X-Git-Url: https://ncurses.scripts.mit.edu/?p=ncurses.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=announce.html.in;h=1d4121ee4ff1739361add67ed5c8dec8127663db;hp=936b2053d5881ba09959a7073b8892a3be8f5f47;hb=0ac2306dd3aaab1338d8b1458c15a7e476cfc3ff;hpb=b1f61d9f3aa244512045a6b02e759825d7049d34
diff --git a/announce.html.in b/announce.html.in
index 936b2053..1d4121ee 100644
--- a/announce.html.in
+++ b/announce.html.in
@@ -1,11 +1,39 @@
Announcing ncurses @VERSION@
+
@@ -18,12 +46,15 @@ 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
+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 should port easily to
-any ANSI/POSIX-conforming UNIX. It has even been ported to OS/2 Warp!
+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!
The distribution includes the library and support utilities, including a
terminfo compiler tic(1), a decompiler infocmp(1), clear(1), tput(1), tset(1),
@@ -32,142 +63,295 @@ the library and tools.
-This release is designed to be upward compatible from ncurses 5.0; very few
-applications will require recompilation, depending on the platform.
-These are the highlights from the change-log since ncurses 5.0 release.
+This release is designed to be upward compatible from ncurses 5.0 through 5.6;
+very few applications will require recompilation, depending on the platform.
+These are the highlights from the change-log since ncurses 5.6 release.
Interface changes:
-
made the extended terminal capabilities
- (configure --enable-tcap-names)
- a standard feature (though the configure script can disable it,
- it is built by default).
-
-
removed the trace() function and related trace support
- from the production library. This is the only interface change that
- may cause problems with existing applications linked to shared
- libraries, since not all platforms use the minor version number.
-
-
explicitly initialized to zero several data items which were
- implicitly initialized, e.g., cur_term. If not explicitly
- initialized, their storage type is C (common), and causes problems
- linking on some platforms.
-
-
modified curses.h.in, undef'ing some symbols to avoid conflict with
- C++ STL.
+
generate linkable stubs for some macros:
+
+ getattrs
+
-New features:
+New features and improvements:
-
added a new extension, assume_default_colors() to
- provide better control over the use of default colors. This is
- the principal visible difference between ncurses 5.1 and preceding
- versions. The new extension allows an application to specify what
- colors pair 0 uses.
-
- NOTE: Pair 0 defaults to white on black unless
- you have invoked use_default_colors() or set it via
- assume_default_colors(). An application that calls
- start_colors() without setting the background color
- will consistently have a black background no matter what color your
- terminal's background actually is.
-
-
made several fixes to the terminfo-to-termcap conversion, and
- have been using the generated termcaps without further hand-tuning.
- This builds on the extension use_extended_names() by
- adding "obsolete" termcap strings to terminfo.src
+
library
+
+
new flavor of the ncurses library provides rudimentary
+ support for POSIX threads. Several functions are
+ reentrant, but most require either a window-level or
+ screen-level mutex.
+ (This is API-compatible,
+ but not ABI-compatible with the normal library).
+
+
add NCURSES_OPAQUE symbol to curses.h, will
+ use to make structs opaque in selected configurations.
+
+
add NCURSES_EXT_FUNCS and
+ NCURSES_EXT_COLORS symbols to curses.h to make
+ it simpler to tell if the extended functions and/or colors
+ are declared.
+
+
add wresize() to C++ binding
+
+
eliminate fixed-buffer vsprintf() calls in C++ binding.
+
+
add several functions to C++ binding which wrap C functions
+ that pass a WINDOW* parameter.
+
+
adapt mouse-handling code from menu library in form-library
+
+
improve tracing for form library, showing created forms,
+ fields, etc.
+
+
make $NCURSES_NO_PADDING feature work for termcap interface .
+
+
add check to trace-file open, if the given name is a
+ directory, add ".log" to the name and try again.
+
+
several new manpages: curs_legacy.3x, curs_memleaks.3x,
+ curs_opaque.3x and curs_threads.3x
+
+
+
programs:
-
modified tic so that if extended names (i.e.,
- configure --enable-tcap-names) are active, then tic -x
- will also write "obsolete" capabilities that are present in the
- terminfo source.
-
-
added screen's AX capability (for ECMA SGR 39 and 49) to applicable
- terminfo entries, use presence of this as a check for a small
- improvement in setting default colors.
-
-
add -a option to tic and infocmp, which retains commented-out
- capabilities during source translation/comparison, e.g., captoinfo
- and infotocap.
+
modified three test-programs to demonstrate the threading
+ support in this version: ditto, rain, worm.
+
+
several new test-programs: demo_panels, dots_mvcur,
+ inch_wide, inchs, key_name, key_names, savescreen,
+ savescreen.sh test_arrays, test_get_wstr, test_getstr,
+ test_instr, test_inwstr and test_opaque.
+
+
add adacurses-config to the Ada95 install.
+
+
modify tic -f option to format spaces as
+ \s to prevent them from being lost when that
+ is read back in unformatted strings.
+
+
The tack program is now distributed separately
+ from ncurses.
-
implemented limited support for UTF-8, useful with XFree86 xterm:
+
terminal database
-
if the configure --enable-widec option is
- given, append 'w' to names of the generated libraries (e.g.,
- libncursesw.so) to avoid conflict with existing ncurses libraries.
-
add a simple UTF-8 output driver to the experimental
- wide-character support. If any of the environment variables
- LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE or LANG contain the string "UTF-8", this driver
- will be used to translate the output to UTF-8.
-
modified view.c to make a rudimentary viewer of UTF-8 text.
+
added entries:
+
+
Eterm-256color,
+ Eterm-88color and
+ rxvt-88color
+
aterm
+
konsole-256color
+
mrxvt
+
screen.mlterm
+
screen.rxvt
+
teraterm4.59 is now the primary primary
+ teraterm entry, renamed original to
+ teraterm2.3
+
9term terminal
+
Newbury Data entries
+
+
updated/improved entries:
+
+
gnome to version 2.22.3
+
h19, z100
+
konsole to version 1.6.6
+
mlterm, mlterm+pcfkeys
+
xterm, and building-blocks for function-keys
+ to xterm patch #230.
+
+
+Major bug fixes:
+
+
add logic to tic for cancelling strings in user-defined
+ capabilities
+ (this is needed for
+ current konsole terminfo entry).
+
+
modify mk-1st.awk so the generated makefile rules for
+ linking or installing shared libraries do not first remove the
+ library, in case it is in use, e.g., libncurses.so by
+ /bin/sh.
+
+
correct check for notimeout() in wgetch().
+
+
fix a sign-extension bug in infocmp's repair_acsc() function.
+
+
change winnstr() to stop at the end of the line.
+
+
make Ada95 demo_panels() example work.
+
+
fix for adding a non-spacing character at the beginning of a line.
+
+
fill in extended-color pair to make colors work
+ for wide-characters using extended-colors.
-
modify raw() and noraw() to clear/restore
- IEXTEN flag which affects stty lnext on systems such as FreeBSD
+
improve refresh of window on top of multi-column characters,
+ taking into account split characters on left/right window
+ boundaries.
-
reordered tests during mouse initialization to allow for gpm to run
- in xterm, or for xterm to be used under OS/2 EMX. Also dropped test
- for $DISPLAY in favor of the terminfo capability
- kmous=\E[M or
- if $TERM environment variable contains "xterm".
+
modify win_wchnstr() to ensure that only a base cell
+ is returned for each multi-column character.
-
added configure option --with-manpage-symlinks, which
- provides for fully indexing manpage entries by making symbolic links
- for the aliases.
+
improve waddch() and winsch() handling of
+ EILSEQ from mbrtowc() by using unctrl()
+ to display illegal bytes rather than trying to append further bytes
+ to make up a valid sequence.
-
changed unctrl() to render C1 characters (128-159) as
- ~@, ~A, etc.
+
restore curs_set() state after
+ endwin()/refresh()
-
add experimental configure option --enable-colorfgbg to check for
- $COLORTERM variable as set by rxvt/aterm/Eterm.
+
modify keyname() to use "^X" form only if
+ meta() has been called, or if keyname()
+ is called without initializing curses, e.g., via
+ initscr() or newterm().
-
made the infocmp -F option less verbose.
+
modify unctrl() to check codes in 128-255 range versus
+ isprint().
+ If they are not printable, and locale was set, use a "M-" or "~"
+ sequence.
-
dropped support for gnat 3.10 (gnat 3.12 is current).
+
improve resizeterm() by moving ripped-off lines, and
+ repainting the soft-keys.
+
modify form library to accept control characters such as newline
+ in set_field_buffer(), which is compatible with Solaris.
+
+
use NCURSES_MOUSE_MASK() in definition of
+ BUTTON_RELEASE(), etc., to make those work properly
+ with the --enable-ext-mouse configuration
+
+
correct some functions in Ada95 binding which were using return
+ value from C where none was returned.
+
+
reviewed/fixed issues reported by Coverity and Klocwork tools.
-Major bug fixes:
+
+Portability:
-
modified infocmp -e, -E options to ensure that generated fallback.c
- type for Booleans agrees with term.h
+
configure script:
+
+
new options:
+
+
+
--disable-big-strings
+
control whether static string tables are generated as single
+ large strings (to improve startup performance), or as array
+ of individual strings.
+
+
--disable-relink
+
control whether shared libraries are relinked (during install)
+ when rpath is enabled.
+
+
--disable-tic-depends
+
make explicit whether tic library depends on ncurses/ncursesw
+ library.
+
+
--enable-mixed-case
+
override the configure script's check if the filesystem
+ supports mixed-case filenames.
+ This allows one to control how the terminal database
+ maps to the filesystem.
+ For filesystems that do not support mixed-case, the library
+ uses generate 2-character (hexadecimal) codes for the
+ lower-level of the filesystem terminfo database
+
+
--enable-reentrant
+
builds a different flavor of the ncurses library (ncursest)
+ which improves reentrant use of the
+ library by reducing global and static variables
+ (see the "--with-pthread" option for the threaded support).
+
+
--enable-weak-symbols
+
use weak-symbols for linking to the POSIX thread library,
+ and use the same soname for the ncurses shared library
+ as the normal library (caveat: the ABI is for the threaded
+ library, which makes global data accessed via functions).
+
+
--with-pthread
+
build with the POSIX thread library (tested with AIX,
+ Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, HPUX, IRIX64, Solaris, Tru64).
+
+
--with-ticlib
+
build/install the tic-support functions in a separate library
+
+
-
documented a special case of incompatiblity between ncurses 4.2 and
- 5.0, added a section for this in INSTALL.
+
improved options:
+
-
corrected tests for file-descriptors in OS/2 EMX mouse support. A
- negative value could be used by FD_SET, causing the select() call to
- wait indefinitely.
+
--enable-ext-colors
+
requires the wide-character configuration.
-
made 'tput flash' work properly for xterm by flushing output in
- delay_output() when using napms(), and modifying xterm's terminfo to
- specify no padding character. Otherwise, xterm's reported baud rate
- could mislead ncurses into producing too few padding characters.
+
--with-chtype
+
ignore option value "unsigned" is always added to
+ the type in curses.h; do the same for --with-mmask-t.
-
modified lib_addch.c to allow repeated update to the lower-right
- corner, rather than displaying only the first character written until
- the cursor is moved. Recent versions of SVr4 curses can update the
- lower-right corner, and behave this way.
+
--with-dmalloc
+
build-fix for redefinition of strndup.
-
modified echo() behavior of getch() to match Solaris curses for
- carriage return and backspace (reported by Neil Zanella).
+
--with-hashed-db
+
accepts a parameter which is the install-prefix of a given
+ Berkeley Database.
-
corrected offsets used for subwindows in wresize()
+
--with-hashed-db
+
the $LIBS environment variable overrides the search for the db
+ library.
-
modified configure script so AC_MSG_ERROR is temporarily defined to
- a warning in AC_PROG_CXX to make it recover from a missing C++
- compiler without requiring user to add --without-cxx option
+
--without-hashed-db
+
assumed when "--disable-database" is used.
-
corrected logic in lib_twait.c as used by lib_mouse.c for GPM mouse
- support when poll() is used rather than select().
+
-
made several fixes for buffer overflows, unchecked recursion,
- improvements in performance, etc. See the NEWS file for details.
+
+
+
other configure/build issues:
+
+
build-fixes for LynxOS
+
modify shared-library rules to allow FreeBSD 3.x to use rpath.
+
build-fix for FreeBSD "contemporary" TTY interface.
+
build-fixes for AIX with libtool.
+
build-fixes for Darwin and libtool.
+
modify BeOS-specific ifdef's to build on Haiku.
+
corrected gcc options for building shared libraries on Solaris
+ and IRIX64.
+
change shared-library configuration for OpenBSD, make rpath work.
+
build-fixes for using libutf8, e.g., on OpenBSD 3.7
+
add "-e" option in ncurses/Makefile.in when generating source-files
+ to force earlier exit if the build environment fails unexpectedly.
+
add support for shared libraries for QNX.
+
change delimiter in MKlib_gen.sh from '%' to '@', to
+ avoid substitution by IBM xlc to '#' as part of its extensions to
+ digraphs.
+
+
+
library:
+
+
rewrite wrapper for wcrtomb(), making it work on
+ Solaris. This is used in the form library to determine the length
+ of the buffer needed by field_buffer.
+
add/use configure script macro CF_SIG_ATOMIC_T, use the corresponding
+ type for data manipulated by signal handlers.
+
set locale in misc/ncurses-config.in since it uses a range
+
disable GPM mouse support when $TERM does not happen to contain
+ "linux", since Gpm_Open() no longer limits its assertion to terminals
+ that it might handle, e.g., within "screen" in xterm.
+
reset mouse file-descriptor when unloading GPM library.
+
+
+
test programs:
+
+
update test programs to build/work with various UNIX curses for
+ comparisons.
+
Features of Ncurses
@@ -196,14 +380,15 @@ 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
+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.
Ada95 and C++ bindings.
-
Support for mouse event reporting with X Window xterm and OS/2 console windows.
+
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.
@@ -215,7 +400,9 @@ 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 XFree86 xterm.
+
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.
@@ -283,61 +470,57 @@ including (versions starting with those noted):
-The original developers of ncurses are Zeyd Ben-Halim and
-Eric S. Raymond.
+Zeyd Ben-Halim
+started it from a previous package pcurses, written by Pavel Curtis.
+Eric S. Raymond
+continued development.
+Jürgen Pfeifer wrote most of the form and menu libraries.
Ongoing work is being done by
-Thomas Dickey
-and
-Jürgen Pfeifer.
-Thomas Dickey
-acts as the maintainer for the Free Software Foundation, which holds the
-copyright on ncurses.
+Thomas Dickey.
+Thomas Dickey
+acts as the maintainer for the Free Software Foundation,
+which holds the copyright on ncurses.
Contact the current maintainers at
bug-ncurses@gnu.org.
@@ -370,7 +553,7 @@ This list is open to anyone interested in helping with the development and
testing of this package.
@@ -382,14 +565,17 @@ on them, please join the ncurses list.
Other Related Resources
-The distribution includes and uses a version of the terminfo-format
-terminal description file maintained by Eric Raymond.
-http://earthspace.net/~esr/terminfo.
+The distribution provides a newer version of the terminfo-format
+terminal description file once maintained by
+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
Richard Shuford's
-archive.
+archive .