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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 Linux (vers 25 March 2009), see www.w3.org">
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<title>Announcing ncurses @VERSION@</title>
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<link rev="made" href="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">
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<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content=
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"text/html; charset=us-ascii">
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1>Announcing ncurses @VERSION@</h1>
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<p>The ncurses (new curses) library is a free software emulation
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of curses in System V Release 4.0, and more. It uses terminfo
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format, supports pads and color and multiple highlights and forms
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characters and function-key mapping, and has all the other
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SYSV-curses enhancements over BSD curses.</p>
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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 Unix releases such as BSD/OS, FreeBSD and NetBSD to
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switch over to ncurses.</p>
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<p>The ncurses code was developed under GNU/Linux. It has been in
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use for some time with OpenBSD as the system curses library, and
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on FreeBSD and NetBSD as an external package. It should port
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easily to any ANSI/POSIX-conforming UNIX. It has even been ported
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to OS/2 Warp!</p>
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<p>The distribution includes the library and support utilities,
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including a terminfo compiler tic(1), a decompiler infocmp(1),
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clear(1), tput(1), tset(1), and a termcap conversion tool
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captoinfo(1). Full manual pages are provided for the library and
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tools.</p>
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<p>The ncurses distribution is available via anonymous FTP at the
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GNU distribution site <a href=
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"ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/">ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/</a> .<br>
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It is also available at <a href=
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"ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/">ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/</a> .</p>
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<h1>Release Notes</h1>
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<p>This release is designed to be upward compatible from ncurses
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5.0 through 5.8; very few applications will require
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recompilation, depending on the platform. These are the
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highlights from the change-log since ncurses 5.8 release.</p>
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<p>This is a bug-fix release, correcting a small number of urgent
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problems in the ncurses library from the 5.8 release.</p>
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<p>It also improves the Ada95 binding:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>fixes a longstanding portability problem with its use of
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the <a href=
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"http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/form_fieldtype.3x">set_field_type</a>
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function. Because that function uses variable-length argument
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lists, its interface with gnat does not work with certain
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platforms.</li>
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<li>improves configurability and portability, particularly when
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built separately from the main ncurses tree. The 5.8 release
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introduced scripts which can be used to construct separate
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tarballs for the Ada95 and ncurses examples.
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<p>Those were a proof of concept. For the 5.9 release, those
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scripts are augmented with rpm- and dpkg-scripts used in test
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builds against a variety of gnat- and system ncurses versions
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as old as gnat 3.15 and ncurses 5.4 (see snapshots and
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systems tested <a href=
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"http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-Ada95.html">here</a>.</p>
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</li>
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<li>additional improvements were made for portability of the
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ncurses examples, adding rpm- and dpkg-scripts for test-builds.
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See <a href=
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"http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-examples.html">this
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page</a> for snapshots and other information.</li>
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</ul>
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<h1>Features of Ncurses</h1>
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<p>The ncurses package is fully compatible with SVr4 (System V
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Release 4) curses:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>All 257 of the SVr4 calls have been implemented (and are
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documented).</li>
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<li>Full support for SVr4 curses features including keyboard
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mapping, color, forms-drawing with ACS characters, and
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automatic recognition of keypad and function keys.</li>
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<li>An emulation of the SVr4 panels library, supporting a stack
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of windows with backing store, is included.</li>
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<li>An emulation of the SVr4 menus library, supporting a
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uniform but flexible interface for menu programming, is
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included.</li>
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<li>An emulation of the SVr4 form library, supporting data
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collection through on-screen forms, is included.</li>
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<li>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.</li>
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<li>The utilities have options to allow you to filter terminfo
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entries for use with less capable
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<strong>curses</strong>/<strong>terminfo</strong> versions such
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as the HP/UX and AIX ports.</li>
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</ul>
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<p>The ncurses package also has many useful extensions over
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SVr4:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>The API is 8-bit clean and base-level conformant with the
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X/OPEN curses specification, XSI curses (that is, it implements
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all BASE level features, and most EXTENDED features). It
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includes many function calls not supported under SVr4 curses
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(but portability of all calls is documented so you can use the
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SVr4 subset only).</li>
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<li>Unlike SVr3 curses, ncurses can write to the
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rightmost-bottommost corner of the screen if your terminal has
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an insert-character capability.</li>
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<li>Ada95 and C++ bindings.</li>
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<li>Support for mouse event reporting with X Window xterm and
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FreeBSD and OS/2 console windows.</li>
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<li>Extended mouse support via Alessandro Rubini's gpm
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package.</li>
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<li>The function <code>wresize</code> allows you to resize
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windows, preserving their data.</li>
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<li>The function <code>use_default_colors</code> allows you to
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use the terminal's default colors for the default color pair,
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achieving the effect of transparent colors.</li>
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<li>The functions <code>keyok</code> and
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<code>define_key</code> allow you to better control the use of
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function keys, e.g., disabling the ncurses KEY_MOUSE, or by
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defining more than one control sequence to map to a given key
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code.</li>
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<li>Support for 256-color terminals, such as modern xterm, when
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configured using the <code>--enable-ext-colors</code>
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option.</li>
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<li>Support for 16-color terminals, such as <em>aixterm</em>
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and <em>modern xterm</em>.</li>
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<li>Better cursor-movement optimization. The package now
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features a cursor-local-movement computation more efficient
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than either BSD's or System V's.</li>
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<li>Super hardware scrolling support. The screen-update code
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incorporates a novel, simple, and cheap algorithm that enables
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it to make optimal use of hardware scrolling, line-insertion,
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and line-deletion for screen-line movements. This algorithm is
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more powerful than the 4.4BSD curses <code>quickch</code>
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routine.</li>
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<li>Real support for terminals with the magic-cookie glitch.
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The screen-update code will refrain from drawing a highlight if
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the magic- cookie unattributed spaces required just before the
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beginning and after the end would step on a non-space
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character. It will automatically shift highlight boundaries
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when doing so would make it possible to draw the highlight
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without changing the visual appearance of the screen.</li>
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<li>It is possible to generate the library with a list of
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pre-loaded fallback entries linked to it so that it can serve
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those terminal types even when no terminfo tree or termcap file
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is accessible (this may be useful for support of
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screen-oriented programs that must run in single-user
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mode).</li>
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<li>The tic(1)/captoinfo utility provided with ncurses has the
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ability to translate many termcaps from the XENIX, IBM and
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AT&T extension sets.</li>
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<li>A BSD-like tset(1) utility is provided.</li>
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<li>The ncurses library and utilities will automatically read
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terminfo entries from $HOME/.terminfo if it exists, and compile
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to that directory if it exists and the user has no write access
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to the system directory. This feature makes it easier for users
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to have personal terminfo entries without giving up access to
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the system terminfo directory.</li>
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<li>You may specify a path of directories to search for
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compiled descriptions with the environment variable
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TERMINFO_DIRS (this generalizes the feature provided by
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TERMINFO under stock System V.)</li>
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<li>In terminfo source files, use capabilities may refer not
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just to other entries in the same source file (as in System V)
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but also to compiled entries in either the system terminfo
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directory or the user's $HOME/.terminfo directory.</li>
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<li>A script (<strong>capconvert</strong>) is provided to help
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BSD users transition from termcap to terminfo. It gathers the
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information in a TERMCAP environment variable and/or a
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~/.termcap local entries file and converts it to an equivalent
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local terminfo tree under $HOME/.terminfo.</li>
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<li>Automatic fallback to the /etc/termcap file can be compiled
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in when it is not possible to build a terminfo tree. This
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feature is neither fast nor cheap, you don't want to use it
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unless you have to, but it's there.</li>
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<li>The table-of-entries utility <strong>toe</strong> makes it
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easy for users to see exactly what terminal types are available
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on the system.</li>
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<li>The library meets the XSI requirement that every macro
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entry point have a corresponding function which may be linked
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(and will be prototype-checked) if the macro definition is
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disabled with <code>#undef</code>.</li>
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<li>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.</li>
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</ul>
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<h1>State of the Package</h1>
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<p>Numerous bugs present in earlier versions have been fixed; the
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library is far more reliable than it used to be. Bounds checking
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in many `dangerous' entry points has been improved. The code is
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now type-safe according to gcc -Wall. The library has been
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checked for malloc leaks and arena corruption by the Purify
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memory-allocation tester.</p>
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<p>The ncurses code has been tested with a wide variety of
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applications including (versions starting with those noted):</p>
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<dl>
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<dt>cdk</dt>
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<dd>Curses Development Kit<br>
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<a href=
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"http://invisible-island.net/cdk/">http://invisible-island.net/cdk/</a><br>
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<a href=
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"http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/">http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/</a></dd>
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<dt>ded</dt>
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<dd>directory-editor<br>
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<a href=
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"http://invisible-island.net/ded/">http://invisible-island.net/ded/</a></dd>
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<dt>dialog</dt>
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<dd>the underlying application used in Slackware's setup, and
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the basis for similar applications on GNU/Linux.<br>
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<a href=
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"http://invisible-island.net/dialog/">http://invisible-island.net/dialog/</a></dd>
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<dt>lynx</dt>
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<dd>the character-screen WWW browser<br>
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<a href=
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"http://lynx.isc.org/release/">http://lynx.isc.org/release/</a></dd>
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<dt>Midnight Commander</dt>
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<dd>file manager<br>
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<a href=
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"http://www.midnight-commander.org/">http://www.midnight-commander.org/</a></dd>
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<dt>mutt</dt>
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<dd>mail utility<br>
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<a href="http://www.mutt.org/">http://www.mutt.org/</a></dd>
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<dt>ncftp</dt>
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<dd>file-transfer utility<br>
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<a href="http://www.ncftp.com/">http://www.ncftp.com/</a></dd>
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<dt>nvi</dt>
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<dd>New vi versions 1.50 are able to use ncurses versions 1.9.7
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and later.<br>
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<a href=
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"https://sites.google.com/a/bostic.com/keithbostic/nvi">https://sites.google.com/a/bostic.com/keithbostic/nvi</a><br>
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</dd>
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<dt>pinfo</dt>
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<dd>Lynx-like info browser. <a href=
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"https://alioth.debian.org/projects/pinfo/">https://alioth.debian.org/projects/pinfo/</a></dd>
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<dt>tin</dt>
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<dd>newsreader, supporting color, MIME <a href=
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"http://www.tin.org/">http://www.tin.org/</a></dd>
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</dl>
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<p>as well as some that use ncurses for the terminfo support
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alone:</p>
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<dl>
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<dt>minicom</dt>
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<dd>terminal emulator<br>
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<a href=
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"http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/">http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/</a></dd>
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<dt>vile</dt>
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<dd>vi-like-emacs<br>
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<a href=
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"http://invisible-island.net/vile/">http://invisible-island.net/vile/</a></dd>
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</dl>
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<p>The ncurses distribution includes a selection of test programs
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(including a few games).</p>
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<h2>Who's Who and What's What</h2>
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<p>Zeyd Ben-Halim started it from a previous package pcurses,
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written by Pavel Curtis. Eric S. Raymond continued development.
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Jürgen Pfeifer wrote most of the form and menu libraries.
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Ongoing work is being done by <a href=
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"mailto:dickey@invisible-island.net">Thomas Dickey</a>. Thomas
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Dickey acts as the maintainer for the Free Software Foundation,
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which holds the copyright on ncurses. Contact the current
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maintainers at <a href=
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"mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">bug-ncurses@gnu.org</a>.</p>
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<p>To join the ncurses mailing list, please write email to
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<code>bug-ncurses-request@gnu.org</code> containing the line:</p>
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<pre>
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subscribe <name>@<host.domain>
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</pre>
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<p>This list is open to anyone interested in helping with the
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development and testing of this package.</p>
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<p>Beta versions of ncurses and patches to the current release
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are made available at <a href=
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"ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/">ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/</a> .</p>
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<p>There is an archive of the mailing list here:</p>
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<p><a href=
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"http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-ncurses">http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-ncurses</a>
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(also <a href=
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"https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-ncurses">https</a>)</p>
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<h2>Future Plans</h2>
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<ul>
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<li>Extended-level XPG4 conformance, with internationalization
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support.</li>
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<li>Ports to more systems, including DOS and Windows.</li>
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</ul>
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<p>We need people to help with these projects. If you are
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interested in working on them, please join the ncurses list.</p>
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<h2>Other Related Resources</h2>
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<p>The distribution provides a newer version of the
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terminfo-format terminal description file once maintained by
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<a href="http://www.catb.org/~esr/terminfo/">Eric
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Raymond</a> . Unlike the older version, the termcap and
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terminfo data are provided in the same file, and provides several
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user-definable extensions beyond the X/Open specification.</p>
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<p>You can find lots of information on terminal-related topics
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not covered in the terminfo file at <a href=
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"http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal">
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Richard Shuford's archive</a> .</p>
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</body>
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</html>
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