1DIALOG(1)                   General Commands Manual                  DIALOG(1)
2
3
4

NAME

6       dialog - display dialog boxes from shell scripts
7

SYNOPSIS

9       dialog --clear
10       dialog --create-rc file
11       dialog --print-maxsize
12       dialog common-options box-options
13

DESCRIPTION

15       Dialog is a program that will let you present a variety of questions or
16       display messages using dialog boxes from a shell script.   These  types
17       of  dialog  boxes  are implemented (though not all are necessarily com‐
18       piled into dialog):
19
20              buildlist, calendar, checklist, dselect, editbox, form, fselect,
21              gauge, infobox, inputbox, inputmenu, menu, mixedform,
22              mixedgauge, msgbox (message), passwordbox, passwordform, pause,
23              prgbox, programbox, progressbox, radiolist, rangebox, tailbox,
24              tailboxbg, textbox, timebox, treeview, and yesno (yes/no).
25
26       You can put more than one dialog box into a script:
27
28       ·   Use the "--and-widget" token to force dialog to proceed to the next
29           dialog unless you have pressed ESC to cancel, or
30
31       ·   Simply add the tokens for the next dialog box, making a chain.  Di‐
32           alog stops chaining when the return code from a dialog is  nonzero,
33           e.g., Cancel or No (see DIAGNOSTICS).
34
35       Some  widgets,  e.g.,  checklist,  will  write text to dialog's output.
36       Normally that is the standard error, but there are options for changing
37       this:  "--output-fd", "--stderr" and "--stdout".  No text is written if
38       the Cancel button (or ESC) is pressed; dialog exits immediately in that
39       case.
40

OPTIONS

42       All  options  begin  with  "--"  (two ASCII hyphens, for the benefit of
43       those using systems with deranged locale support).
44
45       A "--" by itself is used as an escape, i.e., the next token on the com‐
46       mand-line is not treated as an option.
47              dialog --title -- --Not an option
48
49       The "--args" option tells dialog to list the command-line parameters to
50       the standard error.  This is useful when debugging complex scripts  us‐
51       ing  the  "--" and "--file", since the command-line may be rewritten as
52       these are expanded.
53
54       The "--file" option tells dialog to read parameters from the file named
55       as its value.
56              dialog --file parameterfile
57       Blanks not within double-quotes are discarded (use backslashes to quote
58       single characters).  The result is inserted into the command-line,  re‐
59       placing  "--file" and its option value.  Interpretation of the command-
60       line resumes from that point.  If parameterfile begins with "&", dialog
61       interprets the following text as a file descriptor number rather than a
62       filename.
63
64   Common Options
65       Most of the common options are reset before processing each widget.
66
67       --ascii-lines
68              Rather than draw graphics lines around boxes, draw ASCII "+" and
69              "-" in the same place.  See also "--no-lines".
70
71       --aspect ratio
72              This  gives  you some control over the box dimensions when using
73              auto sizing (specifying 0 for height and width).  It  represents
74              width / height.  The default is 9, which means 9 characters wide
75              to every 1 line high.
76
77       --backtitle backtitle
78              Specifies a backtitle string to be displayed on the backdrop, at
79              the top of the screen.
80
81       --begin y x
82              Specify the position of the upper left corner of a dialog box on
83              the screen.
84
85       --cancel-label string
86              Override the label used for "Cancel" buttons.
87
88       --clear
89              Clears the widget screen, keeping only  the  screen_color  back‐
90              ground.   Use  this when you combine widgets with "--and-widget"
91              to erase the contents of a previous widget on the screen, so  it
92              won't  be seen under the contents of a following widget.  Under‐
93              stand this as the complement of "--keep-window".  To compare the
94              effects, use these:
95
96              All three widgets visible, staircase effect, ordered 1,2,3:
97
98              dialog \
99                                             --begin 2 2 --yesno "" 0 0 \
100                  --and-widget               --begin 4 4 --yesno "" 0 0 \
101                  --and-widget               --begin 6 6 --yesno "" 0 0
102
103              Only the last widget is left visible:
104
105              dialog \
106                               --clear       --begin 2 2 --yesno "" 0 0 \
107                  --and-widget --clear       --begin 4 4 --yesno "" 0 0 \
108                  --and-widget               --begin 6 6 --yesno "" 0 0
109
110              All three widgets visible, staircase effect, ordered 3,2,1:
111
112              dialog \
113                               --keep-window --begin 2 2 --yesno "" 0 0 \
114                  --and-widget --keep-window --begin 4 4 --yesno "" 0 0 \
115                  --and-widget               --begin 6 6 --yesno "" 0 0
116
117              First and third widget visible, staircase effect, ordered 3,1:
118
119              dialog \
120                               --keep-window --begin 2 2 --yesno "" 0 0 \
121                  --and-widget --clear       --begin 4 4 --yesno "" 0 0 \
122                  --and-widget               --begin 6 6 --yesno "" 0 0
123
124              Note,  if  you  want to restore original console colors and send
125              your cursor home after the dialog program has  exited,  use  the
126              clear (1) command.
127
128       --colors
129              Interpret embedded "\Z" sequences in the dialog text by the fol‐
130              lowing character, which tells dialog to set colors or video  at‐
131              tributes:
132
133              ·   0  through  7  are  the  ANSI  color numbers used in curses:
134                  black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan and white re‐
135                  spectively.
136
137              ·   Bold is set by 'b', reset by 'B'.
138
139              ·   Reverse is set by 'r', reset by 'R'.
140
141              ·   Underline is set by 'u', reset by 'U'.
142
143              ·   The  settings  are cumulative, e.g., "\Zb\Z1" makes the fol‐
144                  lowing text bold (perhaps bright) red.
145
146              ·   Restore normal settings with "\Zn".
147
148       --column-separator string
149              Tell dialog to split data for radio/checkboxes and menus on  the
150              occurrences of the given string, and to align the split data in‐
151              to columns.
152
153       --cr-wrap
154              Interpret embedded newlines in the dialog text as a  newline  on
155              the screen.  Otherwise, dialog will only wrap lines where needed
156              to fit inside the text box.
157
158              Even though you can control line breaks with this,  Dialog  will
159              still wrap any lines that are too long for the width of the box.
160              Without cr-wrap, the layout of your text  may  be  formatted  to
161              look  nice  in  the source code of your script without affecting
162              the way it will look in the dialog.
163
164              See also the "--no-collapse" and "--trim" options.
165
166       --create-rc file
167              When dialog supports run-time configuration, this can be used to
168              dump a sample configuration file to the file specified by file.
169
170       --date-format format
171              If the host provides strftime, this option allows you to specify
172              the format of the date printed for the --calendar  widget.   The
173              time of day (hour, minute, second) are the current local time.
174
175       --defaultno
176              Make  the  default value of the yes/no box a No.  Likewise, make
177              the default button of widgets that provide "OK" and  "Cancel"  a
178              Cancel.   If "--nocancel" or "--visit-items" are given those op‐
179              tions overrides this, making the  default  button  always  "Yes"
180              (internally the same as "OK").
181
182       --default-button string
183              Set the default (preselected) button in a widget.  By preselect‐
184              ing a button, a script makes it possible for the user to  simply
185              press  Enter  to  proceed through a dialog with minimum interac‐
186              tion.
187
188              The option's value is the name of the button: ok,  yes,  cancel,
189              no, help or extra.
190
191              Normally  the  first  button in each widget is the default.  The
192              first button shown is determined by the widget together with the
193              "--nook"  and "--nocancel options.  If this option is not given,
194              there is no default button assigned.
195
196       --default-item string
197              Set the default item in a checklist, form or menu box.  Normally
198              the first item in the box is the default.
199
200       --exit-label string
201              Override the label used for "EXIT" buttons.
202
203       --extra-button
204              Show an extra button, between "OK" and "Cancel" buttons.
205
206       --extra-label string
207              Override  the  label used for "Extra" buttons.  Note: for input‐
208              menu widgets, this defaults to "Rename".
209
210       --help Prints the help message to the standard output and  exits.   The
211              help  message  is also printed if no options are given, or if an
212              unrecognized option is given.
213
214       --help-button
215              Show a help-button after "OK" and  "Cancel"  buttons,  i.e.,  in
216              checklist, radiolist and menu boxes.
217
218              On  exit,  the  return status will indicate that the Help button
219              was pressed.  Dialog will also write a message to its output af‐
220              ter the token "HELP":
221
222              ·   If  "--item-help"  is also given, the item-help text will be
223                  written.
224
225              ·   Otherwise, the item's tag (the first field) will be written.
226
227              You  can  use  the  --help-tags  option  and/or  set  the   DIA‐
228              LOG_ITEM_HELP  environment variable to modify these messages and
229              exit-status.
230
231       --help-label string
232              Override the label used for "Help" buttons.
233
234       --help-status
235              If the help-button is selected, writes the checklist,  radiolist
236              or  form  information  after  the  item-help "HELP" information.
237              This can be used to reconstruct the state of a  checklist  after
238              processing the help request.
239
240       --help-tags
241              Modify  the messages written on exit for --help-button by making
242              them always just the item's tag.  This does not affect the  exit
243              status code.
244
245       --hfile filename
246              Display the given file using a textbox when the user presses F1.
247
248       --hline string
249              Display the given string centered at the bottom of the widget.
250
251       --ignore
252              Ignore  options that dialog does not recognize.  Some well-known
253              ones such as "--icon" are ignored anyway, but this is  a  better
254              choice for compatibility with other implementations.
255
256       --input-fd fd
257              Read keyboard input from the given file descriptor.  Most dialog
258              scripts read from the standard input, but the gauge widget reads
259              a pipe (which is always standard input).  Some configurations do
260              not work properly when dialog tries to reopen the terminal.  Use
261              this  option  (with appropriate juggling of file-descriptors) if
262              your script must work in that type of environment.
263
264       --insecure
265              Makes the password widget friendlier but less secure, by echoing
266              asterisks for each character.
267
268       --iso-week
269              Set  the starting point for the week-number shown in the "--cal‐
270              endar" option according to ISO-8601, which starts numbering with
271              the first week which includes a Thursday in January.
272
273       --item-help
274              Interpret  the tags data for checklist, radiolist and menu boxes
275              adding a column which is displayed in the  bottom  line  of  the
276              screen, for the currently selected item.
277
278       --keep-tite
279              When  built with ncurses, dialog normally checks to see if it is
280              running in an xterm, and in that case tries to suppress the ini‐
281              tialization  strings  that would make it switch to the alternate
282              screen.  Switching between the normal and alternate  screens  is
283              visually  distracting  in  a  script  which  runs dialog several
284              times.  Use this option to allow dialog to use those initializa‐
285              tion strings.
286
287       --keep-window
288              Normally when dialog performs several tailboxbg widgets connect‐
289              ed by "--and-widget", it clears the old widget from  the  screen
290              by  painting over it.  Use this option to suppress that repaint‐
291              ing.
292
293              At exit, dialog repaints all of  the  widgets  which  have  been
294              marked with "--keep-window", even if they are not tailboxbg wid‐
295              gets.  That causes them to be repainted in reverse  order.   See
296              the discussion of the "--clear" option for examples.
297
298       --last-key
299              At  exit,  report  the last key which the user entered.  This is
300              the curses key code rather than a symbol or  literal  character.
301              It  can be used by scripts to distinguish between two keys which
302              are bound to the same action.
303
304       --max-input size
305              Limit input strings to the given size.  If  not  specified,  the
306              limit is 2048.
307
308       --no-cancel
309
310       --nocancel
311              Suppress the "Cancel" button in checklist, inputbox and menu box
312              modes.  A script can still test if the user pressed the ESC  key
313              to cancel to quit.
314
315       --no-collapse
316              Normally  dialog  converts  tabs  to spaces and reduces multiple
317              spaces to a single space for text which is displayed in  a  mes‐
318              sage boxes, etc.  Use this option to disable that feature.  Note
319              that dialog will still wrap text, subject to the "--cr-wrap" and
320              "--trim" options.
321
322       --no-items
323              Some  widgets  (checklist, inputmenu, radiolist, menu) display a
324              list with two columns (a "tag" and "item", i.e., "description").
325              This  option  tells  dialog  to  read shorter rows, omitting the
326              "item" part of the list.  This is occasionally useful, e.g.,  if
327              the tags provide enough information.
328
329              See  also --no-tags.  If both options are given, this one is ig‐
330              nored.
331
332       --no-kill
333              Tells dialog to put the tailboxbg box in the background,  print‐
334              ing  its  process id to dialog's output.  SIGHUP is disabled for
335              the background process.
336
337       --no-label string
338              Override the label used for "No" buttons.
339
340       --no-lines
341              Rather than draw lines around boxes, draw  spaces  in  the  same
342              place.  See also "--ascii-lines".
343
344       --no-mouse
345              Do not enable the mouse.
346
347       --no-nl-expand
348              Do  not  convert "\n" substrings of the message/prompt text into
349              literal newlines.
350
351       --no-ok
352
353       --nook Suppress the "OK" button in checklist,  inputbox  and  menu  box
354              modes.   A script can still test if the user pressed the "Enter"
355              key to accept the data.
356
357       --no-shadow
358              Suppress shadows that would be drawn to the right and bottom  of
359              each dialog box.
360
361       --no-tags
362              Some  widgets  (checklist, inputmenu, radiolist, menu) display a
363              list with two columns (a "tag" and "description").  The  tag  is
364              useful  for scripting, but may not help the user.  The --no-tags
365              option (from Xdialog) may be used to suppress the column of tags
366              from  the  display.  Unlike the --no-items option, this does not
367              affect the data which is read from the script.
368
369              Xdialog does not  display  the  tag  column  for  the  analogous
370              buildlist and treeview widgets; dialog does the same.
371
372              Normally  dialog  allows  you  to quickly move to entries on the
373              displayed list, by matching a  single  character  to  the  first
374              character  of the tag.  When the --no-tags option is given, dia‐
375              log matches against the first character of the description.   In
376              either case, the matchable character is highlighted.
377
378       --ok-label string
379              Override the label used for "OK" buttons.
380
381       --output-fd fd
382              Direct output to the given file descriptor.  Most dialog scripts
383              write to the standard error, but  error  messages  may  also  be
384              written there, depending on your script.
385
386       --separator string
387
388       --output-separatorstring
389              Specify  a string that will separate the output on dialog's out‐
390              put from checklists, rather than a newline (for  --separate-out‐
391              put)  or  a  space.  This applies to other widgets such as forms
392              and editboxes which normally use a newline.
393
394       --print-maxsize
395              Print the maximum size of dialog boxes, i.e., the  screen  size,
396              to  dialog's  output.  This may be used alone, without other op‐
397              tions.
398
399       --print-size
400              Prints the size of each dialog box to dialog's output.
401
402       --print-version
403              Prints dialog's version to dialog's output.  This  may  be  used
404              alone,  without other options.  It does not cause dialog to exit
405              by itself.
406
407       --quoted
408              Normally dialog quotes the strings returned  by  checklist's  as
409              well as the item-help text.  Use this option to quote all string
410              results.
411
412       --reorder
413              By default, the buildlist widget uses the  same  order  for  the
414              output (right) list as for the input (left).  Use this option to
415              tell dialog to use the order in which a user adds selections  to
416              the output list.
417
418       --scrollbar
419              For  widgets  holding a scrollable set of data, draw a scrollbar
420              on its right-margin.  This does not respond to the mouse.
421
422       --separate-output
423              For certain widgets (buildlist, checklist, treeview), output re‐
424              sult  one  line  at  a  time, with no quoting.  This facilitates
425              parsing by another program.
426
427       --separate-widget string
428              Specify a string that will separate the output on dialog's  out‐
429              put  from each widget.  This is used to simplify parsing the re‐
430              sult of a dialog with several widgets.  If this  option  is  not
431              given, the default separator string is a tab character.
432
433       --shadow
434              Draw a shadow to the right and bottom of each dialog box.
435
436       --single-quoted
437              Use single-quoting as needed (and no quotes if unneeded) for the
438              output of checklist's as well as the item-help  text.   If  this
439              option  is  not set, dialog uses double quotes around each item.
440              In either case, dialog adds backslashes to make the output  use‐
441              ful in shell scripts.
442
443       --size-err
444              Check  the  resulting  size of a dialog box before trying to use
445              it, printing the resulting size if it is larger than the screen.
446              (This  option  is  obsolete,  since  all  new-window  calls  are
447              checked).
448
449       --sleep secs
450              Sleep (delay) for the given number of seconds after processing a
451              dialog box.
452
453       --stderr
454              Direct output to the standard error.  This is the default, since
455              curses normally writes screen updates to the standard output.
456
457       --stdout
458              Direct output to the standard output.  This option  is  provided
459              for  compatibility  with  Xdialog,  however using it in portable
460              scripts is not recommended, since  curses  normally  writes  its
461              screen  updates to the standard output.  If you use this option,
462              dialog attempts to reopen the terminal so it can  write  to  the
463              display.   Depending  on the platform and your environment, that
464              may fail.
465
466       --tab-correct
467              Convert each tab character  to  one  or  more  spaces  (for  the
468              textbox  widget;  otherwise to a single space).  Otherwise, tabs
469              are rendered according to the curses  library's  interpretation.
470              The --no-collapse option disables tab expansion.
471
472       --tab-len n
473              Specify  the  number  of spaces that a tab character occupies if
474              the "--tab-correct" option is given.  The default  is  8.   This
475              option is only effective for the textbox widget.
476
477       --time-format format
478              If the host provides strftime, this option allows you to specify
479              the format of the time printed for the  --timebox  widget.   The
480              day,  month,  year values in this case are for the current local
481              time.
482
483       --timeout secs
484              Timeout (exit with error code) if no user  response  within  the
485              given number of seconds.  A timeout of zero seconds is ignored.
486
487              This  option  is  ignored  by  the "--pause" widget.  It is also
488              overridden if the background "--tailboxbg"  option  is  used  to
489              setup multiple concurrent widgets.
490
491       --title title
492              Specifies  a title string to be displayed at the top of the dia‐
493              log box.
494
495       --trace filename
496              logs the command-line parameters, keystrokes and other  informa‐
497              tion to the given file.  If dialog reads a configure file, it is
498              logged as well.  Piped input to the gauge widget is logged.  Use
499              control/T to log a picture of the current dialog window.
500
501       --week-start day
502              sets the starting day for the week, used in the "--calendar" op‐
503              tion.  The day parameter can be
504
505              ·   a number (0 to 6, Sunday through Saturday using POSIX) or
506
507              ·   the special value "locale" (this works  with  systems  using
508                  glibc,  providing  an  extension  to the locale command, the
509                  first_weekday value).
510
511              ·   a string matching one of the abbreviations for  the  day  of
512                  the  week shown in the calendar widget, e.g., "Mo" for "Mon‐
513                  day".
514
515       The dialog program handles some command-line parameters specially,  and
516       removes  them from the parameter list as they are processed.  For exam‐
517       ple, if the first option is --trace, then that is  processed  (and  re‐
518       moved) before dialog initializes the display.
519
520       --trim eliminate  leading  blanks,  trim  literal newlines and repeated
521              blanks from message text.
522
523              See also the "--cr-wrap" and "--no-collapse" options.
524
525       --version
526              Prints dialog's version to the standard output, and exits.   See
527              also "--print-version".
528
529       --visit-items
530              Modify  the  tab-traversal  of checklist, radiolist, menubox and
531              inputmenu to include the list of items as  one  of  the  states.
532              This  is useful as a visual aid, i.e., the cursor position helps
533              some users.
534
535              When this option is given, the cursor is initially placed on the
536              list.   Abbreviations (the first letter of the tag) apply to the
537              list items.  If you tab to the button row,  abbreviations  apply
538              to the buttons.
539
540       --yes-label string
541              Override the label used for "Yes" buttons.
542
543   Box Options
544       All dialog boxes have at least three parameters:
545
546       text   the caption or contents of the box.
547
548       height the height of the dialog box.
549
550       width  the width of the dialog box.
551
552       Other parameters depend on the box type.
553
554       --buildlist text height width list-height [ tag item status ] ...
555              A  buildlist  dialog displays two lists, side-by-side.  The list
556              on the left shows unselected items.  The list on the right shows
557              selected  items.  As items are selected or unselected, they move
558              between the lists.
559
560              Use a carriage return or the "OK" button to accept  the  current
561              value  in the selected-window and exit.  The results are written
562              using the order displayed in the selected-window.
563
564              The initial on/off state of each entry is specified by status.
565
566              The dialog behaves like a menu, using the --visit-items to  con‐
567              trol whether the cursor is allowed to visit the lists directly.
568
569              ·   If --visit-items is not given, tab-traversal uses two states
570                  (OK/Cancel).
571
572              ·   If --visit-items is given, tab-traversal  uses  four  states
573                  (Left/Right/OK/Cancel).
574
575              Whether  or  not  --visit-items is given, it is possible to move
576              the highlight between the two lists using the default "^" (left-
577              column) and "$" (right-column) keys.
578
579              On  exit,  a  list  of the tag strings of those entries that are
580              turned on will be printed on dialog's output.
581
582              If the "--separate-output" option is not given, the strings will
583              be  quoted  as  needed to make it simple for scripts to separate
584              them.  By default, this uses double-quotes.  See the  "--single-
585              quoted" option, which modifies the quoting behavior.
586
587       --calendar text height width day month year
588              A  calendar  box  displays month, day and year in separately ad‐
589              justable windows.  If the values for  day,  month  or  year  are
590              missing or negative, the current date's corresponding values are
591              used.  You can increment or decrement any  of  those  using  the
592              left-, up-, right-, and down-arrows.  Use vi-style h, j, k and l
593              for moving around the array of days in  a  month.   Use  tab  or
594              backtab  to move between windows.  If the year is given as zero,
595              the current date is used as an initial value.
596
597              On exit, the date is printed in the  form  day/month/year.   The
598              format can be overridden using the --date-format option.
599
600       --checklist text height width list-height [ tag item status ] ...
601              A checklist box is similar to a menu box; there are multiple en‐
602              tries presented in the form of a menu.   Another  difference  is
603              that you can indicate which entry is currently selected, by set‐
604              ting its status to on.  Instead of choosing one entry among  the
605              entries,  each  entry  can be turned on or off by the user.  The
606              initial on/off state of each entry is specified by status.
607
608              On exit, a list of the tag strings of  those  entries  that  are
609              turned on will be printed on dialog's output.
610
611              If the "--separate-output" option is not given, the strings will
612              be quoted as needed to make it simple for  scripts  to  separate
613              them.   By default, this uses double-quotes.  See the "--single-
614              quoted" option, which modifies the quoting behavior.
615
616       --dselect filepath height width
617              The directory-selection dialog displays a text-entry  window  in
618              which  you  can  type a directory, and above that a windows with
619              directory names.
620
621              Here filepath can be a filepath in which case the directory win‐
622              dow  will  display  the  contents of the path and the text-entry
623              window will contain the preselected directory.
624
625              Use tab or arrow keys to move between the windows.   Within  the
626              directory  window, use the up/down arrow keys to scroll the cur‐
627              rent selection.  Use the space-bar to copy the current selection
628              into the text-entry window.
629
630              Typing any printable characters switches focus to the text-entry
631              window, entering that character as well as scrolling the  direc‐
632              tory window to the closest match.
633
634              Use  a  carriage return or the "OK" button to accept the current
635              value in the text-entry window and exit.
636
637              On exit, the contents of the text-entry window  are  written  to
638              dialog's output.
639
640       --editbox filepath height width
641              The  edit-box  dialog displays a copy of the file.  You may edit
642              it using the backspace, delete and cursor keys to correct typing
643              errors.   It  also recognizes pageup/pagedown.  Unlike the --in‐
644              putbox, you must tab to the "OK" or "Cancel"  buttons  to  close
645              the  dialog.  Pressing the "Enter" key within the box will split
646              the corresponding line.
647
648              On exit, the contents of the edit window are written to dialog's
649              output.
650
651       --form text height width formheight [ label y x item y x flen ilen ] ...
652              The form dialog displays a form consisting of labels and fields,
653              which are positioned on a scrollable window by coordinates given
654              in the script.  The field length flen and input-length ilen tell
655              how long the field can be.  The former defines the length  shown
656              for  a  selected field, while the latter defines the permissible
657              length of the data entered in the field.
658
659              ·   If flen is zero, the corresponding field cannot be  altered.
660                  and  the  contents  of  the  field  determine the displayed-
661                  length.
662
663              ·   If flen is negative, the corresponding field cannot  be  al‐
664                  tered,  and  the  negated  value of flen is used as the dis‐
665                  played-length.
666
667              ·   If ilen is zero, it is set to flen.
668
669              Use up/down arrows (or control/N,  control/P)  to  move  between
670              fields.  Use tab to move between windows.
671
672              On exit, the contents of the form-fields are written to dialog's
673              output, each field separated by a newline.   The  text  used  to
674              fill non-editable fields (flen is zero or negative) is not writ‐
675              ten out.
676
677       --fselect filepath height width
678              The fselect (file-selection) dialog displays a text-entry window
679              in  which you can type a filename (or directory), and above that
680              two windows with directory names and filenames.
681
682              Here filepath can be a filepath in which case the file  and  di‐
683              rectory  windows  will  display the contents of the path and the
684              text-entry window will contain the preselected filename.
685
686              Use tab or arrow keys to move between the windows.   Within  the
687              directory  or  filename  windows,  use the up/down arrow keys to
688              scroll the current selection.  Use the  space-bar  to  copy  the
689              current selection into the text-entry window.
690
691              Typing any printable characters switches focus to the text-entry
692              window, entering that character as well as scrolling the  direc‐
693              tory and filename windows to the closest match.
694
695              Typing the space character forces dialog to complete the current
696              name (up to the point where there may be a  match  against  more
697              than one entry).
698
699              Use  a  carriage return or the "OK" button to accept the current
700              value in the text-entry window and exit.
701
702              On exit, the contents of the text-entry window  are  written  to
703              dialog's output.
704
705       --gauge text height width [percent]
706              A  gauge  box displays a meter along the bottom of the box.  The
707              meter indicates the percentage.  New percentages are  read  from
708              standard  input,  one integer per line.  The meter is updated to
709              reflect each new percentage.  If the standard  input  reads  the
710              string "XXX", then the first line following is taken as an inte‐
711              ger percentage, then subsequent lines up to  another  "XXX"  are
712              used  for  a new prompt.  The gauge exits when EOF is reached on
713              the standard input.
714
715              The percent value denotes the initial percentage  shown  in  the
716              meter.  If not specified, it is zero.
717
718              On  exit, no text is written to dialog's output.  The widget ac‐
719              cepts no input, so the exit status is always OK.
720
721       --infobox text height width
722              An info box is basically a message box.  However, in this  case,
723              dialog will exit immediately after displaying the message to the
724              user.  The screen is not cleared when dialog exits, so that  the
725              message will remain on the screen until the calling shell script
726              clears it later.  This is useful when you want to inform the us‐
727              er  that  some  operations are carrying on that may require some
728              time to finish.
729
730              On exit, no text is written to dialog's output.  An OK exit sta‐
731              tus is returned.
732
733       --inputbox text height width [init]
734              An  input  box is useful when you want to ask questions that re‐
735              quire the user to input a string as the answer.  If init is sup‐
736              plied  it is used to initialize the input string.  When entering
737              the string, the backspace, delete and cursor keys can be used to
738              correct  typing  errors.  If the input string is longer than can
739              fit in the dialog box, the input field will be scrolled.
740
741              On exit, the input string will be printed on dialog's output.
742
743       --inputmenu text height width menu-height [ tag item ] ...
744              An inputmenu box is very similar to an ordinary menu box.  There
745              are only a few differences between them:
746
747              1.  The  entries are not automatically centered but left adjust‐
748                  ed.
749
750              2.  An extra button (called Rename) is  implied  to  rename  the
751                  current item when it is pressed.
752
753              3.  It  is  possible to rename the current entry by pressing the
754                  Rename button.  Then dialog will write the following on dia‐
755                  log's output.
756
757                  RENAMED <tag> <item>
758
759       --menu text height width menu-height [ tag item ] ...
760              As  its  name  suggests,  a menu box is a dialog box that can be
761              used to present a list of choices in the form of a menu for  the
762              user to choose.  Choices are displayed in the order given.  Each
763              menu entry consists of a tag string and an item string.  The tag
764              gives  the entry a name to distinguish it from the other entries
765              in the menu.  The item is a short description of the option that
766              the  entry  represents.   The user can move between the menu en‐
767              tries by pressing the cursor keys, the first letter of  the  tag
768              as  a  hot-key, or the number keys 1 through 9.  There are menu-
769              height entries displayed in the menu at one time, but  the  menu
770              will be scrolled if there are more entries than that.
771
772              On exit the tag of the chosen menu entry will be printed on dia‐
773              log's output.  If the "--help-button" option is given, the  cor‐
774              responding  help  text  will  be printed if the user selects the
775              help button.
776
777       --mixedform text height width formheight [ label y x item y x flen ilen itype ] ...
778              The mixedform dialog displays a form consisting  of  labels  and
779              fields,  much  like  the  --form dialog.  It differs by adding a
780              field-type parameter to each field's description.  Each  bit  in
781              the type denotes an attribute of the field:
782
783              1    hidden, e.g., a password field.
784
785              2    readonly, e.g., a label.
786
787       --mixedgauge text height width percent [ tag1 item1 ] ...
788              A  mixedgauge  box displays a meter along the bottom of the box.
789              The meter indicates the percentage.
790
791              It also displays a list of the tag- and item-values at  the  top
792              of the box.  See dialog(3) for the tag values.
793
794              The  text is shown as a caption between the list and meter.  The
795              percent value denotes the initial percentage shown in the meter.
796
797              No provision is made for reading data from the standard input as
798              --gauge does.
799
800              On  exit, no text is written to dialog's output.  The widget ac‐
801              cepts no input, so the exit status is always OK.
802
803       --msgbox text height width
804              A message box is very similar to a yes/no box.  The only differ‐
805              ence  between  a  message box and a yes/no box is that a message
806              box has only a single OK button.  You can use this dialog box to
807              display  any  message  you like.  After reading the message, the
808              user can press the ENTER key so that dialog will  exit  and  the
809              calling shell script can continue its operation.
810
811              If  the message is too large for the space, dialog may allow you
812              to scroll it, provided that the underlying curses implementation
813              is  capable  enough.  In this case, a percentage is shown in the
814              base of the widget.
815
816              On exit, no text is written to dialog's output.   Only  an  "OK"
817              button  is provided for input, but an ESC exit status may be re‐
818              turned.
819
820       --pause text height width seconds
821              A pause box displays a meter along the bottom of the  box.   The
822              meter  indicates  how  many  seconds remain until the end of the
823              pause.  The pause exits when timeout  is  reached  or  the  user
824              presses the OK button (status OK) or the user presses the CANCEL
825              button or Esc key.
826
827       --passwordbox text height width [init]
828              A password box is similar to an input box, except that the  text
829              the user enters is not displayed.  This is useful when prompting
830              for passwords or other sensitive information.  Be aware that  if
831              anything is passed in "init", it will be visible in the system's
832              process table to casual snoopers.  Also, it is very confusing to
833              the  user  to  provide  them with a default password they cannot
834              see.  For these reasons, using  "init"  is  highly  discouraged.
835              See "--insecure" if you do not care about your password.
836
837              On exit, the input string will be printed on dialog's output.
838
839       --passwordform text height width formheight [ label y x item y x flen ilen ] ...
840              This  is  identical  to  --form  except that all text fields are
841              treated as password widgets rather than inputbox widgets.
842
843       --prgbox text command height width
844
845       --prgbox command height width
846              A prgbox is very similar to a programbox.
847
848              This dialog box is used to display the output of a command  that
849              is specified as an argument to prgbox.
850
851              After the command completes, the user can press the ENTER key so
852              that dialog will exit and the calling shell script can  continue
853              its operation.
854
855              If  three  parameters  are given, it displays the text under the
856              title, delineated from the scrolling file's contents.   If  only
857              two parameters are given, this text is omitted.
858
859       --programbox text height width
860
861       --programbox height width
862              A programbox is very similar to a progressbox.  The only differ‐
863              ence between a program box and a progress box is that a  program
864              box  displays  an  OK  button  (but  only after the command com‐
865              pletes).
866
867              This dialog box is used to display the piped output  of  a  com‐
868              mand.  After the command completes, the user can press the ENTER
869              key so that dialog will exit and the calling  shell  script  can
870              continue its operation.
871
872              If  three  parameters  are given, it displays the text under the
873              title, delineated from the scrolling file's contents.   If  only
874              two parameters are given, this text is omitted.
875
876       --progressbox text height width
877
878       --progressbox height width
879              A progressbox is similar to an tailbox, except that
880
881              a) rather than displaying the contents of a file,
882                 it displays the piped output of a command and
883
884              b) it will exit when it reaches the end of the file
885                 (there is no "OK" button).
886
887              If  three  parameters  are given, it displays the text under the
888              title, delineated from the scrolling file's contents.   If  only
889              two parameters are given, this text is omitted.
890
891       --radiolist text height width list-height  [ tag item status ] ...
892              A  radiolist  box is similar to a menu box.  The only difference
893              is that you can indicate which entry is currently  selected,  by
894              setting its status to on.
895
896              On  exit,  the  tag  of the selected item is written to dialog's
897              output.
898
899       --tailbox file height width
900              Display text from a file in a dialog box, as in a "tail -f" com‐
901              mand.   Scroll  left/right using vi-style 'h' and 'l', or arrow-
902              keys.  A '0' resets the scrolling.
903
904              On exit, no text is written to dialog's output.   Only  an  "OK"
905              button  is provided for input, but an ESC exit status may be re‐
906              turned.
907
908       --rangebox text height width min-value max-value default-value
909              Allow the user to select from a range of values, e.g.,  using  a
910              slider.   The  dialog shows the current value as a bar (like the
911              gauge dialog).  Tabs or arrow keys move the cursor  between  the
912              buttons and the value.  When the cursor is on the value, you can
913              edit it by:
914
915              left/right cursor movement to select a digit to modify
916
917              +/-  characters to increment/decrement the digit by one
918
919              0 through 9
920                   to set the digit to the given value
921
922              Some keys are also recognized in all cursor positions:
923
924              home/end
925                   set the value to its maximum or minimum
926
927              pageup/pagedown
928                   increment the value so that the slider moves by one column
929
930       --tailboxbg file height width
931              Display text from a file in a dialog box as a  background  task,
932              as  in  a "tail -f &" command.  Scroll left/right using vi-style
933              'h' and 'l', or arrow-keys.  A '0' resets the scrolling.
934
935              Dialog treats the background task specially if there  are  other
936              widgets  (--and-widget) on the screen concurrently.  Until those
937              widgets are closed (e.g., an "OK"), dialog will perform  all  of
938              the  tailboxbg widgets in the same process, polling for updates.
939              You may use a tab to traverse between the widgets on the screen,
940              and  close them individually, e.g., by pressing ENTER.  Once the
941              non-tailboxbg widgets are closed, dialog forks a copy of  itself
942              into  the  background,  and  prints its process id if the "--no-
943              kill" option is given.
944
945              On exit, no text is written to dialog's output.  Only an  "EXIT"
946              button  is provided for input, but an ESC exit status may be re‐
947              turned.
948
949              NOTE: Older versions of dialog forked immediately and  attempted
950              to  update  the screen individually.  Besides being bad for per‐
951              formance, it was unworkable.  Some older scripts  may  not  work
952              properly with the polled scheme.
953
954       --textbox file height width
955              A text box lets you display the contents of a text file in a di‐
956              alog box.  It is like a simple text file viewer.  The  user  can
957              move  through  the  file by using the cursor, page-up, page-down
958              and HOME/END keys available on most keyboards.  If the lines are
959              too  long to be displayed in the box, the LEFT/RIGHT keys can be
960              used to scroll the text region horizontally.  You may  also  use
961              vi-style  keys h, j, k, and l in place of the cursor keys, and B
962              or N in place of the page-up and page-down keys.  Scroll up/down
963              using  vi-style  'k'  and 'j', or arrow-keys.  Scroll left/right
964              using vi-style 'h' and 'l', or arrow-keys.   A  '0'  resets  the
965              left/right  scrolling.   For  more convenience, vi-style forward
966              and backward searching functions are also provided.
967
968              On exit, no text is written to dialog's output.  Only an  "EXIT"
969              button  is provided for input, but an ESC exit status may be re‐
970              turned.
971
972       --timebox text height [width hour minute second]
973              A dialog is displayed which allows you to  select  hour,  minute
974              and  second.  If the values for hour, minute or second are miss‐
975              ing or negative, the current  date's  corresponding  values  are
976              used.   You  can  increment  or decrement any of those using the
977              left-, up-, right- and down-arrows.  Use tab or backtab to  move
978              between windows.
979
980              On  exit,  the result is printed in the form hour:minute:second.
981              The format can be overridden using the --time-format option.
982
983       --treeview text height width list-height [ tag item status depth ] ...
984              Display data organized as a tree.  Each group of data contains a
985              tag,  the  text  to  display  for  the item, its status ("on" or
986              "off") and the depth of the item in the tree.
987
988              Only one item can be selected (like the radiolist).  The tag  is
989              not displayed.
990
991              On  exit,  the  tag  of the selected item is written to dialog's
992              output.
993
994       --yesno text height width
995              A yes/no dialog box of size height rows by width columns will be
996              displayed.  The string specified by text is displayed inside the
997              dialog box.  If this string is too long to fit in one  line,  it
998              will be automatically divided into multiple lines at appropriate
999              places.  The text string can also contain the sub-string "\n" or
1000              newline  characters  `\n'  to  control line breaking explicitly.
1001              This dialog box is useful for asking questions that require  the
1002              user  to answer either yes or no.  The dialog box has a Yes but‐
1003              ton and a No button, in which the user  can  switch  between  by
1004              pressing the TAB key.
1005
1006              On  exit, no text is written to dialog's output.  In addition to
1007              the "Yes" and "No" exit codes (see DIAGNOSTICS) an ESC exit sta‐
1008              tus may be returned.
1009
1010              The  codes used for "Yes" and "No" match those used for "OK" and
1011              "Cancel", internally no distinction is made.
1012
1013   Obsolete Options
1014       --beep This was used to tell the original cdialog that it should make a
1015              beep  when  the separate processes of the tailboxbg widget would
1016              repaint the screen.
1017
1018       --beep-after
1019              Beep after a user has completed a widget by pressing one of  the
1020              buttons.
1021

RUN-TIME CONFIGURATION

1023       1.  Create a sample configuration file by typing:
1024
1025              dialog --create-rc file
1026
1027       2.  At start, dialog determines the settings to use as follows:
1028
1029           a)  if  environment  variable DIALOGRC is set, its value determines
1030               the name of the configuration file.
1031
1032           b)  if the file in (a) is not found, use the  file  $HOME/.dialogrc
1033               as the configuration file.
1034
1035           c)  if  the  file  in (b) is not found, try using the GLOBALRC file
1036               determined at compile-time, i.e., /etc/dialogrc.
1037
1038           d)  if the file in (c) is not found, use compiled in defaults.
1039
1040       3.  Edit the sample configuration file and copy it to some  place  that
1041           dialog can find, as stated in step 2 above.
1042

KEY BINDINGS

1044       You can override or add to key bindings in dialog by adding to the con‐
1045       figuration file.  Dialog's bindkey command maps single keys to its  in‐
1046       ternal coding.
1047
1048              bindkey widget curses_key dialog_key
1049
1050       The  widget  name can be "*" (all widgets), or specific widgets such as
1051       textbox.  Specific widget bindings override the "*" bindings.  User-de‐
1052       fined bindings override the built-in bindings.
1053
1054       The  curses_key  can  be  any of the names derived from curses.h, e.g.,
1055       "HELP" from "KEY_HELP".  Dialog also recognizes ANSI control characters
1056       such  as "^A", "^?", as well as C1-controls such as "~A" and "~?".  Fi‐
1057       nally, it allows any single character to be escaped with a backslash.
1058
1059       Dialog's internal keycode names correspond to the DLG_KEYS_ENUM type in
1060       dlg_keys.h, e.g., "HELP" from "DLGK_HELP".
1061
1062   Widget Names
1063       Some  widgets  (such  as  the formbox) have an area where fields can be
1064       edited.  Those are managed in a subwindow of the widget, and  may  have
1065       separate  keybindings  from  the main widget because the subwindows are
1066       registered using a different name.
1067
1068                     Widget        Window name   Subwindow Name
1069                     ───────────────────────────────────────────
1070                     calendar      calendar
1071                     checklist     checklist
1072                     editbox       editbox       editbox2
1073                     form          formbox       formfield
1074
1075                     fselect       fselect       fselect2
1076                     inputbox      inputbox      inputbox2
1077                     menu          menubox       menu
1078                     msgbox        msgbox
1079                     pause         pause
1080                     progressbox   progressbox
1081                     radiolist     radiolist
1082                     tailbox       tailbox
1083                     textbox       textbox       searchbox
1084                     timebox       timebox
1085                     yesno         yesno
1086                     ───────────────────────────────────────────
1087
1088       Some widgets are actually other widgets,  using  internal  settings  to
1089       modify the behavior.  Those use the same widget name as the actual wid‐
1090       get:
1091
1092                            Widget         Actual Widget
1093                            ─────────────────────────────
1094                            dselect        fselect
1095                            infobox        msgbox
1096                            inputmenu      menu
1097                            mixedform      form
1098                            passwordbox    inputbox
1099                            passwordform   form
1100                            prgbox         progressbox
1101                            programbox     progressbox
1102                            tailboxbg      tailbox
1103                            ─────────────────────────────
1104
1105   Built-in Bindings
1106       This manual page does not list the key bindings for  each  widget,  be‐
1107       cause  that detailed information can be obtained by running dialog.  If
1108       you have set the --trace option, dialog writes the key-binding informa‐
1109       tion for each widget as it is registered.
1110
1111   Example
1112       Normally  dialog uses different keys for navigating between the buttons
1113       and editing part of a dialog versus navigating within the editing part.
1114       That  is,  tab  (and back-tab) traverse buttons (or between buttons and
1115       the editing part), while arrow keys traverse fields within the  editing
1116       part.   Tabs  are  also recognized as a special case for traversing be‐
1117       tween widgets, e.g., when using multiple tailboxbg widgets.
1118
1119       Some users may wish to use the same key for traversing within the edit‐
1120       ing part as for traversing between buttons.  The form widget is written
1121       to support this sort of redefinition of the keys, by adding  a  special
1122       group in dlgk_keys.h for "form" (left/right/next/prev).  Here is an ex‐
1123       ample binding demonstrating how to do this:
1124
1125              bindkey formfield TAB  form_NEXT
1126              bindkey formbox   TAB  form_NEXT
1127              bindkey formfield BTAB form_prev
1128              bindkey formbox   BTAB form_prev
1129
1130       That type of redefinition would not be useful in other  widgets,  e.g.,
1131       calendar, due to the potentially large number of fields to traverse.
1132

ENVIRONMENT

1134       DIALOGOPTS     Define  this variable to apply any of the common options
1135                      to each widget.  Most of the common  options  are  reset
1136                      before  processing  each widget.  If you set the options
1137                      in this environment variable, they are applied  to  dia‐
1138                      log's state after the reset.  As in the "--file" option,
1139                      double-quotes and backslashes are interpreted.
1140
1141                      The "--file" option is not considered  a  common  option
1142                      (so  you  cannot  embed it within this environment vari‐
1143                      able).
1144
1145       DIALOGRC       Define this variable if you want to specify the name  of
1146                      the configuration file to use.
1147
1148       DIALOG_CANCEL
1149
1150       DIALOG_ERROR
1151
1152       DIALOG_ESC
1153
1154       DIALOG_EXTRA
1155
1156       DIALOG_HELP
1157
1158       DIALOG_ITEM_HELP
1159
1160       DIALOG_OK      Define any of these variables to change the exit code on
1161                      Cancel (1), error (-1), ESC (255), Extra (3), Help  (2),
1162                      Help  with  --item-help  (2), or OK (0).  Normally shell
1163                      scripts cannot distinguish between -1 and 255.
1164
1165       DIALOG_TTY     Set this variable to "1" to provide  compatibility  with
1166                      older  versions  of  dialog  which  assumed  that if the
1167                      script redirects the standard output, that  the  "--std‐
1168                      out" option was given.
1169

FILES

1171       $HOME/.dialogrc     default configuration file
1172

EXAMPLES

1174       The  dialog sources contain several samples of how to use the different
1175       box options and how they look.  Just take a  look  into  the  directory
1176       samples/ of the source.
1177

DIAGNOSTICS

1179       Exit  status  is  subject to being overridden by environment variables.
1180       The default values and corresponding  environment  variables  that  can
1181       override them are:
1182
1183       0    if the YES or OK button is pressed (DIALOG_OK).
1184
1185       1    if the No or Cancel button is pressed (DIALOG_CANCEL).
1186
1187       2    if the Help button is pressed (DIALOG_HELP),
1188            except as noted below about DIALOG_ITEM_HELP.
1189
1190       3    if the Extra button is pressed (DIALOG_EXTRA).
1191
1192       4    if the Help button is pressed,
1193            and the --item-help option is set
1194            and the DIALOG_ITEM_HELP environment variable is set to 4.
1195
1196            While  any  of  the exit-codes can be overridden using environment
1197            variables, this special case was introduced in  2004  to  simplify
1198            compatibility.   Dialog  uses  DIALOG_ITEM_HELP(4) internally, but
1199            unless the environment variable is also set, it  changes  that  to
1200            DIALOG_HELP(2) on exit.
1201
1202       -1   if  errors  occur inside dialog (DIALOG_ERROR) or dialog exits be‐
1203            cause the ESC key (DIALOG_ESC) was pressed.
1204

PORTABILITY

1206       Dialog works with X/Open curses.  However,  some  implementations  have
1207       deficiencies:
1208
1209          ·   HPUX  curses (and perhaps others) do not open the terminal prop‐
1210              erly for the newterm function.  This  interferes  with  dialog's
1211              --input-fd  option, by preventing cursor-keys and similar escape
1212              sequences from being recognized.
1213
1214          ·   NetBSD 5.1 curses has incomplete  support  for  wide-characters.
1215              dialog will build, but not all examples display properly.
1216

COMPATIBILITY

1218       You may want to write scripts which run with other dialog "clones".
1219
1220   ORIGINAL DIALOG
1221       First, there is the "original" dialog program to consider (versions 0.3
1222       to 0.9).  It had some misspelled (or inconsistent) options.  The dialog
1223       program  maps those deprecated options to the preferred ones.  They in‐
1224       clude:
1225
1226              Option         Treatment
1227              ─────────────────────────────────
1228              --beep-after   ignored
1229              --guage        mapped to --gauge
1230              ─────────────────────────────────
1231
1232   XDIALOG
1233       Technically, "Xdialog", this is an X application.  With some  care,  it
1234       is possible to write useful scripts that work with both Xdialog and di‐
1235       alog.
1236
1237       The dialog program ignores these options which are recognized by  Xdia‐
1238       log:
1239
1240              Option             Treatment
1241              ───────────────────────────────────────────────
1242              --allow-close      ignored
1243              --auto-placement   ignored
1244              --fixed-font       ignored
1245              --icon             ignored
1246              --keep-colors      ignored
1247              --no-close         ignored
1248              --no-cr-wrap       ignored
1249              --screen-center    ignored
1250              --separator        mapped to --separate-output
1251              --smooth           ignored
1252              --under-mouse      ignored
1253              --wmclass          ignored
1254              ───────────────────────────────────────────────
1255
1256       Xdialog's  manpage has a section discussing its compatibility with dia‐
1257       log.  There are some differences not shown in the manpage.   For  exam‐
1258       ple, the html documentation states
1259
1260              Note: former Xdialog releases used the "\n" (line feed) as a re‐
1261              sults separator for the checklist widget; this has been  changed
1262              to  "/"  in Xdialog v1.5.0 to make it compatible with (c)dialog.
1263              In your old scripts using the Xdialog checklist, you  will  then
1264              have  to add the --separate-output option before the --checklist
1265              one.
1266
1267       Dialog has not used a different separator; the  difference  was  likely
1268       due to confusion regarding some script.
1269
1270   WHIPTAIL
1271       Then  there  is  whiptail.  For practical purposes, it is maintained by
1272       Debian (very little work is done by its upstream developers).  Its doc‐
1273       umentation (README.whiptail) claims
1274
1275              whiptail(1) is a lightweight replacement for dialog(1),
1276              to provide dialog boxes for shell scripts.
1277              It is built on the
1278              newt windowing library rather than the ncurses library, allowing
1279              it to be smaller in embedded environments such as installers,
1280              rescue disks, etc.
1281
1282              whiptail is designed to be drop-in compatible with dialog, but
1283              has less features: some dialog boxes are not implemented, such
1284              as tailbox, timebox, calendarbox, etc.
1285
1286       Comparing  actual sizes (Debian testing, 2007/1/10): The total of sizes
1287       for whiptail, the newt, popt and slang libraries is 757 KB.  The compa‐
1288       rable  number  for  dialog (counting ncurses) is 520 KB.  Disregard the
1289       first paragraph.
1290
1291       The second paragraph is misleading, since whiptail also does  not  work
1292       for  common options of dialog, such as the gauge box.  whiptail is less
1293       compatible with dialog than the original mid-1990s dialog 0.4 program.
1294
1295       whiptail's manpage borrows features from dialog, e.g., but oddly  cites
1296       only  dialog  versions up to 0.4 (1994) as a source.  That is, its man‐
1297       page refers to features which were borrowed from more  recent  versions
1298       of dialog, e.g.,
1299
1300       ·   --gauge (from 0.5)
1301
1302       ·   --passwordbox (from Debian changes in 1999),
1303
1304       ·   --default-item (from dialog 2000/02/22),
1305
1306       ·   --output-fd (from dialog 2002/08/14).
1307
1308       Somewhat  humorously,  one may note that the popt feature (undocumented
1309       in its manpage) of using a "--" as an escape was documented in dialog's
1310       manpage  about  a  year  before it was mentioned in whiptail's manpage.
1311       whiptail's manpage incorrectly attributes that to getopt (and is  inac‐
1312       curate anyway).
1313
1314       Debian uses whiptail for the official dialog variation.
1315
1316       The  dialog  program ignores or maps these options which are recognized
1317       by whiptail:
1318
1319              Option            Treatment
1320              ───────────────────────────────────────────
1321              --cancel-button   mapped to --cancel-label
1322              --fb              ignored
1323              --fullbutton      ignored
1324              --no-button       mapped to --no-label
1325              --nocancel        mapped to --no-cancel
1326              --noitem          mapped to --no-items
1327              --notags          mapped to --no-tags
1328              --ok-button       mapped to --ok-label
1329              --scrolltext      mapped to --scrollbar
1330              --topleft         mapped to --begin 0 0
1331              --yes-button      mapped to --yes-label
1332              ───────────────────────────────────────────
1333
1334       There are visual differences which are not  addressed  by  command-line
1335       options:
1336
1337       ·   dialog  centers  lists  within the window.  whiptail typically puts
1338           lists against the left margin.
1339
1340       ·   whiptail uses angle brackets ("<" and  ">")  for  marking  buttons.
1341           dialog uses square brackets.
1342
1343       ·   whiptail  marks the limits of subtitles with vertical bars.  dialog
1344           does not mark the limits.
1345
1346       ·   whiptail attempts to mark the top/bottom cells of a scrollbar  with
1347           up/down  arrows.  When it cannot do this, it fills those cells with
1348           the background color of the scrollbar and confusing the user.  dia‐
1349           log uses the entire scrollbar space, thereby getting better resolu‐
1350           tion.
1351

BUGS

1353       Perhaps.
1354

AUTHOR

1356       Thomas E. Dickey (updates for 0.9b and beyond)
1357

CONTRIBUTORS

1359       Kiran Cherupally – the mixed form and mixed gauge widgets.
1360
1361       Tobias C. Rittweiler
1362
1363       Valery Reznic – the form and progressbox widgets.
1364
1365       Yura Kalinichenko adapted the gauge widget as "pause".
1366
1367       This is a rewrite (except as needed to provide  compatibility)  of  the
1368       earlier version of dialog 0.9a, which lists as authors:
1369
1370       ·   Savio Lam – version 0.3, "dialog"
1371
1372       ·   Stuart Herbert – patch for version 0.4
1373
1374       ·   Marc Ewing – the gauge widget.
1375
1376       ·   Pasquale De Marco "Pako" – version 0.9a, "cdialog"
1377
1378
1379
1380$Date: 2017/01/31 00:00:07 $                                         DIALOG(1)
Impressum