https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/announce.html
Ncurses ftp://ftp.invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses.tar.gz
In Debian, the easiest way to install is with:
sudo apt install libncurses6
To build from source, get the latest version from the download page.
# Download ncurses wget ftp://ftp.invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses.tar.gz # Extract tar xzf ncurses.tar.gz # Enter the directory cd ncurses-6.3 # Typical build steps ./configure --help | less # Set to install in home rather than system ./configure --prefix=$HOME/.local --with-shared make make install
If you install to your home rather than the system, when compiling, linking, and running, you may need to specify where the header files and libraries are. With gcc, that's the -I and -L options. When running, set the environment variable LD_LIBRARY_PATH to include path to libraries.
There are a few man pages that are particularly helpful. The man pages with API documentation will be in ~/.local/share/man/man{1,3,5,7} if you used the home prefix.
If you aren't sure which man pages mean what, run man man which tells you which man page number corresponds to which section. (1 is executable, 3 is library calls, 5 is file formats, 7 is misc).
# Read the developer documentation (page 3) # This page tells you the #include statement to use, # how to link against it, and instructions on how to # initialize and use the library itself. # It also lists out all the man pages for each function man 3 ncurses man 3 initscr man 3 getch man 3 getmouse man 1 ncurses6-config
Ncurses comes with a helper function useful for these tasks, ncurses6-config which will be in ~/.local/bin/ if you used the home prefix.
# For compiling and specifying include dirs ncurses6-config --cflags # -D_DEFAULT_SOURCE -D_XOPEN_SOURCE=600 -I/home/dano/.local/include/ncurses -I/home/dano/.local/include # For linking and specifying lib dirs ncurses6-config --libs # -L/home/dano/.local/lib -lncurses # For LD_LIBRARY_PATH when executing and linking dynamically ncurses6-config --libdir #/home/dano/.local/lib
// g++ hello_curses.cpp -lncurses // add -static for static binary #include <curses.h> int main(int argc, char* argv[]) { initscr(); // Take over terminal and start managing it with curses endwin(); // Cleanup or terminal will be left in a weird state return 0; }
// A more robust example, taken from // https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-intro.html#using #include <stdlib.h> #include <curses.h> #include <signal.h> static void finish(int sig); int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { int num = 0; /* initialize your non-curses data structures here */ (void) signal(SIGINT, finish); /* arrange interrupts to terminate */ (void) initscr(); /* initialize the curses library */ keypad(stdscr, TRUE); /* enable keyboard mapping */ (void) nonl(); /* tell curses not to do NL->CR/NL on output */ (void) cbreak(); /* take input chars one at a time, no wait for \n */ (void) echo(); /* echo input - in color */ if (has_colors()) { start_color(); /* * Simple color assignment, often all we need. Color pair 0 cannot * be redefined. This example uses the same value for the color * pair as for the foreground color, though of course that is not * necessary: */ init_pair(1, COLOR_RED, COLOR_BLACK); init_pair(2, COLOR_GREEN, COLOR_BLACK); init_pair(3, COLOR_YELLOW, COLOR_BLACK); init_pair(4, COLOR_BLUE, COLOR_BLACK); init_pair(5, COLOR_CYAN, COLOR_BLACK); init_pair(6, COLOR_MAGENTA, COLOR_BLACK); init_pair(7, COLOR_WHITE, COLOR_BLACK); } for (;;) { int c = getch(); /* refresh, accept single keystroke of input */ attrset(COLOR_PAIR(num % 8)); num++; /* process the command keystroke */ } finish(0); /* we are done */ } static void finish(int sig) { endwin(); /* do your non-curses wrapup here */ exit(0); }
// From https://invisible-island.net/ncurses/ncurses-intro.html#leaving addstr("Shelling out..."); def_prog_mode(); /* save current tty modes */ endwin(); /* restore original tty modes */ system("sh"); /* run shell */ addstr("returned.\n"); /* prepare return message */ refresh(); /* restore save modes, repaint screen */
#include <ncurses.h> #include <iostream> #include <bitset> void redrawBorder() { clear(); box(stdscr, 0, 0); // Redraw main border } int main() { initscr(); mousemask(ALL_MOUSE_EVENTS, NULL); /** * Colors */ if (has_colors()) { start_color(); } //use_default_colors(); init_pair(1, COLOR_CYAN, COLOR_BLACK); init_pair(2, COLOR_WHITE, COLOR_RED); cbreak(); keypad(stdscr, TRUE); nonl(); /* tell curses not to do NL->CR/NL on output */ noecho(); curs_set(0); attrset(COLOR_PAIR(1)); redrawBorder(); //refresh(); // short id; /* ID to distinguish multiple devices */ // int x, y, z; /* event coordinates */ // mmask_t bstate; /* button state bits */ while (true) { int c = getch(); switch (c) { case 'q': endwin(); exit(0); case KEY_MOUSE: MEVENT event; if (getmouse(&event) == OK) { clear(); redrawBorder(); attrset(COLOR_PAIR(2)); mvaddstr(5, 5, std::to_string(event.x).c_str()); mvaddstr(6, 5, std::to_string(event.y).c_str()); mvaddstr(7, 5, "Mouse bitset: "); addstr(std::bitset<32>(event.bstate).to_string().c_str()); if (event.bstate & BUTTON1_PRESSED) { addstr(" - Button 1 pressed"); } else if (event.bstate & BUTTON1_DOUBLE_CLICKED) { addstr(" - Button 1 dclick"); } attrset(COLOR_PAIR(1)); } break; /** BUTTON1_PRESSED mouse button 1 down BUTTON1_RELEASED mouse button 1 up BUTTON1_CLICKED mouse button 1 clicked BUTTON1_DOUBLE_CLICKED mouse button 1 double clicked BUTTON1_TRIPLE_CLICKED mouse button 1 triple clicked BUTTON2_PRESSED mouse button 2 down BUTTON2_RELEASED mouse button 2 up BUTTON2_CLICKED mouse button 2 clicked BUTTON2_DOUBLE_CLICKED mouse button 2 double clicked BUTTON2_TRIPLE_CLICKED mouse button 2 triple clicked BUTTON3_PRESSED mouse button 3 down BUTTON3_RELEASED mouse button 3 up BUTTON3_CLICKED mouse button 3 clicked BUTTON3_DOUBLE_CLICKED mouse button 3 double clicked BUTTON3_TRIPLE_CLICKED mouse button 3 triple clicked BUTTON4_PRESSED mouse button 4 down BUTTON4_RELEASED mouse button 4 up BUTTON4_CLICKED mouse button 4 clicked BUTTON4_DOUBLE_CLICKED mouse button 4 double clicked BUTTON4_TRIPLE_CLICKED mouse button 4 triple clicked BUTTON_SHIFT shift was down during button state change BUTTON_CTRL control was down during button state change BUTTON_ALT alt was down during button state change ALL_MOUSE_EVENTS report all button state changes REPORT_MOUSE_POSITION report mouse movement */ case KEY_RESIZE: redrawBorder(); mvaddstr(10, 10, "Window resized"); break; default: break; } } /** * Cleanup and shutdown */ endwin(); return 0; }
// int c = getch(); // switch (c) case ctrl('j'): // #define ctrl(x) ((x) & 0x1f) addstr("ctrl j detected"); break; default: if (c == KEY_ENTER) { addstr("Keypad enter pressed."); } if (c == 27) { // Alt key was down when key pressed // Get the next char that came with the alt c = getch(); addstr("Alt/escaped key pressed: "); addch(c); // could be 'a' or 'A' if alt+shift }
initscr(); // Initialize ncurses endwin(); // Cleanup for exit or shell out (refresh will bring state) getmaxyx() // get terminal size cbreak() nonl() noecho() curs_set() newwin() // Add chars to window mvaddch(y,x,ch) addstr() printw() addch() // Get input getch() wgetstr() wscanw() keypad(stdscr, TRUE) if (has_colors()) { start_color(); } use_default_colors() refresh() // Refresh from stdscr wrefresh() // Refresh using non-stdscr window wnoutrefresh() // Disable auto update on window update (pair with doupdate) doupdate() // Manually repaint all updates touchwin() box() border() // Colors init_pair() COLOR_PAIR attron() attroff() attrset() move(y, x) mousemask(ALL_MOUSE_EVENTS, null) // Specify which mouse events to get MEVENT // data type with bits set for specific mouse events like BUTTON1_CLICKED // Special events from wgetch() KEY_MOUSE // Mouse event (use getmouse()) KEY_RESIZE // Terminal was resized and adjusted scrollok() leaveok() derwin() subwin() delwin() define_key() // function-key control sequences keyok() // toggle the listening for special control sequences