The Patch to ifstat prevents scrolling in the ifstat software, ensuring the user's convenience while using the software.
The patch was created against version 0.5 of ifstat and should be applied to a clean copy of the software. Additionally, it includes a quick fix that allows ifstat to compile on Mac OS X (Darwin), although users will still need to use the --without-ifmib --with-kvm options to configure. This patch has been tested on Mac OS X 10.2, NetBSD 1.6, and Linux.
To maximize portability and speed, the patch prevents scrollback by erasing the current line. However, it may not work correctly if there are too many interfaces being displayed that exceed one line. Joe Laffey is considering creating a version of the patch that uses ncurses to display a "history" of usage, much the same way the Unix "w" command shows load averages over the last 1, 5, and 15 minutes. Users who like this idea can contact Joe Laffey via email.
To use the patch, users must first expand a clean copy of ifstat 0.5, then navigate to the directory containing the newly expanded ifstat-0.5 directory. They should then copy the patch file into the current directory and unzip it with "gunzip ifstat_no_scroll-1.0.gz" before applying it with "patch -p0 < ifstat_no_scroll-1.0". Finally, navigate to the ifstat-0.5 directory and proceed as usual (./configure, make, etc...), then run ifstat with the -S switch ("ifstat -S").
Version 1.0: N/A