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.
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.
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!
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.
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/ .
29 This release is designed to be upward compatible from ncurses 5.0
30 through 5.5; very few applications will require recompilation,
31 depending on the platform. These are the highlights from the
32 change-log since ncurses 5.5 release.
35 * generate linkable stubs for some macros:
36 getbegx, getbegy, getcurx, getcury, getmaxx, getmaxy, getparx,
41 New features and improvements:
43 + support hashed databases for the terminal descriptions. This
44 uses the Berkeley database, has been tested for several
45 versions on different platforms.
46 + add use_legacy_coding() function to support lynx's
47 font-switching feature.
48 + add extension nofilter(), to cancel a prior filter() call.
49 + add/install a package config script, e.g., ncurses5-config or
50 ncursesw5-config, according to configuration options.
51 + provide ifdef for NCURSES_NOMACROS which suppresses most
52 macro definitions from curses.h, i.e., where a macro is
53 defined to override a function to improve performance.
54 + make ifdef's consistent in curses.h for the extended colors
55 so the header file can be used for the normal curses library.
56 The header file installed for extended colors is a variation
57 of the wide-character configuration.
58 + improve tgetstr() by making the return value point into the
59 user's buffer, if provided.
60 + add ifdef's allowing ncurses to be built with tparm() using
61 either varargs (the existing status), or using a
62 fixed-parameter list (to match X/Open).
63 + widen the test for xterm kmous a little to allow for other
64 strings than "\E[M", e.g., for xterm-sco functionality in
66 + modify wgetnstr() to return KEY_RESIZE if a sigwinch occurs.
67 + move prototypes for wide-character trace functions from
68 curses.tail to curses.wide to avoid accidental reference to
69 those if _XOPEN_SOURCE_EXTENDED is defined without ensuring
70 that <wchar.h> is included.
71 + change the way shared libraries (other than libtool) are
72 installed. Rather than copying the build-tree's libraries,
73 link the shared objects into the install directory. This
74 makes the --with-rpath option work except with $(DESTDIR).
75 + several improvements for rendering in hpterm. These are only
76 available if the library is configured using
78 + Add NCURSES_NO_HARD_TABS and NCURSES_NO_MAGIC_COOKIE
79 environment variables to allow runtime suppression of the
80 related hard-tabs and xmc-glitch features.
82 + add new test programs: chgat.c, demo_altkeys.c, echochar.c,
83 foldkeys.c, movewindow.c, redraw.c, (noting that existing
84 test programs also were modified to test additional
86 + modify tack to test extended capability function-key strings.
87 + modify toe to access termcap data, e.g., via cgetent()
88 functions, or as a text file if those are not available.
89 + improve infocmp/tic -f option formatting.
90 + add toe -a option, to show all databases. This uses new
91 private interfaces in the ncurses library for iterating
92 through the list of databases.
93 + modify MKfallback.sh to use tic -x when constructing fallback
94 tables to allow extended capabilities to be retrieved from a
97 + add terminfo entries for xfce terminal (xfce) and multi gnome
99 + add nsterm-16color entry
100 + updated mlterm terminfo entry
101 + add kon, kon2 and jfbterm terminfo entry
102 + remove invis capability from klone+sgr, mainly used by linux
103 entry, since it does not really do this
104 + add ka2, kb1, kb3, kc2 to vt220-keypad as an extension
105 + add shifted up/down arrow codes to xterm-new as kind/kri
107 + add hpterm-color terminfo entry
108 + add 256color variants of terminfo entries for programs which
109 are reported to implement this feature
110 + correct order of use-clauses in rxvt-basic entry which made
111 codes for f1-f4 vt100-style rather than vt220-style.
114 * correct a typo in configure --with-bool option for the case where
115 --without-cxx is used.
116 * move assignment from environment variable ESCDELAY from initscr()
117 down to newterm() so the environment variable affects timeouts for
118 terminals opened with newterm() as well.
119 * modify werase to clear multicolumn characters that extend into a
121 * modify wchgat() to mark updated cells as changed so a refresh will
123 * correct logic in wadd_wch() and wecho_wch(), which did not guard
124 against passing the multi-column attribute into a call on
125 waddch(), e.g., using data returned by win_wch()
126 * fix redrawing of windows other than stdscr using wredrawln() by
127 touching the corresponding rows in curscr.
128 * reduce memory leaks in repeated calls to tgetent() by remembering
129 the last TERMINAL* value allocated to hold the corresponding data
130 and freeing that if the tgetent() result buffer is the same as the
132 * modify read_termtype() so the term_names data is always allocated
133 as part of the str_table, a better fix for a memory leak.
134 * fix wins_nwstr(), which did not handle single-column non-8bit
136 * modify wbkgrnd() to avoid clearing the A_CHARTEXT attribute bits
137 since those record the state of multicolumn characters.
138 * improve SIGWINCH handling by postponing its effect during
139 newterm(), etc., when allocating screens.
140 * remove 970913 feature for copying subwindows as they are moved in
142 * add checks in waddchnstr() and wadd_wchnstr() to stop copying when
143 a null character is found.
144 * add some checks to ensure current position is within scrolling
145 region before scrolling on a new line.
146 * add a workaround to ACS mapping to allow applications such as
147 test/blue.c to use the "PC ROM" characters by masking them with
148 A_ALTCHARSET. This worked up til 5.5, but was lost in the revision
156 Use Berkeley hashed database for storing terminfo
157 data rather than storing each compiled entry in a
158 separate binary file within a directory tree.
161 Do not use dlsym() to load GPM dynamically.
164 Simplify building for testing with valgrind.
166 --enable-wgetch-events
167 Compile with experimental wgetch-events code.
170 Store booleans in "signed char" rather than "char".
175 make the option work both ways.
178 The option now accepts a parameter, i.e., the name
179 of the dynamic GPM library to load via dlopen()
182 The option now allows one to disable symlink() in
183 tic even when link() does not work.
185 * other configure/build issues:
186 + remove special case for Darwin in CF_XOPEN_SOURCE configure
188 + add configure check to ensure that SIGWINCH is defined on
189 platforms such as OS X which exclude that when _XOPEN_SOURCE,
191 + use ld's -search_paths_first option on Darwin to work around
192 odd search rules on that platform.
193 + improve ifdef's for _POSIX_VDISABLE in tset to work with Mac
195 + modify configure script to ensure that if the C compiler is
196 used rather than the loader in making shared libraries, the
197 $(CFLAGS) variable is also used.
198 + use ${CC} rather than ${LD} in shared library rules for
199 IRIX64, Solaris to help ensure that initialization sections
200 are provided for extra linkage requirements, e.g., of C++
202 + improve some shared-library configure scripting for Linux,
203 FreeBSD and NetBSD to make --with-shlib-version work.
204 + split up dependency of names.c and codes.c in
205 ncurses/Makefile to work with parallel make.
206 + modify MKlib_gen.sh to change preprocessor-expanded _Bool
208 + modify progs/Makefile.in to make tput init work properly with
209 cygwin, i.e., do not pass a .exe in the reference string used
212 + ignore wide-acs line-drawing characters that wcwidth() claims
213 are not one-column. This is a workaround for Solaris' broken
215 + reduce name-pollution in term.h by removing #define's for
217 + fix #ifdef in c++/internal.h for QNX 6.1
219 + modify test/configure script to allow building test programs
221 + modified test programs to allow some to work with NetBSD
222 curses. Several do not because NetBSD curses implements a
223 subset of X/Open curses, and also lacks much of SVr4
224 additions. But it is enough for comparison.
225 + improved test/configure to build test/ncurses on HPUX 11
226 using the vendor curses.
227 + change configure script to produce test/Makefile from data
232 The ncurses package is fully compatible with SVr4 (System V Release 4)
234 * All 257 of the SVr4 calls have been implemented (and are
236 * Full support for SVr4 curses features including keyboard mapping,
237 color, forms-drawing with ACS characters, and automatic
238 recognition of keypad and function keys.
239 * An emulation of the SVr4 panels library, supporting a stack of
240 windows with backing store, is included.
241 * An emulation of the SVr4 menus library, supporting a uniform but
242 flexible interface for menu programming, is included.
243 * An emulation of the SVr4 form library, supporting data collection
244 through on-screen forms, is included.
245 * Binary terminfo entries generated by the ncurses tic(1)
246 implementation are bit-for-bit-compatible with the entry format
248 * The utilities have options to allow you to filter terminfo entries
249 for use with less capable curses/terminfo versions such as the
252 The ncurses package also has many useful extensions over SVr4:
253 * The API is 8-bit clean and base-level conformant with the X/OPEN
254 curses specification, XSI curses (that is, it implements all BASE
255 level features, and most EXTENDED features). It includes many
256 function calls not supported under SVr4 curses (but portability of
257 all calls is documented so you can use the SVr4 subset only).
258 * Unlike SVr3 curses, ncurses can write to the rightmost-bottommost
259 corner of the screen if your terminal has an insert-character
261 * Ada95 and C++ bindings.
262 * Support for mouse event reporting with X Window xterm and FreeBSD
263 and OS/2 console windows.
264 * Extended mouse support via Alessandro Rubini's gpm package.
265 * The function wresize() allows you to resize windows, preserving
267 * The function use_default_colors() allows you to use the terminal's
268 default colors for the default color pair, achieving the effect of
270 * The functions keyok() and define_key() allow you to better control
271 the use of function keys, e.g., disabling the ncurses KEY_MOUSE,
272 or by defining more than one control sequence to map to a given
274 * Support for 16-color terminals, such as aixterm and modern xterm.
275 * Better cursor-movement optimization. The package now features a
276 cursor-local-movement computation more efficient than either BSD's
278 * Super hardware scrolling support. The screen-update code
279 incorporates a novel, simple, and cheap algorithm that enables it
280 to make optimal use of hardware scrolling, line-insertion, and
281 line-deletion for screen-line movements. This algorithm is more
282 powerful than the 4.4BSD curses quickch() routine.
283 * Real support for terminals with the magic-cookie glitch. The
284 screen-update code will refrain from drawing a highlight if the
285 magic- cookie unattributed spaces required just before the
286 beginning and after the end would step on a non-space character.
287 It will automatically shift highlight boundaries when doing so
288 would make it possible to draw the highlight without changing the
289 visual appearance of the screen.
290 * It is possible to generate the library with a list of pre-loaded
291 fallback entries linked to it so that it can serve those terminal
292 types even when no terminfo tree or termcap file is accessible
293 (this may be useful for support of screen-oriented programs that
294 must run in single-user mode).
295 * The tic(1)/captoinfo utility provided with ncurses has the ability
296 to translate many termcaps from the XENIX, IBM and AT&T extension
298 * A BSD-like tset(1) utility is provided.
299 * The ncurses library and utilities will automatically read terminfo
300 entries from $HOME/.terminfo if it exists, and compile to that
301 directory if it exists and the user has no write access to the
302 system directory. This feature makes it easier for users to have
303 personal terminfo entries without giving up access to the system
305 * You may specify a path of directories to search for compiled
306 descriptions with the environment variable TERMINFO_DIRS (this
307 generalizes the feature provided by TERMINFO under stock System
309 * In terminfo source files, use capabilities may refer not just to
310 other entries in the same source file (as in System V) but also to
311 compiled entries in either the system terminfo directory or the
312 user's $HOME/.terminfo directory.
313 * A script (capconvert) is provided to help BSD users transition
314 from termcap to terminfo. It gathers the information in a TERMCAP
315 environment variable and/or a ~/.termcap local entries file and
316 converts it to an equivalent local terminfo tree under
318 * Automatic fallback to the /etc/termcap file can be compiled in
319 when it is not possible to build a terminfo tree. This feature is
320 neither fast nor cheap, you don't want to use it unless you have
322 * The table-of-entries utility toe makes it easy for users to see
323 exactly what terminal types are available on the system.
324 * The library meets the XSI requirement that every macro entry point
325 have a corresponding function which may be linked (and will be
326 prototype-checked) if the macro definition is disabled with
328 * An HTML "Introduction to Programming with NCURSES" document
329 provides a narrative introduction to the curses programming
334 Numerous bugs present in earlier versions have been fixed; the library
335 is far more reliable than it used to be. Bounds checking in many
336 `dangerous' entry points has been improved. The code is now type-safe
337 according to gcc -Wall. The library has been checked for malloc leaks
338 and arena corruption by the Purify memory-allocation tester.
340 The ncurses code has been tested with a wide variety of applications
341 including (versions starting with those noted):
344 Curses Development Kit
345 [3]http://invisible-island.net/cdk/
346 [4]http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/
350 [5]http://invisible-island.net/ded/
353 the underlying application used in Slackware's setup, and the
354 basis for similar applications on GNU/Linux.
355 [6]http://invisible-island.net/dialog/
358 the character-screen WWW browser
359 [7]http://lynx.isc.org/release/
363 [8]http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/
367 [9]http://www.mutt.org/
370 file-transfer utility
371 [10]http://www.ncftp.com/
374 New vi versions 1.50 are able to use ncurses versions 1.9.7 and
376 [11]http://www.bostic.com/vi/
379 Lynx-like info browser.
380 [12]http://dione.ids.pl/~pborys/software/pinfo/
383 newsreader, supporting color, MIME [13]http://www.tin.org/
386 Volks-Hypertext browser for the Jargon File
387 [14]http://www.debian.org/Packages/unstable/text/vh.html
389 as well as some that use ncurses for the terminfo support alone:
393 [15]http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/
397 [16]http://invisible-island.net/vile/
399 The ncurses distribution includes a selection of test programs
400 (including a few games).
402 Who's Who and What's What
404 Zeyd Ben-Halim started it from a previous package pcurses, written by
405 Pavel Curtis. Eric S. Raymond continued development. Juergen Pfeifer
406 wrote most of the form and menu libraries. Ongoing work is being done
407 by [17]Thomas Dickey. Thomas Dickey acts as the maintainer for the
408 Free Software Foundation, which holds the copyright on ncurses.
409 Contact the current maintainers at [18]bug-ncurses@gnu.org.
411 To join the ncurses mailing list, please write email to
412 bug-ncurses-request@gnu.org containing the line:
413 subscribe <name>@<host.domain>
415 This list is open to anyone interested in helping with the development
416 and testing of this package.
418 Beta versions of ncurses and patches to the current release are made
419 available at [19]ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ .
423 * Extended-level XPG4 conformance, with internationalization
425 * Ports to more systems, including DOS and Windows.
427 We need people to help with these projects. If you are interested in
428 working on them, please join the ncurses list.
430 Other Related Resources
432 The distribution provides a newer version of the terminfo-format
433 terminal description file once maintained by [20]Eric Raymond . Unlike
434 the older version, the termcap and terminfo data are provided in the
435 same file, and provides several user-definable extensions beyond the
436 X/Open specification.
438 You can find lots of information on terminal-related topics not
439 covered in the terminfo file at [21]Richard Shuford's archive .
443 1. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/ncurses/
444 2. ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/
445 3. http://invisible-island.net/cdk/
446 4. http://www.vexus.ca/products/CDK/
447 5. http://invisible-island.net/ded/
448 6. http://invisible-island.net/dialog/
449 7. http://lynx.isc.org/release/
450 8. http://www.ibiblio.org/mc/
451 9. http://www.mutt.org/
452 10. http://www.ncftp.com/
453 11. http://www.bostic.com/vi/
454 12. http://dione.ids.pl/~pborys/software/pinfo/
455 13. http://www.tin.org/
456 14. http://www.debian.org/Packages/unstable/text/vh.html
457 15. http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/
458 16. http://invisible-island.net/vile/
459 17. mailto:dickey@invisible-island.net
460 18. mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org
461 19. ftp://invisible-island.net/ncurses/
462 20. http://www.catb.org/~esr/terminfo/
463 21. http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal_index.html