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a816c8dae4
+ update release notes + add "ncu2openbsd" script, to illustrate how to update an OpenBSD system to use a current ncurses release.
1832 lines
55 KiB
HTML
1832 lines
55 KiB
HTML
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$Id: announce.html.in,v 1.102 2021/10/20 22:41:55 tom Exp $
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****************************************************************************
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* Copyright 2018-2020,2021 Thomas E. Dickey *
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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN">
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<html>
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<head>
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<meta name="generator" content=
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"HTML Tidy for HTML5 for Linux version 5.6.0">
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<title>Announcing ncurses @VERSION@</title>
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<link rel="author" href="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">
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<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content=
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<style type="text/css">
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font-family: "Andale Mono", "Monotype.com", monospace;
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font-size: 12pt;
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font-weight: bold;
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font-family: "Andale Mono", "Monotype.com", monospace;
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font-size: 10pt;
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}
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</style>
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1 class="no-header">Announcing ncurses @VERSION@</h1>
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<h2><a name="h2-overview" id="h2-overview">Overview</a></h2>
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|
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<p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> (new curses)
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library is a free software emulation of curses in System V
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Release 4.0 (SVr4), and more. It uses terminfo format, supports
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pads and color and multiple highlights and forms characters and
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function-key mapping, and has all the other SVr4-curses
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enhancements over BSD curses. SVr4 curses became the basis of
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X/Open Curses.</p>
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|
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<p>In mid-June 1995, the maintainer of 4.4BSD curses declared
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that he considered 4.4BSD curses obsolete, and encouraged the
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keepers of <span class="main-name">unix</span> releases such as
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BSD/OS, FreeBSD and NetBSD to switch over to <span class=
|
|
"main-name">ncurses</span>.</p>
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|
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<p>Since 1995, <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> has been
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ported to many systems:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>It is used in almost every system based on the Linux kernel
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(aside from some embedded applications).</li>
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<li>It is used as the system curses library on OpenBSD, FreeBSD
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and MacOS.</li>
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<li>It is used in environments such as Cygwin and MinGW. The
|
|
first of these was EMX on OS/2 Warp.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>It is used (though usually not as the <em>system</em>
|
|
curses) on all of the vendor <span class=
|
|
"main-name">unix</span> systems, e.g., AIX, HP-UX, IRIX64, SCO,
|
|
Solaris, Tru64.</li>
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|
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<li>It should work readily on any ANSI/POSIX-conforming
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<span class="main-name">unix</span>.</li>
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|
</ul>
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|
<p>The distribution includes the library and support utilities,
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including</p>
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|
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<ul>
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<li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/captoinfo.1m.html"><span class=
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"part-name">captoinfo</span></a>, a termcap conversion
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tool</li>
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<li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/clear.1.html"><span class=
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"part-name">clear</span></a>, utility for clearing the
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screen</li>
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<li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/infocmp.1m.html"><span class=
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"part-name">infocmp</span></a>, the terminfo decompiler</li>
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<li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/tabs.1.html"><span class=
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"part-name">tabs</span></a>, set tabs on a terminal</li>
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<li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/tic.1m.html"><span class=
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"part-name">tic</span></a>, the terminfo compiler</li>
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<li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/toe.1m.html"><span class=
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"part-name">toe</span></a>, list (table of) terminfo
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entries</li>
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<li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/tput.1.html"><span class=
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"part-name">tput</span></a>, utility for retrieving terminal
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capabilities in shell scripts</li>
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<li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/tset.1.html"><span class=
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"part-name">tset</span></a>, to initialize the terminal</li>
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</ul>
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<p>Full manual pages are provided for the library and tools.</p>
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<p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> distribution is
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available at <span class="main-name">ncurses</span>' <a href=
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"@HOMEPAGE@/">homepage</a>:</p>
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<blockquote>
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<p><a href=
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"ftp://ftp.invisible-island.net/ncurses/">ftp://ftp.invisible-island.net/ncurses/</a>
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or<br>
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<a href=
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"https://invisible-mirror.net/archives/ncurses/">https://invisible-mirror.net/archives/ncurses/</a> .</p>
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</blockquote>
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<p>It is also available via anonymous FTP at the GNU distribution
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site</p>
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<blockquote>
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<p><a href=
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"ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/">ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/</a> .</p>
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</blockquote>
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<h2><a name="h2-release-notes" id="h2-release-notes">Release
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Notes</a></h2>
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<p>These notes are for <span class="main-name">ncurses</span>
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@VERSION@, released <strong>October 21, 2021</strong>.</p>
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<p>This release is designed to be source-compatible with
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<span class="main-name">ncurses</span> 5.0 through 6.2; providing
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extensions to the application binary interface (ABI). Although
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the source can still be configured to support the <span class=
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"main-name">ncurses</span> 5 ABI, the reason for the release is
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to reflect improvements to the <span class=
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"main-name">ncurses</span> 6 ABI and the supporting utility
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programs.</p>
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<p>There are, of course, numerous other improvements, listed in
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this announcement.</p>
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<p>The most <a href="#h3-bug-fixes">important
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bug-fixes/improvements</a> dealt with portability issues. The
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release notes also mention some other bug-fixes, but are focused
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on new features and improvements to existing features since
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<span class="main-name">ncurses</span> 6.2 release.</p>
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<h3><a name="h3-library" id="h3-library">Library improvements</a></h3>
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<h4><a name="h4-new-library" id="h4-new-library">New features</a></h4>
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<p>There are a few new features:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>
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<p>A new (experimental) driver, for the Windows Terminal
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configuration is provided.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>A script is provided which enables <a href=
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"@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses-openbsd.html">OpenBSD</a> users to
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|
upgrade their system to use ncurses 6.3 (OpenBSD developers
|
|
are also invited to do this).</p>
|
|
</li>
|
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</ul>
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|
<p>Additionally, to improve performance other changes (and
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extensions) are provided in this release:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>
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<p>modify lib_mouse.c to check for out-of-range button
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numbers, convert those to position reports.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>add sp-funcs for <a href=
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"@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_termattrs.3x.html#h3-erasechar_-erasewchar">
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erasewchar</a>, <a href=
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"@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_termattrs.3x.html#h3-killchar_-killwchar">
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killwchar</a>.</p>
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</li>
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</ul>
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<h4><a name="h4-fixes-library" id="h4-fixes-library">Other
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improvements</a></h4>
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<p>These are revised features:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>modify wgetnstr, wgetn_wstr to improve compatibility with
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|
SVr4 curses in its treatment of interrupt and quit
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characters</li>
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</ul>
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<p>These were done to limit or ultimately deprecate features:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>
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<p>mark wgetch-events feature as deprecated.</p>
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<ul>
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<li>
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<p>prevent <tt>KEY_EVENT</tt> from appearing in
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<tt>curses.h</tt> unless the configure option
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<code>--enable-wgetch-events</code> is used.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>modify <tt>MKkey_defs.sh</tt> to hide ncurses'
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definition of <tt>KEY_EVENTS</tt> to reduce <em>Visual
|
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Studio C++</em> redefinition warnings.</p>
|
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</li>
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</ul>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>reduce build-warnings by excluding ncurses-internals from
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deprecation warnings.</p>
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</li>
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</ul>
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|
<p>These are improvements to existing features:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>
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<p>drop symbols <em>GCC_PRINTF</em> and <em>GCC_SCANF</em>
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from <curses.h>, to simplify use.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>apply gcc format attribute to prototypes which use a
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va_list parameter rather than a “<tt>...</tt>”
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variable-length parameter list.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>modify <term.h> so that it is not necessary to
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include <curses.h> before <term.h>.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>provide for wide-characters as background character in
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wbkgrnd</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>improve parameter-checking for tparm, adding function
|
|
_nc_tiparm() to handle the most-used case, which accepts only
|
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numeric parameters.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>use return-value from <em>vsnprintf</em> to reallocate as
|
|
needed to allow for buffers larger than the screen size.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>add another <em>fflush(stdout)</em> in <em>_nc_flush</em>
|
|
to handle time-delays in the middle of strings such as flash
|
|
when the application uses low-level calls rather than
|
|
curses.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
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|
|
<p>These are corrections to existing features:</p>
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|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>add a check to guard against <em>repeat_char</em> emitting
|
|
digits which could be interpreted as BSD-style padding when
|
|
<tt>--enable-bsdpad</tt> is configured.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>check for screen size-change in <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_scr_dump.3x.html">scr_init</a> and
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<a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_scr_dump.3x.html">scr_restore</a>, in
|
|
case a screen dump does not match the current screen
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dimensions</p>
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</li>
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</ul>
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<h3><a name="h3-programs" id="h3-programs">Program
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improvements</a></h3>
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<p id="h4-utilities">Several improvements were made to the
|
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utility programs:</p>
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<dl>
|
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<dt><span class="part-name"><a href=
|
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"@HOMEPAGE@/man/tabs.1.html">tabs</a></span>
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</dt>
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<dd>
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<ul>
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<li>
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<p>implement “<tt>+m</tt>” option</p>
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</li>
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</ul>
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</dd>
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<dt><span class="part-name"><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/tic.1m.html">tic</a></span>
|
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</dt>
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<dd>
|
|
<ul>
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<li>
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<p>add check for duplicate “<tt>use=</tt>”
|
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clauses.</p>
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</li>
|
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<li>
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<p>add check to report instances where <tt>tparm</tt>
|
|
would detect an error in an expression.</p>
|
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</li>
|
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|
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<li>
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<p>add user-defined capabilities from <em>mintty</em> to
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<tt>Caps-ncurses</tt>, for checking consistency.</p>
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</li>
|
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<li>
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<p>improve warning when oc/op do not mention SGR 39/49
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for <em>xterm</em> compatible <code>XT</code> flag.</p>
|
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</li>
|
|
|
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<li>
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<p>improve checks for number of parameters of
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<code>smglp</code>, <code>smgrp</code>,
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<code>smgtp</code>, and <code>smgbp</code>.</p>
|
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</li>
|
|
|
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<li>
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<p>improve “<tt>-c</tt>” option to validate
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the number and type of parameters and compare against
|
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expected number/type before deciding which set of
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parameter-lists to use in tparm calls.</p>
|
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</li>
|
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|
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<li>
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<p>improve check for errors detected in
|
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<code>tparm</code>.</p>
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</li>
|
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<li>
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<p>improve format of output, to ensure that the messages
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|
contain only printable text.</p>
|
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</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
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<p>modify to eliminate unnecessary
|
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“<code>\</code>” to escape
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“<code>:</code>” in terminfo format.</p>
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</li>
|
|
|
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<li>
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<p>remove check that assumes that none or both
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parameterized and non-parameterized margin-setting
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capabilities are present.</p>
|
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</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
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</dd>
|
|
|
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<dt><span class="part-name"><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/toe.1m.html">toe</a></span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>modify output of “<tt>toe -as</tt>” to
|
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show first description found rather than the last.</p>
|
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</li>
|
|
|
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<li>
|
|
<p>add a check to ensure that a “termcap
|
|
file” is text rather than binary.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name"><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/tput.1.html">tput</a></span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
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<p>modify to allow multiple commands per line.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>improve parameter-checking by analyzing all extended
|
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string capabilities, e.g., as used in the <code>Cs</code>
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and <code>Ms</code> capabilities of the <em>tmux</em>
|
|
description.</p>
|
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</li>
|
|
|
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<li>
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<p>make warning messages consistently using alias names
|
|
when those are used, rather than the underlying program's
|
|
name.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>improve usage message for aliases such as
|
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<em>clear</em>, by eliminating <em>tput</em>-specific
|
|
portions.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>modify initialization to avoid opening
|
|
<tt>/dev/tty</tt> for cases other than
|
|
<em>reset/init</em>, e.g., for <em>clear</em>.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
</dl>
|
|
|
|
<h4><a name="h4-examples" id="h4-examples">Examples</a></h4>
|
|
|
|
<p>Along with the library and utilities, improvements were made
|
|
to the <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses-examples.html">ncurses-examples</a>. Most of
|
|
this activity aimed at improving the test-packages. A few changes
|
|
are more generally useful, e.g., for the main ncurses
|
|
test-program, and for analyzing traces using the
|
|
<em>tracemunch</em> script:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>add “<tt>-r</tt>” option to the <em>dots</em>
|
|
test-programs, to help with scripting a performance
|
|
comparison.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>build-fix for <em>test_opaque</em>, for configurations
|
|
without opaque curses structs, e.g., ncurses 5.7.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>improve <em>tracemunch</em> logic for "RUN"
|
|
compaction.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>improve <em>tracemunch</em>'s coverage of form/menu/panel
|
|
libraries.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>improve <em>tracemunch</em>'s checking/reporting the type
|
|
for the first parameter, e.g., "WINDOW*" rather than
|
|
"#1".</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>modify <em>tracemunch</em> and the panel library to show
|
|
readable traces for panel- and user-pointers.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p>There are other new demo/test programs and reusable
|
|
examples:</p>
|
|
|
|
<dl>
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name"><em>back_ground</em></span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>to exercise the wide-character background functions.</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name"><em>move_field</em></span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>to demonstrate <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/form_field.3x.html">move_field</a>, and a stub
|
|
for a corresponding demo of <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/form_field_new.3x.html">dup_field</a>.</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name"><em>test_tparm</em></span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>for checking <em>tparm</em> changes.</dd>
|
|
</dl>
|
|
|
|
<h3><a name="h3-database" id="h3-database">Terminal database</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>There are several new terminal descriptions:</p>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote style="word-break:keep-all">
|
|
<p><tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-absolute">absolute</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-att610_cvis">att610+cvis</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-foot">foot</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-foot-direct">foot-direct</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-hp98550-color">hp98550-color</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-hpterm-color2">hpterm-color2</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-hterm">hterm</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-hterm-256color">hterm-256color</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-linux-s">linux-s</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-putty_keypad">putty+keypad</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-putty_screen">putty+screen</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-putty-screen">putty-screen</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-screen.linux-s">screen.linux-s</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-scrt/securecrt">scrt/securecrt</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-tmux-direct">tmux-direct</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt220_cvis">vt220+cvis</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt220_cvis8">vt220+cvis8</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt220_pcedit">vt220+pcedit</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt220_vtedit">vt220+vtedit</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt220-base">vt220-base</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt52_keypad">vt52+keypad</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm_256color2">xterm+256color2</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm_88color2">xterm+88color2</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm-direct16">xterm-direct16</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm-direct256">xterm-direct256</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm_nofkeys">xterm+nofkeys</a></tt>,
|
|
and <tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm_nopcfkeys">xterm+nopcfkeys</a></tt>.</p>
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
|
|
<p>There are many changes to existing terminal descriptions. Some
|
|
were updates to several descriptions:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>correct use-ordering in some <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm-direct">xterm-direct</a>
|
|
flavors</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>fix some sgr inconsistencies in <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-d230c">d230c</a>, <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-ibm6153">ibm6153</a>,
|
|
<a href="@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-ibm6154">ibm6154</a>,
|
|
<a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-ncrvt100an">ncrvt100an</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li>improve <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt50h">vt50h</a> and <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt52">vt52</a> based on
|
|
DECScope manual</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>use <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-hp_arrows">hp+arrows</a> in a
|
|
few places</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>use <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-hp_pfk-cr">hp+pfk-cr</a> in a
|
|
few places</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>use <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt220_cvis">vt220+cvis</a> in
|
|
<tt>st</tt>, <tt>terminology</tt>, <tt>termite</tt> since they
|
|
ignore blinking-cursor detail in <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-att610_cvis">att610+cvis</a></li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p>while others affected specific descriptions. These were
|
|
retested, to take into account changes by their developers:</p>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote>
|
|
<p><tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-kitty_common">kitty+common</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-mlterm3">mlterm3</a></tt>,
|
|
<tt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-ms-terminal">ms-terminal</a></tt></p>
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
|
|
<p>while these are specific fixes based on reviewing
|
|
documentation, user reports, or warnings from <span class=
|
|
"part-name">tic</span>:</p>
|
|
|
|
<dl>
|
|
<dt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-aaa_dec">aaa+dec</a>,
|
|
aaa+rv</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>correct rmacs/smacs</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-aaa_rv">aaa+rv</a>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>correct sgr</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-icl6404">icl6404</a>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>correct csr</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-kitty">kitty</a>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>use att610+cvis, xterm+tmux and ansi+enq</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-konsole-base">konsole-base</a>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>re-enable "bel"</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-linux2.6">linux2.6</a>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>fix pound-sign mapping in acsc</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-linux3.0">linux3.0</a>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>modify to reflect default mapping of shift-tab by kbd
|
|
1.14</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-pccons">pccons</a>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>fill in some missing pieces, to make it comparable to the
|
|
vt220 entry</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-putty">putty</a>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>use vt100+fnkeys, add rep</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-screen">screen</a>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>use vt100+enq</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-terminator">terminator</a>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>corrected tsl capability</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-ti916">ti916</a>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>correct cup</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-tmux">tmux</a>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>change kbs to ^?</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt220">vt220</a>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>use vt220+cvis</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt420_lrmm">vt420+lrmm</a>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>add smglp and smgrp</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-vt420">vt420</a>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>use vt420+lrmm</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm-new">xterm-new</a>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>add nel</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm-vt52">xterm-vt52</a>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>use vt52+keypad</dd>
|
|
</dl>
|
|
|
|
<p>A few entries use extensions (user-defined terminal
|
|
capabilities):</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>add shifted Linux console keys in <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-linux_sfkeys">linux+sfkeys</a>
|
|
entry for <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-screen.linux">screen.linux</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li>add Smulx to <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-alacritty">alacritty</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li>add kbeg to <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm_keypad">xterm+keypad</a>
|
|
to accommodate termcap applications</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>add extensions in <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-xterm_tmux">xterm+tmux</a>
|
|
and <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-ecma_strikeout">ecma+strikeout</a>
|
|
to <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/terminfo.src.html#tic-ms-terminal">ms-terminal</a>,
|
|
but cancel the non-working Cr and Ms capabilities</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h3><a name="h3-documentation" id=
|
|
"h3-documentation">Documentation</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>As usual, this release</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>improves documentation by describing new features,</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>attempts to improve the description of features which
|
|
users have found confusing</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>fills in overlooked descriptions of features which were
|
|
described in the <a href="@HOMEPAGE@/NEWS.html">NEWS</a> file
|
|
but treated sketchily in manual pages.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p>In addition to providing background information to explain
|
|
these features and show how they evolved, there are corrections,
|
|
clarifications, etc.:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>Corrections:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>make <em>opts</em> extension for <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_getcchar.3x.html#h3-getcchar"><tt>getcchar</tt></a>
|
|
work as documented for <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/announce-6.1.htmll#h4-new-library">ncurses
|
|
6.1</a>, adding “<tt>-g</tt>” flag to
|
|
<em>demo_new_pair</em> to illustrate.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>modify <a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/tset.1.html">tset</a>
|
|
“-q” option to refrain from modifying
|
|
terminal modes, to match the documentation.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>New/improved history and portability sections:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>improve documentation for <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/terminfo.5.html#h3-Parameterized-Strings">
|
|
tparm</a> and static/dynamic variables.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>add history note to <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_scanw.3x.html#h2-HISTORY">curs_scanw.3x</a>
|
|
for <stdarg.h> and <varargs.h></p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>add history note to <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_printw.3x.html#h2-HISTORY">curs_printw.3x</a>
|
|
for <stdarg.h> and <varargs.h></p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>add portability note to <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/ncurses.3x.html#h3-Header-files">ncurses.3x</a>
|
|
regarding <stdarg.h></p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>add historical notes to <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/tput.1.html#h2-HISTORY">tput</a>,
|
|
<a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_terminfo.3x.html#h2-HISTORY">
|
|
curses-terminfo</a> and <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_color.3x.html#h2-HISTORY">curses-color</a>
|
|
manpages based on source-code for SVr2, SVr3 and
|
|
SVr4.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>improve history section for <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/tset.1.html#h2-HISTORY">tset</a> manpage
|
|
based on the 1BSD tarball, which preceded BSD's SCCS
|
|
checkins by more than three years.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>Other improvements:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>explain in <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/ncurses.3x.html#h2-ALTERNATE-CONFIGURATIONS">
|
|
ncurses.3x</a> that functions in the tinfo library do not
|
|
rely upon wide-characters.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>improve manual page for <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/panel.3x.html#h2-PORTABILITY">panel</a>
|
|
library, extending the portability section as well as
|
|
documenting error-returns.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>add section on margins to <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/terminfo.5.html#h3-Margins">terminfo.5</a>,
|
|
adapted from X/Open Curses.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>improve <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/term.5.html#h3-LEGACY-STORAGE-FORMAT">man/term.5</a>
|
|
section on legacy storage format.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>add a note in <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/terminfo.5.html#h3-Predefined-Capabilities">
|
|
terminfo.5</a> explaining that no-parameter strings such
|
|
as <em><tt>sgr0</tt></em> or <em><tt>cnorm</tt></em>
|
|
should not be used with tparm.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>improve description of BSD-style padding in <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_termcap.3x.html#h2-BUGS">curs_termcap.3x</a></p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>improve discussion of padding versus <tt>tparm</tt>
|
|
and <tt>tputs</tt> in <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_terminfo.3x.html#h3-Formatting-Output">
|
|
man/curs_terminfo.3x</a></p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>add a note in manual page to explain <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_getch.3x.html#h3-Ungetting-characters">
|
|
ungetch</a> vs <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_get_wch.3x.html#h3-unget_wch">unget_wch</a>.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>improve description of error-returns in <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_addch.3x.html#h2-RETURN-VALUE">waddch</a>
|
|
and <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_addstr.3x.html#h2-RETURN-VALUE">waddnstr</a>
|
|
manual pages.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p>There are no new manual pages (all of the manual page updates
|
|
are to existing pages).</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Some of the improvements are more subtle, relating to the way
|
|
the information is presented. For instance, hyphenation is
|
|
suppressed in the HTML files generated from manual pages because
|
|
an upgrade to <em>groff</em> gave noticeably poorer results,
|
|
interfering with the process of creating links between the
|
|
resulting webpages.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3><a name="h3-bug-fixes" id="h3-bug-fixes">Interesting
|
|
bug-fixes</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>While there were many bugs fixed during development of ncurses
|
|
6.3, only a few (the reason for this release) were both important
|
|
and interesting. Most of the bug-fixes were for local issues
|
|
which did not affect compatibility across releases. Since those
|
|
are detailed in the <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/NEWS.html#t20211018">NEWS</a> file no elaboration is
|
|
needed here.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>The interesting bugs were:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>modify <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_bkgd.3x.html#h3-bkgd">wbkgd</a> and
|
|
<a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_bkgrnd.3x.html#h3-bkgrnd">wbkgrnd</a> to
|
|
avoid storing a null in the background character, because it
|
|
may be used in cases where the corresponding 0x80 is not
|
|
treated as a null.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>This was a regression introduced in ncurses 6.2 (<a href=
|
|
"https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-ncurses/2020-03/msg00000.html">reported</a>
|
|
on the mailing list), for which the workaround was to specify
|
|
a blank for the background character.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>remove output-related checks for <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/curs_outopts.3x.html">nl/nonl</a> (also
|
|
<a href=
|
|
"https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-ncurses/2020-09/msg00018.html">
|
|
reported</a> on the mailing list).</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>improve tparm implementation of <tt>%P</tt> and
|
|
<tt>%g</tt>, more closely matching SVr4 terminfo. Those
|
|
denote <em>static</em> and <em>dynamic</em> variables in
|
|
terminfo expressions.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Exactly what those terms meant was never documented before
|
|
in any implementation of curses, aside from source code.
|
|
Unlike the other two fixes, the problem was discovered while
|
|
studying OpenBSD's version of <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses-openbsd.html#issue_tput">tset</a>.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h3><a name="h3-config-config" id=
|
|
"h3-config-config">Configuration changes</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<h4><a name="h4-config-major" id="h4-config-major">Major
|
|
changes</a></h4>
|
|
|
|
<p>There are no major changes. Several new options were added to
|
|
ease integration of packages with systems using different
|
|
versions of <em>GNAT</em> and <em>ncurses</em>. Also,
|
|
improvements were made to configure checks.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h4><a name="h4-config-options" id=
|
|
"h4-config-options">Configuration options</a></h4>
|
|
|
|
<p>There are a few new/modified configure options:</p>
|
|
|
|
<dl>
|
|
<dt><tt>--enable-fvisibility</tt>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>new configure option and check for <em>gcc</em>
|
|
<tt>-fvisibility=hidden</tt> feature</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><tt>--enable-leaks</tt>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>corrected to allow turning leak-checking off later in a
|
|
set of options.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><tt>--enable-stdnoreturn</tt>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>new configure option makes the <code>_Noreturn</code>
|
|
keyword optional to ease transition.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><tt>--disable-pkg-ldflags</tt>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>revised option also controls whether <code>$LDFLAGS</code>
|
|
from the build is provided in “<tt>-config</tt>”
|
|
and “<tt>.pc</tt>” files.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><tt>--disable-root-access</tt>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>add configure option which tells ncurses to disallow most
|
|
file-opens by setuid processes.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><tt>--disable-wattr-macros</tt>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>changed default to help packagers who reuse wide ncursesw
|
|
header file with non-wide ncurses library.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><tt>--with-pkg-config-libdir</tt>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>revised option uses the actual search path from
|
|
<em>pkg-config</em> or <em>pkgconf</em> using the output from
|
|
<tt>--debug</tt>.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><tt>--with-ada-libname</tt><br>
|
|
<tt>--with-form-libname</tt><br>
|
|
<tt>--with-menu-libname</tt><br>
|
|
<tt>--with-panel-libname</tt>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>new several <tt>--with-<em>xxx</em>-libname</tt> options,
|
|
to help with pkgsrc</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
</dl>
|
|
|
|
<h3><a name="h3-portability" id="h3-portability">Portability</a></h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>Many of the portability changes are implemented via the
|
|
configure script:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>add a special case in the configure script to work around
|
|
one of the build-time breakages reported for <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses-openbsd.html">OpenBSD 6</a> here:</p>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote>
|
|
<p><a href=
|
|
"https://www.mail-archive.com/bugs@openbsd.org/msg13200.html">
|
|
https://www.mail-archive.com/bugs@openbsd.org/msg13200.html</a></p>
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>modify configure check for <em>libtool</em> to prevent
|
|
accidental use of an OpenBSD program which uses the same
|
|
name.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>modify configuration checks for build-time tic/infocmp to
|
|
use <em>AC_CHECK_TOOL</em>. That can still be overridden by
|
|
<tt>--with-tic-path</tt> and <tt>--with-infocmp-path</tt>
|
|
when fallbacks are used, but even if not using fallbacks, the
|
|
improved check may help with cross-compiling.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>relax modification-time comparison in
|
|
<em>CF_LINK_FUNCS</em> to allow it to accept link() function
|
|
with NFS filesystems which change the mtime on the link
|
|
target, e.g., several BSD systems.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>modify configure check for c89/c99 aliases of
|
|
<em>clang</em> to use its <tt>-std</tt> option instead,
|
|
because some platforms, in particular macOS, do not provide
|
|
workable c89/c99 aliases.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>modify <em>CF_NCURSES_CONFIG</em> to work around
|
|
<em>Xcode</em>'s c99 "-W" option, which conflicts with
|
|
conventional use for passing linker options.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>modify configure scripts to filter out redefinitions of
|
|
_XOPEN_SOURCE, e.g., for NetBSD which generally supports 500,
|
|
but 600 is needed for ncursesw.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p>Here are some of the other portability fixes:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>change configure-check and source-code for gcc's noreturn
|
|
attribute to assume it is a prefix rather than suffix,
|
|
matching c11's _Noreturn convention.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>modify mk-1st.awk to account for extra-suffix configure
|
|
option.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>build-fix for termsort module when configured with
|
|
termcap.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>modify configure script and makefiles to support ".PHONY"
|
|
make program feature.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>amend <em>libtool</em> configuration to add dependency for
|
|
install.tic, etc., in ncurses/Makefile on the lower-level
|
|
libraries.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>modify Ada95 source-generation utility to write to a file
|
|
given as parameter rather than to the standard output,
|
|
allowing builds with MinGW.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>amend tic/infocmp check to allow for the respective tool's
|
|
absence.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>build-fixes for gnat 10.1.1, whose gnatmake drops
|
|
integration with gprbuild.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>correct configure version-check/warning for g++ to allow
|
|
for 10.x</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="h2-features" id="h2-features">Features of
|
|
<span class="main-name">ncurses</span></a></h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> package is fully
|
|
upward-compatible with SVr4 (System V Release 4) curses:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>All of the SVr4 calls have been implemented (and are
|
|
documented).</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p><span class="main-name">ncurses</span> supports all of the
|
|
for SVr4 curses features including keyboard mapping, color,
|
|
forms-drawing with ACS characters, and automatic recognition
|
|
of keypad and function keys.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p><span class="main-name">ncurses</span> provides these SVr4
|
|
add-on libraries (not part of X/Open Curses):</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>the panels library, supporting a stack of windows with
|
|
backing store.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>the menus library, supporting a uniform but flexible
|
|
interface for menu programming.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>the form library, supporting data collection through
|
|
on-screen forms.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p><span class="main-name">ncurses</span>'s terminal database
|
|
is fully compatible with that used by SVr4 curses.</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p><span class="main-name">ncurses</span> supports
|
|
user-defined capabilities which it can see, but which are
|
|
hidden from SVr4 curses applications using the
|
|
<em>same</em> terminal database.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>It can be optionally configured to match the format
|
|
used in related systems such as AIX and Tru64.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>Alternatively, <span class="main-name">ncurses</span>
|
|
can be configured to use hashed databases rather than the
|
|
directory of files used by SVr4 curses.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> utilities have
|
|
options to allow you to filter terminfo entries for use with
|
|
less capable <em>curses</em>/<em>terminfo</em> versions such
|
|
as the HP-UX and AIX ports.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> package also has
|
|
many useful extensions over SVr4:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>The API is 8-bit clean and base-level conformant with the
|
|
X/OPEN curses specification, XSI curses (that is, it
|
|
implements all <em>BASE</em> level features, and most
|
|
<em>EXTENDED</em> 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).</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>Unlike SVr3 curses, <span class="main-name">ncurses</span>
|
|
can write to the rightmost-bottommost corner of the screen if
|
|
your terminal has an insert-character capability.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>Ada95 and C++ bindings.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>Support for mouse event reporting with X Window xterm and
|
|
FreeBSD and OS/2 console windows.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>Extended mouse support via Alessandro Rubini's gpm
|
|
package.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>The function <code>wresize</code> allows you to resize
|
|
windows, preserving their data.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>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.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>The functions <code>keyok</code> and
|
|
<code>define_key</code> allow you to better control the use
|
|
of function keys, e.g., disabling the <span class=
|
|
"main-name">ncurses</span> KEY_MOUSE, or by defining more
|
|
than one control sequence to map to a given key code.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>Support for direct-color terminals, such as modern
|
|
xterm.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>Support for 256-color terminals, such as modern xterm.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>Support for 16-color terminals, such as <em>aixterm</em>
|
|
and <em>modern xterm</em>.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>Better cursor-movement optimization. The package now
|
|
features a cursor-local-movement computation more efficient
|
|
than either BSD's or System V's.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>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.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>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.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>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).</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>The <a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/tic.1m.html"><span class=
|
|
"part-name">tic</span></a>/<a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/captoinfo.1m.html">captoinfo</a> utility
|
|
provided with <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> has the
|
|
ability to translate many termcaps from the XENIX, IBM and
|
|
AT&T extension sets.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>A BSD-like <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/tset.1.html"><span class=
|
|
"part-name">tset</span></a> utility is provided.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> 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.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>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.)</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>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.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>The table-of-entries utility <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/man/toe.1m.html"><span class=
|
|
"part-name">toe</span></a> makes it easy for users to see
|
|
exactly what terminal types are available on the system.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>The library meets the XSI requirement that every macro
|
|
entry point has a corresponding function which may be linked
|
|
(and will be prototype-checked) if the macro definition is
|
|
disabled with <code>#undef</code>.</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<p>Extensive documentation is provided (see the <em><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses.faq.html#additional_reading">Additional
|
|
Reading</a></em> section of the <em><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses.faq.html"><span class=
|
|
"main-name">ncurses</span> FAQ</a></em> for online
|
|
documentation).</p>
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="h2-who-uses" id="h2-who-uses">Applications using
|
|
<span class="main-name">ncurses</span></a></h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> distribution
|
|
includes a selection of test programs (including a few games).
|
|
These are available separately as <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses-examples.html">ncurses-examples</a></p>
|
|
|
|
<p>The ncurses library has been tested with a wide variety of
|
|
applications including:</p>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote>
|
|
<dl>
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name">aptitude</span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>FrontEnd to Apt, the debian package manager</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href=
|
|
"https://wiki.debian.org/Aptitude">https://wiki.debian.org/Aptitude</a></p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name">cdk</span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>Curses Development Kit</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href="@WEBSITE@/cdk/">@WEBSITE@/cdk/</a><br>
|
|
</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name">ded</span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>directory-editor</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href="@WEBSITE@/ded/">@WEBSITE@/ded/</a></p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name">dialog</span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>the underlying application used in Slackware's setup,
|
|
and the basis for similar install/configure applications on
|
|
many systems.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href="@WEBSITE@/dialog/">@WEBSITE@/dialog/</a></p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name">lynx</span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>the text WWW browser</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href=
|
|
"https://lynx.invisible-island.net/">https://lynx.invisible-island.net/</a></p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name">mutt</span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>mail utility</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href="http://www.mutt.org/">http://www.mutt.org/</a></p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name">ncftp</span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>file-transfer utility</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href=
|
|
"https://www.ncftp.com/">https://www.ncftp.com/</a></p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name">nvi</span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>New vi uses ncurses.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href=
|
|
"https://sites.google.com/a/bostic.com/keithbostic/vi">https://sites.google.com/a/bostic.com/keithbostic/vi</a><br>
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name">ranger</span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>A console file manager with VI key bindings in
|
|
<em>Python</em>.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href=
|
|
"https://ranger.github.io/">https://ranger.github.io/</a></p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name">tin</span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>newsreader, supporting color, MIME</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href="http://www.tin.org/">http://www.tin.org/</a></p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name">vifm</span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>File manager with vi like keybindings</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href="https://vifm.info/">https://vifm.info/</a></p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
</dl>
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
|
|
<p>as well as some that use <span class=
|
|
"main-name">ncurses</span> for the terminfo support alone:</p>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote>
|
|
<dl>
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name">minicom</span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>terminal emulator for serial modem connections</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href=
|
|
"https://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/">https://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/</a></p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name">mosh</span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>a replacement for <code>ssh</code>.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href="https://mosh.org/">https://mosh.org/</a></p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name">tack</span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>terminfo action checker</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/tack.html">@HOMEPAGE@/tack.html</a></p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name">tmux</span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>terminal multiplexor</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href=
|
|
"https://github.com/tmux/tmux/wiki">https://github.com/tmux/tmux/wiki</a></p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name">vile</span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p><em>vi-like-emacs</em> may be built to use the terminfo,
|
|
termcap or curses interfaces.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href="@WEBSITE@/vile/">@WEBSITE@/vile/</a></p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
</dl>
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
|
|
<p>and finally, those which use only the termcap interface:</p>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote>
|
|
<dl>
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name">emacs</span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>text editor</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href=
|
|
"https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/">https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/</a></p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name">less</span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>The most commonly used <em>pager</em> (a program that
|
|
displays text files).</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href=
|
|
"http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less/">http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less/</a></p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name">screen</span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>terminal multiplexor</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href=
|
|
"https://www.gnu.org/software/screen/">https://www.gnu.org/software/screen/</a></p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt><span class="part-name">vim</span>
|
|
</dt>
|
|
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>text editor</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href="https://www.vim.org/">https://www.vim.org/</a></p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
</dl>
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="h2-development" id="h2-development">Development
|
|
activities</a></h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>Zeyd Ben-Halim started <span class="main-name">ncurses</span>
|
|
from a previous package pcurses, written by Pavel Curtis. Eric S.
|
|
Raymond continued development. Jürgen Pfeifer wrote most of
|
|
the form and menu libraries.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Ongoing development work is done by <a href=
|
|
"mailto:dickey@invisible-island.net">Thomas E. Dickey</a>. Thomas
|
|
E. Dickey has acted as the maintainer for the Free Software
|
|
Foundation, which held a <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses-license.html">copyright on ncurses</a> for
|
|
releases 4.2 through 6.1. Following the release of ncurses 6.1,
|
|
effective as of release 6.2, copyright for ncurses reverted to
|
|
Thomas E. Dickey (see the <a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses.faq.html#relicensed">ncurses FAQ</a> for
|
|
additional information).</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Contact the current maintainers at</p>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote>
|
|
<a href="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">bug-ncurses@gnu.org</a>
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
|
|
<p>To join the ncurses mailing list, please write email to</p>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote>
|
|
<a href=
|
|
"mailto:bug-ncurses-request@gnu.org">bug-ncurses-request@gnu.org</a>
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
containing the line:
|
|
<blockquote>
|
|
<p><code>subscribe</code>
|
|
<em><name>@<host.domain></em></p>
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
|
|
<p>This list is open to anyone interested in helping with the
|
|
development and testing of this package.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Beta versions of <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> are
|
|
made available at</p>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote>
|
|
<p><a href=
|
|
"ftp://ftp.invisible-island.net/ncurses/current/">ftp://ftp.invisible-island.net/ncurses/current/</a>
|
|
and<br>
|
|
<a href=
|
|
"https://invisible-mirror.net/archives/ncurses/current/">https://invisible-mirror.net/archives/ncurses/current/</a> .</p>
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
|
|
<p>Patches to the current release are made available at</p>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote>
|
|
<p><a href=
|
|
"ftp://ftp.invisible-island.net/ncurses/6.2/">ftp://ftp.invisible-island.net/ncurses/6.2/</a>
|
|
and<br>
|
|
<a href=
|
|
"https://invisible-mirror.net/archives/ncurses/6.2/">https://invisible-mirror.net/archives/ncurses/6.2/</a> .</p>
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
|
|
<p>There is an archive of the mailing list here:</p>
|
|
|
|
<blockquote>
|
|
<p><a href=
|
|
"http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-ncurses">http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-ncurses</a>
|
|
(also <a href=
|
|
"https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-ncurses">https</a>)</p>
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="h2-this-stuff" id="h2-this-stuff">Related
|
|
resources</a></h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>The release notes make scattered references to these pages,
|
|
which may be interesting by themselves:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses-license.html"><span class=
|
|
"main-name">ncurses</span> licensing</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses-mapsyms.html">Symbol versioning
|
|
in <span class="main-name">ncurses</span></a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses-slang.html">Comments on
|
|
<span class="main-name">ncurses</span> versus <span class=
|
|
"main-name">slang</span> (S-Lang)</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses-openbsd.html">Comments on
|
|
<span class="main-name">OpenBSD</span></a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/tack.html">tack – terminfo action
|
|
checker</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/tctest.html">tctest – termcap
|
|
library checker</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href=
|
|
"@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses.html#download_database">Terminal
|
|
Database</a></li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<h2><a name="h2-other-stuff" id="h2-other-stuff">Other
|
|
resources</a></h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>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, which also provides
|
|
several user-definable extensions beyond the X/Open
|
|
specification.</p>
|
|
|
|
<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> . The collection of computer
|
|
manuals at <a href=
|
|
"http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/">bitsavers.org</a> has also been
|
|
useful.</p>
|
|
|
|
<div class="nav">
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><a href="#h2-overview">Overview</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a href="#h2-release-notes">Release Notes</a>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a href="#h3-library">Library improvements</a>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><a href="#h4-new-library">New features</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#h4-fixes-library">Other
|
|
improvements</a></li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a href="#h3-programs">Program improvements</a>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><a href="#h4-utilities">Utilities</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#h4-examples">Examples</a></li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#h3-database">Terminal database</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#h3-documentation">Documentation</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#h3-bug-fixes">Interesting bug-fixes</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li>
|
|
<a href="#h3-config-config">Configuration changes</a>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><a href="#h4-config-major">Major changes</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#h4-config-options">Configuration
|
|
options</a></li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#h3-portability">Portability</a></li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#h2-features">Features of <span class=
|
|
"main-name">ncurses</span></a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#h2-who-uses">Applications using <span class=
|
|
"main-name">ncurses</span></a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#h2-development">Development activities</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#h2-this-stuff">Related resources</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#h2-other-stuff">Other resources</a></li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</body>
|
|
</html>
|