Mail Archives: cygwin/2009/03/03/20:27:23
(Okay, libncurses9 isn't actually new, but its buggy 5.7-2 version was
only around for a few days. It's mostly new.)
ncurses is a package that provides character and terminal handling
libraries, including 'gui-like' panels and menus. It is often used
instead of termcap.
[[ compiled using gcc-3.4.4-3 ]]
This will most likely be the final ncurses update for the cygwin-1.5
distribution (I hope!); future development will continue with
ncurses-5.7-12 for cygwin-1.7.
CHANGES since 5.7-2:
========================
o No longer build using --with-termlib; removed cygtinfo-9.dll
from the distribution.
o Fixed bugs in pkg-config .pc files and ncurses9-config script
o Revert ill-advised portion of upstream 20090228 patch that
completely broke ncurses.
o There are still sufficient ABI changes to justify the -9
DLL version switch (from previous -8).
o MAINTAINERS: NO NEED for -ltinfo anymore (unlike in the short-
lived 5.7-2 release). The contents of libtinfo have been
folded back in to -lncurses.
CHANGES since 5.5-3:
========================
o Update to latest release (5.7) with current patchset (20090228)
o Build using stock cygport 0.4.3
o Build using --with-ticlib (separate add-on library exposes
internal ncurses details), so that the (now) separately-distributed
tack program can link successfully.
- libncurses9 package now additionally includes cygtic-9.dll
o [XXX OBSOLETE XXX] Build using --with-termlib (separates
terminfo database parsing and manipulation from terminal window
control). This will be more useful in 1.7 development, when
widechar support is added -- because the libtinfo portions are
character-width agnostic. However, to keep cygwin-1.5 and cygwin-1.7
version more-or-less in sync, this modification was made here,
as well.
- [XXX OBSOLETE XXX] libncurses9 package now additionally
includes cygtinfo-9.dll
o Turned on 5-button mouse support and sp-funcs
- these changes, together with the separate ticlib and termlib,
constitute a new ABI, which is why the DLL version number was
bumped to 9.
o Did not enable reentrancy, threading support, or wide character
support. For the first two, see
/usr/share/doc/ncurses-*/ThreadingSupport.
The last item may be added later, but only for cygwin-1.7.
o Modified spelling of public, but accessor-wrapped data symbols
to avoid "private" _nc_* namespace. This ABI change does NOT
affect the API as used by clients (that is, no source code changes
should be needed).
o Added preremove script, in preparation for deprecating the
back-compatibility symlinks in /usr/lib/ncurses and /usr/include.
This is more of a cygwin-1.7 item, than applicable to cygwin-1.5.
o Upstream changes:
- tack program now distributed separately
- pkg-config .pc files now provided
- ncurses9-config script now provided
- many more demo programs in ncurses-demo
- /usr/share/terminfo database now organized by hex code
of first character (e.g. instead of r/rxvt, we have 72/rxvt
(0x72 == 'r'). See warning, below.
WARNING:
========================
Because of a change in the organization of the terminfo database,
terminfo entries NOT part of the terminfo package may need to be
manually upgraded or copied. To improve operation on case-insensitive
platforms, the terminfo database is now organized according to the
two-digit hexadecimal code of the entry's first letter, instead of
organized according to that first letter itself. For instance:
OLD (terminfo0) ---> NEW (terminfo)
r/rxvt-unicode 72/rxvt-unicode
To "fix" any out-of-place entries, you may manually copy them to the
correct location, or re-run tic.exe on the original terminfo source for
that terminal. In the case of rxvt-unicode:
$ /etc/postinstall/rxvt-unicode.sh.done
will do the job. Note that the old database organization can co-exist
with the new one (with the obvious duplication of data entailed). Thus,
libncurses8-dependent applications will continue to work properly, so
long as the new terminfo0 package is installed along with the updated
terminfo package. This upgrade/co-install should happen automatically
without user intervention.
--
Charles Wilson
ncurses volunteer maintainer for cygwin
====================================================================
To update your installation, click on the "Install Cygwin now" link on
the http://cygwin.com/ web page. This downloads setup.exe to your
system. Then, run setup and answer all of the questions.
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