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diff --git a/ncurses-5.9/doc/html/announce.html b/ncurses-5.9/doc/html/announce.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..55e104b --- /dev/null +++ b/ncurses-5.9/doc/html/announce.html @@ -0,0 +1,389 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<!-- + $Id$ + **************************************************************************** + * Copyright (c) 1998-2010,2011 Free Software Foundation, Inc. * + * * + * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a * + * copy of this software and associated documentation files (the * + * "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including * + * without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, * + * distribute, distribute with modifications, sublicense, and/or sell * + * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is * + * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: * + * * + * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included * + * in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. * + * * + * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS * + * OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF * + * MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. * + * IN NO EVENT SHALL THE ABOVE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, * + * DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR * + * OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR * + * THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. * + * * + * Except as contained in this notice, the name(s) of the above copyright * + * holders shall not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the * + * sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written * + * authorization. * + **************************************************************************** +--> + +<html> +<head> + <meta name="generator" content= + "HTML Tidy for Linux/x86 (vers 6 November 2007), see www.w3.org"> + + <title>Announcing ncurses 5.9</title> + <link rev="made" href="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org"> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= + "text/html; charset=us-ascii"> +</head> + +<body> + <h1>Announcing ncurses 5.9</h1>The ncurses (new curses) + library is a free software emulation of curses in System V + Release 4.0, and more. It uses terminfo format, supports pads and + color and multiple highlights and forms characters and + function-key mapping, and has all the other SYSV-curses + enhancements over BSD curses. + + <p>In mid-June 1995, the maintainer of 4.4BSD curses declared + that he considered 4.4BSD curses obsolete, and encouraged the + keepers of Unix releases such as BSD/OS, FreeBSD and NetBSD to + switch over to ncurses.</p> + + <p>The ncurses code was developed under GNU/Linux. It has been in + use for some time with OpenBSD as the system curses library, and + on FreeBSD and NetBSD as an external package. It should port + easily to any ANSI/POSIX-conforming UNIX. It has even been ported + to OS/2 Warp!</p> + + <p>The distribution includes the library and support utilities, + including a terminfo compiler tic(1), a decompiler infocmp(1), + clear(1), tput(1), tset(1), and a termcap conversion tool + captoinfo(1). Full manual pages are provided for the library and + tools.</p> + + <p>The ncurses distribution is available via anonymous FTP at the + GNU distribution site <a href= + "ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/">ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/</a> .<br> + + It is also available at <a href= + "ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/">ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/</a> .</p> + + <h1>Release Notes</h1>This release is designed to be upward + compatible from ncurses 5.0 through 5.8; very few applications + will require recompilation, depending on the platform. These are + the highlights from the change-log since ncurses 5.8 release. + <p> + This is a bug-fix release, correcting a small number of urgent problems + in the ncurses library from the 5.8 release. + <p> + It also improves the Ada95 binding: + <ul> + <li>fixes a longstanding portability problem with its use of the + <a href="http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/man/form_fieldtype.3x">set_field_type</a> + function. Because that function uses variable-length argument lists, + its interface with gnat does not work with certain platforms. + <li>improves configurability and portability, particularly when built + separately from the main ncurses tree. The 5.8 release introduced + scripts which can be used to construct separate tarballs for the + Ada95 and ncurses examples. + <p>Those were a proof of concept. For the 5.9 release, those + scripts are augmented with rpm- and dpkg-scripts used in test builds + against a variety of gnat- and system ncurses versions as old as + gnat 3.15 and ncurses 5.4 (see snapshots and systems tested + <a href="http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-Ada95.html">here</a>. + <li>additional improvements were made for portability of the + ncurses examples, adding rpm- and dpkg-scripts for test-builds. + See + <a href="http://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-examples.html">this page</a> + for snapshots and other information. + </ul> + + <h1>Features of Ncurses</h1>The ncurses package is fully + compatible with SVr4 (System V Release 4) curses: + + <ul> + <li>All 257 of the SVr4 calls have been implemented (and are + documented).</li> + + <li>Full support for SVr4 curses features including keyboard + mapping, color, forms-drawing with ACS characters, and + automatic recognition of keypad and function keys.</li> + + <li>An emulation of the SVr4 panels library, supporting a stack + of windows with backing store, is included.</li> + + <li>An emulation of the SVr4 menus library, supporting a + uniform but flexible interface for menu programming, is + included.</li> + + <li>An emulation of the SVr4 form library, supporting data + collection through on-screen forms, is included.</li> + + <li>Binary terminfo entries generated by the ncurses tic(1) + implementation are bit-for-bit-compatible with the entry format + SVr4 curses uses.</li> + + <li>The utilities have options to allow you to filter terminfo + entries for use with less capable + <strong>curses</strong>/<strong>terminfo</strong> versions such + as the HP/UX and AIX ports.</li> + </ul>The ncurses package also has many useful extensions over + SVr4: + + <ul> + <li>The API is 8-bit clean and base-level conformant with the + X/OPEN curses specification, XSI curses (that is, it implements + all BASE level features, and most EXTENDED features). It + includes many function calls not supported under SVr4 curses + (but portability of all calls is documented so you can use the + SVr4 subset only).</li> + + <li>Unlike SVr3 curses, ncurses can write to the + rightmost-bottommost corner of the screen if your terminal has + an insert-character capability.</li> + + <li>Ada95 and C++ bindings.</li> + + <li>Support for mouse event reporting with X Window xterm and + FreeBSD and OS/2 console windows.</li> + + <li>Extended mouse support via Alessandro Rubini's gpm + package.</li> + + <li>The function <code>wresize</code> allows you to resize + windows, preserving their data.</li> + + <li>The function <code>use_default_colors</code> allows you to + use the terminal's default colors for the default color pair, + achieving the effect of transparent colors.</li> + + <li>The functions <code>keyok</code> and + <code>define_key</code> allow you to better control the use of + function keys, e.g., disabling the ncurses KEY_MOUSE, or by + defining more than one control sequence to map to a given key + code.</li> + + <li>Support for 256-color terminals, such as modern xterm, when + configured using the <code>--enable-ext-colors</code> + option.</li> + + <li>Support for 16-color terminals, such as <em>aixterm</em> + and <em>modern xterm</em>.</li> + + <li>Better cursor-movement optimization. The package now + features a cursor-local-movement computation more efficient + than either BSD's or System V's.</li> + + <li>Super hardware scrolling support. The screen-update code + incorporates a novel, simple, and cheap algorithm that enables + it to make optimal use of hardware scrolling, line-insertion, + and line-deletion for screen-line movements. This algorithm is + more powerful than the 4.4BSD curses <code>quickch</code> + routine.</li> + + <li>Real support for terminals with the magic-cookie glitch. + The screen-update code will refrain from drawing a highlight if + the magic- cookie unattributed spaces required just before the + beginning and after the end would step on a non-space + character. It will automatically shift highlight boundaries + when doing so would make it possible to draw the highlight + without changing the visual appearance of the screen.</li> + + <li>It is possible to generate the library with a list of + pre-loaded fallback entries linked to it so that it can serve + those terminal types even when no terminfo tree or termcap file + is accessible (this may be useful for support of + screen-oriented programs that must run in single-user + mode).</li> + + <li>The tic(1)/captoinfo utility provided with ncurses has the + ability to translate many termcaps from the XENIX, IBM and + AT&T extension sets.</li> + + <li>A BSD-like tset(1) utility is provided.</li> + + <li>The ncurses library and utilities will automatically read + terminfo entries from $HOME/.terminfo if it exists, and compile + to that directory if it exists and the user has no write access + to the system directory. This feature makes it easier for users + to have personal terminfo entries without giving up access to + the system terminfo directory.</li> + + <li>You may specify a path of directories to search for + compiled descriptions with the environment variable + TERMINFO_DIRS (this generalizes the feature provided by + TERMINFO under stock System V.)</li> + + <li>In terminfo source files, use capabilities may refer not + just to other entries in the same source file (as in System V) + but also to compiled entries in either the system terminfo + directory or the user's $HOME/.terminfo directory.</li> + + <li>A script (<strong>capconvert</strong>) is provided to help + BSD users transition from termcap to terminfo. It gathers the + information in a TERMCAP environment variable and/or a + ~/.termcap local entries file and converts it to an equivalent + local terminfo tree under $HOME/.terminfo.</li> + + <li>Automatic fallback to the /etc/termcap file can be compiled + in when it is not possible to build a terminfo tree. This + feature is neither fast nor cheap, you don't want to use it + unless you have to, but it's there.</li> + + <li>The table-of-entries utility <strong>toe</strong> makes it + easy for users to see exactly what terminal types are available + on the system.</li> + + <li>The library meets the XSI requirement that every macro + entry point have a corresponding function which may be linked + (and will be prototype-checked) if the macro definition is + disabled with <code>#undef</code>.</li> + + <li>An HTML "Introduction to Programming with NCURSES" document + provides a narrative introduction to the curses programming + interface.</li> + </ul> + + <h1>State of the Package</h1>Numerous bugs present in earlier + versions have been fixed; the library is far more reliable than + it used to be. Bounds checking in many `dangerous' entry points + has been improved. The code is now type-safe according to gcc + -Wall. The library has been checked for malloc leaks and arena + corruption by the Purify memory-allocation tester. + + <p>The ncurses code has been tested with a wide variety of + applications including (versions starting with those noted):</p> + + <dl> + <dt>cdk</dt> + + <dd>Curses Development Kit<br> + <a href= + "http://invisible-island.net/cdk/">http://invisible-island.net/cdk/</a><br> + + <a href= + "http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/">http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/</a></dd> + + <dt>ded</dt> + + <dd>directory-editor<br> + <a href= + "http://invisible-island.net/ded/">http://invisible-island.net/ded/</a></dd> + + <dt>dialog</dt> + + <dd>the underlying application used in Slackware's setup, and + the basis for similar applications on GNU/Linux.<br> + <a href= + "http://invisible-island.net/dialog/">http://invisible-island.net/dialog/</a></dd> + + <dt>lynx</dt> + + <dd>the character-screen WWW browser<br> + <a href= + "http://lynx.isc.org/release/">http://lynx.isc.org/release/</a></dd> + + <dt>Midnight Commander</dt> + + <dd>file manager<br> + <a href= + "http://www.midnight-commander.org/">http://www.midnight-commander.org/</a></dd> + + <dt>mutt</dt> + + <dd>mail utility<br> + <a href="http://www.mutt.org/">http://www.mutt.org/</a></dd> + + <dt>ncftp</dt> + + <dd>file-transfer utility<br> + <a href="http://www.ncftp.com/">http://www.ncftp.com/</a></dd> + + <dt>nvi</dt> + + <dd>New vi versions 1.50 are able to use ncurses versions 1.9.7 + and later.<br> + <a href= + "https://sites.google.com/a/bostic.com/keithbostic/nvi">https://sites.google.com/a/bostic.com/keithbostic/nvi</a><br> + </dd> + + <dt>pinfo</dt> + + <dd>Lynx-like info browser. <a href= + "https://alioth.debian.org/projects/pinfo/">https://alioth.debian.org/projects/pinfo/</a></dd> + + <dt>tin</dt> + + <dd>newsreader, supporting color, MIME <a href= + "http://www.tin.org/">http://www.tin.org/</a></dd> + </dl>as well as some that use ncurses for the terminfo support + alone: + + <dl> + <dt>minicom</dt> + + <dd>terminal emulator<br> + <a href= + "http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/">http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/</a></dd> + + <dt>vile</dt> + + <dd>vi-like-emacs<br> + <a href= + "http://invisible-island.net/vile/">http://invisible-island.net/vile/</a></dd> + </dl> + + <p>The ncurses distribution includes a selection of test programs + (including a few games).</p> + + <h2>Who's Who and What's What</h2>Zeyd Ben-Halim started it from + a previous package pcurses, written by Pavel Curtis. Eric S. + Raymond continued development. Jürgen Pfeifer wrote most of + the form and menu libraries. Ongoing work is being done by + <a href="mailto:dickey@invisible-island.net">Thomas Dickey</a>. + Thomas Dickey acts as the maintainer for the Free Software + Foundation, which holds the copyright on ncurses. Contact the + current maintainers at <a href= + "mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">bug-ncurses@gnu.org</a>. + + <p>To join the ncurses mailing list, please write email to + <code>bug-ncurses-request@gnu.org</code> containing the line:</p> + <pre> + subscribe <name>@<host.domain> +</pre> + + <p>This list is open to anyone interested in helping with the + development and testing of this package.</p> + + <p>Beta versions of ncurses and patches to the current release + are made available at <a href= + "ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/">ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/</a> .</p> + + <h2>Future Plans</h2> + + <ul> + <li>Extended-level XPG4 conformance, with internationalization + support.</li> + + <li>Ports to more systems, including DOS and Windows.</li> + </ul>We need people to help with these projects. If you are + interested in working on them, please join the ncurses list. + + <h2>Other Related Resources</h2>The distribution provides a newer + version of the terminfo-format terminal description file once + maintained by <a href="http://www.catb.org/~esr/terminfo/">Eric + Raymond</a> . Unlike the older version, the termcap and + terminfo data are provided in the same file, and provides several + user-definable extensions beyond the X/Open specification. + + <p>You can find lots of information on terminal-related topics + not covered in the terminfo file at <a href= + "http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal"> + Richard Shuford's archive</a> .</p> +</body> +</html> |