1form(3X)                                                              form(3X)
2
3
4

NAME

6       form - curses extension for programming forms
7

SYNOPSIS

9       #include <form.h>
10

DESCRIPTION

12       The form library provides terminal-independent facilities for composing
13       form screens on character-cell terminals.  The library includes:  field
14       routines, which create and modify form fields; and form routines, which
15       group fields into forms, display forms on the screen, and handle inter‐
16       action with the user.
17
18       The  form  library uses the curses libraries.  To use the form library,
19       link with the options -lform -lcurses.
20
21       Your program should set up the locale, e.g.,
22
23            setlocale(LC_ALL, "");
24
25       so that input/output processing will work.
26
27       A curses initialization routine such as initscr must be  called  before
28       using any of these functions.
29
30   Current Default Values for Field Attributes
31       The  form  library maintains a default value for field attributes.  You
32       can get or set this default by calling  the  appropriate  set_  or  re‐
33       trieval  routine with a NULL field pointer.  Changing this default with
34       a set_ function affects future field creations, but does not change the
35       rendering of fields already created.
36
37   Routine Name Index
38       The  following table lists each form routine and the name of the manual
39       page on which it is described.  Routines flagged with “*” are  ncurses-
40       specific, not present in SVr4.
41
42       curses Routine Name     Manual Page Name
43       ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
44       current_field           form_page(3X)
45       data_ahead              form_data(3X)
46       data_behind             form_data(3X)
47       dup_field               form_field_new(3X)
48       dynamic_field_info      form_field_info(3X)
49       field_arg               form_field_validation(3X)
50       field_back              form_field_attributes(3X)
51       field_buffer            form_field_buffer(3X)
52       field_count             form_field(3X)
53       field_fore              form_field_attributes(3X)
54       field_index             form_page(3X)
55       field_info              form_field_info(3X)
56       field_init              form_hook(3X)
57       field_just              form_field_just(3X)
58       field_opts              form_field_opts(3X)
59       field_opts_off          form_field_opts(3X)
60       field_opts_on           form_field_opts(3X)
61       field_pad               form_field_attributes(3X)
62       field_status            form_field_buffer(3X)
63       field_term              form_hook(3X)
64       field_type              form_field_validation(3X)
65       field_userptr           form_field_userptr(3X)
66
67       form_driver             form_driver(3X)
68       form_driver_w           form_driver(3X)*
69       form_fields             form_field(3X)
70       form_init               form_hook(3X)
71       form_opts               form_opts(3X)
72       form_opts_off           form_opts(3X)
73       form_opts_on            form_opts(3X)
74       form_page               form_page(3X)
75       form_request_by_name    form_requestname(3X)*
76       form_request_name       form_requestname(3X)*
77       form_sub                form_win(3X)
78       form_term               form_hook(3X)
79       form_userptr            form_userptr(3X)
80       form_win                form_win(3X)
81       free_field              form_field_new(3X)
82       free_fieldtype          form_fieldtype(3X)
83       free_form               form_new(3X)
84       link_field              form_field_new(3X)
85       link_fieldtype          form_fieldtype(3X)
86       move_field              form_field(3X)
87       new_field               form_field_new(3X)
88       new_fieldtype           form_fieldtype(3X)
89       new_form                form_new(3X)
90       new_page                form_new_page(3X)
91       pos_form_cursor         form_cursor(3X)
92       post_form               form_post(3X)
93       scale_form              form_win(3X)
94       set_current_field       form_page(3X)
95       set_field_back          form_field_attributes(3X)
96       set_field_buffer        form_field_buffer(3X)
97       set_field_fore          form_field_attributes(3X)
98       set_field_init          form_hook(3X)
99       set_field_just          form_field_just(3X)
100       set_field_opts          form_field_opts(3X)
101       set_field_pad           form_field_attributes(3X)
102       set_field_status        form_field_buffer(3X)
103       set_field_term          form_hook(3X)
104       set_field_type          form_field_validation(3X)
105       set_field_userptr       form_field_userptr(3X)
106       set_fieldtype_arg       form_fieldtype(3X)
107       set_fieldtype_choice    form_fieldtype(3X)
108       set_form_fields         form_field(3X)
109       set_form_init           form_hook(3X)
110       set_form_opts           form_field_opts(3X)
111       set_form_page           form_page(3X)
112       set_form_sub            form_win(3X)
113       set_form_term           form_hook(3X)
114       set_form_userptr        form_userptr(3X)
115       set_form_win            form_win(3X)
116       set_max_field           form_field_buffer(3X)
117       set_new_page            form_new_page(3X)
118       unfocus_current_field   form_page(3X)*
119       unpost_form             form_post(3X)
120

RETURN VALUE

122       Routines  that  return  pointers return NULL on error, and set errno to
123       the corresponding error-code returned by functions returning  an  inte‐
124       ger.  Routines that return an integer return one of the following error
125       codes:
126
127       E_OK The routine succeeded.
128
129       E_BAD_ARGUMENT
130            Routine detected an incorrect or out-of-range argument.
131
132       E_BAD_STATE
133            Routine was called from an initialization or termination function.
134
135       E_CONNECTED
136            The field is already connected to a form.
137
138       E_INVALID_FIELD
139            Contents of a field are not valid.
140
141       E_NOT_CONNECTED
142            No fields are connected to the form.
143
144       E_NOT_POSTED
145            The form has not been posted.
146
147       E_NO_ROOM
148            Form is too large for its window.
149
150       E_POSTED
151            The form is already posted.
152
153       E_REQUEST_DENIED
154            The form driver could not process the request.
155
156       E_SYSTEM_ERROR
157            System error occurred (see errno(3)).
158
159       E_UNKNOWN_COMMAND
160            The form driver code saw an unknown request code.
161

NOTES

163       The header  file  <form.h>  automatically  includes  the  header  files
164       <curses.h> and <eti.h>.
165
166       In your library list, libform.a should be before libncurses.a; that is,
167       you want to say “-lform -lncurses”, not the  other  way  around  (which
168       would give you a link error when using static libraries).
169

PORTABILITY

171       These  routines emulate the System V forms library.  They were not sup‐
172       ported on Version 7 or BSD versions.
173
174       The menu facility was documented in SVr4.2 in Character User  Interface
175       Programming (UNIX SVR4.2).
176
177       It is not part of X/Open Curses.
178
179       Aside from ncurses, there are few implementations:
180
181       •   systems based on SVr4 source code, e.g., Solaris.
182
183       •   NetBSD curses.
184
185       A  few  functions  in  this  implementation  are  extensions  added for
186       ncurses,   but   not   provided   by   other   implementations,   e.g.,
187       form_driver_w, unfocus_current_field.
188

AUTHORS

190       Juergen  Pfeifer.   Manual  pages and adaptation for ncurses by Eric S.
191       Raymond.
192

SEE ALSO

194       curses(3X) and related pages whose names begin “form_” for detailed de‐
195       scriptions of the entry points.
196
197       This describes ncurses version 6.4 (patch 20230520).
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201                                                                      form(3X)
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