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Updated: ncurses-5.2-7


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!! WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING !!!!!!

To update your system, you must run setup.exe TWICE.  First, run setup
and update ONLY the ncurses package from 5.2-5 to 5.2-7.  UNSELECT any
other packages.  Continue until setup completes and exits.  Second, run
setup and install the new terminfo, libncurses5, and libncurses6
packages.  Continue until setup completes and exits.  You MUST do BOTH
steps, or your cygwin installation will be broken.

!!!!! WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING !!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The ncurses package has been updated to ncurses-5.2-7. ncurses is a 
package that provides character and terminal handling libraries, 
including 'gui-like' panels and menus.  It is often used instead of termcap.

MAJOR CHANGES to the ncurses package:

   1. The ncurses package has been split into three separate packages:
      ncurses-5.2-7     (contains the static libs, header files,
                         man pages, etc)
      libncurses6-5.2-2 (contains the new DLL's)
      terminfo-5.2-1    (contains the terminfo database)

   2. libncurses5-5.2-1 is a new package containing the old
      DLLs from ncurses-5.2-5, for backward compatibility.

   3. ncurses is now built using the 'auto-import' features of
      recent binutils.

   4. ncurses-5.2-5a    if it's necessary to rollback, this package
                        contains the files from ncurses-5.2-5
                        (post splitup) Thus, this package +
                        terminfo + libncurses5 = old ncurses-5.2-5.

See NOTES below for additional information.

INSTALLATION:

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 TWICE and answer all of the questions EACH
TIME. The FIRST time, update ONLY the ncurses package.  The SECOND time, 
install the terminfo, libncurses5, and libncurses6 packages.  You MUST 
do BOTH steps.

Note that we have recently stopped downloads from sources.redhat.com
(aka cygwin.com) due to bandwidth limitations.  This means that you will
need to find a mirror which has this update.

In the US,
ftp://mirrors.rcn.net/mirrors/sources.redhat.com/cygwin/
is a reliable high bandwidth connection.

In the UK,
http://programming.ccp14.ac.uk/ftp-mirror/programming/cygwin/pub/cygwin/
is usually up-to-date within 48 hours.

If one of the above doesn't have the latest version of this package
then you can either wait for the site to be updated or find another
mirror.

If you have questions or comments, please send them to the Cygwin
mailing list at: cygwin@cygwin.com .  I would appreciate if you would
use this mailing list rather than emailing me directly.  This includes
ideas and comments about the setup utility or Cygwin in general.

If you want to make a point or ask a question, the Cygwin mailing list
is the appropriate place.

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NOTES:

o Now uses the auto-import functionality of newer binutils, and doesn't 
use __declspec(dllimport).  This means you no longer need 
-DNCURSES_STATIC when compiling objects intended for static linking. 
Just compile as normal.  HOWEVER, you need to use a special flags when 
linking statically: 'gcc -static'.  For dynamic linking, you need no 
special link-time flags (assuming you're using binutils newer than 
20011002, when --enable-auto-import was made the default).

   -- PRO: no compile time flags needed when building
           client programs; ONLY need a link-time flag
           linking to static libraries.  NO special flags
           at compile-time nor link-time when linking to
           dynamic links.
   -- CON: (partial): if using binutils older than 20010930,
           you now need a special linktime flag for dynamic
           linking (-Wl,--enable-auto-import).  However,
           with an up-to-date binutils, you don't need this.
   -- PRO: Our fork diff from the original source is now
           only 55k, instead of 450k.  Many of our
           changes may now be accepted by the official GNU
           sources; previously that was not in the cards.
   -- CON: The new DLLs are not drop-in compatible with
           apps built for the old DLLs.  Therefore, we need
           a compatibility package containing the old DLLs.

o See the thread entitled "[RFD] ncurses update" on cygwin-apps:
      http://www.cygwin.com/ml/cygwin-apps/2001-09/msg00071.html
   for more information about the internal changes to the ncurses package.

o The terminfo database has been forked (away from our fork of the 
ncurses package!!!) to enable faster and easier updates, and to cut down 
on bandwidth.

o Building the package from source requires gcc-2.95.3-5 and 
binutils-20011002-1 or later.

o cygwin-1.3.1-1 or later is required for proper scanw() operation and 
for the new cygwin terminfo entry to work properly.

o A cygwin-specific README and two PATCHES are stored in the source 
archive, under <top>/CYGWIN-PATCHES/* (although the first patch, 
ncurses-5.2-X.patch, has already been applied to the archive itself). 
The cygwin-specific README is also installed by the binary distribution 
as described above.

o If you are building a package that depends on the ncurses library, and 
you wish to link *statically*, use 'gcc -static' to link.  To link 
dynamically, no special link-time flags are necessary (unless you're 
using an older binutils, in which case you must use 'gcc 
-Wl,--enable-auto-import' when linking)

o No special -Ddefine options options are needed at compile-time when 
building a package that depends any of the ncurses libraries, whether 
linking statically or dynamically.

--Chuck Wilson

------------------------------------------
***********  TERMINFO ENTRIES  ***********
------------------------------------------

CYGWIN:

o See cygwin's ncurses-5.2-4 release announcement:
     http://www.cygwin.com/ml/cygwin-announce/2001/msg00014.html

BASH in a DOS box:

You must set TERM=cygwin.  If you want ACS (box) characters to work, add 
'codepage:oem' to your CYGWIN variable.

RXVT-CYGWIN and RXVT-CYGWIN-NATIVE

o see cygwin's ncurses-5.2-5 release announcement:
     http://www.cygwin.com/ml/cygwin-announce/2001/msg00047.html

CONNECTING TO REMOTE SYSTEMS:

o see cygwin's ncurses-5.2-5 release announcement:
     http://www.cygwin.com/ml/cygwin-announce/2001/msg00047.html

------------------------------------------
*********  TEST RESULTS, DLL's  **********
------------------------------------------

see ncurses-5.2-3 announcement:
   http://www.cygwin.com/ml/cygwin-announce/2000/msg00101.html

--Chuck


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