Readline (was Re: state of ghc6 on sparc)

[Simon Marlow]

=20
> "Simon Marlow" <simonmar@microsoft.com> writes:
>=20
> > > > > [SimpleLineEditor]
> >=20
> > Hmm.  I'm highly dubious that this can be done portably enough to be
> > worthwhile.  The only way to get information about the=20
> terminal is by
> > consulting termcap or terminfo, otherwise you're just guessing.
>=20
> I'm pretty sure that even termcap/terminfo does not contain the sort
> of information we need.  There are just too many layers of environment
> to worry about.

I'm not aware of any reason why termcap/terminfo aren't complete enough
- could you give an example?  After all, these are the only mechanisms
available to readline and terminal apps.  If the termcap says that the
down arrow key produces a certain string, then that's the string you see
in the input, AFAIK.

Why not just write a binding to curses?  (actually, doesn't one already
exist?  I seem to recall that there was one in QForeign).

> > Isn't this just a pile of bug reports waiting to happen?  Or a
> > neverending maintenance headache?
>=20
> Yes, I expect so.  But someone did have a plea that even some small
> editing functionality would be better than nothing.  So in the spirit
> of "worse is better"...

Hmm, sometimes worse really is worse :-)

Cheers,
	Simon