156 lines
4.8 KiB
Markdown
156 lines
4.8 KiB
Markdown
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Frequently Asked Questions
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==========================
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What is FINAL CUT?
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------------------
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The FINAL CUT is a [C++](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%2B%2B) class library
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and a widget toolkit with full mouse support for creating a text-based user
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interface. It's based on the Termcap library and has its own cursor
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optimization and window management.
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Why did you develop FINAL CUT?
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------------------------------
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Most Unix [TUIs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text-based_user_interface)
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are difficult to use or limited in their functionality. I developed
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FINAL CUT to fix these problems. The main goals in FINAL CUT design were
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to create a library that is easy to use, powerful, visually appealing and
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easily expandable.
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Where does the name FINAL CUT come from?
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----------------------------------------
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From 1991 to 1996 I developed with
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[Borland Pascal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo_Pascal)
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under [DOS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOS) a text-based file manager
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called “The Final Cut”, with the intention to be more visually appealing
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than all other products. The calculator example is, among other things an
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extract from this program.
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As I got to learn
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[object-oriented programming](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object-oriented_programming) (OOP)
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with [C++](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%2B%2B) at the end of
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the 90s, I noticed significant design weaknesses in my program code.
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I decided to re-implement the code cleanly in C++. This time I wanted to
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avoid old mistakes and do everything right and open source. In the meanwhile,
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I switched from [DOS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOS) to
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[Linux](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux), so I started the implementing
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of the first widgets (FDialog, FButton, FLineEdit, FScrollbar) and the
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string class FString for the
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[Linux console](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_console).
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Unfortunately, the project lost my attention in 2000.
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In 2012, I needed an attractive terminal presentation for a textual data
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structure. So I have started to develop FINAL CUT to a widget library.
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Are Windows and DOS supported by FINAL CUT?
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-------------------------------------------
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You need an operating system environment that implements a POSIX system
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call API. This can be realized in Windows with the Cygwin project.
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Is my platform supported?
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-------------------------
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The supported platforms are Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, macOS,
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Cygwin on Microsoft Windows and Oracle Solaris
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What do I need to write my own programs with FINAL CUT?
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-------------------------------------------------------
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You need a C++ compiler like GCC (g++) or Clang (clang++).
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What do I need to build this library?
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-------------------------------------
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You need three things:
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1. C++ compiler like GCC (g++) or Clang (clang++).
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2. The GNU building tools
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*For example, in a Debian-based distribution it would be
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the following packages:*
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* autotools-dev
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* automake
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* autoconf
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* autoconf-archive
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* libtool
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3. Development packages for following libraries:
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* C standard library
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* C++ standard library
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* Termcap library *(mostly part of the curses library)*
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* General Purpose Mouse library *(optional, only if you need
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mouse support on the Linux console)*
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*For example, in a Debian-based distribution it would be the following
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packages:*
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* libglib2.0-dev
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* libstdc++-6-dev
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* libtinfo-dev
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* libncurses5-dev
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* libgpm-dev
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How to compile FINAL CUT without GPM support?
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---------------------------------------------
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```bash
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./configure --without-gpm
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```
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Which mouse types are supported?
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--------------------------------
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* Normal xterm mouse tracking (limited to 223 rows/columns)
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* Xterm SGR mouse tracking
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* URXVT mouse tracking
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* General Purpose Mouse (gpm) on a linux console
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What do I need to compile the unit tests?
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-----------------------------------------
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You need the unit testing framework CppUnit.
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How can I fix display problems?
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-------------------------------
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* Make sure that the environment variable TERM has the right
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terminal name.
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* Use the command "`msgcat --color=test`" to test whether the terminal
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displays colors correctly in the terminal.
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* If characters are not displayed in the right place on the screen,
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it may help to disable cursor optimization for your program with
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the parameter *--no-optimized-cursor*.
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* If terminal detection did not work, it is useful to turn off the terminal
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detection with the parameter *--no-terminal-detection*.
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* If the color palette redefinition causes problems, you can switch off
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the color mapping with the parameter *--no-color-change*.
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How can I redraw the terminal?
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------------------------------
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With Ctrl-L you can clear and redraw all information on the terminal screen.
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This may be necessary if a background program overwrites the displayed
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widgets with other characters.
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