464 lines
22 KiB
Plaintext
464 lines
22 KiB
Plaintext
Announcing ncurses 5.6
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The ncurses (new curses) library is a free software emulation of
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curses in System V Release 4.0, and more. It uses terminfo format,
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supports pads and color and multiple highlights and forms characters
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and function-key mapping, and has all the other SYSV-curses
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enhancements over BSD curses.
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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 encouraged the keepers of Unix
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releases such as BSD/OS, FreeBSD and NetBSD to switch over to ncurses.
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The ncurses code was developed under GNU/Linux. It has been in use for
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some time with OpenBSD as the system curses library, and on FreeBSD
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and NetBSD as an external package. It should port easily to any
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ANSI/POSIX-conforming UNIX. It has even been ported to OS/2 Warp!
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The distribution includes the library and support utilities, including
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a terminfo compiler tic(1), a decompiler infocmp(1), clear(1),
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tput(1), tset(1), and a termcap conversion tool captoinfo(1). Full
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manual pages are provided for the library and tools.
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The ncurses distribution is available via anonymous FTP at the GNU
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distribution site [1]ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/ .
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It is also available at [2]ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ .
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Release Notes
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This release is designed to be upward compatible from ncurses 5.0
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through 5.5; very few applications will require recompilation,
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depending on the platform. These are the highlights from the
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change-log since ncurses 5.5 release.
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Interface changes:
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* generate linkable stubs for some macros:
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getbegx, getbegy, getcurx, getcury, getmaxx, getmaxy, getparx,
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getpary, getpary,
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and (for libncursesw)
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wgetbkgrnd
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New features and improvements:
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* library
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+ support hashed databases for the terminal descriptions. This
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uses the Berkeley database, has been tested for several
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versions on different platforms.
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+ add use_legacy_coding() function to support lynx's
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font-switching feature.
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+ add extension nofilter(), to cancel a prior filter() call.
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+ add/install a package config script, e.g., ncurses5-config or
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ncursesw5-config, according to configuration options.
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+ provide ifdef for NCURSES_NOMACROS which suppresses most
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macro definitions from curses.h, i.e., where a macro is
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defined to override a function to improve performance.
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+ make ifdef's consistent in curses.h for the extended colors
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so the header file can be used for the normal curses library.
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The header file installed for extended colors is a variation
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of the wide-character configuration.
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+ improve tgetstr() by making the return value point into the
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user's buffer, if provided.
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+ add ifdef's allowing ncurses to be built with tparm() using
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either varargs (the existing status), or using a
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fixed-parameter list (to match X/Open).
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+ widen the test for xterm kmous a little to allow for other
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strings than "\E[M", e.g., for xterm-sco functionality in
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xterm.
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+ modify wgetnstr() to return KEY_RESIZE if a sigwinch occurs.
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+ move prototypes for wide-character trace functions from
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curses.tail to curses.wide to avoid accidental reference to
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those if _XOPEN_SOURCE_EXTENDED is defined without ensuring
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that <wchar.h> is included.
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+ change the way shared libraries (other than libtool) are
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installed. Rather than copying the build-tree's libraries,
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link the shared objects into the install directory. This
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makes the --with-rpath option work except with $(DESTDIR).
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+ several improvements for rendering in hpterm. These are only
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available if the library is configured using
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--enable-xmc-glitch.
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+ Add NCURSES_NO_HARD_TABS and NCURSES_NO_MAGIC_COOKIE
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environment variables to allow runtime suppression of the
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related hard-tabs and xmc-glitch features.
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* programs:
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+ add new test programs: chgat.c, demo_altkeys.c, echochar.c,
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foldkeys.c, movewindow.c, redraw.c, (noting that existing
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test programs also were modified to test additional
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features).
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+ modify tack to test extended capability function-key strings.
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+ modify toe to access termcap data, e.g., via cgetent()
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functions, or as a text file if those are not available.
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+ improve infocmp/tic -f option formatting.
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+ add toe -a option, to show all databases. This uses new
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private interfaces in the ncurses library for iterating
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through the list of databases.
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+ modify MKfallback.sh to use tic -x when constructing fallback
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tables to allow extended capabilities to be retrieved from a
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fallback entry.
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* terminal database
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+ add terminfo entries for xfce terminal (xfce) and multi gnome
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terminal (mgt)
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+ add nsterm-16color entry
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+ updated mlterm terminfo entry
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+ add kon, kon2 and jfbterm terminfo entry
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+ remove invis capability from klone+sgr, mainly used by linux
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entry, since it does not really do this
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+ add ka2, kb1, kb3, kc2 to vt220-keypad as an extension
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+ add shifted up/down arrow codes to xterm-new as kind/kri
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strings
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+ add hpterm-color terminfo entry
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+ add 256color variants of terminfo entries for programs which
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are reported to implement this feature
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+ correct order of use-clauses in rxvt-basic entry which made
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codes for f1-f4 vt100-style rather than vt220-style.
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Major bug fixes:
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* correct a typo in configure --with-bool option for the case where
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--without-cxx is used.
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* move assignment from environment variable ESCDELAY from initscr()
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down to newterm() so the environment variable affects timeouts for
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terminals opened with newterm() as well.
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* modify werase to clear multicolumn characters that extend into a
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derived window.
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* modify wchgat() to mark updated cells as changed so a refresh will
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repaint those cells.
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* correct logic in wadd_wch() and wecho_wch(), which did not guard
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against passing the multi-column attribute into a call on
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waddch(), e.g., using data returned by win_wch()
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* fix redrawing of windows other than stdscr using wredrawln() by
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touching the corresponding rows in curscr.
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* reduce memory leaks in repeated calls to tgetent() by remembering
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the last TERMINAL* value allocated to hold the corresponding data
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and freeing that if the tgetent() result buffer is the same as the
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previous call.
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* modify read_termtype() so the term_names data is always allocated
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as part of the str_table, a better fix for a memory leak.
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* fix wins_nwstr(), which did not handle single-column non-8bit
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codes.
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* modify wbkgrnd() to avoid clearing the A_CHARTEXT attribute bits
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since those record the state of multicolumn characters.
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* improve SIGWINCH handling by postponing its effect during
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newterm(), etc., when allocating screens.
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* remove 970913 feature for copying subwindows as they are moved in
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mvwin().
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* add checks in waddchnstr() and wadd_wchnstr() to stop copying when
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a null character is found.
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* add some checks to ensure current position is within scrolling
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region before scrolling on a new line.
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* add a workaround to ACS mapping to allow applications such as
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test/blue.c to use the "PC ROM" characters by masking them with
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A_ALTCHARSET. This worked up til 5.5, but was lost in the revision
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of legacy coding.
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Portability:
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* configure script:
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+ new options:
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--with-hashed-db
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Use Berkeley hashed database for storing terminfo
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data rather than storing each compiled entry in a
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separate binary file within a directory tree.
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--without-dlsym
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Do not use dlsym() to load GPM dynamically.
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--with-valgrind
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Simplify building for testing with valgrind.
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--enable-wgetch-events
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Compile with experimental wgetch-events code.
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--enable-signed-char
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Store booleans in "signed char" rather than "char".
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+ improved options:
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--disable-largefile
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make the option work both ways.
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--with-gpm
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The option now accepts a parameter, i.e., the name
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of the dynamic GPM library to load via dlopen()
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--disable-symlinks
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The option now allows one to disable symlink() in
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tic even when link() does not work.
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* other configure/build issues:
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+ remove special case for Darwin in CF_XOPEN_SOURCE configure
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macro.
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+ add configure check to ensure that SIGWINCH is defined on
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platforms such as OS X which exclude that when _XOPEN_SOURCE,
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etc., are defined
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+ use ld's -search_paths_first option on Darwin to work around
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odd search rules on that platform.
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+ improve ifdef's for _POSIX_VDISABLE in tset to work with Mac
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OS X.
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+ modify configure script to ensure that if the C compiler is
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used rather than the loader in making shared libraries, the
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$(CFLAGS) variable is also used.
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+ use ${CC} rather than ${LD} in shared library rules for
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IRIX64, Solaris to help ensure that initialization sections
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are provided for extra linkage requirements, e.g., of C++
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applications.
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+ improve some shared-library configure scripting for Linux,
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FreeBSD and NetBSD to make --with-shlib-version work.
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+ split up dependency of names.c and codes.c in
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ncurses/Makefile to work with parallel make.
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+ modify MKlib_gen.sh to change preprocessor-expanded _Bool
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back to bool.
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+ modify progs/Makefile.in to make tput init work properly with
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cygwin, i.e., do not pass a .exe in the reference string used
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in check_aliases.
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* library:
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+ ignore wide-acs line-drawing characters that wcwidth() claims
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are not one-column. This is a workaround for Solaris' broken
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locale support.
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+ reduce name-pollution in term.h by removing #define's for
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HAVE_xxx symbols.
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+ fix #ifdef in c++/internal.h for QNX 6.1
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* test programs:
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+ modify test/configure script to allow building test programs
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with PDCurses/X11.
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+ modified test programs to allow some to work with NetBSD
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curses. Several do not because NetBSD curses implements a
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subset of X/Open curses, and also lacks much of SVr4
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additions. But it is enough for comparison.
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+ improved test/configure to build test/ncurses on HPUX 11
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using the vendor curses.
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+ change configure script to produce test/Makefile from data
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file.
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Features of Ncurses
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The ncurses package is fully compatible with SVr4 (System V Release 4)
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curses:
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* All 257 of the SVr4 calls have been implemented (and are
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documented).
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* Full support for SVr4 curses features including keyboard mapping,
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color, forms-drawing with ACS characters, and automatic
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recognition of keypad and function keys.
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* An emulation of the SVr4 panels library, supporting a stack of
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windows with backing store, is included.
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* An emulation of the SVr4 menus library, supporting a uniform but
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flexible interface for menu programming, is included.
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* An emulation of the SVr4 form library, supporting data collection
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through on-screen forms, is included.
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* Binary terminfo entries generated by the ncurses tic(1)
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implementation are bit-for-bit-compatible with the entry format
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SVr4 curses uses.
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* The utilities have options to allow you to filter terminfo entries
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for use with less capable curses/terminfo versions such as the
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HP/UX and AIX ports.
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The ncurses package also has many useful extensions over SVr4:
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* The API is 8-bit clean and base-level conformant with the X/OPEN
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curses specification, XSI curses (that is, it implements all BASE
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level features, and most EXTENDED features). It includes many
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function calls not supported under SVr4 curses (but portability of
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all calls is documented so you can use the SVr4 subset only).
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* Unlike SVr3 curses, ncurses can write to the rightmost-bottommost
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corner of the screen if your terminal has an insert-character
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capability.
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* Ada95 and C++ bindings.
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* Support for mouse event reporting with X Window xterm and FreeBSD
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and OS/2 console windows.
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* Extended mouse support via Alessandro Rubini's gpm package.
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* The function wresize() allows you to resize windows, preserving
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their data.
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* The function use_default_colors() allows you to use the terminal's
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default colors for the default color pair, achieving the effect of
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transparent colors.
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* The functions keyok() and define_key() allow you to better control
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the use of function keys, e.g., disabling the ncurses KEY_MOUSE,
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or by defining more than one control sequence to map to a given
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key code.
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* Support for 16-color terminals, such as aixterm and modern xterm.
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* 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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* Super hardware scrolling support. The screen-update code
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incorporates a novel, simple, and cheap algorithm that enables it
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to make optimal use of hardware scrolling, line-insertion, and
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line-deletion for screen-line movements. This algorithm is more
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powerful than the 4.4BSD curses quickch() routine.
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* 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
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magic- cookie unattributed spaces required just before the
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beginning and after the end would step on a non-space character.
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It will automatically shift highlight boundaries when doing so
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would make it possible to draw the highlight without changing the
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visual appearance of the screen.
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* 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
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types even when no terminfo tree or termcap file is accessible
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(this may be useful for support of screen-oriented programs that
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must run in single-user mode).
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* The tic(1)/captoinfo utility provided with ncurses has the ability
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to translate many termcaps from the XENIX, IBM and AT&T extension
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sets.
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* A BSD-like tset(1) utility is provided.
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* The ncurses library and utilities will automatically read terminfo
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entries from $HOME/.terminfo if it exists, and compile to that
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directory if it exists and the user has no write access to the
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system directory. This feature makes it easier for users to have
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personal terminfo entries without giving up access to the system
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terminfo directory.
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* 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
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V.)
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* 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
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user's $HOME/.terminfo directory.
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* A script (capconvert) is provided to help BSD users transition
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from termcap to terminfo. It gathers the information in a TERMCAP
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environment variable and/or a ~/.termcap local entries file and
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converts it to an equivalent local terminfo tree under
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$HOME/.terminfo.
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* 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
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neither fast nor cheap, you don't want to use it unless you have
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to, but it's there.
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* The table-of-entries utility toe makes it easy for users to see
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exactly what terminal types are available on the system.
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* The library meets the XSI requirement that every macro entry point
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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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#undef.
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* An HTML "Introduction to Programming with NCURSES" document
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provides a narrative introduction to the curses programming
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interface.
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State of the Package
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Numerous bugs present in earlier versions have been fixed; the library
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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
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and arena corruption by the Purify memory-allocation tester.
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The ncurses code has been tested with a wide variety of applications
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including (versions starting with those noted):
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cdk
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Curses Development Kit
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[3]http://invisible-island.net/cdk/
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[4]http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/
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ded
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directory-editor
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[5]http://invisible-island.net/ded/
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dialog
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the underlying application used in Slackware's setup, and the
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basis for similar applications on GNU/Linux.
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[6]http://invisible-island.net/dialog/
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lynx
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the character-screen WWW browser
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[7]http://lynx.isc.org/release/
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Midnight Commander
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file manager
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[8]http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/
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mutt
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mail utility
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[9]http://www.mutt.org/
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ncftp
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file-transfer utility
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[10]http://www.ncftp.com/
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nvi
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New vi versions 1.50 are able to use ncurses versions 1.9.7 and
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later.
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[11]http://www.bostic.com/vi/
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pinfo
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Lynx-like info browser.
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[12]http://dione.ids.pl/~pborys/software/pinfo/
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tin
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newsreader, supporting color, MIME [13]http://www.tin.org/
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vh-1.6
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Volks-Hypertext browser for the Jargon File
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[14]http://www.debian.org/Packages/unstable/text/vh.html
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as well as some that use ncurses for the terminfo support alone:
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minicom
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terminal emulator
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[15]http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/
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vile
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vi-like-emacs
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[16]http://invisible-island.net/vile/
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The ncurses distribution includes a selection of test programs
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(including a few games).
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Who's Who and What's What
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Zeyd Ben-Halim started it from a previous package pcurses, written by
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Pavel Curtis. Eric S. Raymond continued development. Juergen Pfeifer
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wrote most of the form and menu libraries. Ongoing work is being done
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by [17]Thomas Dickey. Thomas Dickey acts as the maintainer for the
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Free Software Foundation, which holds the copyright on ncurses.
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Contact the current maintainers at [18]bug-ncurses@gnu.org.
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To join the ncurses mailing list, please write email to
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bug-ncurses-request@gnu.org containing the line:
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subscribe <name>@<host.domain>
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This list is open to anyone interested in helping with the development
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and testing of this package.
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Beta versions of ncurses and patches to the current release are made
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available at [19]ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ .
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Future Plans
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* Extended-level XPG4 conformance, with internationalization
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support.
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* Ports to more systems, including DOS and Windows.
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We need people to help with these projects. If you are interested in
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working on them, please join the ncurses list.
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Other Related Resources
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The distribution provides a newer version of the terminfo-format
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terminal description file once maintained by [20]Eric Raymond . Unlike
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the older version, the termcap and terminfo data are provided in the
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same file, and provides several user-definable extensions beyond the
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X/Open specification.
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You can find lots of information on terminal-related topics not
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covered in the terminfo file at [21]Richard Shuford's archive .
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References
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1. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/
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2. ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/
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3. http://invisible-island.net/cdk/
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4. http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/
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5. http://invisible-island.net/ded/
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6. http://invisible-island.net/dialog/
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7. http://lynx.isc.org/release/
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8. http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/
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9. http://www.mutt.org/
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10. http://www.ncftp.com/
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11. http://www.bostic.com/vi/
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12. http://dione.ids.pl/~pborys/software/pinfo/
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13. http://www.tin.org/
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14. http://www.debian.org/Packages/unstable/text/vh.html
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15. http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/
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16. http://invisible-island.net/vile/
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17. mailto:dickey@invisible-island.net
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18. mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org
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19. ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/
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20. http://www.catb.org/~esr/terminfo/
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21. http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal_index.html
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