Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site mcc-db.UUCP Path: utzoo!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!ut-sally!mcc-db!jbc From: jbc@mcc-db.UUCP (John B. Chambers) Newsgroups: mod.std.unix Subject: Re: curses, terminfo, and termcap Message-ID: <247@mcc-db.UUCP> Date: Sun, 14-Jul-85 19:56:29 EDT Article-I.D.: mcc-db.247 Posted: Sun Jul 14 19:56:29 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 15-Jul-85 10:05:28 EDT References: <2257@ut-sally.UUCP>, <2294@ut-sally.UUCP> Reply-To: std-unix-request@ut-sally Organization: MCC (Austin, TX) Lines: 46 Approved: jbc@mcc-db.UUCP From: John Chambers (guest moderator)Topic: curses, terminfo, termcap ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 10 Jul 85 00:15:09 CDT (Wed) From: ihnp4!utzoo!henry@ut-sally.ARPA Subject: Re: curses, terminfo, and termcap > What I think is important about curses is not the code that implements > it (although this code was hard and it shouldn't have to be done more > than once) but the interface between the program and the package. > Curses is intended as a way to write portable screen oriented applications. > ... > I personally would like to see curses (or some appripriate subset) become > part of the C standard, along with Standard I/O. However, it appears that > the committee is not planning to do this. Lacking this, I would like to > see it become part of a UNIX standard. One might argue (and on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I would) that a standard screen-handling package ought to be oriented towards display of text rather than video games. Unless I have missed something -- I am not all that familiar with curses -- when I insert a line in the middle of my "screen", curses essentially has to rediscover this by comparing characters. This seems silly; surely higher-level primitives would be better for most situations. (Rogue is a different story, of course.) Something like the "FastAlpha" package described by HP a couple of Usenixes ago would be a much better match to text-oriented screen handling, which I would guess describes the majority of non-game curses applications. Alas, curses is already pretty well established; it may be too late to change. Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -- John B. Chambers, Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corp., Austin, TX {ihnp4,seismo,ctvax}!ut-sally!mcc-db!jbc, jbc@ut-sally.ARPA, chambers@mcc.ARPA