The <curses.h> header file required to use the BSD-based Curses implementation is provided with the DEC C compiler on OpenVMS Alpha systems.
Existing programs are not affected by the BSD-based Curses functions because the OpenVMS Curses functions are still available as the default curses package. (Note that is a change from previous versions of DEC C, where BSD-based curses was the default.)
To get the the 4.4BSD Curses implementation, you must compile modules that include <curses.h> with the following qualifier:
The BSD-based Curses functions do not provide the support required to call the OpenVMS SMG$ routines with the pasteboard and keyboard allocated by the curses functions. Consequently, Curses programs that rely on calling SMG$ entry points, as well as Curses functions, must continue to use the OpenVMS Curses implementation.
The BSD-based Curses implementation is not interoperable with the old implementation. Attempts to mix calls to the new functions and the old functions will result in incorrect output displayed on the screen and could result in an exception from an SMG$ routine.