| [2621] | 1 | Announcing ncurses 5.5
|
|---|
| 2 |
|
|---|
| 3 | The ncurses (new curses) library is a free software emulation of
|
|---|
| 4 | curses in System V Release 4.0, and more. It uses terminfo format,
|
|---|
| 5 | supports pads and color and multiple highlights and forms characters
|
|---|
| 6 | and function-key mapping, and has all the other SYSV-curses
|
|---|
| 7 | enhancements over BSD curses.
|
|---|
| 8 |
|
|---|
| 9 | In mid-June 1995, the maintainer of 4.4BSD curses declared that he
|
|---|
| 10 | considered 4.4BSD curses obsolete, and encouraged the keepers of Unix
|
|---|
| 11 | releases such as BSD/OS, FreeBSD and NetBSD to switch over to ncurses.
|
|---|
| 12 |
|
|---|
| 13 | The ncurses code was developed under GNU/Linux. It has been in use for
|
|---|
| 14 | some time with OpenBSD as the system curses library, and on FreeBSD
|
|---|
| 15 | and NetBSD as an external package. It should port easily to any
|
|---|
| 16 | ANSI/POSIX-conforming UNIX. It has even been ported to OS/2 Warp!
|
|---|
| 17 |
|
|---|
| 18 | The distribution includes the library and support utilities, including
|
|---|
| 19 | a terminfo compiler tic(1), a decompiler infocmp(1), clear(1),
|
|---|
| 20 | tput(1), tset(1), and a termcap conversion tool captoinfo(1). Full
|
|---|
| 21 | manual pages are provided for the library and tools.
|
|---|
| 22 |
|
|---|
| 23 | The ncurses distribution is available via anonymous FTP at the GNU
|
|---|
| 24 | distribution site [1]ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/ .
|
|---|
| 25 | It is also available at [2]ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ .
|
|---|
| 26 |
|
|---|
| 27 | Release Notes
|
|---|
| 28 |
|
|---|
| 29 | This release is designed to be upward compatible from ncurses 5.0
|
|---|
| 30 | through 5.4; very few applications will require recompilation,
|
|---|
| 31 | depending on the platform. These are the highlights from the
|
|---|
| 32 | change-log since ncurses 5.4 release.
|
|---|
| 33 |
|
|---|
| 34 | Interface changes:
|
|---|
| 35 | * terminfo installs "xterm-new" as "xterm" entry rather than
|
|---|
| 36 | "xterm-old" (aka xterm-r6).
|
|---|
| 37 | * terminfo data is installed using the tic -x option (few systems
|
|---|
| 38 | still use ncurses 4.2).
|
|---|
| 39 | * modify C++ binding to work with newer C++ compilers by providing
|
|---|
| 40 | initializers and using modern casts. Old-style header names are
|
|---|
| 41 | still used in this release to allow compiling with not-so-old
|
|---|
| 42 | compilers.
|
|---|
| 43 | * modify parameter type in c++ binding for insch() and mvwinsch() to
|
|---|
| 44 | be consistent with underlying ncurses library (was char, is
|
|---|
| 45 | chtype).
|
|---|
| 46 | * change NCursesWindow::err_handler() to a virtual function.
|
|---|
| 47 | * form and menu libraries now work with wide-character data.
|
|---|
| 48 | Applications which bypassed the form library and manipulated the
|
|---|
| 49 | FIELD.buf data directly will not work properly with libformw,
|
|---|
| 50 | since that no longer points to an array of char. The
|
|---|
| 51 | set_field_buffer() and field_buffer() functions translate to/from
|
|---|
| 52 | the actual field data.
|
|---|
| 53 | * add symbol to curses.h which can be used to suppress include of
|
|---|
| 54 | stdbool.h, e.g.,
|
|---|
| 55 | #define NCURSES_ENABLE_STDBOOL_H 0
|
|---|
| 56 | #include <curses.h>
|
|---|
| 57 |
|
|---|
| 58 | * change SP->_current_attr to a pointer, adjust ifdef's to ensure
|
|---|
| 59 | that libtinfo.so and libtinfow.so have the same ABI. The reason
|
|---|
| 60 | for this is that the corresponding data which belongs to the
|
|---|
| 61 | upper-level ncurses library has a different size in each model.
|
|---|
| 62 | * winnstr() now returns multibyte character strings for the
|
|---|
| 63 | wide-character configuration.
|
|---|
| 64 | * assume_default_colors() no longer requires that
|
|---|
| 65 | use_default_colors() be called first.
|
|---|
| 66 | * data_ahead() now works with wide-characters.
|
|---|
| 67 | * slk_set() and slk_wset() now accept and store multibyte or
|
|---|
| 68 | multicolumn characters.
|
|---|
| 69 | * start_color() now returns OK if colors have already been started.
|
|---|
| 70 | start_color() also returns ERR if it cannot allocate memory.
|
|---|
| 71 | * pair_content() now returns -1 for consistency with init_pair() if
|
|---|
| 72 | it corresponds to the default-color.
|
|---|
| 73 | * unctrl() now returns null if its parameter does not correspond to
|
|---|
| 74 | an unsigned char.
|
|---|
| 75 |
|
|---|
| 76 | New features and improvements:
|
|---|
| 77 | * library
|
|---|
| 78 | + environment variable NCURSES_NO_UTF8_ACS supports
|
|---|
| 79 | miscellaneous terminal emulators which ignore alternate
|
|---|
| 80 | character set escape sequences when in UTF-8 mode.
|
|---|
| 81 | + modify initialization of key lookup table so that if an
|
|---|
| 82 | extended capability (tic -x) string is defined, and its name
|
|---|
| 83 | begins with 'k', ncurses will automatically treat it as a
|
|---|
| 84 | key.
|
|---|
| 85 | + change GPM initialization, using dl library to load it
|
|---|
| 86 | dynamically at runtime.
|
|---|
| 87 | + form, menu and panel libraries support debug-tracing.
|
|---|
| 88 | * add NCURSES-Programming-HOWTO.html by Pradeep Padala (see
|
|---|
| 89 | http://tldp.org/HOWTO/NCURSES-Programming-HOWTO/).
|
|---|
| 90 | * programs:
|
|---|
| 91 | * infocmp:
|
|---|
| 92 | + The -i option now matches 8-bit controls against its table
|
|---|
| 93 | entries, e.g., so it can analyze the xterm-8bit entry.
|
|---|
| 94 | + add "-x" option to infocmp like tic's "-x", for use in "-F"
|
|---|
| 95 | comparisons. This modifies infocmp to only report extended
|
|---|
| 96 | capabilities if the -x option is given, making this more
|
|---|
| 97 | consistent with tic. Some scripts may break, since infocmp
|
|---|
| 98 | previous gave this information without an option.
|
|---|
| 99 | * tic:
|
|---|
| 100 | + modify termcap-parsing to retain 2-character aliases at the
|
|---|
| 101 | beginning of an entry if the "-x" option is used in tic.
|
|---|
| 102 | + filter out long extended names when translating to termcap
|
|---|
| 103 | format. Only two characters are permissible for termcap
|
|---|
| 104 | capability names.
|
|---|
| 105 | + correct translation of "%%" in terminfo format to termcap,
|
|---|
| 106 | e.g., using "tic -C".
|
|---|
| 107 | + modify the "-c -v" options to ignore delays when comparing
|
|---|
| 108 | strings. Also modify it to ignore a canceled sgr string,
|
|---|
| 109 | e.g., for terminals which cannot properly combine attributes
|
|---|
| 110 | in one control sequence.
|
|---|
| 111 | + add a check for improperly ended strings, i.e., where a
|
|---|
| 112 | following line begins in column 1.
|
|---|
| 113 | + add a check in tic for terminfo entries having an sgr0 but no
|
|---|
| 114 | sgr string. This confuses Tru64 and HPUX curses when combined
|
|---|
| 115 | with color, e.g., making them leave line-drawing characters
|
|---|
| 116 | in odd places.
|
|---|
| 117 | + add check (with debug configuration) that provides about the
|
|---|
| 118 | runtime changes that would be made to sgr0 for termcap
|
|---|
| 119 | applications.
|
|---|
| 120 | * tset:
|
|---|
| 121 | + add -c and -w options to allow user to suppress ncurses'
|
|---|
| 122 | resizing of the terminal emulator window in the special case
|
|---|
| 123 | where it is not able to detect the true size.
|
|---|
| 124 |
|
|---|
| 125 | Major bug fixes:
|
|---|
| 126 | * improve logic in tgetent() which adjusts the termcap "me" string
|
|---|
| 127 | to work with ISO-2022 string used in xterm-new. This is a feature
|
|---|
| 128 | that was incompletely implemented in ncurses 5.3. ncurses attempts
|
|---|
| 129 | to provide termcap clients with the portion of the sgr0 (termcap
|
|---|
| 130 | "me") string that does not reset line-drawing.
|
|---|
| 131 | * cells in the WINDOW which are continuations of a multicolumn
|
|---|
| 132 | character are encoded differently, making repainting more
|
|---|
| 133 | reliable.
|
|---|
| 134 | * amend change to setupterm() in ncurses 5.4 (20030405) which would
|
|---|
| 135 | reuse the value of cur_term if the same output was selected. This
|
|---|
| 136 | now reuses it only when setupterm() is called from tgetent(),
|
|---|
| 137 | which has no notion of separate SCREENs. Note that tgetent() must
|
|---|
| 138 | be called after initscr() or newterm() to use this feature.
|
|---|
| 139 | * make setcchar() now works when its wchar_t* parameter is pointing
|
|---|
| 140 | to a string which contains more data than can be converted.
|
|---|
| 141 | * win_wchnstr() now works for more than one cell.
|
|---|
| 142 | * resizeterm() now processes all levels of window hierarchy.
|
|---|
| 143 | * disable GPM mouse support when $TERM happens to be prefixed with
|
|---|
| 144 | "xterm". Gpm_Open() would otherwise assert that it can deal with
|
|---|
| 145 | mouse events in this case.
|
|---|
| 146 | * add SP->_screen_acs_map[], used to ensure that mapping of missing
|
|---|
| 147 | line-drawing characters is handled properly. For example,
|
|---|
| 148 | ACS_DARROW is absent from xterm-new, and it was coincidentally
|
|---|
| 149 | displayed the same as ACS_BTEE.
|
|---|
| 150 |
|
|---|
| 151 | Portability:
|
|---|
| 152 | * configure script:
|
|---|
| 153 | + new options:
|
|---|
| 154 |
|
|---|
| 155 | --enable-largefile
|
|---|
| 156 | set compiler and linker flags to use largefile
|
|---|
| 157 | support.
|
|---|
| 158 |
|
|---|
| 159 | --enable-ext-colors
|
|---|
| 160 | Allow encoding of 256 foreground and background
|
|---|
| 161 | colors, e.g., with the xterm-256color or
|
|---|
| 162 | xterm-88color terminfo entries. This requires ABI 6
|
|---|
| 163 | because it changes the size of cchar_t.
|
|---|
| 164 |
|
|---|
| 165 | --enable-ext-mouse
|
|---|
| 166 | This defines NCURSES_MOUSE_VERSION 2, and modifies
|
|---|
| 167 | the encoding of mouse events to support wheel mice,
|
|---|
| 168 | which may transmit buttons 4 and 5. This works with
|
|---|
| 169 | xterm and similar terminal emulators. This requires
|
|---|
| 170 | ABI 6 because it changes the encoding of mouse
|
|---|
| 171 | events.
|
|---|
| 172 |
|
|---|
| 173 | --with-chtype
|
|---|
| 174 | overriding of the non-LP64 model's use of chtype
|
|---|
| 175 |
|
|---|
| 176 | --with-mmask-t
|
|---|
| 177 | overriding of the non-LP64 model's use of mmask_t
|
|---|
| 178 |
|
|---|
| 179 | --without-xterm-new
|
|---|
| 180 | Installs "xterm-old" as the "xterm" entry of the
|
|---|
| 181 | terminfo database.
|
|---|
| 182 |
|
|---|
| 183 | + The --with-termlib option now accepts a value which sets the
|
|---|
| 184 | name of the terminfo library. This would allow a packager to
|
|---|
| 185 | build libtinfow.so renamed to coincide with libtinfo.so
|
|---|
| 186 | + fixes/improvements for cross-compiling:
|
|---|
| 187 | o suppress $suffix in misc/run_tic.sh when
|
|---|
| 188 | cross-compiling. This allows cross-compiles to use the
|
|---|
| 189 | host's tic program to handle the "make install.data"
|
|---|
| 190 | step.
|
|---|
| 191 | o correct BUILD_CPPFLAGS substitution in
|
|---|
| 192 | ncurses/Makefile.in, to allow cross-compiling from a
|
|---|
| 193 | separate directory tree.
|
|---|
| 194 | * library:
|
|---|
| 195 | + add ifdef's for _LP64 in curses.h to avoid using wasteful
|
|---|
| 196 | 64-bits for chtype and mmask_t, but add configure option
|
|---|
| 197 | --disable-lp64 in case anyone used that configuration.
|
|---|
| 198 | + modify C++ binding to use some C internal functions to make
|
|---|
| 199 | it compile properly on Solaris (and other platforms).
|
|---|
| 200 | + remove check in newwin() that prevents allocating windows
|
|---|
| 201 | that extend beyond the screen (Solaris does this).
|
|---|
| 202 | + check for nl_langinfo(CODESET), use it if available. This
|
|---|
| 203 | replaces ad hoc tests of environment variables to check if
|
|---|
| 204 | the terminal is setup for UTF-8 encoding. Applications which
|
|---|
| 205 | do not call setlocale() should be corrected, to make them
|
|---|
| 206 | work properly with UTF-8 encoding.
|
|---|
| 207 | In particular, applications which assume (and do not call
|
|---|
| 208 | setlocale()) that Latin-1 codes are printable will no longer
|
|---|
| 209 | work in a UTF-8 locale since the ad hoc check of environment
|
|---|
| 210 | variables to see if the locale was UTF-8 is not used when
|
|---|
| 211 | nl_langinfo(CODESET) is available.
|
|---|
| 212 | + use setlocale() to query the program's current locale rather
|
|---|
| 213 | than using getenv(). This supports applications which rely
|
|---|
| 214 | upon legacy treatment of 8-bit characters when the locale is
|
|---|
| 215 | not initialized.
|
|---|
| 216 |
|
|---|
| 217 | Features of Ncurses
|
|---|
| 218 |
|
|---|
| 219 | The ncurses package is fully compatible with SVr4 (System V Release 4)
|
|---|
| 220 | curses:
|
|---|
| 221 | * All 257 of the SVr4 calls have been implemented (and are
|
|---|
| 222 | documented).
|
|---|
| 223 | * Full support for SVr4 curses features including keyboard mapping,
|
|---|
| 224 | color, forms-drawing with ACS characters, and automatic
|
|---|
| 225 | recognition of keypad and function keys.
|
|---|
| 226 | * An emulation of the SVr4 panels library, supporting a stack of
|
|---|
| 227 | windows with backing store, is included.
|
|---|
| 228 | * An emulation of the SVr4 menus library, supporting a uniform but
|
|---|
| 229 | flexible interface for menu programming, is included.
|
|---|
| 230 | * An emulation of the SVr4 form library, supporting data collection
|
|---|
| 231 | through on-screen forms, is included.
|
|---|
| 232 | * Binary terminfo entries generated by the ncurses tic(1)
|
|---|
| 233 | implementation are bit-for-bit-compatible with the entry format
|
|---|
| 234 | SVr4 curses uses.
|
|---|
| 235 | * The utilities have options to allow you to filter terminfo entries
|
|---|
| 236 | for use with less capable curses/terminfo versions such as the
|
|---|
| 237 | HP/UX and AIX ports.
|
|---|
| 238 |
|
|---|
| 239 | The ncurses package also has many useful extensions over SVr4:
|
|---|
| 240 | * The API is 8-bit clean and base-level conformant with the X/OPEN
|
|---|
| 241 | curses specification, XSI curses (that is, it implements all BASE
|
|---|
| 242 | level features, but not all EXTENDED features). Most
|
|---|
| 243 | EXTENDED-level features not directly concerned with wide-character
|
|---|
| 244 | support are implemented, including many function calls not
|
|---|
| 245 | supported under SVr4 curses (but portability of all calls is
|
|---|
| 246 | documented so you can use the SVr4 subset only).
|
|---|
| 247 | * Unlike SVr3 curses, ncurses can write to the rightmost-bottommost
|
|---|
| 248 | corner of the screen if your terminal has an insert-character
|
|---|
| 249 | capability.
|
|---|
| 250 | * Ada95 and C++ bindings.
|
|---|
| 251 | * Support for mouse event reporting with X Window xterm and OS/2
|
|---|
| 252 | console windows.
|
|---|
| 253 | * Extended mouse support via Alessandro Rubini's gpm package.
|
|---|
| 254 | * The function wresize() allows you to resize windows, preserving
|
|---|
| 255 | their data.
|
|---|
| 256 | * The function use_default_colors() allows you to use the terminal's
|
|---|
| 257 | default colors for the default color pair, achieving the effect of
|
|---|
| 258 | transparent colors.
|
|---|
| 259 | * The functions keyok() and define_key() allow you to better control
|
|---|
| 260 | the use of function keys, e.g., disabling the ncurses KEY_MOUSE,
|
|---|
| 261 | or by defining more than one control sequence to map to a given
|
|---|
| 262 | key code.
|
|---|
| 263 | * Support for 16-color terminals, such as aixterm and XFree86 xterm.
|
|---|
| 264 | * Better cursor-movement optimization. The package now features a
|
|---|
| 265 | cursor-local-movement computation more efficient than either BSD's
|
|---|
| 266 | or System V's.
|
|---|
| 267 | * Super hardware scrolling support. The screen-update code
|
|---|
| 268 | incorporates a novel, simple, and cheap algorithm that enables it
|
|---|
| 269 | to make optimal use of hardware scrolling, line-insertion, and
|
|---|
| 270 | line-deletion for screen-line movements. This algorithm is more
|
|---|
| 271 | powerful than the 4.4BSD curses quickch() routine.
|
|---|
| 272 | * Real support for terminals with the magic-cookie glitch. The
|
|---|
| 273 | screen-update code will refrain from drawing a highlight if the
|
|---|
| 274 | magic- cookie unattributed spaces required just before the
|
|---|
| 275 | beginning and after the end would step on a non-space character.
|
|---|
| 276 | It will automatically shift highlight boundaries when doing so
|
|---|
| 277 | would make it possible to draw the highlight without changing the
|
|---|
| 278 | visual appearance of the screen.
|
|---|
| 279 | * It is possible to generate the library with a list of pre-loaded
|
|---|
| 280 | fallback entries linked to it so that it can serve those terminal
|
|---|
| 281 | types even when no terminfo tree or termcap file is accessible
|
|---|
| 282 | (this may be useful for support of screen-oriented programs that
|
|---|
| 283 | must run in single-user mode).
|
|---|
| 284 | * The tic(1)/captoinfo utility provided with ncurses has the ability
|
|---|
| 285 | to translate many termcaps from the XENIX, IBM and AT&T extension
|
|---|
| 286 | sets.
|
|---|
| 287 | * A BSD-like tset(1) utility is provided.
|
|---|
| 288 | * The ncurses library and utilities will automatically read terminfo
|
|---|
| 289 | entries from $HOME/.terminfo if it exists, and compile to that
|
|---|
| 290 | directory if it exists and the user has no write access to the
|
|---|
| 291 | system directory. This feature makes it easier for users to have
|
|---|
| 292 | personal terminfo entries without giving up access to the system
|
|---|
| 293 | terminfo directory.
|
|---|
| 294 | * You may specify a path of directories to search for compiled
|
|---|
| 295 | descriptions with the environment variable TERMINFO_DIRS (this
|
|---|
| 296 | generalizes the feature provided by TERMINFO under stock System
|
|---|
| 297 | V.)
|
|---|
| 298 | * In terminfo source files, use capabilities may refer not just to
|
|---|
| 299 | other entries in the same source file (as in System V) but also to
|
|---|
| 300 | compiled entries in either the system terminfo directory or the
|
|---|
| 301 | user's $HOME/.terminfo directory.
|
|---|
| 302 | * A script (capconvert) is provided to help BSD users transition
|
|---|
| 303 | from termcap to terminfo. It gathers the information in a TERMCAP
|
|---|
| 304 | environment variable and/or a ~/.termcap local entries file and
|
|---|
| 305 | converts it to an equivalent local terminfo tree under
|
|---|
| 306 | $HOME/.terminfo.
|
|---|
| 307 | * Automatic fallback to the /etc/termcap file can be compiled in
|
|---|
| 308 | when it is not possible to build a terminfo tree. This feature is
|
|---|
| 309 | neither fast nor cheap, you don't want to use it unless you have
|
|---|
| 310 | to, but it's there.
|
|---|
| 311 | * The table-of-entries utility toe makes it easy for users to see
|
|---|
| 312 | exactly what terminal types are available on the system.
|
|---|
| 313 | * The library meets the XSI requirement that every macro entry point
|
|---|
| 314 | have a corresponding function which may be linked (and will be
|
|---|
| 315 | prototype-checked) if the macro definition is disabled with
|
|---|
| 316 | #undef.
|
|---|
| 317 | * An HTML "Introduction to Programming with NCURSES" document
|
|---|
| 318 | provides a narrative introduction to the curses programming
|
|---|
| 319 | interface.
|
|---|
| 320 |
|
|---|
| 321 | State of the Package
|
|---|
| 322 |
|
|---|
| 323 | Numerous bugs present in earlier versions have been fixed; the library
|
|---|
| 324 | is far more reliable than it used to be. Bounds checking in many
|
|---|
| 325 | `dangerous' entry points has been improved. The code is now type-safe
|
|---|
| 326 | according to gcc -Wall. The library has been checked for malloc leaks
|
|---|
| 327 | and arena corruption by the Purify memory-allocation tester.
|
|---|
| 328 |
|
|---|
| 329 | The ncurses code has been tested with a wide variety of applications
|
|---|
| 330 | including (versions starting with those noted):
|
|---|
| 331 |
|
|---|
| 332 | cdk
|
|---|
| 333 | Curses Development Kit
|
|---|
| 334 | [3]http://invisible-island.net/cdk/
|
|---|
| 335 | [4]http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/
|
|---|
| 336 |
|
|---|
| 337 | ded
|
|---|
| 338 | directory-editor
|
|---|
| 339 | [5]http://invisible-island.net/ded/
|
|---|
| 340 |
|
|---|
| 341 | dialog
|
|---|
| 342 | the underlying application used in Slackware's setup, and the
|
|---|
| 343 | basis for similar applications on GNU/Linux.
|
|---|
| 344 | [6]http://invisible-island.net/dialog/
|
|---|
| 345 |
|
|---|
| 346 | lynx
|
|---|
| 347 | the character-screen WWW browser
|
|---|
| 348 | [7]http://lynx.isc.org/release/
|
|---|
| 349 |
|
|---|
| 350 | Midnight Commander
|
|---|
| 351 | file manager
|
|---|
| 352 | [8]http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/
|
|---|
| 353 |
|
|---|
| 354 | mutt
|
|---|
| 355 | mail utility
|
|---|
| 356 | [9]http://www.mutt.org/
|
|---|
| 357 |
|
|---|
| 358 | ncftp
|
|---|
| 359 | file-transfer utility
|
|---|
| 360 | [10]http://www.ncftp.com/
|
|---|
| 361 |
|
|---|
| 362 | nvi
|
|---|
| 363 | New vi versions 1.50 are able to use ncurses versions 1.9.7 and
|
|---|
| 364 | later.
|
|---|
| 365 | [11]http://www.bostic.com/vi/
|
|---|
| 366 |
|
|---|
| 367 | pinfo
|
|---|
| 368 | Lynx-like info browser.
|
|---|
| 369 | [12]http://dione.ids.pl/~pborys/software/pinfo/
|
|---|
| 370 |
|
|---|
| 371 | tin
|
|---|
| 372 | newsreader, supporting color, MIME [13]http://www.tin.org/
|
|---|
| 373 |
|
|---|
| 374 | vh-1.6
|
|---|
| 375 | Volks-Hypertext browser for the Jargon File
|
|---|
| 376 | [14]http://www.debian.org/Packages/unstable/text/vh.html
|
|---|
| 377 |
|
|---|
| 378 | as well as some that use ncurses for the terminfo support alone:
|
|---|
| 379 |
|
|---|
| 380 | minicom
|
|---|
| 381 | terminal emulator
|
|---|
| 382 | [15]http://www.netsonic.fi/~walker/minicom.html
|
|---|
| 383 |
|
|---|
| 384 | vile
|
|---|
| 385 | vi-like-emacs
|
|---|
| 386 | [16]http://invisible-island.net/vile/
|
|---|
| 387 |
|
|---|
| 388 | The ncurses distribution includes a selection of test programs
|
|---|
| 389 | (including a few games).
|
|---|
| 390 |
|
|---|
| 391 | Who's Who and What's What
|
|---|
| 392 |
|
|---|
| 393 | Zeyd Ben-Halim started it from a previous package pcurses, written by
|
|---|
| 394 | Pavel Curtis. Eric S. Raymond continued development. Jürgen Pfeifer
|
|---|
| 395 | wrote most of the form and menu libraries. Ongoing work is being done
|
|---|
| 396 | by [17]Thomas Dickey. Thomas Dickey acts as the maintainer for the
|
|---|
| 397 | Free Software Foundation, which holds the copyright on ncurses.
|
|---|
| 398 | Contact the current maintainers at [18]bug-ncurses@gnu.org.
|
|---|
| 399 |
|
|---|
| 400 | To join the ncurses mailing list, please write email to
|
|---|
| 401 | bug-ncurses-request@gnu.org containing the line:
|
|---|
| 402 | subscribe <name>@<host.domain>
|
|---|
| 403 |
|
|---|
| 404 | This list is open to anyone interested in helping with the development
|
|---|
| 405 | and testing of this package.
|
|---|
| 406 |
|
|---|
| 407 | Beta versions of ncurses and patches to the current release are made
|
|---|
| 408 | available at [19]ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ .
|
|---|
| 409 |
|
|---|
| 410 | Future Plans
|
|---|
| 411 |
|
|---|
| 412 | * Extended-level XPG4 conformance, with internationalization
|
|---|
| 413 | support.
|
|---|
| 414 | * Ports to more systems, including DOS and Windows.
|
|---|
| 415 |
|
|---|
| 416 | We need people to help with these projects. If you are interested in
|
|---|
| 417 | working on them, please join the ncurses list.
|
|---|
| 418 |
|
|---|
| 419 | Other Related Resources
|
|---|
| 420 |
|
|---|
| 421 | The distribution provides a newer version of the terminfo-format
|
|---|
| 422 | terminal description file maintained by [20]Eric Raymond . Unlike the
|
|---|
| 423 | older version, the termcap and terminfo data are provided in the same
|
|---|
| 424 | file.
|
|---|
| 425 |
|
|---|
| 426 | You can find lots of information on terminal-related topics not
|
|---|
| 427 | covered in the terminfo file at [21]Richard Shuford's archive .
|
|---|
| 428 |
|
|---|
| 429 | References
|
|---|
| 430 |
|
|---|
| 431 | 1. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/
|
|---|
| 432 | 2. ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/
|
|---|
| 433 | 3. http://invisible-island.net/cdk/
|
|---|
| 434 | 4. http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/
|
|---|
| 435 | 5. http://invisible-island.net/ded/
|
|---|
| 436 | 6. http://invisible-island.net/dialog/
|
|---|
| 437 | 7. http://lynx.isc.org/release/
|
|---|
| 438 | 8. http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/
|
|---|
| 439 | 9. http://www.mutt.org/
|
|---|
| 440 | 10. http://www.ncftp.com/
|
|---|
| 441 | 11. http://www.bostic.com/vi/
|
|---|
| 442 | 12. http://dione.ids.pl/~pborys/software/pinfo/
|
|---|
| 443 | 13. http://www.tin.org/
|
|---|
| 444 | 14. http://www.debian.org/Packages/unstable/text/vh.html
|
|---|
| 445 | 15. http://www.netsonic.fi/~walker/minicom.html
|
|---|
| 446 | 16. http://invisible-island.net/vile/
|
|---|
| 447 | 17. mailto:dickey@invisible-island.net
|
|---|
| 448 | 18. mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org
|
|---|
| 449 | 19. ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/
|
|---|
| 450 | 20. http://www.catb.org/~esr/terminfo/
|
|---|
| 451 | 21. http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal_index.html
|
|---|
