hol-formatter example from the book doesn't work

[RobberFox]

I'm just trying to copy the code from the book to see if it works but it doesn't:

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <notcurses/direct.h>

int main(void){
	const char blue[] = "house";
	const char *b = blue;
	struct ncdirect* n = ncdirect_core_init(NULL, stdout, 0);

	int c, ret = 0;
	if(n){
		while(!ret && (c = getchar()) != EOF){
			if(isalpha(c) && tolower(c) == *b){
				++b;
			}else{
				if(b > blue){
					if(!*b){
						ret |= ncdirect_on_styles(n, NCSTYLE_BOLD);
						ret |= ncdirect_set_fg_rgb(n, 0x0339dc);
					}
					ret |= (printf("%.*s", (int)(b - blue), blue) < 0);
					if(!*b){
						ret |= ncdirect_set_fg_default(n);
						ret |= ncdirect_off_styles(n, NCSTYLE_BOLD);
					}
					b = blue;
				}
				ret |= (putchar(c) == EOF);
			}
		}
		if(b > blue){
			ret |= (printf("%.*s", (int)(b - blue), blue) < 0);
		}
	}
	return (!n || ncdirect_stop(n) || !feof(stdin) || ret) ? EXIT_FAILURE : EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

The code compiles with no errors: gcc -Wall hol-formatter.c -lnotcurses -lnotcurses-core, but when I try to execute echo "house of leaves" | ./a.out, nothing is outputted.
I've tested some executables: notcurses-demo, ncplayer, notcurses-info and they all seem to work fine:

notcurses 3.0.9 on Kitty 0.36.4 (Linux 6.1.0-23-amd64)
51 rows (20px) 126 cols (9px) 1020x1134 rgb+256 colors
gcc-12.2.0 (LE)
terminfo 6.4.20221231 libdeflate 1.14 GPM n/a
avformat 59.27.100 avutil 57.28.100 swscale 6.7.100 avcodec 59.37.100 avdevice 59.7.100
af+ ab+ sum- vpa+ hpa+ sgr0+ op+ fgop+ bgop+ bce- rect-                         
bold+ ital+ struck+ ucurl+ uline+ u7+ ccc+ rgb+ el+                             
utf8+ 2x1+ 2x2+ 3x2+ 4x2+ img+ vid+ indn+ gpm- kbd+                             
default fg 0xc8d3f5 default bg 0x1a1b26 pmouse+                                 
1st gen rgba pixel animation support                   🯁🯂🯃https://notcurses.com 
 ▘▝▀▖▌▞▛▗▚▐▜▄▙▟█⎧ 🬀🬁🬂🬃🬄🬅🬆🬇🬈🬊🬋🬌🬍🬎🬏🬐🬑🬒🬓▌🬔🬕🬖🬗🬘🬙🬚🬛🬜🬝⎫♠♥🯰🯱🯲🯳🯴🯵🯶🯷🯸🯹⅗⅘⅙⅚⅛⎧▕▏⎫┌╥─╥─╥┐🭩⎛⎞
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⎢⢀⢁⢈⢉⢂⢃⢊⢋⢐⢑⢘⢙⢒⢓⢚⢛⢄⢅⢌⢍⢆⢇⢎⢏⢔⢕⢜⢝⢖⢗⢞⢟⢠⢡⢨⢩⢢⢣⢪⢫⢰⢱⢸⢹⢲⢳⢺⢻⢤⢥⢬⢭⢦⢧⢮⢯⢴⢵⢼⢽⢶⢷⢾⢿⎥⎪🮋▉⎪╭──╮⟬⟭╔╗≶≷
⎣⣀⣁⣈⣉⣂⣃⣊⣋⣐⣑⣘⣙⣒⣓⣚⣛⣄⣅⣌⣍⣆⣇⣎⣏⣔⣕⣜⣝⣖⣗⣞⣟⣠⣡⣨⣩⣢⣣⣪⣫⣰⣱⣸⣹⣲⣳⣺⣻⣤⣥⣬⣭⣦⣧⣮⣯⣴⣵⣼⣽⣶⣷⣾⣿⎦⎪██⎪│╭╮│╔═╝║⊆⊇
 ▔🭶🭷🭸🭹🭺🭻▁ 🭁🭌 🭂🭍 🭃🭎 🭄🭏 🭅🭐 🭆🭑 🭇🬼 🭈🬽 🭉🬾 🭊🬿 🭋🭀 ₀₁₂₃₄₅₆₇₈₉ ⎛ ▁▂▃▄▅▆▇█🭫⎞⎪🭨🭪⎪╰╯││║╔═╝⊴⊵
 ▏🭰🭱🭲🭳🭴🭵▕ 🭒🭝 🭓🭞 🭔🭟 🭕🭠 🭖🭡 🭧🭜 🭢🭗 🭣🭘 🭤🭙 🭥🭚 🭦🭛 ⁰¹²³⁴⁵⁶⁷⁸⁹ ⎝ ▔🮂🮃▀🮄🮅🮆█🭩⎠⎩🭪🭨⎭⧒⧑╰╯╚╝❨❩⟃⟄                       
 
17 renders, 2.70ms (144.38µs min, 159.01µs avg, 305.16µs max)
17 rasters, 1.23ms (63.31µs min, 72.17µs avg, 86.16µs max)
17 writes, 1.44ms (33.07µs min, 84.52µs avg, 860.85µs max)
63.87KiB (103B min, 3.76KiB avg, 60.19KiB max) 0 inputs Ghpa: 0
0 failed renders, 0 failed rasters, 0 refreshes, 0 input errors
RGB emits:elides: def 2:1300 fg 1:2477 bg 1159:17
Cell emits:elides: 2478:215934 (98.87%) 99.85% 99.96% 1.45%
Bmap emits:elides: 1:0 (0.00%) 36.11KiB (56.54%) SuM: 0 (0.00%)

What's the problem?

P.S. I'm just complete noobie trying to use this library for my university project. I might be doing something wrong.

[kfazz]

The book targets v1.2.4 of notcurses, so if you're using the latest release YMMV.
I tried some good old printf debugging, and it looks like the while loop doesn't run.
Adding a call to getchar() before ncdirect_core_init() 'fixes' it. No idea why yet though.

[kfazz]

Looks like the first character of input is treated as an escape. You can also just run hol-formatter directly and type into it to test. It will consume the first char, and then work as intended.

This is the same as the book version, with the NCDIRECT_OPTION_VERBOSE flag passed to ncdirect_core_init()

[RobberFox]

Since the book can have broken code - are the man pages the only up-to-date resource left?

[kfazz]

There's also the wiki:
https://nick-black.com/dankwiki/index.php/Notcurses

autogenerated api docs w/ doxygen:
https://notcurses.com/html/

and demo progs in the src tree:
https://github.com/dankamongmen/notcurses/tree/master/src

checkout the poc directory, the demo, etc.

You may also get code completion / function docs in your IDE depending on your setup.
(I get this in vscode out of the box with the library installed in the standard location via debian package, for example)

It's also probably instructive to try the demos first, and see what is/isn't broken.
Only the first two examples use direct mode, the other ones might still work.

The code from the books is online as well, in case you're typing these in out of the book:
https://github.com/dirty-south-supercomputing/technicalreports