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See the file TO-DO for things that still need doing, including known bugs. Browse the file misc/ncurses-intro.html for narrative descriptions of how to use ncurses and the panel, menu, and form libraries. Browse the file doc/html/hackguide.html for a tour of the package internals. ROADMAP AND PACKAGE OVERVIEW: You should be reading this file in a directory called: ncurses-d.d, where d.d is the current version number (see the dist.mk file in this directory for that). There should be a number of subdirectories, including `c++', `form', `man', `menu', `misc', `ncurses', `panel', `progs', `test', 'tack' and `Ada95'. (The 'tack' program may be distributed separately). A full build/install of this package typically installs several libraries, a handful of utilities, and a database hierarchy. Here is an inventory of the pieces: The libraries are: libncurses.a (normal) libncurses.so (shared) libncurses_g.a (debug and trace code enabled) libncurses_p.a (profiling enabled) libpanel.a (normal) libpanel.so (shared) libpanel_g.a (debug and trace code enabled) libmenu.a (normal) libmenu.so (shared) libmenu_g.a (debug enabled) libform.a (normal) libform.so (shared) libform_g.a (debug enabled) If you configure using the --enable-widec option, a "w" is appended to the library names (e.g., libncursesw.a), and the resulting libraries support wide-characters, e.g., via a UTF-8 locale. The corresponding header files are compatible with the non-wide-character configuration; wide-character features are provided by ifdef's in the header files. The wide-character library interfaces are not binary-compatible with the non-wide-character version. If you configure using the --enable-reentrant option, a "t" is appended to the library names (e.g., libncursest.a) and the resulting libraries have a different binary interface which makes the ncurses interface more "opaque". The ncurses libraries implement the curses API. The panel, menu and forms libraries implement clones of the SVr4 panel, menu and forms APIs. The source code for these lives in the `ncurses', `panel', `menu', and `form' directories respectively. In the `c++' directory, you'll find code that defines an interface to the curses, forms, menus and panels library packaged as C++ classes, and a demo program in C++ to test it. These class definition modules are not installed by the 'make install.libs' rule as libncurses++. In the `Ada95' directory, you'll find code and documentation for an Ada95 binding of the curses API, to be used with the GNAT compiler. This binding is built by a normal top-level `make' if configure detects an usable version of GNAT (3.11 or above). It is not installed automatically. See the Ada95 directory for more build and installation instructions and for documentation of the binding. To do its job, the ncurses code needs your terminal type to be set in the environment variable TERM (normally set by your OS; under UNIX, getty(1) typically does this, but you can override it in your .profile); and, it needs a database of terminal descriptions in which to look up your terminal type's capabilities. In older (V7/BSD) versions of curses, the database was a flat text file, /etc/termcap; in newer (USG/USL) versions, the database is a hierarchy of fast-loading binary description blocks under /usr/lib/terminfo. These binary blocks are compiled from an improved editable text representation called `terminfo' format (documented in man/terminfo.5). The ncurses library can use either /etc/termcap or the compiled binary terminfo blocks, but prefers the second form. In the `misc' directory, there is a text file terminfo.src, in editable terminfo format, which can be used to generate the terminfo binaries (that's what make install.data does). If the package was built with the --enable-termcap option enabled, and the ncurses library cannot find a terminfo description for your terminal, it will fall back to the termcap file supplied with your system (which the ncurses package installation leaves strictly alone). The utilities are as follows: tic -- terminfo source to binary compiler infocmp -- terminfo binary to source decompiler/comparator clear -- emits clear-screen for current terminal tabs -- set tabs on a terminal tput -- shell-script access to terminal capabilities. toe -- table of entries utility tset -- terminal-initialization utility The first two (tic and infocmp) are used for manipulating terminfo descriptions; the next two (clear and tput) are for use in shell scripts. The last (tset) is provided for 4.4BSD compatibility. The source code for all of these lives in the `progs' directory. Detailed documentation for all libraries and utilities can be found in the `man' and `doc' directories. An HTML introduction to ncurses, panels, and menus programming lives in the `doc/html' directory. Manpages in HTML format are under `doc/html/man'. The `test' directory contains programs that can be used to verify or demonstrate the functions of the ncurses libraries. See test/README for descriptions of these programs. Notably, the `ncurses' utility is designed to help you systematically exercise the library functions. AUTHORS: Pavel Curtis: wrote the original ncurses Zeyd M. Ben-Halim: port of original to Linux and many enhancements. Thomas Dickey (maintainer for 1.9.9g through 4.1, resuming with FSF's 5.0): configuration scripts, porting, mods to adhere to XSI Curses in the areas of background color, terminal modes. Also memory leak testing, the wresize, default colors and key definition extensions and numerous bug fixes -- more than half of those enumerated in NEWS beginning with the internal release 1.8.9, see http://invisible-island.net/personal/changelogs.html Florian La Roche (official maintainer for FSF's ncurses 4.2) Beginning with release 4.2, ncurses is distributed under an MIT-style license. Eric S. Raymond: the man pages, infocmp(1), tput(1), clear(1), captoinfo(1), tset(1), toe(1), most of tic(1), trace levels, the HTML intro, wgetnstr() and many other entry points, the cursor-movement optimization, the scroll-pack optimizer for vertical motions, the mouse interface and xterm mouse support, and the ncurses test program. Juergen Pfeifer The menu and form libraries, C++ bindings for ncurses, menus, forms and panels, as well as the Ada95 binding. Ongoing support for panel. CONTRIBUTORS: Alexander V. Lukyanov for numerous fixes and improvements to the optimization logic. David MacKenzie for first-class bug-chasing and methodical testing. Ross Ridge for the code that hacks termcap parameterized strings into terminfo. Warren Tucker and Gerhard Fuernkranz, for writing and sending the panel library. Hellmuth Michaelis, for many patches and testing the optimization code. Eric Newton, Ulrich Drepper, and Anatoly Ivasyuk: the C++ code. Jonathan Ross, for lessons in using sed. Keith Bostic (maintainer of 4.4BSD curses) for help, criticism, comments, bug-finding, and being willing to deep-six BSD curses for this one when it grew up. Richard Stallman, for his commitment to making ncurses free software. Countless other people have contributed by reporting bugs, sending fixes, suggesting improvements, and generally whining about ncurses :-) BUGS: See the INSTALL file for bug and developer-list addresses. The Hacker's Guide in the doc directory includes some guidelines on how to report bugs in ways that will get them fixed most quickly.