* sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written *
* authorization. *
****************************************************************************
- * @Id: curs_termcap.3x,v 1.43 2020/02/02 23:34:34 tom Exp @
+ * @Id: curs_termcap.3x,v 1.44 2020/05/17 01:20:13 tom Exp @
-->
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</PRE><H2><a name="h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Standards">Standards</a></H3><PRE>
These functions are provided for supporting legacy applications, and
should not be used in new programs:
bility with the <EM>termcap</EM> library, that is a defect in XCurses, Issue 4,
Version 2 rather than in ncurses.
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Compatibility-with-BSD-Termcap">Compatibility with BSD Termcap</a></H3><PRE>
External variables are provided for support of certain termcap applica-
tions. However, termcap applications' use of those variables is poorly
documented, e.g., not distinguishing between input and output. In par-
against extended capability names which are longer than two charac-
ters.
+ The BSD termcap function <STRONG>tgetent</STRONG> returns the text of a termcap entry in
+ the buffer passed as an argument. This library (like other terminfo
+ implementations) does not store terminal descriptions as text. It sets
+ the buffer contents to a null-terminated string.
+
+
+</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Other-Compatibility">Other Compatibility</a></H3><PRE>
+ This library includes a termcap.h header, for compatibility with other
+ implementations. But the header is rarely used because the other im-
+ plementations are not strictly compatible.
+
+ The original BSD termcap (through 4.3BSD) had no header file which gave
+ function prototypes, because that was a feature of ANSI C. BSD termcap
+ was written several years before C was standardized. However, there
+ were two different termcap.h header files in the BSD sources:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> One was used internally by the <EM>jove</EM> editor in 2BSD through 4.4BSD.
+ It defined global symbols for the termcap variables which it used.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The other appeared in 4.4BSD Lite Release 2 (mid-1993) as part of
+ <EM>libedit</EM> (also known as the <EM>editline</EM> library). The CSRG source his-
+ tory shows that this was added in mid-1992. The <EM>libedit</EM> header
+ file was used internally, as a convenience for compiling the <EM>edit-</EM>
+ <EM>line</EM> library. It declared function prototypes, but no global vari-
+ ables.
+
+ The header file from <EM>libedit</EM> was added to NetBSD's termcap library in
+ mid-1994.
+
+ Meanwhile, GNU termcap was under development, starting in 1990. The
+ first release (termcap 1.0) in 1991 included a termcap.h header. The
+ second release (termcap 1.1) in September 1992 modified the header to
+ use <STRONG>const</STRONG> for the function prototypes in the header where one would ex-
+ pect the parameters to be read-only. This was a difference versus the
+ original BSD termcap. The prototype for <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> also differed, but in
+ that instance, it was <EM>libedit</EM> which differed from BSD termcap.
+
+ A copy of GNU termcap 1.3 was bundled with <EM>bash</EM> in mid-1993, to support
+ the <EM>readline</EM> library.
+
+ A termcap.h file was provided in ncurses 1.8.1 (November 1993). That
+ reflected influence by <EM>emacs</EM> (rather than <EM>jove</EM>) and GNU termcap:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> it provided declarations for a few global symbols used by <EM>emacs</EM>
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> it provided function prototypes (using <STRONG>const</STRONG>).
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> a prototype for <STRONG>tparam</STRONG> (a GNU termcap feature) was provided.
+
+ Later (in mid-1996) the <STRONG>tparam</STRONG> function was removed from ncurses. As a
+ result, there are differences between any of the four implementations,
+ which must be taken into account by programs which can work with all
+ termcap library interfaces.
+
</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
<STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>putc(3)</STRONG>.
</li>
<li><a href="#h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-BUGS">BUGS</a></li>
-<li><a href="#h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a>
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#h3-Standards">Standards</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Compatibility-with-BSD-Termcap">Compatibility with BSD Termcap</a></li>
+<li><a href="#h3-Other-Compatibility">Other Compatibility</a></li>
+</ul>
+</li>
<li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
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