X-Git-Url: https://ncurses.scripts.mit.edu/?p=ncurses.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=announce.html.in;h=a07dc0573325af8767c15c096578add499bccacf;hp=da9298a298deb6b14bedb468b8cb23c3d706b3da;hb=0948e2c7ac34642a1f8a3a85000933bcbb258cff;hpb=f86cbeb5f9bd96ab041d34039c35749a14965039;ds=sidebyside diff --git a/announce.html.in b/announce.html.in index da9298a2..a07dc057 100644 --- a/announce.html.in +++ b/announce.html.in @@ -1,8 +1,7 @@ - + + "HTML Tidy for Linux (vers 25 March 2009), see www.w3.org"> Announcing ncurses @VERSION@ @@ -42,12 +42,13 @@ -

Announcing ncurses @VERSION@

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. +

Announcing ncurses @VERSION@

+ +

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 @@ -73,700 +74,50 @@ It is also available at 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: - -
  - add U8 feature to denote entries for - terminal emulators which do not support VT100 SI/SO - when processing UTF-8 encoding
  - 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:
- -
  - fill in no-parameter forms of cursor-movement where - a parameterized form is available
  - fill in missing cursor controls where the form of - the controls is ANSI
  - add parameterized cursor-controls to - linux-basic
  - modify nsterm, xnuppc and - tek4115 to make - sgr/sgr0 consistent
  - 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

It also improves the Ada95 binding:

ncurses library - -
- wide character support - -
  - modify length returned by getcchar to - count the trailing null which is documented in - X/Open.
  - fix an infinite recursion when adding a - legacy-coding 8-bit value using - insch.
  - 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.
  - 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.
  - fixes in wins_nwstr and related - functions to ensure that special characters, i.e., - control characters are handled properly with the - wide-character configuration.
  - 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 - -
  - 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.
  - add check in mouse-driver to disable connection if - GPM returns a zero, indicating that the connection is - closed.
  - 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 - -
  - improve handling of color-pairs embedded in - attributes for the extended-colors configuration.
  - add check for failure to open hashed-database - needed for db4.6.
  - 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.
  - modify declaration of cur_term when - broken-linker is used, but enable-reentrant is not, to - match pre-5.7.
  - correct limit-checks in derwin.
  - remove old check in mvderwin which - prevented moving a derived window whose origin happened - to coincide with its parent's origin.
  - correct limit-checks in newwin, to - ensure that windows have nonzero size.
  - modify set_curterm to make - broken-linker configuration work with changes from - 20090228.
  - modify wgetch to ensure it checks - SIGWINCH when it gets an error in - non-blocking mode.
  - correct limit-check in wredrawln, - accounting for begy/begx - values.
  - fix a null-pointer check in - _nc_format_slks in lib_slk.c, from - 20070704 changes.
  - correct translation of "^" in - _nc_infotocap, used to transform terminfo - to termcap strings.
  - modify _nc_wgetch to check for a -1 in - the fifo, e.g., after a SIGWINCH, and - discard that value, to avoid confusing - application.
  -
+
fixes a longstanding portability problem with its use of + the set_field_type + function. Because that function uses variable-length argument + lists, its interface with gnat does not work with certain + platforms.
improves configurability and portability, particularly when + built separately from the main ncurses tree. The 5.8 release + introduced scripts which can be used to construct separate + tarballs for the Ada95 and ncurses examples. + +
Those were a proof of concept. For the 5.9 release, those + scripts are augmented with rpm- and dpkg-scripts used in test + builds against a variety of gnat- and system ncurses versions + as old as gnat 3.15 and ncurses 5.4 (see snapshots and + systems tested here.
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
-
additional improvements were made for portability of the + ncurses examples, adding rpm- and dpkg-scripts for test-builds. + See this + page for snapshots and other information.

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: - -
  - correct logic for --with-database, - which was coded as an enable-type switch.
  - omit the opaque-functions from - lib_gen.o when - --disable-ext-funcs is used.
  -
-
packaging: - -
- *-config scripts: - -
  - modify adacurses-config to look for - ".ali" files in the adalib directory.
  - correct install for the Ada95 tree, which omitted - libAdaCurses.a used in - adacurses-config.
  - change install for adacurses-config to - provide additional flavors such as - adacursesw-config, for ncursesw.
  - modify scripts to generate - ncurses*-config and pc-files to add - dependency for tinfo library.
  - use ncurses*-config scripts if - available for test/configure.
  - correct name for termlib in - ncurses*-config, e.g., if it is renamed to - provide a single file for ncurses/ncursesw - libraries.
  - generate manpages for the *-config scripts, adapted - from help2man.
  - modify install-rule for manpages so that *-config - manpages will install when building with - --srcdir.
  - build-fixes for OpenSolaris aka Solaris 11, for - wide-character configuration as well as for rpath - feature in *-config scripts.
  - use $includedir symbol in - misc/ncurses-config.in, add - --includedir option.
  - improve install-rules for pc-files.
  - create the pkg-config library - directory if needed.
  - fix typo "==" where "=" - is needed in ncurses-config.in and - gen-pkgconfig.in files.
  - 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.
  - modify handling of $PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR - to use only the first item in a possibly - colon-separated list.
  -
- other packaging issues - -
  - add make-tar.sh scripts to Ada95 and - test subdirectories to help with making those - separately distributable.
  - add Ada95/configure script, to use in - tar-file created by - Ada95/make-tar.sh.
  - 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 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: +

The ncurses package is fully compatible with SVr4 (System V + Release 4) curses:

All 257 of the SVr4 calls have been implemented (and are @@ -794,8 +145,10 @@ entries 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 ncurses package also has many useful extensions over + SVr4:

The API is 8-bit clean and base-level conformant with the @@ -911,12 +264,14 @@ 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 and arena - corruption by the Purify memory-allocation tester. +

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 and arena corruption by the Purify + memory-allocation tester.

The ncurses code has been tested with a wide variety of applications including (versions starting with those noted):

@@ -983,8 +338,10 @@

newsreader, supporting color, MIME http://www.tin.org/

- as well as some that use ncurses for the terminfo support - alone: + + +

as well as some that use ncurses for the terminfo support + alone:

minicom

Announcing ncurses @VERSION@

Announcing ncurses @VERSION@

Release Notes

Interface changes

New features and improvements

Library Improvements

Improvements to Programs

Terminal Database

Release Notes

Major bug fixes

Portability

Features of Ncurses

Features of Ncurses

State of the Package

State of the Package

Who's Who and What's What

Who's Who and What's What

Future Plans

Other Related Resources

Other Related Resources