
- <li>modify toe to access termcap data, e.g., via <code>cgetent()</code>
- functions, or as a text file if those are not available.
-
- <li>improve infocmp/tic <code>-f</code> option formatting.
-
- <li>add <code>toe -a</code> option, to show all databases.
- This uses new private interfaces in the ncurses library for
- iterating through the list of databases.
-
- <li>modify <code>MKfallback.sh</code> to use
- <code>tic -x</code> when constructing fallback tables to
- allow extended capabilities to be retrieved from a fallback entry.
- </ul>
-
- <li>terminal database
- <ul>
- <li>add terminfo entries for xfce terminal (xfce) and multi gnome terminal (mgt)
- <li>add nsterm-16color entry
- <li>updated mlterm terminfo entry
- <li>add kon, kon2 and jfbterm terminfo entry
- <li>remove invis capability from klone+sgr, mainly used by linux entry, since it does not really do this
- <li>add ka2, kb1, kb3, kc2 to vt220-keypad as an extension
- <li>add shifted up/down arrow codes to xterm-new as kind/kri strings
- <li>add hpterm-color terminfo entry
- <li>add 256color variants of terminfo entries for programs which are reported to implement this feature
- <li>correct order of use-clauses in rxvt-basic entry which made codes for f1-f4 vt100-style rather than vt220-style.
- </ul>
-</ul>
-Major bug fixes:
-<ul>
- <li>correct a typo in configure <code>--with-bool</code> option for the
- case where <code>--without-cxx</code> is used.
-
- <li>move assignment from environment variable <code>ESCDELAY</code>
- from <code>initscr()</code> down to <code>newterm()</code> so the
- environment variable affects timeouts for terminals opened with
- newterm() as well.
-
- <li>modify <code>werase</code> to clear multicolumn characters that
- extend into a derived window.
-
- <li>modify <code>wchgat()</code> to mark updated cells as changed so a
- refresh will repaint those cells.
-
- <li>correct logic in <code>wadd_wch()</code> and
- <code>wecho_wch()</code>, which did not guard against passing the
- multi-column attribute into a call on <code>waddch()</code>, e.g.,
- using data returned by <code>win_wch()</code>
-
- <li>fix redrawing of windows other than <code>stdscr</code> using
- <code>wredrawln()</code> by touching the corresponding rows in
- <code>curscr</code>.
-
- <li>reduce memory leaks in repeated calls to <code>tgetent()</code> by
- remembering the last <code>TERMINAL*</code> value allocated to hold
- the corresponding data and freeing that if the
- <code>tgetent()</code> result buffer is the same as the previous
- call.
-
- <li>modify <code>read_termtype()</code> so the <code>term_names</code>
- data is always allocated as part of the <code>str_table</code>, a
- better fix for a memory leak.
-
- <li>fix <code>wins_nwstr(),</code> which did not handle single-column
- non-8bit codes.
-
- <li>modify <code>wbkgrnd()</code> to avoid clearing the
- <code>A_CHARTEXT</code> attribute bits since those record the state
- of multicolumn characters.
-
- <li>improve <code>SIGWINCH</code> handling by postponing its effect
- during <code>newterm()</code>, etc., when allocating screens.
-
- <li>remove 970913 feature for copying subwindows as they are moved in
- <code>mvwin()</code>.
-
- <li>add checks in <code>waddchnstr()</code> and
- <code>wadd_wchnstr()</code> to stop copying when a null character
- is found.
-
- <li>add some checks to ensure current position is within scrolling
- region before scrolling on a new line.
-
- <li>add a workaround to ACS mapping to allow applications such as
- test/blue.c to use the "PC ROM" characters by masking them with
- A_ALTCHARSET. This worked up til 5.5, but was lost in the revision
- of legacy coding.
-</ul>
-
-Portability:
-<ul>
- <li>configure script:
+
+<html>
+<head>
+ <meta name="generator" content=
+ "HTML Tidy for Linux/x86 (vers 6 November 2007), see www.w3.org">
+
+ <title>Announcing ncurses 5.8</title>
+ <link rev="made" href="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">
+ <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content=
+ "text/html; charset=us-ascii">
+</head>
+
+<body>
+ <h1>Announcing ncurses 5.8</h1>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.
+
+ <p>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.</p>
+
+ <p>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!</p>
+
+ <p>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 manual pages are provided for the library and
+ tools.</p>
+
+ <p>The ncurses distribution is available via anonymous FTP at the
+ GNU distribution site <a href=
+ "ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/">ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/</a> .<br>
+
+ It is also available at <a href=
+ "ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/">ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/</a> .</p>
+
+ <h1>Release Notes</h1>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.
+
+ <h2>Interface changes</h2>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>turn on <code>_XOPEN_CURSES</code> definition in
+ <code>curses.h</code>.</li>
+
+ <li>change <code>_nc_has_mouse</code> to
+ <code>has_mouse</code>, reflect its use in C++ and Ada95.</li>
+
+ <li>add <code>is_pad</code> and <code>is_subwin</code>
+ functions for opaque access to the WINDOW structure.</li>
+
+ <li>add <code>tiparm</code>, based on review of X/Open Curses
+ Issue 7.</li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <h2>New features and improvements</h2>
+
+ <h3>Library Improvements</h3>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>add a terminal driver for Windows console, which supports a
+ MinGW port to Windows.</li>
+
+ <li>add extended functions which specify the
+ <code>SCREEN</code> pointer for several curses functions which
+ use the global <code>SP</code>.</li>
+
+ <li>improve the <code>NCURSES_NO_UTF8_ACS</code> feature by
+ adding a check for an extended terminfo capability
+ <code>U8</code>.</li>
+
+ <li>improve performance of <code>tigetstr</code>, etc., by
+ using hashing code from tic.</li>
+
+ <li>add WACS_<em>xxx</em> definitions to wide-character
+ configuration for thick- and double-lines.</li>
+
+ <li>modify init_pair to allow caller to create extra color
+ pairs beyond the color_pairs limit, which use default
+ colors.</li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <h3>Improvements to Programs</h3>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>add <code>tabs</code> program.</li>
+
+ <li>modify tic's -I/-C dump to reformat acsc strings into
+ canonical form (sorted, unique mapping).</li>
+
+ <li>add checks in tic for inconsistent cursor-movement
+ controls, and for inconsistent printer-controls.</li>
+
+ <li>add special case to <code>_nc_infotocap</code> (used by tic
+ and infocmp) to recognize the
+ <code>setaf</code>/<code>setab</code> strings from
+ <code>xterm+256color</code> and <code>xterm+88color,</code> and
+ provide a reduced version which works with termcap.</li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <h3>Terminal Database</h3>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>added entries:
+
+ <ul>
+ <li><code>bterm</code> terminfo entry, based on bogl
+ 0.1.18</li>
+
+ <li><code>cons25-debian</code> entry</li>
+
+ <li><code>eterm-color</code> entry</li>
+
+ <li><code>linux-16color</code></li>
+
+ <li><code>mlterm+256color</code> entry, for mlterm
+ 3.0.0</li>
+
+ <li>several screen-bce.<em>xxx</em> entries</li>
+
+ <li><code>screen.Eterm</code> terminfo entry</li>
+
+ <li><code>vwmterm</code> entry</li>
+
+ <li><code>xterm-utf8</code> entry as a demo of the
+ <code>U8</code> feature</li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>updated/improved entries:
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>use extended capabilities:
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>add <code>U8</code> feature to denote entries for
+ terminal emulators which do not support VT100 SI/SO
+ when processing UTF-8 encoding</li>
+
+ <li>add <code>XT</code> capability to entries for
+ terminals that support both xterm-style mouse- and
+ title-controls, for <code>screen</code> which
+ special-cases TERM beginning with <code>xterm</code> or
+ <code>rxvt</code></li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>improvements based on new checks in tic:</li>
+
+ <li style="list-style: none; display: inline">
+ <ul>
+ <li>fill in no-parameter forms of cursor-movement where
+ a parameterized form is available</li>
+
+ <li>fill in missing cursor controls where the form of
+ the controls is ANSI</li>
+
+ <li>add parameterized cursor-controls to
+ linux-basic</li>
+
+ <li>modify <code>nsterm,</code> <code>xnuppc</code> and
+ <code>tek4115</code> to make
+ <code>sgr</code>/<code>sgr0</code> consistent</li>
+
+ <li>change several terminfo entries to make consistent
+ use of ANSI clear-all-tabs</li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>extend <code>ansi.sys</code> <code>pfkey</code>
+ capability from kf1-kf10 to kf1-kf48, moving function key
+ definitions from <code>emx-base</code> for
+ consistency.</li>
+
+ <li>correct missing final 'p' in <code>pfkey</code>
+ capability of <code>ansi.sys-old</code>.</li>
+
+ <li>rename <code>atari</code> and <code>st52</code>
+ terminfo entries to atari-old, st52-old, use newer entries
+ from FreeMiNT.</li>
+
+ <li>repurpose <code>gnome</code> terminfo entries as
+ <code>vte</code>, retaining <code>gnome</code> variants for
+ compatibility, but generally deprecating those since the
+ VTE library is what actually defines the behavior of
+ "gnome", etc., since 2003.</li>
+
+ <li>improve <code>interix</code> <code>smso</code> terminfo
+ capability by using reverse rather than bold.</li>
+
+ <li>correct <code>initc</code> capability of
+ <code>linux-c-nc</code> end-of-range, make similar change
+ for <code>dg+ccc</code> and <code>dgunix+ccc</code>.</li>
+
+ <li>update <code>minix</code> terminfo entry.</li>
+
+ <li>updated <code>nsterm*</code> entries.</li>
+
+ <li>remove unnecessary <code>kcan</code> assignment to
+ <code>^C</code> from <code>putty</code>.</li>
+
+ <li>suppress <code>ncv</code> in <code>screen</code> and
+ <code>konsole-base</code> entries, allowing underline.</li>
+
+ <li>change ncv and op capabilities in
+ <code>sun-color</code> terminfo entry to match Sun's entry
+ for this.</li>
+
+ <li>fix typo in <code>rmso</code> for <code>tek4106</code>
+ entry.</li>
+
+ <li>improve <code>acsc</code> string for <code>vt52</code>,
+ show arrow keys.</li>
+
+ <li>add hard-reset for <code>rs2</code> to
+ <code>wsvt25</code> to help ensure that reset ends the
+ alternate character set.</li>
+
+ <li>add <code>ccc</code> and <code>initc</code>
+ capabilities to <code>xterm-16color</code>.</li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <h2>Major bug fixes</h2>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>ncurses library
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>wide character support
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>modify length returned by <code>getcchar</code> to
+ count the trailing null which is documented in
+ X/Open.</li>
+
+ <li>fix an infinite recursion when adding a
+ legacy-coding 8-bit value using
+ <code>insch</code>.</li>
+
+ <li>improve a workaround in adding wide-characters,
+ when a control character is found. The library uses
+ <code>unctrl</code> to obtain a printable version of
+ the control character, but was not passing color or
+ video attributes.</li>
+
+ <li>modify <code>waddch_literal</code>, 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.</li>
+
+ <li>fixes in <code>wins_nwstr</code> and related
+ functions to ensure that special characters, i.e.,
+ control characters are handled properly with the
+ wide-character configuration.</li>
+
+ <li>correct internal <code>_nc_insert_ch</code> to use
+ <code>_nc_insert_wch</code> when inserting wide
+ characters, since the <code>wins_wch</code> function
+ that it used did not update the cursor position.</li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>mouse
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>add check if <code>Gpm_Open</code> returns a -2,
+ e.g., for "xterm". This is normally suppressed but can
+ be overridden using <code>$NCURSES_GPM_TERMS</code>.
+ Ensure that <code>Gpm_Close</code> is called in this
+ case.</li>
+
+ <li>add check in mouse-driver to disable connection if
+ GPM returns a zero, indicating that the connection is
+ closed.</li>
+
+ <li>modify <code>getmouse</code> 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 <code>ERR</code>.</li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>miscellaneous
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>improve handling of color-pairs embedded in
+ attributes for the extended-colors configuration.</li>
+
+ <li>add check for failure to open hashed-database
+ needed for db4.6.</li>
+
+ <li>modify use of <code>$CC</code> environment variable
+ which is defined by X/Open as a curses feature, to
+ ignore it if it is not a single character.</li>
+
+ <li>modify declaration of <code>cur_term</code> when
+ broken-linker is used, but enable-reentrant is not, to
+ match pre-5.7.</li>
+
+ <li>correct limit-checks in <code>derwin</code>.</li>
+
+ <li>remove old check in <code>mvderwin</code> which
+ prevented moving a derived window whose origin happened
+ to coincide with its parent's origin.</li>
+
+ <li>correct limit-checks in <code>newwin</code>, to
+ ensure that windows have nonzero size.</li>
+
+ <li>modify <code>set_curterm</code> to make
+ broken-linker configuration work with changes from
+ 20090228.</li>
+
+ <li>modify <code>wgetch</code> to ensure it checks
+ <code>SIGWINCH</code> when it gets an error in
+ non-blocking mode.</li>
+
+ <li>correct limit-check in <code>wredrawln</code>,
+ accounting for <code>begy</code>/<code>begx</code>
+ values.</li>
+
+ <li>fix a null-pointer check in
+ <code>_nc_format_slks</code> in lib_slk.c, from
+ 20070704 changes.</li>
+
+ <li>correct translation of "^" in
+ <code>_nc_infotocap</code>, used to transform terminfo
+ to termcap strings.</li>
+
+ <li>modify <code>_nc_wgetch</code> to check for a -1 in
+ the fifo, e.g., after a <code>SIGWINCH</code>, and
+ discard that value, to avoid confusing
+ application.</li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>other libraries
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>correct transfer of multicolumn characters in multirow
+ <code>field_buffer</code>, which stopped at the end of the
+ first row due to filling of unused entries in a cchar_t
+ array with nulls.</li>
+
+ <li>correct buffer-size after internal resizing of
+ wide-character <code>set_field_buffer</code>, broken in
+ 20081018 changes.</li>
+
+ <li>correct layout of working window used to extract data
+ in wide-character configured by
+ <code>set_field_buffer</code></li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <h2>Portability</h2>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>configure script:
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>new options:
+
+ <dl>
+ <dt>--disable-libtool-version</dt>
+
+ <dd>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.</dd>
+
+ <dt>--disable-rpath-hack</dt>
+
+ <dd>disable a feature which adds rpath options for
+ libraries in unusual places.</dd>
+
+ <dt>--enable-interop</dt>
+
+ <dd>integrate changes for generic/interop support to
+ form-library.</dd>
+
+ <dt>--enable-pc-files</dt>
+
+ <dd>generate ".pc" files for each of the libraries, and
+ install them in <code>pkg-config</code>'s library
+ directory.</dd>
+
+ <dt>--enable-pthreads-eintr</dt>
+
+ <dd>control whether to allow <code>EINTR</code> to
+ interrupt a read operation in <code>wgetch</code>. This
+ applies only to the pthread configuration</dd>
+
+ <dt>--enable-sp-funcs</dt>
+
+ <dd>compile-in support for extended functions which
+ accept a <code>SCREEN</code> pointer, reducing the need
+ for juggling the global <code>SP</code> value with
+ <code>set_term</code> and <code>delscreen</code>.</dd>
+
+ <dt>--enable-term-driver</dt>
+
+ <dd>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.</dd>
+
+ <dt>--with-ncurses-wrap-prefix</dt>
+
+ <dd>allows setting the prefix for functions used to
+ wrap global variables to something other than
+ "<code>_nc_</code>".</dd>
+
+ <dt>--with-pkg-config=[DIR]</dt>
+
+ <dd>check for <code>pkg-config</code>, optionally
+ specifying its path.</dd>
+
+ <dt>--without-manpages</dt>
+
+ <dd>tells the configure script to suppress the install
+ of ncurses' manpages.</dd>
+
+ <dt>--without-tests</dt>
+
+ <dd>suppress building test programs.</dd>
+ </dl>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>improved options:
+