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+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 3.0//EN">
+<!--
+ $Id: announce.html.in,v 1.53 2004/01/18 01:27:26 tom Exp $
+-->
+<HTML>
+<HEAD>
+<TITLE>Announcing ncurses @VERSION@</TITLE>
+<link rev=made href="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
+</HEAD>
+<BODY>
+
+<H1>Announcing ncurses @VERSION@</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 is encouraging the keepers of
+Unix releases such as BSD/OS, freeBSD and netBSD to switch over to
+ncurses.<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>
+
+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>
+
+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>&nbsp;.
+<br>It is also available at
+<A HREF="ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/">ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/</A>&nbsp;.
+
+<H1>Release Notes</H1>
+
+This release is designed to be upward compatible from ncurses 5.0 and 5.3;
+very few applications will require recompilation, depending on the platform.
+These are the highlights from the change-log since ncurses 5.3 release.
+<p>
+Interface changes:
+<ul>
+ <li>add the remaining functions for X/Open curses wide-character
+ support.
+ <ul>
+ <li>pecho_wchar()
+ <li>slk_wset()
+ </ul>
+ These are only available if the library is configured using the
+ <kbd>--enable-widec</kbd> option.
+
+ <li>write <code>getyx()</code> and related 2-return macros in terms of
+ <code>getcury()</code>,
+ <code>getcurx()</code>, etc.
+
+ <li>simplify ifdef for <code>bool</code> declaration in curses.h
+
+ <li>modify ifdef's in curses.h that disabled use of
+ <code>__attribute__()</code> for g++, since recent versions
+ implement the cases which ncurses uses.
+
+ <li>add <code>key_defined()</code> function, to tell which keycode a
+ string is bound to.
+</ul>
+New features and improvements:
+<ul>
+ <li>library
+ <ul>
+ <li>implement logic in lib_mouse.c to handle position reports which
+ are generated when XFree86 xterm is initialized with private
+ modes 1002 or 1003. These are returned to the application as the
+ REPORT_MOUSE_POSITION mask, which was not implemented.
+ <li>modify soft-key initialization to use A_REVERSE if A_STANDOUT
+ would not be shown when colors are used, i.e., if ncv#1 is set in
+ the terminfo as is done in "screen".
+ <li>add configure option for FreeBSD sysmouse, --with-sysmouse, and
+ implement library support for that.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>programs:
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>tack:
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>allow it to run from fallback terminfo data.
+ <li>reset colors after each color test, correct a place
+ where <code>exit_standout_mode</code> was used instead of
+ <code>exit_attribute_mode</code>.
+ <li>improve <code>bce</code> test by making it set colors other
+ than black on white.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>tic:
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>handle a case where an entry has no
+ description, and capabilities begin on the same line as the entry
+ name.
+ <li>allow a terminfo entry with a leading 2-character name.
+ <li>improved warnings when suppressing items to fit in termcap's
+ 1023-byte limit.
+ <li>add check for multiple "tc=" clauses in a termcap.
+ <li>correct logic for resolving "use=" clauses
+ allow infocmp and tic to show cancelled capabilities.
+ <li>check for incomplete line-drawing character mapping.
+ <li>check for missing/empty/illegal terminfo name.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>tput:
+ <ul>
+ <li>modify tput to use the same parameter analysis as tparm() does,
+ to provide for user-defined strings, e.g., for xterm title, a
+ corresponding capability might be
+ title=\E]2;%p1%s^G,
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>tset:
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>use the system's default values for CKILL and other default
+ control characters.
+ <li>correct interchanged defaults for kill and interrupt
+ characters, which caused it to report unnecessarily.
+ </ul>
+
+ </ul>
+</ul>
+Major bug fixes:
+<ul>
+ <li>prevent recursion in wgetch() via wgetnstr() if the connection
+ cannot be switched between cooked/raw modes because it is not a TTY.
+
+ <li>correct a case in _nc_remove_string(), used by
+ <code>define_key()</code>, to avoid infinite loop if the given string
+ happens to be a substring of other strings which are assigned to keys.
+
+ <li>modify logic of acsc to use the original character if no mapping is
+ defined, rather than a null.
+
+ <li>several improvements for handling multi-cell display of wide
+ characters.
+ <ul>
+ <li>modify setcchar() to allow converting control characters to complex
+ characters.
+ <li>correct handling of multibyte characters in waddch_literal() which
+ force wrapping because they are started too late on the line.
+ <li>modify setcchar() to allow for wchar_t input strings that have
+ more than one spacing character.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>other fixes for wide-character support:
+ <ul>
+ <li>rewrote lib_acs.c to allow PutAttrChar() to decide how to render
+ alternate-characters, i.e., to work with Linux console and UTF-8
+ locale.
+ <li>implement a workaround so that line-drawing works with screen's
+ crippled UTF-8 support (tested with 3.9.13). This only works with
+ the wide-character support (--enable-widec); the normal library
+ will simply suppress line-drawing when running in a UTF-8 locale in
+ screen.
+ <li>corrections to lib_get_wstr.c:
+ <ul>
+ <li>null-terminate buffer passed to setcchar(), which occasionally
+ failed.
+ <li>map special characters such as erase- and kill-characters into
+ key-codes so those will work as expected even if they are not
+ mentioned in the terminfo.
+ </ul>
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>modify <code>setupterm()</code> to check if the terminfo and
+ terminal-modes have already been read. This ensures that it does not
+ reinvoke <code>def_prog_mode()</code> when an application calls more
+ than one function, such as <code>tgetent()</code> and
+ <code>initscr()</code>.
+
+ <li>fix form_driver() cases for REQ_CLR_EOF, REQ_CLR_EOL, REQ_DEL_CHAR,
+ REQ_DEL_PREV and REQ_NEW_LINE, which did not ensure the cursor was at
+ the editing position before making modifications.
+
+ <li>correct <code>keybound()</code>, which reported definitions in the
+ wrong table, i.e., the list of definitions which are disabled by
+ <code>keyok()</code>.
+
+ <li>fixes related to safe_sprintf.c:
+ <ul>
+ <li>correct an allocation size in safe_sprintf.c for the "*" format
+ code.
+ <li>correct safe_sprintf.c to not return a null pointer if the format
+ happens to be an empty string.
+ <li>make return value from _nc_printf_string() consistent. Before,
+ depending on whether --enable-safe-sprintf was used, it might not
+ be cached for reallocating.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>other low-level improvements to the optimization code include:
+ <ul>
+ <li>if the output is a socket or other non-tty device, use 1
+ millisecond
+ for the cost in mvcur; previously it was 9 milliseconds because the
+ baudrate was not known.
+ <li>modify lib_getch.c to avoid recursion via wgetnstr() when the
+ input
+ is not a tty and consequently mode-changes do not work.
+ <li>fix several places in tack/pad.c which tested and used the
+ parameter- and parameterless strings inconsistently.
+ <li>change several tputs() calls in scrolling code to use putp(), to
+ enable padding which may be needed for some terminals.
+ <li>improve mvcur() by checking if it is safe to move when video
+ attributes are set (msgr), and if not, reset/restore attributes
+ within that function rather than doing it separately in the GoTo()
+ function in tty_update.c.
+ <li>use tputs() rather than putp() in a few cases in tty_update.c
+ since the corresponding delays are proportional to the number of
+ lines affected: repeat_char, clr_eos, change_scroll_region.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>correct line/column reference in adjust_window(), needed to make
+ special windows such as curscr track properly when resizing.
+
+ <li>fix a potential recursion between napms() and _nc_timed_wait()
+
+ <li>rewrote lib_insch.c, combining it with lib_insstr.c so both handle
+ tab and other control characters consistently.
+
+ <li>do not try to open gpm mouse driver if standard output is not a
+ tty; the gpm library does not make this check.
+</ul>
+
+Portability:
+<ul>
+ <li>configure script:
+ <ul>
+ <li>new options:
+ <dl>
+ <dt>--with-abi-version option.
+ <dd>addresses platforms where packagers have diverged from
+ ncurses ABI numbering.
+ <dt>--with-manpage-format=catonly
+ <dd>addresses
+ behavior of BSDI, allow install of man+cat files on NetBSD,
+ whose behavior has diverged by requiring both to be present.
+ <dt>--with-manpage-aliases
+ <dd>extends
+ "--with-manpage-aliases" to provide the option of generating
+ ".so" files rather than symbolic links for manpage aliases.
+ <dt>--with-rel-version
+ <dd>workaround to force
+ libtool on Darwin generate the "same" library names as with
+ the "--with-shared" option. The Darwin ld program does not
+ work well with a zero as the minor-version value.
+ <dt>--with-trace
+ <dd>simplifies defining TRACE to incorporate trace() in libraries.
+ </dl>
+
+ <li>fixes/improvements for cross-compiling:
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>allow BUILD_CC and related configure script variables to be
+ overridden from the environment.
+ <li>use AC_CHECK_TOOL to get proper values for AR and LD for cross
+ compiling.
+ <li>use <code>$cross_compiling</code> variable in configure script
+ rather than comparing <code>$host_alias</code> and
+ <code>$target</code> alias, since "host" is traditionally misused
+ in autoconf to refer to the target platform.
+ <li>modify run_tic.in to avoid using wrong shared libraries when
+ cross-compiling.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>fixes for Mac OS X:
+ <ul>
+ <li>fix a redefinition of <code>$RANLIB</code> in the configure
+ script when libtool is used.
+ <li>modify MKlib_gen.sh to avoid passing "#" tokens through the C
+ preprocessor. This works around Mac OS X's preprocessor, which
+ insists on adding a blank on each side of the token.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>workarounds for broken tools:
+ <ul>
+ <li>add configure check for wchar_t and wint_t types, rather than
+ rely on preprocessor definitions. Also work around for gcc
+ <code>fixinclude</code> bug which creates a shadow copy of
+ curses.h if it sees these symbols apparently typedef'd.
+ <li>modify configure script to omit -Winline for gcc 3.3, since
+ that feature is broken.
+ <li>several script fixes to work around the ironically named
+ <em>POSIXLY_CORRECT</em> feature of GNU sed 4.0.
+ <li>modify configure script to avoid using "head -1", which does
+ not work if POSIXLY_CORRECT (sic) is set.
+ <li>update configure script to reflect fix for
+ AC_PROG_GCC_TRADITIONAL, which is broken in autoconf 2.5x for Mac
+ OS X 10.2.3.
+ <li>repair check for missing C++ compiler, which is broken in
+ autoconf 2.5x by hardcoding it to g++.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>corrected ifdef's relating to configure check for wchar_t, etc.
+ <li>remove configure script check to allow -Wconversion for older
+ versions of gcc
+ <li>modify configure script to accommodate libtool 1.5, as well as
+ add an parameter to the "--with-libtool" option which can specify
+ the pathname of libtool.
+ <li>change several sed scripts to avoid using "\+" since it is not a
+ BRE (basic regular expression). One instance caused terminfo.5 to
+ be misformatted on FreeBSD.
+ <li>use '%' as sed substitute delimiter in run_tic script to avoid
+ problems with pathname delimiters such as ':' and '@'.
+ <li>add -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=500 if needed when configuring with
+ "--enable-widec", to get <code>mbstate_t</code> declaration on HPUX
+ 11.11.
+ </ul>
+
+ <li>library:
+ <ul>
+ <li>adjust include-options in CF_ETIP_DEFINES to avoid missing
+ ncurses_dll.h, fixing special definitions that may be needed for
+ etip.h.
+ <li>modify CF_LIB_SUFFIX for Itanium releases of HP-UX, which use a
+ ".so" suffix.
+ <li>improve ifdef's to guard against redefinition of wchar_t and wint_t
+ in curses.h.
+ <li>remove an #undef for KEY_EVENT from curses.tail used in the
+ experimental NCURSES_WGETCH_EVENTS feature. The #undef confuses
+ Debian <code>dpkg</code>'s build script.
+ </ul>
+</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>Full support for SVr4 curses features including keyboard mapping, color,
+forms-drawing with ACS characters, and automatic recognition of keypad
+and function keys.
+<LI>An emulation of the SVr4 panels library, supporting
+a stack of windows with backing store, is included.
+<LI>An emulation of the SVr4 menus library, supporting
+a uniform but flexible interface for menu programming, is included.
+<LI>An emulation of the SVr4 form library, supporting
+data collection through on-screen forms, is included.
+<LI>Binary terminfo entries generated by the ncurses tic(1) implementation
+are bit-for-bit-compatible with the entry format SVr4 curses uses.
+<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.</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,
+but not all EXTENDED features). Most EXTENDED-level features not directly
+concerned with wide-character support are implemented, including many
+function calls not supported under SVr4 curses (but portability of all
+calls is documented so you can use the SVr4 subset only).
+<LI>Unlike SVr3 curses, ncurses can write to the rightmost-bottommost corner
+of the screen if your terminal has an insert-character capability.
+<LI>Ada95 and C++ bindings.
+<LI>Support for mouse event reporting with X Window xterm and OS/2 console windows.
+<LI>Extended mouse support via Alessandro Rubini's gpm package.
+<LI>The function <CODE>wresize()</CODE> allows you to resize windows, preserving
+their data.
+<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>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>Support for 16-color terminals, such as aixterm and XFree86 xterm.
+<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>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 quickch() routine.
+<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>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>The tic(1)/captoinfo utility provided with ncurses has the
+ability to translate many termcaps from the XENIX, IBM and
+AT&amp;T extension sets.
+<LI>A BSD-like tset(1) utility is provided.
+<LI>The ncurses library and utilities will automatically read terminfo
+entries from $HOME/.terminfo if it exists, and compile to that directory
+if it exists and the user has no write access to the system directory.
+This feature makes it easier for users to have personal terminfo entries
+without giving up access to the system terminfo directory.
+<LI>You may specify a path of directories to search for compiled
+descriptions with the environment variable TERMINFO_DIRS (this
+generalizes the feature provided by TERMINFO under stock System V.)
+<LI>In terminfo source files, use capabilities may refer not just to
+other entries in the same source file (as in System V) but also to
+compiled entries in either the system terminfo directory or the user's
+$HOME/.terminfo directory.
+<LI>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>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>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>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>An HTML "Introduction to Programming with NCURSES" document provides
+a narrative introduction to the curses programming interface.
+</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):
+<DL>
+<DT> cdk
+<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>
+<DT> ded
+<DD> directory-editor
+<br>
+<A HREF="http://invisible-island.net/ded/">http://invisible-island.net/ded/</A>
+<DT> dialog
+<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>
+<DT> lynx
+<DD> the character-screen WWW browser
+<br>
+<A HREF="http://lynx.isc.org/release/">http://lynx.isc.org/release/</A>
+<DT> Midnight Commander
+<DD> file manager
+<br>
+<A HREF="http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/">http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/</A>
+<DT> mutt
+<DD> mail utility
+<br>
+<A HREF="http://www.mutt.org/">http://www.mutt.org/</A>
+<DT> ncftp
+<DD> file-transfer utility
+<br>
+<A HREF="http://www.ncftp.com/">http://www.ncftp.com/</A>
+<DT> nvi
+<DD> New vi versions 1.50 are able to use ncurses versions 1.9.7 and later.
+<br>
+<A HREF="http://www.bostic.com/vi/">http://www.bostic.com/vi/</A>
+<br>
+<DT> pinfo
+<DD> Lynx-like info browser.
+<A HREF="http://dione.ids.pl/~pborys/software/pinfo/">http://dione.ids.pl/~pborys/software/pinfo/</A>
+<DT> tin
+<DD> newsreader, supporting color, MIME
+<A HREF="http://www.tin.org/">http://www.tin.org/</A>
+<DT> vh-1.6
+<DD> Volks-Hypertext browser for the Jargon File
+<br>
+<A HREF="http://www.debian.org/Packages/unstable/text/vh.html">http://www.debian.org/Packages/unstable/text/vh.html</A>
+</DL>
+as well as some that use ncurses for the terminfo support alone:
+<DL>
+<DT> minicom
+<DD> terminal emulator
+<br>
+<A HREF="http://www.netsonic.fi/~walker/minicom.html">http://www.netsonic.fi/~walker/minicom.html</A>
+<DT> vile
+<DD> vi-like-emacs
+<br>
+<A HREF="http://invisible-island.net/vile/">http://invisible-island.net/vile/</A>
+</DL>
+<P>
+
+The ncurses distribution includes a selection of test programs (including
+a few games).
+
+<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.
+J&uuml;rgen 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:
+<PRE>
+ subscribe &lt;name&gt;@&lt;host.domain&gt;
+</PRE>
+
+This list is open to anyone interested in helping with the development and
+testing of this package.<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>&nbsp;.
+
+<H2>Future Plans</H2>
+<UL>
+<LI>Extended-level XPG4 conformance, with internationalization support.
+<LI>Ports to more systems, including DOS and Windows.
+</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 maintained by
+<A HREF="http://www.catb.org/~esr/terminfo/">Eric Raymond</A>&nbsp;.
+Unlike the older version, the termcap and terminfo data are provided
+in the same file.<P>
+
+You can find lots of information on terminal-related topics
+not covered in the terminfo file at
+<A HREF="http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal_index.html">Richard Shuford's
+archive</A>&nbsp;.
+</BODY>
+</HTML>
+<!--
+# The following sets edit modes for GNU EMACS
+# Local Variables:
+# mode:html
+# case-fold-search:nil
+# fill-column:70
+# End:
+-->