Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ut-sally.UUCP Path: utzoo!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!ut-sally!jsq From: jsq@ut-sally.UUCP (John Quarterman) Newsgroups: mod.std.unix Subject: Re: curses, terminfo, and termcap Message-ID: <2294@ut-sally.UUCP> Date: Mon, 8-Jul-85 12:33:25 EDT Article-I.D.: ut-sally.2294 Posted: Mon Jul 8 12:33:25 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 8-Jul-85 22:04:55 EDT References: <2257@ut-sally.UUCP> Reply-To: std-unix-request@ut-sally Organization: U. Texas CS Dept., Austin, Texas Lines: 70 Approved: jsq@ut-sally.UUCP From: John Quarterman (moderator)Topic: curses, terminfo, and termcap ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 6 Jul 85 01:06:24 edt From: cbosgd.ATT!mark@seismo (Mark Horton) To: std-unix@ut-sally.arpa Subject: curses as part of the standard The System V curses was intended to be mostly upward compatible with Ken Arnold's version (the one in 4BSD). It doesn't include a couple of nonportable features, such as the 2 letter variables in curses.h and the 4BSD way of getting at your erase character; there are portable ways of doing this provided. 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. There are a number of functions in curses to enhance portability of the application, some of which have little to do with screen handling but seem to be needed by many screen oriented programs. A curses application should not care whether it's running on System V, 4.2BSD, or MS DOS. Simpler implementations of curses that work on a PC make sense. I know of two implementations for MS DOS and one for QNX. I also know of two for UNIX that don't do optimization of handle braindamaged terminals, but assume 9600 baud and an ordinary (or specific) terminal. 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. Mark Horton ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 8 Jul 85 10:15:56 cdt From: John Quarterman (moderator) To: std-unix Subject: public domain curses and terminfo While I agree with Mark Horton that it shouldn't be necessary to implement curses more than once, it appears that somebody else has also done it. I've gotten a couple of requests for more information on the posting of it to mod.sources last November. The first posting contained this signature: Pavel Curtis Computer Science Dept. 405 Upson Hall Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853 Ph- (607) 256-4934 decvax!cornell!pavel (UUCP) Pavel.Cornell@Udel-Relay (ARPA) The moderator of mod.sources is genrad!john, who would know better than I what arrangements have been made for access to mod.sources archives. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -- John Quarterman, UUCP: {ihnp4,seismo,harvard,gatech}!ut-sally!jsq ARPA Internet and CSNET: jsq@ut-sally.ARPA, soon to be jsq@sally.UTEXAS.EDU