8.29. Ncurses-6.4

#### Linux From Scratch - Version 12.0-systemd

### Chapter 8. Installing Basic System Software

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# 8.29. Ncurses-6.4

The Ncurses package contains libraries for terminal-independent handling of character screens.

Approximate build time: 0.2 SBU
Required disk space: 45 MB

## 8.29.1. Installation of Ncurses

Prepare Ncurses for compilation:

    ./configure --prefix=/usr           \
                --mandir=/usr/share/man \
                --with-shared           \
                --without-debug         \
                --without-normal        \
                --with-cxx-shared       \
                --enable-pc-files       \
                --enable-widec          \
                --with-pkg-config-libdir=/usr/lib/pkgconfig

The meaning of the new configure options:

`--with-shared`

  This makes Ncurses build and install shared C libraries.

`--without-normal`

  This prevents Ncurses building and installing static C libraries.

`--without-debug`

  This prevents Ncurses building and installing debug libraries.

`--with-cxx-shared`

  This makes Ncurses build and install shared C++ bindings. It also prevents it building and installing static C++ bindings.

`--enable-pc-files`

  This switch generates and installs .pc files for pkg-config.

`--enable-widec`

  This switch causes wide-character libraries (e.g., `libncursesw.so.6.4`) to be built instead of normal ones (e.g., `libncurses.so.6.4`). 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.

Compile the package:

    make

This package has a test suite, but it can only be run after the package has been installed. The tests reside in the `test/` directory. See the `README` file in that directory for further details.

The installation of this package will overwrite `libncursesw.so.6.4` in-place. It may crash the shell process which is using code and data from the library file. Install the package with `DESTDIR`, and replace the library file correctly using install command:

    make DESTDIR=$PWD/dest install
    install -vm755 dest/usr/lib/libncursesw.so.6.4 /usr/lib
    rm -v  dest/usr/lib/libncursesw.so.6.4
    cp -av dest/* /

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:

    for lib in ncurses form panel menu ; do
        rm -vf                    /usr/lib/lib${lib}.so
        echo "INPUT(-l${lib}w)" > /usr/lib/lib${lib}.so
        ln -sfv ${lib}w.pc        /usr/lib/pkgconfig/${lib}.pc
    done

Finally, make sure that old applications that look for `-lcurses` at build time are still buildable:

    rm -vf                     /usr/lib/libcursesw.so
    echo "INPUT(-lncursesw)" > /usr/lib/libcursesw.so
    ln -sfv libncurses.so      /usr/lib/libcurses.so

If desired, install the Ncurses documentation:

    cp -v -R doc -T /usr/share/doc/ncurses-6.4

### Note

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. However, the only known binary-only applications that link against non-wide-character Ncurses libraries require version 5. If you must have such libraries because of some binary-only application or to be compliant with LSB, build the package again with the following commands:

    make distclean
    ./configure --prefix=/usr    \
                --with-shared    \
                --without-normal \
                --without-debug  \
                --without-cxx-binding \
                --with-abi-version=5
    make sources libs
    cp -av lib/lib*.so.5* /usr/lib

## 8.29.2. Contents of Ncurses

Installed programs: captoinfo (link to tic), clear, infocmp, infotocap (link to tic), ncursesw6-config, reset (link to tset), tabs, tic, toe, tput, and tset
Installed libraries: libcursesw.so (symlink and linker script to libncursesw.so), libformw.so, libmenuw.so, libncursesw.so, libncurses++w.so, libpanelw.so, and their non-wide-character counterparts without "w" in the library names.
Installed directories: /usr/share/tabset, /usr/share/terminfo, and /usr/share/doc/ncurses-6.4

### Short Descriptions

captoinfo | Converts a termcap description into a terminfo description
clear | Clears the screen, if possible
infocmp | Compares or prints out terminfo descriptions
infotocap | Converts a terminfo description into a termcap description
ncursesw6-config | Provides configuration information for ncurses
reset | Reinitializes a terminal to its default values
tabs | Clears and sets tab stops on a terminal
tic | 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.]
toe | Lists all available terminal types, giving the primary name and description for each
tput | 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
tset | Can be used to initialize terminals
`libcursesw` | A link to `libncursesw`
`libncursesw` | 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 make menuconfig
`libncurses++w` | Contains C++ binding for other libraries in this package
`libformw` | Contains functions to implement forms
`libmenuw` | Contains functions to implement menus
`libpanelw` | Contains functions to implement panels

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