gh-152233: Make the curses cell API work without ncursesw

Doc/library/curses.rst

@@ -1333,9 +1333,6 @@ Window objects
    and the color pair is not limited to the value that fits in a
    :func:`color_pair`.
 
-   This method is only available if Python was built against a wide-character
-   version of the underlying curses library.
-
    .. versionadded:: next
 
 
@@ -1483,9 +1480,6 @@ Window objects
    followed by combining characters) together with its attributes and color
    pair, none of which :meth:`inch` can represent.
 
-   This method is only available if Python was built against a wide-character
-   version of the underlying curses library.
-
    .. versionadded:: next
 
 
@@ -1585,9 +1579,6 @@ Window objects
    The result can be written back unchanged with :meth:`addstr` (a read and a
    re-write is a round-trip that preserves every cell's rendition).
 
-   This method is only available if Python was built against a wide-character
-   version of the underlying curses library.
-
    .. versionadded:: next
 
 
@@ -2004,7 +1995,7 @@ Complex character objects
 .. class:: complexchar(text, /, attr=0, pair=0)
 
    A *complex character* (or *complexchar*) is an immutable styled
-   wide-character cell: a spacing character optionally followed by combining
+   character cell: a spacing character optionally followed by combining
    characters, together with a set of attributes and a color pair.
 
    *text* is the cell's text, *attr* a combination of the
@@ -2025,8 +2016,10 @@ Complex character objects
    :func:`str` returns the cell's text; two complex characters are equal when
    their text, attributes and color pair all match.
 
-   This type is only available if Python was built against a wide-character
-   version of the underlying curses library.
+   The same code works on both wide- and narrow-character builds.  On a narrow
+   build a cell holds a single character (no combining marks) that must encode to
+   one byte in the window's encoding (8-bit locales only), and *pair* is limited
+   to the value that fits in a :func:`color_pair`.
 
    .. attribute:: attr
 
@@ -2042,7 +2035,7 @@ Complex character objects
 .. class:: complexstr(cells[, attr[, pair]])
 
    A *complex character string* (or *complexstr*) is an immutable sequence of
-   styled wide-character cells -- the string counterpart of
+   styled character cells -- the string counterpart of
    :class:`complexchar` (as :class:`str` is to a single character).
 
    If *cells* is a string, it is split into character cells (each a spacing
@@ -2070,8 +2063,8 @@ Complex character objects
    :class:`complexchar` (or strings); a :class:`!complexstr` is the immutable
    form returned by a read.
 
-   This type is only available if Python was built against a wide-character
-   version of the underlying curses library.
+   Like :class:`complexchar`, this type works on both wide- and narrow-character
+   builds, with the same per-cell limitations on a narrow build.
 
    .. versionadded:: next
 

Doc/whatsnew/3.16.rst

@@ -111,8 +111,12 @@ curses
   and the module functions :func:`curses.erasewchar`, :func:`curses.killwchar`
   and :func:`curses.wunctrl`, the wide-character counterparts of
   :func:`curses.erasechar`, :func:`curses.killchar` and :func:`curses.unctrl`.
-  These features are only available when built against the wide-character
-  ncursesw library.
+  On a narrow (non-ncursesw) build the character cell holds a single character
+  without combining marks, representable as one byte in the window's encoding,
+  and :meth:`~curses.window.in_wstr` returns its decoded text;
+  :meth:`~curses.window.get_wstr` and the :func:`curses.erasewchar`,
+  :func:`curses.killwchar` and :func:`curses.wunctrl` functions require the
+  wide-character ncursesw library.
   (Contributed by Serhiy Storchaka in :gh:`151757`.)
 
 * Add :func:`curses.nofilter`, which undoes the effect of :func:`curses.filter`.
@@ -139,21 +143,26 @@ curses
   (Contributed by Serhiy Storchaka in :gh:`152219`.)
 
 * Add the :class:`curses.complexchar` type, representing a styled
-  wide-character cell (its text, attributes and color pair), and the window
+  character cell (its text, attributes and color pair), and the window
   methods :meth:`~curses.window.in_wch` and :meth:`~curses.window.getbkgrnd`
-  that return one --- the wide-character counterparts of
+  that return one --- the counterparts of
   :meth:`~curses.window.inch` and :meth:`~curses.window.getbkgd`.  The
   character-cell methods, such as :meth:`~curses.window.addch` and
   :meth:`~curses.window.border`, now also accept a
-  :class:`~curses.complexchar`.
+  :class:`~curses.complexchar`.  These work whether or not Python was built
+  against a wide-character-aware curses library; on a narrow build a cell holds a
+  single character representable as one byte in the window's encoding (so only
+  8-bit locales are supported).
   (Contributed by Serhiy Storchaka in :gh:`152233`.)
 
 * Add the :class:`curses.complexstr` type, an immutable run of styled cells
   (the string counterpart of :class:`~curses.complexchar`), and the window
   method :meth:`~curses.window.in_wchstr` that returns one.  The string-cell
   methods :meth:`~curses.window.addstr`, :meth:`~curses.window.addnstr`,
   :meth:`~curses.window.insstr` and :meth:`~curses.window.insnstr` now also
-  accept a :class:`~curses.complexstr`.
+  accept a :class:`~curses.complexstr`.  Like :class:`~curses.complexchar`, it
+  works whether or not Python was built against a wide-character-aware curses
+  library.
   (Contributed by Serhiy Storchaka in :gh:`152233`.)
 
 * Add the :mod:`curses` window method :meth:`~curses.window.dupwin`, which

Lib/test/test_curses.py

@@ -313,6 +313,8 @@ def test_refresh_control(self):
     #   'é'          common to the Latin encodings
     #   '¤'/'€'/'є'  byte 0xA4 in ISO-8859-1 / ISO-8859-15 / KOI8-U
     # Precomposed characters are used so a round-trip does not depend on the form.
+    # On a narrow (non-wide) build a cell holds one byte, so cases that need a
+    # combining sequence or a multibyte character are guarded with _storable().
 
     def _encodable(self, s):
         # Wide characters are only supported in a locale that can encode them.
@@ -322,6 +324,18 @@ def _encodable(self, s):
             return False
         return True
 
+    def _storable(self, s):
+        # Text the current build can place in character cells.  A wide build
+        # stores any locale-encodable text (combining sequences and multibyte
+        # characters included).  A narrow build has no wide-character cells, so
+        # each character must occupy a single cell -- that is, encode to exactly
+        # one byte.
+        if not self._encodable(s):
+            return False
+        if hasattr(self.stdscr, 'get_wch'):  # wide build
+            return True
+        return len(s.encode(self.stdscr.encoding)) == len(s)
+
     def _read_char(self, y, x):
         # The character written to a cell, read back for output checks.  inch()
         # is unusable here: on a wide build it returns the low 8 bits of the
@@ -435,7 +449,7 @@ def test_in_wstr(self):
                   'na\u00efve \u00a4',      # ISO-8859-1
                   'soup\u00e7on \u20ac',    # ISO-8859-15
                   '\u0434\u044f\u043a']:    # KOI8-U
-            if self._encodable(s):
+            if self._storable(s):
                 with self.subTest(s=s):
                     stdscr.addstr(0, 0, s)
                     self.assertEqual(stdscr.in_wstr(0, 0, len(s)), s)
@@ -450,7 +464,7 @@ def test_complexchar(self):
         self.assertTrue(cc.attr & curses.A_BOLD)
         self.assertEqual(cc.pair, 0)
         # A spacing character optionally followed by combining characters.
-        if self._encodable('e\u0301'):
+        if self._storable('e\u0301'):
             self.assertEqual(str(curses.complexchar('e\u0301')), 'e\u0301')
         # Defaults: no attributes, color pair 0.
         cc = curses.complexchar('z')
@@ -496,7 +510,7 @@ def test_in_wch(self):
         self.assertTrue(cc.attr & curses.A_UNDERLINE)
         # A character round-trips through the cell.  See _encodable for the set.
         for ch in ('A', '\u00e9', '\u00a4', '\u20ac', '\u0454'):
-            if self._encodable(ch):
+            if self._storable(ch):
                 with self.subTest(ch=ch):
                     stdscr.addch(3, 0, curses.complexchar(ch))
                     self.assertEqual(str(stdscr.in_wch(3, 0)), ch)
@@ -530,7 +544,7 @@ def test_getbkgrnd(self):
         self.assertTrue(cc.attr & curses.A_BOLD)
         # A non-ASCII background round-trips as a complexchar.  See _encodable.
         for ch in ('é', '¤', '€', 'є'):
-            if self._encodable(ch):
+            if self._storable(ch):
                 with self.subTest(ch=ch):
                     stdscr.bkgd(curses.complexchar(ch))
                     self.assertEqual(str(stdscr.getbkgrnd()), ch)
@@ -569,7 +583,7 @@ def test_complexstr(self):
         self.assertNotEqual(s, curses.complexstr([cc('A'), 'b', cc('c')]))
         self.assertNotEqual(s, curses.complexstr([cc('A', B), 'b']))
         # A spacing character optionally followed by combining characters.
-        if self._encodable('é'):
+        if self._storable('é'):
             self.assertEqual(str(curses.complexstr(['é', 'x'])),
                              'éx')
         # cells is positional-only.
@@ -586,7 +600,9 @@ def test_complexstr(self):
         self.assertEqual(str(curses.complexstr('abc')), 'abc')
         self.assertEqual(len(curses.complexstr('')), 0)
         base = 'é'  # 'e' + combining acute: two code points, one cell
-        if self._encodable(base):
+        # Combining sequences need wide-character cells (a narrow build stores
+        # one byte per cell).
+        if hasattr(curses.window, 'get_wch') and self._encodable(base):
             self.assertEqual(len(curses.complexstr(base)), 1)
             self.assertEqual(curses.complexstr(base)[0], cc(base))
             self.assertEqual(len(curses.complexstr('a' + base + 'b')), 3)
@@ -734,7 +750,7 @@ def test_output_character(self):
         # str is stored as a wide-character cell on a wide build, so every
         # encodable character round-trips, insch() included.  A multibyte
         # character does not fit a cell on a narrow build and is skipped.
-        wide = hasattr(stdscr, 'in_wch')
+        wide = hasattr(stdscr, 'get_wch')
         for c in ('é', '¤', '€', 'є'):
             if not self._encodable(c):
                 continue

Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-06-20-02-14-55.gh-issue-151757.TP9A2x.rst

@@ -3,5 +3,9 @@ cell -- a spacing character optionally followed by combining characters -- in
 addition to a single integer or byte character.  Add the wide-character read
 methods :meth:`curses.window.get_wstr` and :meth:`curses.window.in_wstr`, and
 the functions :func:`curses.erasewchar`, :func:`curses.killwchar` and
-:func:`curses.wunctrl`.  These features are only available when built against
-the wide-character ncursesw library.
+:func:`curses.wunctrl`.  On a narrow (non-ncursesw) build the character cell
+holds a single character without combining marks, representable as one byte in
+the window's encoding, and :meth:`curses.window.in_wstr` returns its decoded
+text; :meth:`curses.window.get_wstr` and the :func:`curses.erasewchar`,
+:func:`curses.killwchar` and :func:`curses.wunctrl` functions require the
+wide-character ncursesw library.

Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-06-25-22-41-49.gh-issue-152233.pEhm3q.rst

@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
-Add the :class:`curses.complexchar` type, representing a styled wide-character
+Add the :class:`curses.complexchar` type, representing a styled character
 cell (text, attributes and color pair), and the :mod:`curses` window methods
 :meth:`~curses.window.in_wch` and :meth:`~curses.window.getbkgrnd` that return
 one.  The character-cell methods (:meth:`~curses.window.addch`,
 :meth:`~curses.window.bkgd`, :meth:`~curses.window.border`,
 :meth:`~curses.window.hline` and others) now also accept a
-:class:`~curses.complexchar`.
+:class:`~curses.complexchar`.  This works whether or not Python was built
+against a wide-character-aware curses library; on a narrow build a cell holds a
+single character representable as one byte in the window's encoding.

Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-06-26-11-20-00.gh-issue-152233.Kp7mQ2.rst

@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 Add the :class:`curses.complexstr` type, an immutable string of styled
-wide-character cells (the counterpart of :class:`curses.complexchar`), and the
+character cells (the counterpart of :class:`curses.complexchar`), and the
 :mod:`curses` window method :meth:`~curses.window.in_wchstr` that returns one.
 The string-cell methods :meth:`~curses.window.addstr`,
 :meth:`~curses.window.addnstr`, :meth:`~curses.window.insstr` and
 :meth:`~curses.window.insnstr` now also accept a :class:`~curses.complexstr`.
+Like :class:`curses.complexchar`, it works whether or not Python was built
+against a wide-character-aware curses library.