lfs-book/chapter06/ncurses.xml

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<!DOCTYPE sect1 PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.4//EN"
  "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.4/docbookx.dtd" [
  <!ENTITY % general-entities SYSTEM "../general.ent">
  %general-entities;
]>

<sect1 id="ch-system-ncurses" role="wrap">
  <?dbhtml filename="ncurses.html"?>

  <title>Ncurses-&ncurses-version;</title>

  <indexterm zone="ch-system-ncurses">
    <primary sortas="a-Ncurses">Ncurses</primary>
  </indexterm>

  <sect2 role="package">
    <title/>

    <para>The Ncurses package contains libraries for terminal-independent
    handling of character screens.</para>

    <segmentedlist>
      <segtitle>&buildtime;</segtitle>
      <segtitle>&diskspace;</segtitle>

      <seglistitem>
        <seg>&ncurses-ch6-sbu;</seg>
        <seg>&ncurses-ch6-du;</seg>
      </seglistitem>
    </segmentedlist>

  </sect2>

  <sect2 role="installation">
    <title>Installation of Ncurses</title>

    <!-- FIXME: Uncomment if using a dated ncurses release instead of a numbered
         one.

    <para>Since the release of Ncurses-&ncurses-version;, some bugs have been fixed
    and features added. The most important news are .......
    To get these fixes and features, apply the rollup patch:</para>

<screen><userinput>bzcat ../&ncurses-rollup-patch; | patch -Np1</userinput></screen>
    -->

    <para>Since the release of Ncurses-&ncurses-version;, a memory leak and some
    display bugs were found and fixed upstream. Apply those fixes:</para>

<screen><userinput>patch -Np1 -i ../&ncurses-fixes-patch;</userinput></screen>

    <para>Prepare Ncurses for compilation:</para>

<screen><userinput>./configure --prefix=/usr --with-shared --without-debug --enable-widec</userinput></screen>

    <variablelist>
      <title>The meaning of the configure option:</title>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><parameter>--enable-widec</parameter></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>This switch causes wide-character libraries (e.g., <filename
          class="libraryfile">libncursesw.so.&ncurses-version;</filename>)
          to be built instead of normal ones (e.g., <filename
          class="libraryfile">libncurses.so.&ncurses-version;</filename>).
          These wide-character libraries are usable in both multibyte and
          traditional 8-bit locales, while normal libraries work properly
          only in 8-bit locales. Wide-character and normal libraries are
          source-compatible, but not binary-compatible.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <!--
      <varlistentry>
        <term><parameter>- -without-cxx-binding</parameter></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>This optional switch causes the
          <filename class="libraryfile">libncurses++w.a</filename> library
          not to be built. Nothing in LFS and BLFS uses this library.</para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      -->

    </variablelist>

    <para>Compile the package:</para>

<screen><userinput>make</userinput></screen>

    <para>This package does not come with a test suite.</para>

    <para>Install the package:</para>

<screen><userinput>make install</userinput></screen>

    <para>Give the Ncurses libraries execute permissions:</para>

<screen><userinput>chmod -v 755 /usr/lib/*.&ncurses-version;</userinput></screen>

    <para>Fix a library that should not be executable:</para>

<screen><userinput>chmod -v 644 /usr/lib/libncurses++w.a</userinput></screen>

    <para>Move the libraries to the <filename class="directory">/lib</filename> directory,
    where they are expected to reside:</para>

<screen><userinput>mv -v /usr/lib/libncursesw.so.5* /lib</userinput></screen>

    <para>Because the libraries have been moved, one symlink points to
    a non-existent file. Recreate it:</para>

<screen><userinput>ln -sfv ../../lib/libncursesw.so.5 /usr/lib/libncursesw.so</userinput></screen>

    <para>Many applications still expect the linker to be able to find
    non-wide-character Ncurses libraries. Trick such applications into linking with
    wide-character libraries by means of symlinks and linker scripts:</para>

<screen><userinput>for lib in curses ncurses form panel menu ; do \
    rm -vf /usr/lib/lib${lib}.so ; \
    echo "INPUT(-l${lib}w)" &gt;/usr/lib/lib${lib}.so ; \
    ln -sfv lib${lib}w.a /usr/lib/lib${lib}.a ; \
done &amp;&amp;
ln -sfv libncurses++w.a /usr/lib/libncurses++.a</userinput></screen>

    <para>Finally, make sure that old applications that look for
    <filename class="libraryfile">-lcurses</filename> at build time are still
    buildable:</para>

<screen><userinput>echo "INPUT(-lncursesw)" &gt;/usr/lib/libcursesw.so &amp;&amp;
ln -sfv libncurses.so /usr/lib/libcurses.so &amp;&amp;
ln -sfv libncursesw.a /usr/lib/libcursesw.a &amp;&amp;
ln -sfv libncurses.a /usr/lib/libcurses.a</userinput></screen>

    <note>
      <para>The instructions above don't create non-wide-character Ncurses
      libraries since no package installed by compiling from sources would
      link against them at runtime. If you must have such libraries because
      of some binary-only application, build them with the following
      commands:</para>

<screen role="nodump"><userinput>make distclean &amp;&amp;
./configure --prefix=/usr --with-shared --without-normal \
  --without-debug --without-cxx-binding &amp;&amp;
make sources libs &amp;&amp;
cp -av lib/lib*.so.5* /usr/lib</userinput></screen>
    </note>

  </sect2>

  <sect2 id="contents-ncurses" role="content">
    <title>Contents of Ncurses</title>

    <segmentedlist>
      <segtitle>Installed programs</segtitle>
      <segtitle>Installed libraries</segtitle>

      <seglistitem>
        <seg>captoinfo (link to tic), clear, infocmp, infotocap (link to tic),
        reset (link to tset), tack, tic, toe, tput, and tset</seg>
        <seg>libcursesw.{a,so} (symlink and linker script to libncursesw.{a,so}),
        libformw.{a,so}, libmenuw.{a,so}, libncurses++w.a, libncursesw.{a,so},
        libpanelw.{a,so} and their non-wide-character counterparts without "w"
        in the library names.</seg>
      </seglistitem>
    </segmentedlist>

    <variablelist>
      <bridgehead renderas="sect3">Short Descriptions</bridgehead>
      <?dbfo list-presentation="list"?>
      <?dbhtml list-presentation="table"?>

      <varlistentry id="captoinfo">
        <term><command>captoinfo</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Converts a termcap description into a terminfo description</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-ncurses captoinfo">
            <primary sortas="b-captoinfo">captoinfo</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="clear">
        <term><command>clear</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Clears the screen, if possible</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-ncurses clear">
            <primary sortas="b-clear">clear</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="infocmp">
        <term><command>infocmp</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Compares or prints out terminfo descriptions</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-ncurses infocmp">
            <primary sortas="b-infocmp">infocmp</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="infotocap">
        <term><command>infotocap</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Converts a terminfo description into a termcap description</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-ncurses infotocap">
            <primary sortas="b-infotocap">infotocap</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="reset">
        <term><command>reset</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Reinitializes a terminal to its default values</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-ncurses reset">
            <primary sortas="b-reset">reset</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="tack">
        <term><command>tack</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>The terminfo action checker; it is mainly used to test the
          accuracy of an entry in the terminfo database</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-ncurses tack">
            <primary sortas="b-tack">tack</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="tic">
        <term><command>tic</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>The terminfo entry-description compiler that translates a
          terminfo file from source format into the binary format needed for the
          ncurses library routines. A terminfo file contains information on the
          capabilities of a certain terminal</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-ncurses tic">
            <primary sortas="b-tic">tic</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="toe">
        <term><command>toe</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Lists all available terminal types, giving the primary name and
          description for each</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-ncurses toe">
            <primary sortas="b-toe">toe</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="tput">
        <term><command>tput</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Makes the values of terminal-dependent capabilities available to
          the shell; it can also be used to reset or initialize a terminal or
          report its long name</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-ncurses tput">
            <primary sortas="b-tput">tput</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="tset">
        <term><command>tset</command></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Can be used to initialize terminals</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-ncurses tset">
            <primary sortas="b-tset">tset</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="libcurses">
        <term><filename class="libraryfile">libcurses</filename></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>A link to <filename>libncurses</filename></para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-ncurses libcurses">
            <primary sortas="c-libcurses">libcurses</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="libncurses">
        <term><filename class="libraryfile">libncurses</filename></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Contains functions to display text in many complex ways on a
          terminal screen; a good example of the use of these functions is the
          menu displayed during the kernel's <command>make
          menuconfig</command></para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-ncurses libncurses">
            <primary sortas="c-libncurses">libncurses</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="libform">
        <term><filename class="libraryfile">libform</filename></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Contains functions to implement forms</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-ncurses libform">
            <primary sortas="c-libform">libform</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="libmenu">
        <term><filename class="libraryfile">libmenu</filename></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Contains functions to implement menus</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-ncurses libmenu">
            <primary sortas="c-libmenu">libmenu</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry id="libpanel">
        <term><filename class="libraryfile">libpanel</filename></term>
        <listitem>
          <para>Contains functions to implement panels</para>
          <indexterm zone="ch-system-ncurses libpanel">
            <primary sortas="c-libpanel">libpanel</primary>
          </indexterm>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

    </variablelist>

  </sect2>

</sect1>