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<HEAD>
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<TITLE>Announcing ncurses @VERSION@</TITLE>
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<link rev=made href="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">
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</HEAD>
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<BODY>
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<H1>Announcing ncurses @VERSION@</H1>
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The ncurses (new curses) library is a freeware emulation of System V
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Release 4.0 curses. It uses terminfo format, supports pads and color
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and multiple highlights and forms characters and function-key mapping,
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and has all the other SYSV-curses enhancements over BSD curses.<P>
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In mid-June 1995, the maintainer of 4.4BSD curses declared that he
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considered 4.4BSD curses obsolete, and is encouraging the keepers of
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Unix releases such as BSD/OS, freeBSD and netBSD to switch over to
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ncurses.<P>
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The ncurses code was developed under Linux. It should port easily to
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any ANSI/POSIX-conforming UNIX. It has even been ported to OS/2 Warp!<P>
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The distribution includes the library and support utilities, including a
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terminfo compiler tic(1), a decompiler infocmp(1), clear(1), tput(1), tset(1),
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and a termcap conversion tool captoinfo(1). Full manual pages are provided for
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the library and tools.<P>
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1998-03-01 12:21:12 +08:00
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The ncurses distribution is available via anonymous FTP at
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the GNU distribution site
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<A HREF="ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu">ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu</A>.
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It is also available at
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<A HREF="ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ncurses">ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ncurses</A>.
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<H1>Features of ncurses</H1>
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1998-03-01 12:21:12 +08:00
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The ncurses package is fully compatible with SVr4 (System V Release 4) curses:<P>
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<UL>
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<LI>All 257 of the SVr4 calls have been implemented (and are documented).
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<LI>Full support for SVr4 curses features including keyboard mapping, color,
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forms-drawing with ACS characters, and automatic recognition of keypad
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and function keys.
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<LI>An emulation of the SVr4 panels library, supporting
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a stack of windows with backing store, is included.
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<LI>An emulation of the SVr4 menus library, supporting
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a uniform but flexible interface for menu programming, is included.
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<LI>An emulation of the SVr4 form library, supporting
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data collection through on-screen forms, is included.
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<LI>Binary terminfo entries generated by the ncurses tic(1) implementation
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are bit-for-bit-compatible with the entry format SVr4 curses uses.
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<LI>The utilities have options to allow you to filter terminfo
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entries for use with less capable <STRONG>curses</STRONG>/<STRONG>terminfo</STRONG>
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versions such as the HP/UX and AIX ports.</UL>
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The ncurses package also has many useful extensions over SVr4:<P>
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<UL>
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<LI>The API is 8-bit clean and base-level conformant with the X/OPEN curses
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specification, XSI Curses (that is, it implements all BASE level features,
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but not all EXTENDED features). Most EXTENDED-level features not directly
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concerned with wide-character support are implemented, including many
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function calls not supported under SVr4 curses (but portability of all
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calls is documented so you can use the SVr4 subset only).
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<LI>Unlike SVr4 curses, ncurses can write to the rightmost-bottommost corner
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of the screen if your terminal has an insert-character capability.
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<LI>(PC-clone boxes only) Support for access to the IBM PC ROM characters
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0-32 through the highlight A_ALTCHARSET.
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<LI>Ada95 and C++ bindings.
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<LI>Support for mouse event reporting under xterm.
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<LI>Extended mouse support via Alessandro Rubini's gpm package.
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<LI>The function <CODE>wresize()</CODE> allows you to resize windows, preserving
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their data.
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<LI>The function <CODE>use_default_colors()</CODE> allows you to
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use the terminal's default colors for the default color pair,
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achieving the effect of transparent colors.
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<LI>The functions <CODE>keyok()</CODE>
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and <CODE>define_key()</CODE> allow
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you to better control the use of function keys,
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e.g., disabling the ncurses KEY_MOUSE,
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or by defining more than one control sequence to map to a given key code.
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<LI>Support for 16-color terminals, such as aixterm and XFree86 xterm.
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<LI>Better cursor-movement optimization. The package now features a
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cursor-local-movement computation more efficient than either BSD's
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or System V's.
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<LI>Super hardware scrolling support. The screen-update code incorporates
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a novel, simple, and cheap algorithm that enables it to make optimal
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use of hardware scrolling, line-insertion, and line-deletion
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for screen-line movements. This algorithm is more powerful than
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the 4.4BSD curses quickch() routine.
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<LI>Real support for terminals with the magic-cookie glitch. The
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screen-update code will refrain from drawing a highlight if the magic-
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cookie unattributed spaces required just before the beginning and
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after the end would step on a non-space character. It will
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automatically shift highlight boundaries when doing so would make it
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possible to draw the highlight without changing the visual appearance
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of the screen.
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<LI>It is possible to generate the library with a list of pre-loaded
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fallback entries linked to it so that it can serve those terminal types even
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when no terminfo tree or termcap file is accessible (this may be useful
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for support of screen-oriented programs that must run in single-user mode).
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<LI>The tic(1)/captoinfo utility provided with ncurses has the
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ability to translate many termcaps from the XENIX, IBM and
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AT&T extension sets.
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<LI>A BSD-like tset(1) utility is provided.
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<LI>The ncurses library and utilities will automatically read terminfo
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entries from $HOME/.terminfo if it exists, and compile to that directory
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if it exists and the user has no write access to the system directory.
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This feature makes it easier for users to have personal terminfo entries
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without giving up access to the system terminfo directory.
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<LI>You may specify a path of directories to search for compiled
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descriptions with the environment variable TERMINFO_DIRS (this
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generalizes the feature provided by TERMINFO under stock System V.)
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<LI>In terminfo source files, use capabilities may refer not just to
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other entries in the same source file (as in System V) but also to
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compiled entries in either the system terminfo directory or the user's
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$HOME/.terminfo directory.
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<LI>A script (<STRONG>capconvert</STRONG>) is provided to help BSD users
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transition from termcap to terminfo. It gathers the information in a
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TERMCAP environment variable and/or a ~/.termcap local entries file
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and converts it to an equivalent local terminfo tree under $HOME/.terminfo.
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<LI>Automatic fallback to the /etc/termcap file can be compiled in
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when it is not possible to build a terminfo tree. This feature is neither
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fast nor cheap, you don't want to use it unless you have to,
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but it's there.
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<LI>The table-of-entries utility <STRONG>toe</STRONG> makes it easy for users to
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see exactly what terminal types are available on the system.
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<LI>The library meets the XSI requirement that every macro entry
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point have a corresponding function which may be linked (and will be
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prototype-checked) if the macro definition is disabled with
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<CODE>#undef</CODE>.
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<LI>An HTML "Introduction to Programming with NCURSES" document provides
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a narrative introduction to the curses programming interface.
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</UL>
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<H1>State of the Package</H1>
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Numerous bugs present in earlier versions have been fixed; the
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library is far more reliable than it used to be. Bounds checking in many
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`dangerous' entry points has been improved. The code is now type-safe
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according to gcc -Wall. The library has been checked for malloc leaks and
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arena corruption by the Purify memory-allocation tester.<P>
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The ncurses code has been tested with a wide variety of applications
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including:<P>
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<DL>
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<DT> ded
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<DD> directory-editor
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<A HREF="ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ded">ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ded</A>.
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<DT> dialog
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<DD> the underlying application used in Slackware's setup, and the basis
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for similar applications on Linux.
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<DT> lynx-2.7
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<DD> the character-screen WWW browser
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<DT> Midnight Commander 4.1
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<DD> file manager
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<DT> mutt 0.88
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<DD> mail utility
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<DT> ncftp 2.0
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<DD> file-transfer utility
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<DT> nvi
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<DD> New vi versions 1.50 are able to use ncurses versions 1.9.7 and later.
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<DT> taper
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<DD> tape archive utility
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<DT> vh-1.6
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<DD> Volks-Hypertext browser for the Jargon File
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</DL>
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as well as some that use ncurses for the terminfo support alone:
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<DL>
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<DT> minicom-1.75
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<DD> terminal emulator
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<DT> tin-unoff
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<DD> tin 1.4 newsreader, supporting color, MIME
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<A HREF="ftp://ftp.akk.uni-karlsruhe.de/pub/news/clients/tin-unoff">ftp://ftp.akk.uni-karlsruhe.de/pub/news/clients/tin-unoff</A>.
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<DT> vile
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<DD> vi-like-emacs
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<A HREF="ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/vile">ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/vile</A>.
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</DL>
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<P>
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The ncurses distribution includes a selection of test programs (including
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a few games).
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<H2>Who's Who and What's What</H2>
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1998-03-01 12:21:12 +08:00
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The original developers of ncurses are <A
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HREF="mailto:zmbenhal@netcom.com">Zeyd Ben-Halim</A> and
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<A HREF="http://www.ccil.org/~esr/home.html">Eric S. Raymond</A>.
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Ongoing work is being done by
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<A HREF="mailto:dickey@clark.net">Thomas Dickey</A>
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and
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<A HREF="mailto:Juergen.Pfeifer@T-Online.de">Jürgen Pfeifer</A>.
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<A HREF="mailto:florian@gnu.org">Florian La Roche</A>
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acts as the maintainer for the Free Software Foundation, which holds the
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copyright on ncurses.
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Contact the current maintainers at
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<A HREF="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">bug-ncurses@gnu.org</A>.
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<P>
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1998-03-01 12:21:12 +08:00
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To join the ncurses mailing list, please write email to
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<CODE>bug-ncurses-request@gnu.org</CODE> containing the line:
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1997-05-15 12:00:00 +08:00
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<PRE>
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subscribe <name>@<host.domain>
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</PRE>
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This list is open to anyone interested in helping with the development and
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testing of this package.<P>
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Beta versions of ncurses and patches to the current release are made available at
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<A HREF="ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ncurses">ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/dickey/ncurses</A>.
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<H2>Future Plans</H2>
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<UL>
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<LI>Extended-level XPG4 conformance, with internationalization support.
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<LI>Ports to more systems, including DOS and Windows.
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</UL>
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We need people to help with these projects. If you are interested in working
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on them, please join the ncurses list.
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1998-03-01 12:21:12 +08:00
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<H2>Other Related Resources</H2>
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1998-03-01 12:21:12 +08:00
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The distribution includes and uses a version of the terminfo-format
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terminal description file maintained by Eric Raymond.
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<A HREF="http://earthspace.net/~esr/terminfo">http://earthspace.net/~esr/terminfo</A>.<P>
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You can find lots of information on terminal-related topics
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not covered in the terminfo file at
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<A HREF="http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal_index.html">Richard Shuford's
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archive</A>.
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</BODY>
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</HTML>
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