X-Git-Url: https://ncurses.scripts.mit.edu/?p=ncurses.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=ANNOUNCE;h=bbeeb8922d4724c0b184b8de901cfb0d99577bb5;hp=95ae5be25603f8da267c560fe068c19ceeb7df22;hb=1c2ec25b8186b7973aeb06ec4da6b63656e12f7d;hpb=3a9b6a3bf0269231bef7de74757a910dedd04e0c;ds=sidebyside diff --git a/ANNOUNCE b/ANNOUNCE index 95ae5be2..bbeeb892 100644 --- a/ANNOUNCE +++ b/ANNOUNCE @@ -1,231 +1,463 @@ + Announcing ncurses 5.6 + + 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 5.5; 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 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. + + 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 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 + * 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 + * 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 + [3]http://invisible-island.net/cdk/ + [4]http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/ + ded - directory-editor [4]ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ded. - + directory-editor + [5]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. + [6]http://invisible-island.net/dialog/ + + lynx the character-screen WWW browser - - ncftp 2.0 + [7]http://lynx.isc.org/release/ + + Midnight Commander + file manager + [8]http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/ + + mutt + mail utility + [9]http://www.mutt.org/ + + ncftp file-transfer utility - + [10]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 - + [11]http://www.bostic.com/vi/ + + pinfo + Lynx-like info browser. + [12]http://dione.ids.pl/~pborys/software/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 + 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 @ 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/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