PDCurses Implementor's Guide
============================
Version 1.2 - 2007/07/11 - added PDC_init_pair(), PDC_pair_content(),
version history; removed pdc_atrtab
Version 1.1 - 2007/06/06 - minor cosmetic change
Version 1.0 - 2007/04/01 - initial revision
This document is for those wishing to port PDCurses to a new platform,
or just wanting to better understand how it works. Nothing here should
be needed for application programming; for that, refer to PDCurses.man,
as built in man/; or PDCurses.txt (which is the same), distributed as a
file separate from this source package. This document assumes that
you've read the user-level documentation and are very familiar with
application-level curses programming.
DATA STRUCTURES
---------------
A port of PDCurses must provide acs_map[], a 128-element array of
chtypes, with values laid out based on the Alternate Character Set of
the VT100 (see curses.h). PDC_transform_line() must use this table; when
it encounters a chtype with the A_ALTCHARSET flag set, and an A_CHARTEXT
value in the range 0-127, it must render it using the A_CHARTEXT portion
of the corresponding value from this table, instead of the original
value. Also, values may be read from this table by apps, and passed
through functions such as waddch(), which does no special processing on
control characters (0-31 and 127) when the A_ALTCHARSET flag is set.
Thus, any control characters used in acs_map[] should also have the
A_ALTCHARSET flag set. Implementations should provide suitable values
for all the ACS_ macros defined in curses.h; other values in the table
should be filled with their own indices (e.g., acs_map['E'] == 'E'). The
table can be either hardwired, or filled by PDC_scr_open(). Existing
ports define it in pdcdisp.c, but this is not required.
FUNCTIONS
---------
A port of PDCurses must implement the following functions, with extern
scope. These functions are traditionally divided into several modules,
as indicated below; this division is not required (only the functions
are), but may make it easier to follow for someone familiar with the
existing ports.
Any other functions you create as part of your implementation should
have static scope, if possible. If they can't be static, they should be
named with the "PDC_" prefix. This minimizes the risk of collision with
an application's choices.
Current PDCurses style also uses a single leading underscore with the
name of any static function; and modified BSD/Allman-style indentation,
approximately equivalent to "indent -kr -i8 -bl -bli0", with adjustments
to keep every line under 80 columns. This isn't essential, but a
consistent style helps readability.
pdcdisp.c:
----------
void PDC_gotoyx(int y, int x);
Move the physical cursor (as opposed to the logical cursor affected by
wmove()) to the given location. This is called mainly from doupdate().
In general, this function need not compare the old location with the new
one, and should just move the cursor unconditionally.
void PDC_transform_line(int lineno, int x, int len, const chtype *srcp);
The core output routine. It takes len chtype entities from srcp (a
pointer into curscr) and renders them to the physical screen at line
lineno, column x. It must also translate characters 0-127 via acs_map[],
if they're flagged with A_ALTCHARSET in the attribute portion of the
chtype.
pdcgetsc.c:
-----------
int PDC_get_columns(void);
Returns the size of the screen in columns. It's used in resize_term() to
set the new value of COLS. (Some existing implementations also call it
internally from PDC_scr_open(), but this is not required.)
int PDC_get_cursor_mode(void);
Returns the size/shape of the cursor. The format of the result is
unspecified, except that it must be returned as an int. This function is
called from initscr(), and the result is stored in SP->orig_cursor,
which is used by PDC_curs_set() to determine the size/shape of the
cursor in normal visibility mode (curs_set(1)).
int PDC_get_rows(void);
Returns the size of the screen in rows. It's used in resize_term() to
set the new value of LINES. (Some existing implementations also call it
internally from PDC_scr_open(), but this is not required.)
pdckbd.c:
---------
bool PDC_check_key(void);
Keyboard/mouse event check, called from wgetch(). Returns TRUE if
there's an event ready to process. This function must be non-blocking.
void PDC_flushinp(void);
This is the core of flushinp(). It discards any pending key or mouse
events, removing them from any internal queue and from the OS queue, if
applicable.
int PDC_get_key(void);
Get the next available key, or mouse event (indicated by a return of
KEY_MOUSE), and remove it from the OS' input queue, if applicable. This
function is called from wgetch(). This function may be blocking, and
traditionally is; but it need not be. If a valid key or mouse event
cannot be returned, for any reason, this function returns -1. Valid keys
are those that fall within the appropriate character set, or are in the
list of special keys found in curses.h (KEY_MIN through KEY_MAX). When
returning a special key code, this routine must also set SP->key_code to
TRUE; otherwise it must set it to FALSE. If SP->return_key_modifiers is
TRUE, this function may return modifier keys (shift, control, alt),
pressed alone, as special key codes; if SP->return_key_modifiers is
FALSE, it must not. If modifier keys are returned, it should only happen
if no other keys were pressed in the meantime; i.e., the return should
happen on key up. But if this is not possible, it may return the
modifier keys on key down (if and only if SP->return_key_modifiers is
TRUE).
int PDC_modifiers_set(void);
Called from PDC_return_key_modifiers(). If your platform needs to do
anything in response to a change in SP->return_key_modifiers, do it
here. Returns OK or ERR, which is passed on by the caller.
int PDC_mouse_set(void);
Called by mouse_set(), mouse_on(), and mouse_off() -- all the functions
that modify SP->_trap_mbe. If your platform needs to do anything in
response to a change in SP->_trap_mbe (for example, turning the mouse
cursor on or off), do it here. Returns OK or ERR, which is passed on by
the caller.
void PDC_set_keyboard_binary(bool on);
Set keyboard input to "binary" mode. If you need to do something to keep
the OS from processing ^C, etc. on your platform, do it here. TRUE turns
the mode on; FALSE reverts it. This function is called from raw() and
noraw().
pdcscrn.c:
----------
bool PDC_can_change_color(void);
Returns TRUE if init_color() and color_content() give meaningful
results, FALSE otherwise. Called from can_change_color().
int PDC_color_content(short color, short *red, short *green, short *blue);
The core of color_content(). This does all the work of that function,
except checking for values out of range and null pointers.
int PDC_init_color(short color, short red, short green, short blue);
The core of init_color(). This does all the work of that function,
except checking for values out of range.
void PDC_init_pair(short pair, short fg, short bg);
The core of init_pair(). This does all the work of that function, except
checking for values out of range. The values passed to this function
should be returned by a call to PDC_pair_content() with the same pair
number. PDC_transform_line() should use the specified colors when
rendering a chtype with the given pair number.
int PDC_pair_content(short pair, short *fg, short *bg);
The core of pair_content(). This does all the work of that function,
except checking for values out of range and null pointers.
void PDC_reset_prog_mode(void);
The non-portable functionality of reset_prog_mode() is handled here --
whatever's not done in _restore_mode(). In current ports: In OS/2, this
sets the keyboard to binary mode; in Win32, it enables or disables the
mouse pointer to match the saved mode; in others it does nothing.
void PDC_reset_shell_mode(void);
The same thing, for reset_shell_mode(). In OS/2 and Win32, it restores
the default console mode; in others it does nothing.
int PDC_resize_screen(int nlines, int ncols);
This does the main work of resize_term(). It may respond to non-zero
parameters, by setting the screen to the specified size; to zero
parameters, by setting the screen to a size chosen by the user at
runtime, in an unspecified way (e.g., by dragging the edges of the
window); or both. It may also do nothing, if there's no appropriate
action for the platform.
void PDC_restore_screen_mode(int i);
Called from _restore_mode() in kernel.c, this function does the actual
mode changing, if applicable. Currently used only in DOS and OS/2.
void PDC_save_screen_mode(int i);
Called from _save_mode() in kernel.c, this function saves the actual
screen mode, if applicable. Currently used only in DOS and OS/2.
void PDC_scr_close(void);
The platform-specific part of endwin(). It may restore the image of the
original screen saved by PDC_scr_open(), if the PDC_RESTORE_SCREEN
environment variable is set; either way, if using an existing terminal,
this function should restore it to the mode it had at startup, and move
the cursor to the lower left corner. (The X11 port does nothing.)
void PDC_scr_free(void);
Frees the memory for SP allocated by PDC_scr_open(). Called by
delscreen().
int PDC_scr_open(int argc, char **argv);
The platform-specific part of initscr(). It's actually called from
Xinitscr(); the arguments, if present, correspond to those used with
main(), and may be used to set the title of the terminal window, or for
other, platform-specific purposes. (The arguments are currently used
only in X11.) PDC_scr_open() must allocate memory for SP, and must
initialize acs_map[] (unless it's preset) and several members of SP,
including lines, cols, mouse_wait, orig_attr (and if orig_attr is TRUE,
orig_fore and orig_back), mono, _restore and _preserve. (Although SP is
used the same way in all ports, it's allocated here in order to allow
the X11 port to map it to a block of shared memory.) If using an
existing terminal, and the environment variable PDC_RESTORE_SCREEN is
set, this function may also store the existing screen image for later
restoration by PDC_scr_close().
pdcsetsc.c:
-----------
int PDC_curs_set(int visibility);
Called from curs_set(). Changes the appearance of the cursor -- 0 turns
it off, 1 is normal (the terminal's default, if applicable, as
determined by SP->orig_cursor), and 2 is high visibility. The exact
appearance of these modes is not specified.
pdcutil.c:
----------
void PDC_beep(void);
Emits a short audible beep. If this is not possible on your platform,
you must set SP->audible to FALSE during initialization (i.e., from
PDC_scr_open() -- not here); otherwise, set it to TRUE. This function is
called from beep().
void PDC_napms(int ms);
This is the core delay routine, called by napms(). It pauses for about
(the X/Open spec says "at least") ms milliseconds, then returns. High
degrees of accuracy and precision are not expected (though desirable, if
you can achieve them). More important is that this function gives back
the process' time slice to the OS, so that PDCurses idles at low CPU
usage.
const char *PDC_sysname(void);
Returns a short string describing the platform, such as "DOS" or "X11".
This is used by longname(). It must be no more than 100 characters; it
should be much, much shorter (existing platforms use no more than 5).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following functions are implemented in the platform directories, but
are accessed directly by apps. Refer to the user documentation for their
descriptions:
pdcclip.c:
----------
int PDC_clearclipboard(void);
int PDC_freeclipboard(char *contents);
int PDC_getclipboard(char **contents, long *length);
int PDC_setclipboard(const char *contents, long length);
pdckbd.c:
---------
unsigned long PDC_get_input_fd(void);
pdcsetsc.c:
-----------
int PDC_set_blink(bool blinkon);
void PDC_set_title(const char *title);
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