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diff --git a/doc/html/announce.html b/doc/html/announce.html index 234c703..961e757 100644 --- a/doc/html/announce.html +++ b/doc/html/announce.html @@ -1,8 +1,8 @@ -<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 3.0//EN"> +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <!-- - $Id: announce.html,v 1.52 2008/11/02 01:05:08 tom Exp $ + $Id: announce.html,v 1.55 2011/04/04 09:46:33 tom Exp $ **************************************************************************** - * Copyright (c) 1998-2006,2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc. * + * Copyright (c) 1998-2010,2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc. * * * * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a * * copy of this software and associated documentation files (the * @@ -29,560 +29,361 @@ * authorization. * **************************************************************************** --> -<HTML> -<HEAD> -<TITLE>Announcing ncurses 5.7</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 5.7</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 5.6; -very few applications will require recompilation, depending on the platform. -These are the highlights from the change-log since ncurses 5.6 release. -<p> -Interface changes: -<ul> - <li>generate linkable stubs for some macros: - <br> - getattrs - -</ul> -New features and improvements: -<ul> - <li>library - <ul> - <li>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.<br> - (This is <em>API</em>-compatible, - but not <em>ABI</em>-compatible with the normal library). - - <li>add <code>NCURSES_OPAQUE</code> symbol to curses.h, will - use to make structs opaque in selected configurations. - - <li>add <code>NCURSES_EXT_FUNCS</code> and - <code>NCURSES_EXT_COLORS</code> symbols to curses.h to make - it simpler to tell if the extended functions and/or colors - are declared. - - <li>add wresize() to C++ binding - - <li>eliminate fixed-buffer vsprintf() calls in C++ binding. - - <li>add several functions to C++ binding which wrap C functions - that pass a WINDOW* parameter. - - <li>adapt mouse-handling code from menu library in form-library - - <li>improve tracing for form library, showing created forms, - fields, etc. - - <li>make $NCURSES_NO_PADDING feature work for termcap interface . - - <li>add check to trace-file open, if the given name is a - directory, add ".log" to the name and try again. - - <li>several new manpages: curs_legacy.3x, curs_memleaks.3x, - curs_opaque.3x and curs_threads.3x - </ul> - - <li>programs: - <ul> - <li>modified three test-programs to demonstrate the threading - support in this version: ditto, rain, worm. - - <li>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. - - <li>add <code>adacurses-config</code> to the Ada95 install. - - <li>modify tic <code>-f</code> option to format spaces as - <code>\s</code> to prevent them from being lost when that - is read back in unformatted strings. - - <li>The <code>tack</code> program is now distributed separately - from ncurses. - </ul> - - <li>terminal database - <ul> - <li>added entries: - <ul> - <li><code>Eterm-256color</code>, - <code>Eterm-88color</code> and - <code>rxvt-88color</code> - <li><code>aterm</code> - <li><code>konsole-256color</code> - <li><code>mrxvt</code> - <li><code>screen.mlterm</code> - <li><code>screen.rxvt</code> - <li><code>teraterm4.59</code> is now the primary primary - teraterm entry, renamed original to - <code>teraterm2.3</code> - <li><code>9term</code> terminal - <li>Newbury Data entries - </ul> - <li>updated/improved entries: - <ul> - <li><code>gnome</code> to version 2.22.3 - <li><code>h19</code>, <code>z100</code> - <li><code>konsole</code> to version 1.6.6 - <li><code>mlterm</code>, <code>mlterm+pcfkeys</code> - <li><code>xterm</code>, and building-blocks for function-keys - to <a href="http://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.log.html#xterm_230">xterm patch #230</a>. - </ul> - </ul> -</ul> -Major bug fixes: -<ul> - <li>add logic to tic for cancelling strings in user-defined - capabilities - (this is <em>needed</em> for - current <code>konsole</code> terminfo entry). - - <li>modify <code>mk-1st.awk</code> 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., <code>libncurses.so</code> by - <code>/bin/sh</code>. - - <li>correct check for notimeout() in wgetch(). - - <li>fix a sign-extension bug in infocmp's repair_acsc() function. - - <li>change winnstr() to stop at the end of the line. - - <li>make Ada95 demo_panels() example work. - - <li>fix for adding a non-spacing character at the beginning of a line. - - <li>fill in extended-color pair to make colors work - for wide-characters using extended-colors. - - <li>improve refresh of window on top of multi-column characters, - taking into account split characters on left/right window - boundaries. - - <li>modify <code>win_wchnstr()</code> to ensure that only a base cell - is returned for each multi-column character. - - <li>improve <code>waddch()</code> and <code>winsch()</code> handling of - EILSEQ from <code>mbrtowc()</code> by using <code>unctrl()</code> - to display illegal bytes rather than trying to append further bytes - to make up a valid sequence. - - <li>restore <code>curs_set()</code> state after - <code>endwin()</code>/<code>refresh()</code> - - <li>modify <code>keyname()</code> to use "^X" form only if - <code>meta()</code> has been called, or if <code>keyname()</code> - is called without initializing curses, e.g., via - <code>initscr()</code> or <code>newterm()</code>. - - <li>modify <code>unctrl()</code> to check codes in 128-255 range versus - <code>isprint()</code>. - If they are not printable, and locale was set, use a "M-" or "~" - sequence. - - <li>improve <code>resizeterm()</code> by moving ripped-off lines, and - repainting the soft-keys. - - <li>modify form library to accept control characters such as newline - in set_field_buffer(), which is compatible with Solaris. - - <li>use <code>NCURSES_MOUSE_MASK()</code> in definition of - <code>BUTTON_RELEASE()</code>, etc., to make those work properly - with the <code>--enable-ext-mouse</code> configuration - - <li>correct some functions in Ada95 binding which were using return - value from C where none was returned. - - <li>reviewed/fixed issues reported by Coverity and Klocwork tools. -</ul> - -Portability: -<ul> - <li>configure script: - <ul> - <li>new options: - <dl> - - <dt>--disable-big-strings - <dd>control whether static string tables are generated as single - large strings (to improve startup performance), or as array - of individual strings. - - <dt>--disable-relink - <dd>control whether shared libraries are relinked (during install) - when rpath is enabled. - - <dt>--disable-tic-depends - <dd>make explicit whether tic library depends on ncurses/ncursesw - library. - - <dt>--enable-mixed-case - <dd>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 - - <dt>--enable-reentrant - <dd>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). - - <dt>--enable-weak-symbols - <dd>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). - - <dt>--with-pthread - <dd>build with the POSIX thread library (tested with AIX, - Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, HPUX, IRIX64, Solaris, Tru64). - - <dt>--with-ticlib - <dd>build/install the tic-support functions in a separate library - - </dl> - - <li>improved options: - <dl> - - <dt>--enable-ext-colors - <dd>requires the wide-character configuration. - - <dt>--with-chtype - <dd>ignore option value "unsigned" is always added to - the type in curses.h; do the same for --with-mmask-t. - - <dt>--with-dmalloc - <dd>build-fix for redefinition of <code>strndup</code>. - - <dt>--with-hashed-db - <dd>accepts a parameter which is the install-prefix of a given - Berkeley Database. - - <dt>--with-hashed-db - <dd>the $LIBS environment variable overrides the search for the db - library. - - <dt>--without-hashed-db - <dd>assumed when "--disable-database" is used. - - </dl> - - </ul> - - <li>other configure/build issues: - <ul> - <li>build-fixes for LynxOS - <li>modify shared-library rules to allow FreeBSD 3.x to use rpath. - <li>build-fix for FreeBSD "contemporary" TTY interface. - <li>build-fixes for AIX with libtool. - <li>build-fixes for Darwin and libtool. - <li>modify BeOS-specific ifdef's to build on Haiku. - <li>corrected gcc options for building shared libraries on Solaris - and IRIX64. - <li>change shared-library configuration for OpenBSD, make rpath work. - <li>build-fixes for using libutf8, e.g., on OpenBSD 3.7 - <li>add "-e" option in ncurses/Makefile.in when generating source-files - to force earlier exit if the build environment fails unexpectedly. - <li>add support for shared libraries for QNX. - <li>change delimiter in <code>MKlib_gen.sh</code> from '%' to '@', to - avoid substitution by IBM xlc to '#' as part of its extensions to - digraphs. - </ul> - - <li>library: - <ul> - <li>rewrite wrapper for <code>wcrtomb()</code>, making it work on - Solaris. This is used in the form library to determine the length - of the buffer needed by <code>field_buffer</code>. - <li>add/use configure script macro CF_SIG_ATOMIC_T, use the corresponding - type for data manipulated by signal handlers. - <li>set locale in misc/ncurses-config.in since it uses a range - <li>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. - <li>reset mouse file-descriptor when unloading GPM library. - </ul> - - <li>test programs: - <ul> - <li>update test programs to build/work with various UNIX curses for - comparisons. - </ul> -</ul> - -<H1>Features of Ncurses</H1> - -The ncurses package is fully compatible with SVr4 (System V Release 4) curses: - -<UL> -<LI>All 257 of the SVr4 calls have been implemented (and are documented). -<LI>Full support for SVr4 curses features including keyboard mapping, color, -forms-drawing with ACS characters, and automatic recognition of keypad -and function keys. -<LI>An emulation of the SVr4 panels library, supporting -a stack of windows with backing store, is included. -<LI>An emulation of the SVr4 menus library, supporting -a uniform but flexible interface for menu programming, is included. -<LI>An emulation of the SVr4 form library, supporting -data collection through on-screen forms, is included. -<LI>Binary terminfo entries generated by the ncurses tic(1) implementation -are bit-for-bit-compatible with the entry format SVr4 curses uses. -<LI>The utilities have options to allow you to filter terminfo -entries for use with less capable <STRONG>curses</STRONG>/<STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> -versions such as the HP/UX and AIX ports.</UL> - -The ncurses package also has many useful extensions over SVr4: - -<UL> -<LI>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). -<LI>Unlike SVr3 curses, ncurses can write to the rightmost-bottommost corner -of the screen if your terminal has an insert-character capability. -<LI>Ada95 and C++ bindings. -<LI>Support for mouse event reporting with X Window xterm -and FreeBSD and OS/2 console windows. -<LI>Extended mouse support via Alessandro Rubini's gpm package. -<LI>The function <CODE>wresize()</CODE> allows you to resize windows, preserving -their data. -<LI>The function <CODE>use_default_colors()</CODE> allows you to -use the terminal's default colors for the default color pair, -achieving the effect of transparent colors. -<LI>The functions <CODE>keyok()</CODE> -and <CODE>define_key()</CODE> 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. -<LI>Support for 256-color terminals, such as modern xterm, when configured -using the <code>--enable-ext-colors</code> option. -<LI>Support for 16-color terminals, such as aixterm and modern xterm. -<LI>Better cursor-movement optimization. The package now features a -cursor-local-movement computation more efficient than either BSD's -or System V's. -<LI>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. -<LI>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. -<LI>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). -<LI>The tic(1)/captoinfo utility provided with ncurses has the -ability to translate many termcaps from the XENIX, IBM and -AT&T extension sets. -<LI>A BSD-like tset(1) utility is provided. -<LI>The ncurses library and utilities will automatically read terminfo -entries from $HOME/.terminfo if it exists, and compile to that directory -if it exists and the user has no write access to the system directory. -This feature makes it easier for users to have personal terminfo entries -without giving up access to the system terminfo directory. -<LI>You may specify a path of directories to search for compiled -descriptions with the environment variable TERMINFO_DIRS (this -generalizes the feature provided by TERMINFO under stock System V.) -<LI>In terminfo source files, use capabilities may refer not just to -other entries in the same source file (as in System V) but also to -compiled entries in either the system terminfo directory or the user's -$HOME/.terminfo directory. -<LI>A script (<STRONG>capconvert</STRONG>) 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. -<LI>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. -<LI>The table-of-entries utility <STRONG>toe</STRONG> makes it easy for users to -see exactly what terminal types are available on the system. -<LI>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 -<CODE>#undef</CODE>. -<LI>An HTML "Introduction to Programming with NCURSES" document provides -a narrative introduction to the curses programming interface. -</UL> - -<H1>State of the Package</H1> - -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.<P> - -The ncurses code has been tested with a wide variety of applications -including (versions starting with those noted): -<DL> -<DT> cdk -<DD> Curses Development Kit -<br> -<A HREF="http://invisible-island.net/cdk/">http://invisible-island.net/cdk/</A> -<br> -<A HREF="http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/">http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/</a> -<DT> ded -<DD> directory-editor -<br> -<A HREF="http://invisible-island.net/ded/">http://invisible-island.net/ded/</A> -<DT> dialog -<DD> the underlying application used in Slackware's setup, and the basis -for similar applications on GNU/Linux. -<br> -<A HREF="http://invisible-island.net/dialog/">http://invisible-island.net/dialog/</A> -<DT> lynx -<DD> the character-screen WWW browser -<br> -<A HREF="http://lynx.isc.org/release/">http://lynx.isc.org/release/</A> -<DT> Midnight Commander -<DD> file manager -<br> -<A HREF="http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/">http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/</A> -<DT> mutt -<DD> mail utility -<br> -<A HREF="http://www.mutt.org/">http://www.mutt.org/</A> -<DT> ncftp -<DD> file-transfer utility -<br> -<A HREF="http://www.ncftp.com/">http://www.ncftp.com/</A> -<DT> nvi -<DD> New vi versions 1.50 are able to use ncurses versions 1.9.7 and later. -<br> -<A HREF="http://www.bostic.com/vi/">http://www.bostic.com/vi/</A> -<br> -<DT> pinfo -<DD> Lynx-like info browser. -<A HREF="https://alioth.debian.org/projects/pinfo/">https://alioth.debian.org/projects/pinfo/</A> -<DT> tin -<DD> newsreader, supporting color, MIME -<A HREF="http://www.tin.org/">http://www.tin.org/</A> -</DL> -as well as some that use ncurses for the terminfo support alone: -<DL> -<DT> minicom -<DD> terminal emulator -<br> -<A HREF="http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/"> -http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/</A> -<DT> vile -<DD> vi-like-emacs -<br> -<A HREF="http://invisible-island.net/vile/">http://invisible-island.net/vile/</A> -</DL> -<P> - -The ncurses distribution includes a selection of test programs (including -a few games). - -<H2>Who's Who and What's What</H2> - -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 -<A HREF="mailto:dickey@invisible-island.net">Thomas Dickey</A>. -Thomas Dickey -acts as the maintainer for the Free Software Foundation, -which holds the copyright on ncurses. -Contact the current maintainers at -<A HREF="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">bug-ncurses@gnu.org</A>. -<P> - -To join the ncurses mailing list, please write email to -<CODE>bug-ncurses-request@gnu.org</CODE> containing the line: -<PRE> + +<html> +<head> + <meta name="generator" content= + "HTML Tidy for Linux/x86 (vers 6 November 2007), see www.w3.org"> + + <title>Announcing ncurses 5.9</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 5.9</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 5.8; very few applications + will require recompilation, depending on the platform. These are + the highlights from the change-log since ncurses 5.8 release. + <p> + This is a bug-fix release, correcting a small number of urgent problems + in the ncurses library from the 5.8 release. + <p> + It also improves the Ada95 binding: + <ul> + <li>fixes a longstanding portability problem with its use of the + <a href="http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/form_fieldtype.3x">set_field_type</a> + function. Because that function uses variable-length argument lists, + its interface with gnat does not work with certain platforms. + <li>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. + <p>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 + <a href="http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-Ada95.html">here</a>. + <li>additional improvements were made for portability of the + ncurses examples, adding rpm- and dpkg-scripts for test-builds. + See + <a href="http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-examples.html">this page</a> + for snapshots and other information. + </ul> + + <h1>Features of Ncurses</h1>The ncurses package is fully + compatible with SVr4 (System V Release 4) curses: + + <ul> + <li>All 257 of the SVr4 calls have been implemented (and are + documented).</li> + + <li>Full support for SVr4 curses features including keyboard + mapping, color, forms-drawing with ACS characters, and + automatic recognition of keypad and function keys.</li> + + <li>An emulation of the SVr4 panels library, supporting a stack + of windows with backing store, is included.</li> + + <li>An emulation of the SVr4 menus library, supporting a + uniform but flexible interface for menu programming, is + included.</li> + + <li>An emulation of the SVr4 form library, supporting data + collection through on-screen forms, is included.</li> + + <li>Binary terminfo entries generated by the ncurses tic(1) + implementation are bit-for-bit-compatible with the entry format + SVr4 curses uses.</li> + + <li>The utilities have options to allow you to filter terminfo + entries for use with less capable + <strong>curses</strong>/<strong>terminfo</strong> versions such + as the HP/UX and AIX ports.</li> + </ul>The ncurses package also has many useful extensions over + SVr4: + + <ul> + <li>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).</li> + + <li>Unlike SVr3 curses, ncurses can write to the + rightmost-bottommost corner of the screen if your terminal has + an insert-character capability.</li> + + <li>Ada95 and C++ bindings.</li> + + <li>Support for mouse event reporting with X Window xterm and + FreeBSD and OS/2 console windows.</li> + + <li>Extended mouse support via Alessandro Rubini's gpm + package.</li> + + <li>The function <code>wresize</code> allows you to resize + windows, preserving their data.</li> + + <li>The function <code>use_default_colors</code> allows you to + use the terminal's default colors for the default color pair, + achieving the effect of transparent colors.</li> + + <li>The functions <code>keyok</code> and + <code>define_key</code> 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.</li> + + <li>Support for 256-color terminals, such as modern xterm, when + configured using the <code>--enable-ext-colors</code> + option.</li> + + <li>Support for 16-color terminals, such as <em>aixterm</em> + and <em>modern xterm</em>.</li> + + <li>Better cursor-movement optimization. The package now + features a cursor-local-movement computation more efficient + than either BSD's or System V's.</li> + + <li>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 <code>quickch</code> + routine.</li> + + <li>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.</li> + + <li>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).</li> + + <li>The tic(1)/captoinfo utility provided with ncurses has the + ability to translate many termcaps from the XENIX, IBM and + AT&T extension sets.</li> + + <li>A BSD-like tset(1) utility is provided.</li> + + <li>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 terminfo directory.</li> + + <li>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.)</li> + + <li>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 user's $HOME/.terminfo directory.</li> + + <li>A script (<strong>capconvert</strong>) 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.</li> + + <li>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.</li> + + <li>The table-of-entries utility <strong>toe</strong> makes it + easy for users to see exactly what terminal types are available + on the system.</li> + + <li>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 <code>#undef</code>.</li> + + <li>An HTML "Introduction to Programming with NCURSES" document + provides a narrative introduction to the curses programming + interface.</li> + </ul> + + <h1>State of the Package</h1>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. + + <p>The ncurses code has been tested with a wide variety of + applications including (versions starting with those noted):</p> + + <dl> + <dt>cdk</dt> + + <dd>Curses Development Kit<br> + <a href= + "http://invisible-island.net/cdk/">http://invisible-island.net/cdk/</a><br> + + <a href= + "http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/">http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/</a></dd> + + <dt>ded</dt> + + <dd>directory-editor<br> + <a href= + "http://invisible-island.net/ded/">http://invisible-island.net/ded/</a></dd> + + <dt>dialog</dt> + + <dd>the underlying application used in Slackware's setup, and + the basis for similar applications on GNU/Linux.<br> + <a href= + "http://invisible-island.net/dialog/">http://invisible-island.net/dialog/</a></dd> + + <dt>lynx</dt> + + <dd>the character-screen WWW browser<br> + <a href= + "http://lynx.isc.org/release/">http://lynx.isc.org/release/</a></dd> + + <dt>Midnight Commander</dt> + + <dd>file manager<br> + <a href= + "http://www.midnight-commander.org/">http://www.midnight-commander.org/</a></dd> + + <dt>mutt</dt> + + <dd>mail utility<br> + <a href="http://www.mutt.org/">http://www.mutt.org/</a></dd> + + <dt>ncftp</dt> + + <dd>file-transfer utility<br> + <a href="http://www.ncftp.com/">http://www.ncftp.com/</a></dd> + + <dt>nvi</dt> + + <dd>New vi versions 1.50 are able to use ncurses versions 1.9.7 + and later.<br> + <a href= + "https://sites.google.com/a/bostic.com/keithbostic/nvi">https://sites.google.com/a/bostic.com/keithbostic/nvi</a><br> + </dd> + + <dt>pinfo</dt> + + <dd>Lynx-like info browser. <a href= + "https://alioth.debian.org/projects/pinfo/">https://alioth.debian.org/projects/pinfo/</a></dd> + + <dt>tin</dt> + + <dd>newsreader, supporting color, MIME <a href= + "http://www.tin.org/">http://www.tin.org/</a></dd> + </dl>as well as some that use ncurses for the terminfo support + alone: + + <dl> + <dt>minicom</dt> + + <dd>terminal emulator<br> + <a href= + "http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/">http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/</a></dd> + + <dt>vile</dt> + + <dd>vi-like-emacs<br> + <a href= + "http://invisible-island.net/vile/">http://invisible-island.net/vile/</a></dd> + </dl> + + <p>The ncurses distribution includes a selection of test programs + (including a few games).</p> + + <h2>Who's Who and What's What</h2>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 + <a href="mailto:dickey@invisible-island.net">Thomas Dickey</a>. + Thomas Dickey acts as the maintainer for the Free Software + Foundation, which holds the copyright on ncurses. Contact the + current maintainers at <a href= + "mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">bug-ncurses@gnu.org</a>. + + <p>To join the ncurses mailing list, please write email to + <code>bug-ncurses-request@gnu.org</code> containing the line:</p> + <pre> subscribe <name>@<host.domain> -</PRE> - -This list is open to anyone interested in helping with the development and -testing of this package.<P> - -Beta versions of ncurses and patches to the current release are made available at -<A HREF="ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/">ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/</A> . - -<H2>Future Plans</H2> -<UL> -<LI>Extended-level XPG4 conformance, with internationalization support. -<LI>Ports to more systems, including DOS and Windows. -</UL> -We need people to help with these projects. If you are interested in working -on them, please join the ncurses list. - -<H2>Other Related Resources</H2> - -The distribution provides a newer version of the terminfo-format -terminal description file once maintained by -<A HREF="http://www.catb.org/~esr/terminfo/">Eric Raymond</A> . -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.<P> - -You can find lots of information on terminal-related topics -not covered in the terminfo file at -<A HREF="http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal_index.html">Richard Shuford's -archive</A> . -</BODY> -</HTML> -<!-- -# The following sets edit modes for GNU EMACS -# Local Variables: -# mode:html -# case-fold-search:nil -# fill-column:70 -# End: ---> +</pre> + + <p>This list is open to anyone interested in helping with the + development and testing of this package.</p> + + <p>Beta versions of ncurses and patches to the current release + are made available at <a href= + "ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/">ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/</a> .</p> + + <h2>Future Plans</h2> + + <ul> + <li>Extended-level XPG4 conformance, with internationalization + support.</li> + + <li>Ports to more systems, including DOS and Windows.</li> + </ul>We need people to help with these projects. If you are + interested in working on them, please join the ncurses list. + + <h2>Other Related Resources</h2>The distribution provides a newer + version of the terminfo-format terminal description file once + maintained by <a href="http://www.catb.org/~esr/terminfo/">Eric + Raymond</a> . 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. + + <p>You can find lots of information on terminal-related topics + not covered in the terminfo file at <a href= + "http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal"> + Richard Shuford's archive</a> .</p> +</body> +</html> |
