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| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| -- $Id: README,v 1.25 2012/08/11 20:11:26 tom Exp $ |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| README file for the ncurses package |
| |
| See the file ANNOUNCE for a summary of ncurses features and ports. |
| See the file INSTALL for instructions on how to build and install ncurses. |
| See the file NEWS for a release history and bug-fix notes. |
| See the file TO-DO for things that still need doing, including known bugs. |
| |
| Browse the file misc/ncurses-intro.html for narrative descriptions of how |
| to use ncurses and the panel, menu, and form libraries. |
| |
| Browse the file doc/html/hackguide.html for a tour of the package internals. |
| |
| ROADMAP AND PACKAGE OVERVIEW: |
| |
| You should be reading this file in a directory called: ncurses-d.d, where d.d |
| is the current version number (see the dist.mk file in this directory for |
| that). There should be a number of subdirectories, including `c++', `form', |
| `man', `menu', `misc', `ncurses', `panel', `progs', `test', 'tack' and `Ada95'. |
| (The 'tack' program may be distributed separately). |
| |
| A full build/install of this package typically installs several libraries, a |
| handful of utilities, and a database hierarchy. Here is an inventory of the |
| pieces: |
| |
| The libraries are: |
| |
| libncurses.a (normal) |
| libncurses.so (shared) |
| libncurses_g.a (debug and trace code enabled) |
| libncurses_p.a (profiling enabled) |
| |
| libpanel.a (normal) |
| libpanel.so (shared) |
| libpanel_g.a (debug and trace code enabled) |
| |
| libmenu.a (normal) |
| libmenu.so (shared) |
| libmenu_g.a (debug enabled) |
| |
| libform.a (normal) |
| libform.so (shared) |
| libform_g.a (debug enabled) |
| |
| If you configure using the --enable-widec option, a "w" is appended to the |
| library names (e.g., libncursesw.a), and the resulting libraries support |
| wide-characters, e.g., via a UTF-8 locale. The corresponding header files |
| are compatible with the non-wide-character configuration; wide-character |
| features are provided by ifdef's in the header files. The wide-character |
| library interfaces are not binary-compatible with the non-wide-character |
| version. |
| |
| If you configure using the --enable-reentrant option, a "t" is appended to the |
| library names (e.g., libncursest.a) and the resulting libraries have a |
| different binary interface which makes the ncurses interface more "opaque". |
| |
| The ncurses libraries implement the curses API. The panel, menu and forms |
| libraries implement clones of the SVr4 panel, menu and forms APIs. The source |
| code for these lives in the `ncurses', `panel', `menu', and `form' directories |
| respectively. |
| |
| In the `c++' directory, you'll find code that defines an interface to the |
| curses, forms, menus and panels library packaged as C++ classes, and a demo program in C++ |
| to test it. These class definition modules are not installed by the 'make |
| install.libs' rule as libncurses++. |
| |
| In the `Ada95' directory, you'll find code and documentation for an |
| Ada95 binding of the curses API, to be used with the GNAT compiler. |
| This binding is built by a normal top-level `make' if configure detects |
| an usable version of GNAT (3.11 or above). It is not installed automatically. |
| See the Ada95 directory for more build and installation instructions and |
| for documentation of the binding. |
| |
| To do its job, the ncurses code needs your terminal type to be set in the |
| environment variable TERM (normally set by your OS; under UNIX, getty(1) |
| typically does this, but you can override it in your .profile); and, it needs a |
| database of terminal descriptions in which to look up your terminal type's |
| capabilities. |
| |
| In older (V7/BSD) versions of curses, the database was a flat text file, |
| /etc/termcap; in newer (USG/USL) versions, the database is a hierarchy of |
| fast-loading binary description blocks under /usr/lib/terminfo. These binary |
| blocks are compiled from an improved editable text representation called |
| `terminfo' format (documented in man/terminfo.5). The ncurses library can use |
| either /etc/termcap or the compiled binary terminfo blocks, but prefers the |
| second form. |
| |
| In the `misc' directory, there is a text file terminfo.src, in editable |
| terminfo format, which can be used to generate the terminfo binaries (that's |
| what make install.data does). If the package was built with the |
| --enable-termcap option enabled, and the ncurses library cannot find a terminfo |
| description for your terminal, it will fall back to the termcap file supplied |
| with your system (which the ncurses package installation leaves strictly |
| alone). |
| |
| The utilities are as follows: |
| |
| tic -- terminfo source to binary compiler |
| infocmp -- terminfo binary to source decompiler/comparator |
| clear -- emits clear-screen for current terminal |
| tabs -- set tabs on a terminal |
| tput -- shell-script access to terminal capabilities. |
| toe -- table of entries utility |
| tset -- terminal-initialization utility |
| |
| The first two (tic and infocmp) are used for manipulating terminfo |
| descriptions; the next two (clear and tput) are for use in shell scripts. The |
| last (tset) is provided for 4.4BSD compatibility. The source code for all of |
| these lives in the `progs' directory. |
| |
| Detailed documentation for all libraries and utilities can be found in the |
| `man' and `doc' directories. An HTML introduction to ncurses, panels, and |
| menus programming lives in the `doc/html' directory. Manpages in HTML format |
| are under `doc/html/man'. |
| |
| The `test' directory contains programs that can be used to verify or |
| demonstrate the functions of the ncurses libraries. See test/README for |
| descriptions of these programs. Notably, the `ncurses' utility is designed to |
| help you systematically exercise the library functions. |
| |
| AUTHORS: |
| |
| Pavel Curtis: |
| wrote the original ncurses |
| |
| Zeyd M. Ben-Halim: |
| port of original to Linux and many enhancements. |
| |
| Thomas Dickey (maintainer for 1.9.9g through 4.1, resuming with FSF's 5.0): |
| configuration scripts, porting, mods to adhere to XSI Curses in the |
| areas of background color, terminal modes. Also memory leak testing, |
| the wresize, default colors and key definition extensions and numerous |
| bug fixes -- more than half of those enumerated in NEWS beginning with |
| the internal release 1.8.9, see |
| |
| http://invisible-island.net/personal/changelogs.html |
| |
| Florian La Roche (official maintainer for FSF's ncurses 4.2) |
| Beginning with release 4.2, ncurses is distributed under an MIT-style |
| license. |
| |
| Eric S. Raymond: |
| the man pages, infocmp(1), tput(1), clear(1), captoinfo(1), tset(1), |
| toe(1), most of tic(1), trace levels, the HTML intro, wgetnstr() and |
| many other entry points, the cursor-movement optimization, the |
| scroll-pack optimizer for vertical motions, the mouse interface and |
| xterm mouse support, and the ncurses test program. |
| |
| Juergen Pfeifer |
| The menu and form libraries, C++ bindings for ncurses, menus, forms and |
| panels, as well as the Ada95 binding. Ongoing support for panel. |
| |
| CONTRIBUTORS: |
| |
| Alexander V. Lukyanov |
| for numerous fixes and improvements to the optimization logic. |
| |
| David MacKenzie |
| for first-class bug-chasing and methodical testing. |
| |
| Ross Ridge |
| for the code that hacks termcap parameterized strings into terminfo. |
| |
| Warren Tucker and Gerhard Fuernkranz, |
| for writing and sending the panel library. |
| |
| Hellmuth Michaelis, |
| for many patches and testing the optimization code. |
| |
| Eric Newton, Ulrich Drepper, and Anatoly Ivasyuk: |
| the C++ code. |
| |
| Jonathan Ross, |
| for lessons in using sed. |
| |
| Keith Bostic (maintainer of 4.4BSD curses) |
| for help, criticism, comments, bug-finding, and being willing to |
| deep-six BSD curses for this one when it grew up. |
| |
| Richard Stallman, |
| for his commitment to making ncurses free software. |
| |
| Countless other people have contributed by reporting bugs, sending fixes, |
| suggesting improvements, and generally whining about ncurses :-) |
| |
| BUGS: |
| See the INSTALL file for bug and developer-list addresses. |
| The Hacker's Guide in the doc directory includes some guidelines |
| on how to report bugs in ways that will get them fixed most quickly. |
