Curses manual, example?

[John Chambers]

Two questions today, folks.  First, does there exist a good
intro/manual for the curses/termcap/terminfo package?  I have
several sets of Unix manuals here, and none of them seem to
have any curses documentation at all.  They have very brief
descriptions of the termcap/terminfo databases, though not
nearly enough to tell one how to create an entry.

I've learned enough from others' examples to have a general
idea of the use of things like clear(), mvaddstr(), refresh()
and a few other functions.  Now I have some applications where
I'd really like to use them, and it'd sure be nice to have a
good, precise manual.

If such is not available (or even if it is), another thing
that would be interesting is to find a sample or three of
a program that acts like I want mine to act.  The basic idea
is a program that produces a set of menus, with a mixture 
of text and fill-in-the-blank fields.  The user would be able
to type stuff in these fields (probably filled with underscores),
and the program would do something useful with the data.  The
Sun 'setup' program is a real good example of what I want, and  
there are a few others around.

Does anyone have routines around that act like this?  I could
start developing them myself, by putting the keyboard in raw
mode and trying to decipher what is typed, keeping track of 
where the cursor is, updating the screen, etc.  But if someone
else already has a package and would like to show off their
expertise, it could save some time.

It'd also be interesting to see others' ideas as to what a good
programmer's interface for such a package might be.  What's a
good way to store a menu in a file?  How should the data fields
be represented?  Is it worthwhile to indicate something about
type (numeric, alpha, etc.)?  If so, what's a good notation if
there are non-hacker users editing the menus?  How (if at all)
would one best associate a data field with adjacent text?

Is there another newsgroup where I'd be likely to get a good
answer to such questions?

Bye for now.


-- 
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All opinions Copyright 1989 by John Chambers; for licensing information contact:
	John Chambers <{adelie,ima,mit-eddie}!minya!{jc,root}> (617/484-6393)