1DIALOG(1) General Commands Manual DIALOG(1)
2
6 dialog - display dialog boxes from shell scripts
7
9 dialog --clear
10 dialog --create-rc file
11 dialog --print-maxsize
12 dialog common-options box-options
13
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 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 You can put more than one dialog box into a script:
27 · Use the "--and-widget" token to force dialog to proceed to the next
29 dialog unless you have pressed ESC to cancel, or
30 · 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 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
42 All options begin with “--” (two ASCII hyphens, for the benefit of
43 those using systems with deranged locale support).
44 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 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 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
59 single characters). The result is inserted into the command-line, re‐
60 placing “--file” and its option value. Interpretation of the command-
61 line resumes from that point. If parameterfile begins with “&”, dialog
62 interprets the following text as a file descriptor number rather than a
63 filename.
64 Most widgets accept height and width parameters, which can be used to
66 automatically size the widget to accommodate multi-line message prompt
67 values:
68 · If the parameter is negative, dialog uses the screen's size.
70 · If the parameter is zero, dialog uses minimum size for the widget
72 to display the prompt and data.
73 · Otherwise, dialog uses the given size for the widget.
75 Common Options
77 Most of the common options are reset before processing each widget.
78 --ascii-lines
80 Rather than draw graphics lines around boxes, draw ASCII “+” and
81 “-” in the same place. See also “--no-lines”.
82 --aspect ratio
84 This gives you some control over the box dimensions when using
85 auto sizing (specifying 0 for height and width). It represents
86 width / height. The default is 9, which means 9 characters wide
87 to every 1 line high.
88 --backtitle backtitle
90 Specifies a backtitle string to be displayed on the backdrop, at
91 the top of the screen.
92 --begin y x
94 Specify the position of the upper left corner of a dialog box on
95 the screen.
96 --cancel-label string
98 Override the label used for “Cancel” buttons.
99 --clear
101 Clears the widget screen, keeping only the screen_color back‐
102 ground. Use this when you combine widgets with “--and-widget”
103 to erase the contents of a previous widget on the screen, so it
104 won't be seen under the contents of a following widget. Under‐
105 stand this as the complement of “--keep-window”. To compare the
106 effects, use these:
107 All three widgets visible, staircase effect, ordered 1,2,3:
109 dialog \
111 --begin 2 2 --yesno "" 0 0 \
112 --and-widget --begin 4 4 --yesno "" 0 0 \
113 --and-widget --begin 6 6 --yesno "" 0 0
114 Only the last widget is left visible:
116 dialog \
118 --clear --begin 2 2 --yesno "" 0 0 \
119 --and-widget --clear --begin 4 4 --yesno "" 0 0 \
120 --and-widget --begin 6 6 --yesno "" 0 0
121 All three widgets visible, staircase effect, ordered 3,2,1:
123 dialog \
125 --keep-window --begin 2 2 --yesno "" 0 0 \
126 --and-widget --keep-window --begin 4 4 --yesno "" 0 0 \
127 --and-widget --begin 6 6 --yesno "" 0 0
128 First and third widget visible, staircase effect, ordered 3,1:
130 dialog \
132 --keep-window --begin 2 2 --yesno "" 0 0 \
133 --and-widget --clear --begin 4 4 --yesno "" 0 0 \
134 --and-widget --begin 6 6 --yesno "" 0 0
135 Note, if you want to restore original console colors and send
137 your cursor home after the dialog program has exited, use the
138 clear (1) command.
139 --colors
141 Interpret embedded “\Z” sequences in the dialog text by the fol‐
142 lowing character, which tells dialog to set colors or video at‐
143 tributes:
144 · 0 through 7 are the ANSI color numbers used in curses:
146 black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan and white re‐
147 spectively.
148 · Bold is set by 'b', reset by 'B'.
150 · Reverse is set by 'r', reset by 'R'.
152 · Underline is set by 'u', reset by 'U'.
154 · The settings are cumulative, e.g., “\Zb\Z1” makes the fol‐
156 lowing text bold (perhaps bright) red.
157 · Restore normal settings with “\Zn”.
159 --column-separator string
161 Tell dialog to split data for radio/checkboxes and menus on the
162 occurrences of the given string, and to align the split data in‐
163 to columns.
164 --cr-wrap
166 Interpret embedded newlines in the dialog text as a newline on
167 the screen. Otherwise, dialog will only wrap lines where needed
168 to fit inside the text box.
169 Even though you can control line breaks with this, Dialog will
171 still wrap any lines that are too long for the width of the box.
172 Without cr-wrap, the layout of your text may be formatted to
173 look nice in the source code of your script without affecting
174 the way it will look in the dialog.
175 The cr-wrap feature is implemented subject to these conditions:
177 · the string contains “\n” and the --no-nl-expand option is
179 not used, or
180 · the --trim option is used.
182 For more information, see Whitespace Options.
184 --create-rc file
186 When dialog supports run-time configuration, this can be used to
187 dump a sample configuration file to the file specified by file.
188 --date-format format
190 If the host provides strftime, this option allows you to specify
191 the format of the date printed for the --calendar widget. The
192 time of day (hour, minute, second) are the current local time.
193 --defaultno
195 Make the default value of the yes/no box a No. Likewise, treat
196 the default button of widgets that provide “OK” and “Cancel” as
197 a Cancel. If “--nocancel” or “--visit-items” are given those
198 options overrides this, making the default button always “Yes”
199 (internally the same as “OK”).
200 --default-button string
202 Set the default (preselected) button in a widget. By preselect‐
203 ing a button, a script makes it possible for the user to simply
204 press Enter to proceed through a dialog with minimum interac‐
205 tion.
206 The option's value is the name of the button: ok, yes, cancel,
208 no, help or extra.
209 Normally the first button in each widget is the default. The
211 first button shown is determined by the widget together with the
212 “--nook” and “--nocancel” options. If this option is not given,
213 there is no default button assigned.
214 --default-item string
216 Set the default item in a checklist, form or menu box. Normally
217 the first item in the box is the default.
218 --exit-label string
220 Override the label used for “EXIT” buttons.
221 --extra-button
223 Show an extra button, between “OK” and “Cancel” buttons.
224 --extra-label string
226 Override the label used for “Extra” buttons. Note: for input‐
227 menu widgets, this defaults to “Rename”.
228 --help Prints the help message to the standard output and exits. The
230 help message is also printed if no options are given, or if an
231 unrecognized option is given.
232 --help-button
234 Show a help-button after “OK” and “Cancel” buttons in boxes
235 which have a list of tagged items (i.e., checklist, radiolist,
236 menu, and treeview boxes).
237 On exit, the return status indicates that the Help button was
239 pressed. Dialog also writes a message to its output after the
240 token “HELP”:
241 · If "--item-help" is also given, the item-help text is writ‐
243 ten.
244 · Otherwise, the item's tag (the first field) is written.
246 You can use the --help-tags option and/or set the DIA‐
248 LOG_ITEM_HELP environment variable to modify these messages and
249 exit-status.
250 This option can be applied to other widgets, which have an “OK”
252 button, whether or not the “Cancel” button is used. The return
253 status and output are not treated specially for the other wid‐
254 gets; the help-button is just an extra button.
255 --help-label string
257 Override the label used for “Help” buttons.
258 --help-status
260 If the help-button is selected, writes the checklist, radiolist
261 or form information after the item-help “HELP” information.
262 This can be used to reconstruct the state of a checklist after
263 processing the help request.
264 --help-tags
266 Modify the messages written on exit for --help-button by making
267 them always just the item's tag. This does not affect the exit
268 status code.
269 --hfile filename
271 Display the given file using a textbox when the user presses F1.
272 --hline string
274 Display the given string centered at the bottom of the widget.
275 --ignore
277 Ignore options that dialog does not recognize. Some well-known
278 ones such as “--icon” are ignored anyway, but this is a better
279 choice for compatibility with other implementations.
280 --input-fd fd
282 Read keyboard input from the given file descriptor. Most dialog
283 scripts read from the standard input, but the gauge widget reads
284 a pipe (which is always standard input). Some configurations do
285 not work properly when dialog tries to reopen the terminal. Use
286 this option (with appropriate juggling of file-descriptors) if
287 your script must work in that type of environment.
288 --insecure
290 Makes the password widget friendlier but less secure, by echoing
291 asterisks for each character.
292 --iso-week
294 Set the starting point for the week-number shown in the “--cal‐
295 endar” option according to ISO-8601, which starts numbering with
296 the first week which includes a Thursday in January.
297 --item-help
299 Interpret the tags data for checklist, radiolist and menu boxes
300 adding a column which is displayed in the bottom line of the
301 screen, for the currently selected item.
302 --keep-tite
304 When built with ncurses, dialog normally checks to see if it is
305 running in an xterm, and in that case tries to suppress the ini‐
306 tialization strings that would make it switch to the alternate
307 screen. Switching between the normal and alternate screens is
308 visually distracting in a script which runs dialog several
309 times. Use this option to allow dialog to use those initializa‐
310 tion strings.
311 --keep-window
313 Normally when dialog performs several tailboxbg widgets connect‐
314 ed by “--and-widget”, it clears the old widget from the screen
315 by painting over it. Use this option to suppress that repaint‐
316 ing.
317 At exit, dialog repaints all of the widgets which have been
319 marked with “--keep-window”, even if they are not tailboxbg wid‐
320 gets. That causes them to be repainted in reverse order. See
321 the discussion of the “--clear” option for examples.
322 --last-key
324 At exit, report the last key which the user entered. This is
325 the curses key code rather than a symbol or literal character,
326 and is only reported for keys which are bound to an action. It
327 can be used by scripts to distinguish between two keys which are
328 bound to the same action.
329 --max-input size
331 Limit input strings to the given size. If not specified, the
332 limit is 2048.
333 --no-cancel
335 --nocancel
337 Suppress the “Cancel” button in checklist, inputbox and menu box
338 modes. A script can still test if the user pressed the ESC key
339 to cancel to quit.
340 --no-collapse
342 Normally dialog converts tabs to spaces and reduces multiple
343 spaces to a single space for text which is displayed in a mes‐
344 sage boxes, etc. Use this option to disable that feature. Note
345 that dialog will still wrap text, subject to the “--cr-wrap” and
346 “--trim” options.
347 The no-collapse feature is implemented subject to these condi‐
349 tions:
350 · the string contains “\n” and the --no-nl-expand option is
352 not used, or
353 · the --trim option is not used.
355 For more information, see Whitespace Options.
357 --no-items
359 Some widgets (checklist, inputmenu, radiolist, menu) display a
360 list with two columns (a “tag” and “item”, i.e., “description”).
361 This option tells dialog to read shorter rows, omitting the
362 “item” part of the list. This is occasionally useful, e.g., if
363 the tags provide enough information.
364 See also --no-tags. If both options are given, this one is ig‐
366 nored.
367 --no-kill
369 Tells dialog to put the tailboxbg box in the background, print‐
370 ing its process id to dialog's output. SIGHUP is disabled for
371 the background process.
372 --no-label string
374 Override the label used for “No” buttons.
375 --no-lines
377 Rather than draw lines around boxes, draw spaces in the same
378 place. See also “--ascii-lines”.
379 --no-mouse
381 Do not enable the mouse.
382 --no-nl-expand
384 Do not convert “\n” substrings of the message/prompt text into
385 literal newlines.
386 The no-nl-expand feature is used only if the string contains
388 “\n” so that there is something to convert.
389 For more information, see Whitespace Options.
391 --no-ok
393 --nook Suppress the “OK” button in checklist, inputbox and menu box
395 modes. A script can still test if the user pressed the “Enter”
396 key to accept the data.
397 --no-shadow
399 Suppress shadows that would be drawn to the right and bottom of
400 each dialog box.
401 --no-tags
403 Some widgets (checklist, inputmenu, radiolist, menu) display a
404 list with two columns (a “tag” and “description”). The tag is
405 useful for scripting, but may not help the user. The --no-tags
406 option (from Xdialog) may be used to suppress the column of tags
407 from the display. Unlike the --no-items option, this does not
408 affect the data which is read from the script.
409 Xdialog does not display the tag column for the analogous
411 buildlist and treeview widgets; dialog does the same.
412 Normally dialog allows you to quickly move to entries on the
414 displayed list, by matching a single character to the first
415 character of the tag. When the --no-tags option is given, dia‐
416 log matches against the first character of the description. In
417 either case, the matchable character is highlighted.
418 --ok-label string
420 Override the label used for “OK” buttons.
421 --output-fd fd
423 Direct output to the given file descriptor. Most dialog scripts
424 write to the standard error, but error messages may also be
425 written there, depending on your script.
426 --separator string
428 --output-separator string
430 Specify a string that will separate the output on dialog's out‐
431 put from checklists, rather than a newline (for --separate-out‐
432 put) or a space. This applies to other widgets such as forms
433 and editboxes which normally use a newline.
434 --print-maxsize
436 Print the maximum size of dialog boxes, i.e., the screen size,
437 to dialog's output. This may be used alone, without other op‐
438 tions.
439 --print-size
441 Prints the size of each dialog box to dialog's output when the
442 box is initialized.
443 --print-text-only string [ height [ width ] ]
445 Prints the string as it would be wrapped in a message box to di‐
446 alog's output.
447 Because the optional height and width default to zero, if they
449 are omitted, dialog autosizes according to the screen dimen‐
450 sions.
451 --print-text-size string [ height [ width ] ]
453 Prints the size of the string as it would be wrapped in a mes‐
454 sage box, to dialog's output, as
455 height width
457 Because the optional height and width parameters default to ze‐
459 ro, if they are omitted, dialog autosizes according to the
460 screen dimensions.
461 --print-version
463 Prints dialog's version to dialog's output. This may be used
464 alone, without other options. It does not cause dialog to exit
465 by itself.
466 --quoted
468 Normally dialog quotes the strings returned by checklist's as
469 well as the item-help text. Use this option to quote all string
470 results as needed (i.e., if the string contains whitespace or a
471 single or double-quote character).
472 --reorder
474 By default, the buildlist widget uses the same order for the
475 output (right) list as for the input (left). Use this option to
476 tell dialog to use the order in which a user adds selections to
477 the output list.
478 --scrollbar
480 For widgets holding a scrollable set of data, draw a scrollbar
481 on its right-margin. This does not respond to the mouse.
482 --separate-output
484 For certain widgets (buildlist, checklist, treeview), output re‐
485 sult one line at a time, with no quoting. This facilitates
486 parsing by another program.
487 --separate-widget string
489 Specify a string that will separate the output on dialog's out‐
490 put from each widget. This is used to simplify parsing the re‐
491 sult of a dialog with several widgets. If this option is not
492 given, the default separator string is a tab character.
493 --shadow
495 Draw a shadow to the right and bottom of each dialog box.
496 --single-quoted
498 Use single-quoting as needed (and no quotes if unneeded) for the
499 output of checklist's as well as the item-help text.
500 If this option is not set, dialog may use double quotes around
502 each item. In either case, dialog adds backslashes to make the
503 output useful in shell scripts.
504 Single quotes would be needed if the string contains whitespace
506 or a single or double-quote character.
507 --size-err
509 Check the resulting size of a dialog box before trying to use
510 it, printing the resulting size if it is larger than the screen.
511 (This option is obsolete, since all new-window calls are
512 checked).
513 --sleep secs
515 Sleep (delay) for the given number of seconds after processing a
516 dialog box.
517 --stderr
519 Direct output to the standard error. This is the default, since
520 curses normally writes screen updates to the standard output.
521 --stdout
523 Direct output to the standard output. This option is provided
524 for compatibility with Xdialog, however using it in portable
525 scripts is not recommended, since curses normally writes its
526 screen updates to the standard output. If you use this option,
527 dialog attempts to reopen the terminal so it can write to the
528 display. Depending on the platform and your environment, that
529 may fail.
530 --tab-correct
532 Convert each tab character to one or more spaces (for the
533 textbox widget; otherwise to a single space). Otherwise, tabs
534 are rendered according to the curses library's interpretation.
535 The --no-collapse option disables tab expansion.
536 --tab-len n
538 Specify the number of spaces that a tab character occupies if
539 the “--tab-correct” option is given. The default is 8. This
540 option is only effective for the textbox widget.
541 --time-format format
543 If the host provides strftime, this option allows you to specify
544 the format of the time printed for the --timebox widget. The
545 day, month, year values in this case are for the current local
546 time.
547 --timeout secs
549 Timeout (exit with error code) if no user response within the
550 given number of seconds. A timeout of zero seconds is ignored.
551 This option is ignored by the “--pause” widget. It is also
553 overridden if the background “--tailboxbg” option is used to set
554 up multiple concurrent widgets.
555 --title title
557 Specifies a title string to be displayed at the top of the dia‐
558 log box.
559 --trace filename
561 logs the command-line parameters, keystrokes and other informa‐
562 tion to the given file. If dialog reads a configure file, it is
563 logged as well. Piped input to the gauge widget is logged. Use
564 control/T to log a picture of the current dialog window.
565 The dialog program handles some command-line parameters special‐
567 ly, and removes them from the parameter list as they are pro‐
568 cessed. For example, if the first option is --trace, then that
569 is processed (and removed) before dialog initializes the dis‐
570 play.
571 --week-start day
573 sets the starting day for the week, used in the “--calendar” op‐
574 tion. The day parameter can be
575 · a number (0 to 6, Sunday through Saturday using POSIX) or
577 · the special value “locale” (this works with systems using
579 glibc, providing an extension to the locale command, the
580 first_weekday value).
581 · a string matching one of the abbreviations for the day of
583 the week shown in the calendar widget, e.g., “Mo” for “Mon‐
584 day”.
585 --trim eliminate leading blanks, trim literal newlines and repeated
587 blanks from message text.
588 The trim feature is implemented subject to these conditions:
590 · the string does not contain “\n” or
592 · the --no-nl-expand option is used.
594 For more information, see Whitespace Options.
596 See also the “--cr-wrap” and “--no-collapse” options.
598 --version
600 Prints dialog's version to the standard output, and exits. See
601 also “--print-version”.
602 --visit-items
604 Modify the tab-traversal of checklist, radiolist, menubox and
605 inputmenu to include the list of items as one of the states.
606 This is useful as a visual aid, i.e., the cursor position helps
607 some users.
608 When this option is given, the cursor is initially placed on the
610 list. Abbreviations (the first letter of the tag) apply to the
611 list items. If you tab to the button row, abbreviations apply
612 to the buttons.
613 --yes-label string
615 Override the label used for “Yes” buttons.
616 Box Options
618 All dialog boxes have at least three parameters:
619 text the caption or contents of the box.
621 height the height of the dialog box.
623 width the width of the dialog box.
625 Other parameters depend on the box type.
627 --buildlist text height width list-height [ tag item status ] ...
629 A buildlist dialog displays two lists, side-by-side. The list
630 on the left shows unselected items. The list on the right shows
631 selected items. As items are selected or unselected, they move
632 between the lists.
633 Use a carriage return or the “OK” button to accept the current
635 value in the selected-window and exit. The results are written
636 using the order displayed in the selected-window.
637 The initial on/off state of each entry is specified by status.
639 The dialog behaves like a menu, using the --visit-items to con‐
641 trol whether the cursor is allowed to visit the lists directly.
642 · If --visit-items is not given, tab-traversal uses two states
644 (OK/Cancel).
645 · If --visit-items is given, tab-traversal uses four states
647 (Left/Right/OK/Cancel).
648 Whether or not --visit-items is given, it is possible to move
650 the highlight between the two lists using the default “^” (left-
651 column) and “$” (right-column) keys.
652 On exit, a list of the tag strings of those entries that are
654 turned on will be printed on dialog's output.
655 If the "--separate-output" option is not given, the strings will
657 be quoted as needed to make it simple for scripts to separate
658 them. By default, this uses double-quotes, as needed. See the
659 “--single-quoted” option, which modifies the quoting behavior.
660 --calendar text height width day month year
662 A calendar box displays month, day and year in separately ad‐
663 justable windows. If the values for day, month or year are
664 missing or negative, the current date's corresponding values are
665 used. You can increment or decrement any of those using the
666 left-, up-, right-, and down-arrows. Use vi-style h, j, k and l
667 for moving around the array of days in a month. Use tab or
668 backtab to move between windows. If the year is given as zero,
669 the current date is used as an initial value.
670 On exit, the date is printed in the form day/month/year. The
672 format can be overridden using the --date-format option.
673 --checklist text height width list-height [ tag item status ] ...
675 A checklist box is similar to a menu box; there are multiple en‐
676 tries presented in the form of a menu. Another difference is
677 that you can indicate which entry is currently selected, by set‐
678 ting its status to on. Instead of choosing one entry among the
679 entries, each entry can be turned on or off by the user. The
680 initial on/off state of each entry is specified by status.
681 On exit, a list of the tag strings of those entries that are
683 turned on will be printed on dialog's output.
684 If the “--separate-output” option is not given, the strings will
686 be quoted as needed to make it simple for scripts to separate
687 them. By default, this uses double-quotes (as needed). See the
688 “--single-quoted” option, which modifies the quoting behavior.
689 --dselect filepath height width
691 The directory-selection dialog displays a text-entry window in
692 which you can type a directory, and above that a windows with
693 directory names.
694 Here filepath can be a filepath in which case the directory win‐
696 dow will display the contents of the path and the text-entry
697 window will contain the preselected directory.
698 Use tab or arrow keys to move between the windows. Within the
700 directory window, use the up/down arrow keys to scroll the cur‐
701 rent selection. Use the space-bar to copy the current selection
702 into the text-entry window.
703 Typing any printable characters switches focus to the text-entry
705 window, entering that character as well as scrolling the direc‐
706 tory window to the closest match.
707 Use a carriage return or the “OK” button to accept the current
709 value in the text-entry window and exit.
710 On exit, the contents of the text-entry window are written to
712 dialog's output.
713 --editbox filepath height width
715 The edit-box dialog displays a copy of the file. You may edit
716 it using the backspace, delete and cursor keys to correct typing
717 errors. It also recognizes pageup/pagedown. Unlike the --in‐
718 putbox, you must tab to the “OK” or “Cancel” buttons to close
719 the dialog. Pressing the “Enter” key within the box will split
720 the corresponding line.
721 On exit, the contents of the edit window are written to dialog's
723 output.
724 --form text height width formheight [ label y x item y x flen ilen ] ...
726 The form dialog displays a form consisting of labels and fields,
727 which are positioned on a scrollable window by coordinates given
728 in the script. The field length flen and input-length ilen tell
729 how long the field can be. The former defines the length shown
730 for a selected field, while the latter defines the permissible
731 length of the data entered in the field.
732 · If flen is zero, the corresponding field cannot be altered.
734 and the contents of the field determine the displayed-
735 length.
736 · If flen is negative, the corresponding field cannot be al‐
738 tered, and the negated value of flen is used as the dis‐
739 played-length.
740 · If ilen is zero, it is set to flen.
742 Use up/down arrows (or control/N, control/P) to move between
744 fields. Use tab to move between windows.
745 On exit, the contents of the form-fields are written to dialog's
747 output, each field separated by a newline. The text used to
748 fill non-editable fields (flen is zero or negative) is not writ‐
749 ten out.
750 --fselect filepath height width
752 The fselect (file-selection) dialog displays a text-entry window
753 in which you can type a filename (or directory), and above that
754 two windows with directory names and filenames.
755 Here filepath can be a filepath in which case the file and di‐
757 rectory windows will display the contents of the path and the
758 text-entry window will contain the preselected filename.
759 Use tab or arrow keys to move between the windows. Within the
761 directory or filename windows, use the up/down arrow keys to
762 scroll the current selection. Use the space-bar to copy the
763 current selection into the text-entry window.
764 Typing any printable characters switches focus to the text-entry
766 window, entering that character as well as scrolling the direc‐
767 tory and filename windows to the closest match.
768 Typing the space character forces dialog to complete the current
770 name (up to the point where there may be a match against more
771 than one entry).
772 Use a carriage return or the “OK” button to accept the current
774 value in the text-entry window and exit.
775 On exit, the contents of the text-entry window are written to
777 dialog's output.
778 --gauge text height width [percent]
780 A gauge box displays a meter along the bottom of the box. The
781 meter indicates the percentage. New percentages are read from
782 standard input, one integer per line. The meter is updated to
783 reflect each new percentage. If the standard input reads the
784 string “XXX”, then the first line following is taken as an inte‐
785 ger percentage, then subsequent lines up to another “XXX” are
786 used for a new prompt. The gauge exits when EOF is reached on
787 the standard input.
788 The percent value denotes the initial percentage shown in the
790 meter. If not specified, it is zero.
791 On exit, no text is written to dialog's output. The widget ac‐
793 cepts no input, so the exit status is always OK.
794 --infobox text height width
796 An info box is basically a message box. However, in this case,
797 dialog will exit immediately after displaying the message to the
798 user. The screen is not cleared when dialog exits, so that the
799 message will remain on the screen until the calling shell script
800 clears it later. This is useful when you want to inform the us‐
801 er that some operations are carrying on that may require some
802 time to finish.
803 On exit, no text is written to dialog's output. An OK exit sta‐
805 tus is returned.
806 --inputbox text height width [init]
808 An input box is useful when you want to ask questions that re‐
809 quire the user to input a string as the answer. If init is sup‐
810 plied it is used to initialize the input string. When entering
811 the string, the backspace, delete and cursor keys can be used to
812 correct typing errors. If the input string is longer than can
813 fit in the dialog box, the input field will be scrolled.
814 On exit, the input string will be printed on dialog's output.
816 --inputmenu text height width menu-height [ tag item ] ...
818 An inputmenu box is very similar to an ordinary menu box. There
819 are only a few differences between them:
820 1. The entries are not automatically centered but left adjust‐
822 ed.
823 2. An extra button (called Rename) is implied to rename the
825 current item when it is pressed.
826 3. It is possible to rename the current entry by pressing the
828 Rename button. Then dialog will write the following on dia‐
829 log's output.
830 RENAMED <tag> <item>
832 --menu text height width menu-height [ tag item ] ...
834 As its name suggests, a menu box is a dialog box that can be
835 used to present a list of choices in the form of a menu for the
836 user to choose. Choices are displayed in the order given. Each
837 menu entry consists of a tag string and an item string. The tag
838 gives the entry a name to distinguish it from the other entries
839 in the menu. The item is a short description of the option that
840 the entry represents. The user can move between the menu en‐
841 tries by pressing the cursor keys, the first letter of the tag
842 as a hot-key, or the number keys 1 through 9. There are menu-
843 height entries displayed in the menu at one time, but the menu
844 will be scrolled if there are more entries than that.
845 On exit the tag of the chosen menu entry will be printed on dia‐
847 log's output. If the “--help-button” option is given, the cor‐
848 responding help text will be printed if the user selects the
849 help button.
850 --mixedform text height width formheight [ label y x item y x flen ilen itype ] ...
852 The mixedform dialog displays a form consisting of labels and
853 fields, much like the --form dialog. It differs by adding a
854 field-type parameter to each field's description. Each bit in
855 the type denotes an attribute of the field:
856 1 hidden, e.g., a password field.
858 2 readonly, e.g., a label.
860 --mixedgauge text height width percent [ tag1 item1 ] ...
862 A mixedgauge box displays a meter along the bottom of the box.
863 The meter indicates the percentage.
864 It also displays a list of the tag- and item-values at the top
866 of the box. See dialog(3) for the tag values.
867 The text is shown as a caption between the list and meter. The
869 percent value denotes the initial percentage shown in the meter.
870 No provision is made for reading data from the standard input as
872 --gauge does.
873 On exit, no text is written to dialog's output. The widget ac‐
875 cepts no input, so the exit status is always OK.
876 --msgbox text height width
878 A message box is very similar to a yes/no box. The only differ‐
879 ence between a message box and a yes/no box is that a message
880 box has only a single OK button. You can use this dialog box to
881 display any message you like. After reading the message, the
882 user can press the ENTER key so that dialog will exit and the
883 calling shell script can continue its operation.
884 If the message is too large for the space, dialog may allow you
886 to scroll it, provided that the underlying curses implementation
887 is capable enough. In this case, a percentage is shown in the
888 base of the widget.
889 On exit, no text is written to dialog's output. Only an “OK”
891 button is provided for input, but an ESC exit status may be re‐
892 turned.
893 --pause text height width seconds
895 A pause box displays a meter along the bottom of the box. The
896 meter indicates how many seconds remain until the end of the
897 pause. The pause exits when timeout is reached or the user
898 presses the OK button (status OK) or the user presses the CANCEL
899 button or Esc key.
900 --passwordbox text height width [init]
902 A password box is similar to an input box, except that the text
903 the user enters is not displayed. This is useful when prompting
904 for passwords or other sensitive information. Be aware that if
905 anything is passed in “init”, it will be visible in the system's
906 process table to casual snoopers. Also, it is very confusing to
907 the user to provide them with a default password they cannot
908 see. For these reasons, using “init” is highly discouraged.
909 See “--insecure” if you do not care about your password.
910 On exit, the input string will be printed on dialog's output.
912 --passwordform text height width formheight [ label y x item y x flen ilen ] ...
914 This is identical to --form except that all text fields are
915 treated as password widgets rather than inputbox widgets.
916 --prgbox text command height width
918 --prgbox command height width
920 A prgbox is very similar to a programbox.
921 This dialog box is used to display the output of a command that
923 is specified as an argument to prgbox.
924 After the command completes, the user can press the ENTER key so
926 that dialog will exit and the calling shell script can continue
927 its operation.
928 If three parameters are given, it displays the text under the
930 title, delineated from the scrolling file's contents. If only
931 two parameters are given, this text is omitted.
932 --programbox text height width
934 --programbox height width
936 A programbox is very similar to a progressbox. The only differ‐
937 ence between a program box and a progress box is that a program
938 box displays an OK button (but only after the command com‐
939 pletes).
940 This dialog box is used to display the piped output of a com‐
942 mand. After the command completes, the user can press the ENTER
943 key so that dialog will exit and the calling shell script can
944 continue its operation.
945 If three parameters are given, it displays the text under the
947 title, delineated from the scrolling file's contents. If only
948 two parameters are given, this text is omitted.
949 --progressbox text height width
951 --progressbox height width
953 A progressbox is similar to an tailbox, except that
954 a) rather than displaying the contents of a file,
956 it displays the piped output of a command and
957 b) it will exit when it reaches the end of the file
959 (there is no “OK” button).
960 If three parameters are given, it displays the text under the
962 title, delineated from the scrolling file's contents. If only
963 two parameters are given, this text is omitted.
964 --radiolist text height width list-height [ tag item status ] ...
966 A radiolist box is similar to a menu box. The only difference
967 is that you can indicate which entry is currently selected, by
968 setting its status to on.
969 On exit, the tag of the selected item is written to dialog's
971 output.
972 --tailbox file height width
974 Display text from a file in a dialog box, as in a “tail -f” com‐
975 mand. Scroll left/right using vi-style 'h' and 'l', or arrow-
976 keys. A '0' resets the scrolling.
977 On exit, no text is written to dialog's output. Only an “OK”
979 button is provided for input, but an ESC exit status may be re‐
980 turned.
981 --rangebox text height width min-value max-value default-value
983 Allow the user to select from a range of values, e.g., using a
984 slider. The dialog shows the current value as a bar (like the
985 gauge dialog). Tabs or arrow keys move the cursor between the
986 buttons and the value. When the cursor is on the value, you can
987 edit it by:
988 left/right cursor movement to select a digit to modify
990 +/- characters to increment/decrement the digit by one
992 0 through 9
994 to set the digit to the given value
995 Some keys are also recognized in all cursor positions:
997 home/end
999 set the value to its maximum or minimum
1000 pageup/pagedown
1002 increment the value so that the slider moves by one column
1003 --tailboxbg file height width
1005 Display text from a file in a dialog box as a background task,
1006 as in a “tail -f &” command. Scroll left/right using vi-style
1007 'h' and 'l', or arrow-keys. A '0' resets the scrolling.
1008 Dialog treats the background task specially if there are other
1010 widgets (--and-widget) on the screen concurrently. Until those
1011 widgets are closed (e.g., an “OK”), dialog will perform all of
1012 the tailboxbg widgets in the same process, polling for updates.
1013 You may use a tab to traverse between the widgets on the screen,
1014 and close them individually, e.g., by pressing ENTER. Once the
1015 non-tailboxbg widgets are closed, dialog forks a copy of itself
1016 into the background, and prints its process id if the “--no-
1017 kill” option is given.
1018 On exit, no text is written to dialog's output. Only an “EXIT”
1020 button is provided for input, but an ESC exit status may be re‐
1021 turned.
1022 NOTE: Older versions of dialog forked immediately and attempted
1024 to update the screen individually. Besides being bad for per‐
1025 formance, it was unworkable. Some older scripts may not work
1026 properly with the polled scheme.
1027 --textbox file height width
1029 A text box lets you display the contents of a text file in a di‐
1030 alog box. It is like a simple text file viewer. The user can
1031 move through the file by using the cursor, page-up, page-down
1032 and HOME/END keys available on most keyboards. If the lines are
1033 too long to be displayed in the box, the LEFT/RIGHT keys can be
1034 used to scroll the text region horizontally. You may also use
1035 vi-style keys h, j, k, and l in place of the cursor keys, and B
1036 or N in place of the page-up and page-down keys. Scroll up/down
1037 using vi-style 'k' and 'j', or arrow-keys. Scroll left/right
1038 using vi-style 'h' and 'l', or arrow-keys. A '0' resets the
1039 left/right scrolling. For more convenience, vi-style forward
1040 and backward searching functions are also provided.
1041 On exit, no text is written to dialog's output. Only an “EXIT”
1043 button is provided for input, but an ESC exit status may be re‐
1044 turned.
1045 --timebox text height [width hour minute second]
1047 A dialog is displayed which allows you to select hour, minute
1048 and second. If the values for hour, minute or second are miss‐
1049 ing or negative, the current date's corresponding values are
1050 used. You can increment or decrement any of those using the
1051 left-, up-, right- and down-arrows. Use tab or backtab to move
1052 between windows.
1053 On exit, the result is printed in the form hour:minute:second.
1055 The format can be overridden using the --time-format option.
1056 --treeview text height width list-height [ tag item status depth ] ...
1058 Display data organized as a tree. Each group of data contains a
1059 tag, the text to display for the item, its status (“on” or
1060 “off”) and the depth of the item in the tree.
1061 Only one item can be selected (like the radiolist). The tag is
1063 not displayed.
1064 On exit, the tag of the selected item is written to dialog's
1066 output.
1067 --yesno text height width
1069 A yes/no dialog box of size height rows by width columns will be
1070 displayed. The string specified by text is displayed inside the
1071 dialog box. If this string is too long to fit in one line, it
1072 will be automatically divided into multiple lines at appropriate
1073 places. The text string can also contain the sub-string "\n" or
1074 newline characters `\n' to control line breaking explicitly.
1075 This dialog box is useful for asking questions that require the
1076 user to answer either yes or no. The dialog box has a Yes but‐
1077 ton and a No button, in which the user can switch between by
1078 pressing the TAB key.
1079 On exit, no text is written to dialog's output. In addition to
1081 the “Yes” and “No” exit codes (see DIAGNOSTICS) an ESC exit sta‐
1082 tus may be returned.
1083 The codes used for “Yes” and “No” match those used for “OK” and
1085 “Cancel”, internally no distinction is made.
1086 Obsolete Options
1088 --beep This was used to tell the original cdialog that it should make a
1089 beep when the separate processes of the tailboxbg widget would
1090 repaint the screen.
1091 --beep-after
1093 Beep after a user has completed a widget by pressing one of the
1094 buttons.
1095 Whitespace Options
1097 These options can be used to transform whitespace (space, tab, newline)
1098 as dialog reads the script:
1099 --cr-wrap, --no-collapse, --no-nl-expand, and --trim
1100 The options are not independent:
1102 · Dialog checks if the script contains at least one “\n” and (unless
1104 --no-nl-expand is set) will ignore the --no-collapse and --trim op‐
1105 tions.
1106 · After checking for “\n” and the --no-nl-expand option, dialog han‐
1108 dles the --trim option.
1109 If the --trim option takes effect, then dialog ignores --no-col‐
1111 lapse. It changes sequences of tabs, spaces (and newlines unless
1112 -cr-wrap is set) to a single space.
1113 · If neither the “\n” or --trim cases apply, dialog checks --no-col‐
1115 lapse to decide whether to reduce sequences of tabs and spaces to a
1116 single space.
1117 In this case, dialog ignores -cr-wrap and does not modify newlines.
1119 Taking those dependencies into account, here is a table summarizing the
1121 behavior for the various combinations of options. The table assumes
1122 that the script contains at least one “\n” when the --no-nl-expand op‐
1123 tion is not set.
1124 cr- no- no- trim Result
1126 wrap collapse nl-expand
1127 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
1128 no no no no Convert tab to space. Convert
1129 newline to space. Convert
1130 “\n” to newline.
1131 no no no yes Convert tab to space. Convert
1132 newline to space. Convert
1133 “\n” to newline.
1134 no no yes no Convert tab to space. Do not
1135 convert newline to space.
1136 Convert multiple-space to sin‐
1137 gle. Show “\n” literally.
1138 no no yes yes Convert tab to space. Convert
1139 multiple-space to single.
1140 Convert newline to space.
1141 Show “\n” literally.
1142 no yes no no Convert newline to space.
1143 Convert “\n” to newline.
1144 no yes no yes Convert newline to space.
1145 Convert “\n” to newline.
1146 no yes yes no Do not convert newline to
1147 space. Do not reduce multiple
1148 blanks. Show “\n” literally.
1149 no yes yes yes Convert multiple-space to sin‐
1150 gle. Convert newline to
1151 space. Show “\n” literally.
1152 yes no no no Convert tab to space. Wrap on
1153 newline. Convert “\n” to new‐
1154 line.
1155 yes no no yes Convert tab to space. Wrap on
1156 newline. Convert “\n” to new‐
1157 line.
1158 yes no yes no Convert tab to space. Do not
1160 convert newline to space.
1161 Convert multiple-space to sin‐
1162 gle. Show “\n” literally.
1163 yes no yes yes Convert tab to space. Convert
1164 multiple-space to single.
1165 Wrap on newline. Show “\n”
1166 literally.
1167 yes yes no no Wrap on newline. Convert “\n”
1168 to newline.
1169 yes yes no yes Wrap on newline. Convert “\n”
1170 to newline.
1171 yes yes yes no Do not convert newline to
1172 space. Do not reduce multiple
1173 blanks. Show “\n” literally.
1174 yes yes yes yes Convert multiple-space to sin‐
1175 gle. Wrap on newline. Show
1176 “\n” literally.
1177
1179 1. Create a sample configuration file by typing:
1180 dialog --create-rc file
1182 2. At start, dialog determines the settings to use as follows:
1184 a) if environment variable DIALOGRC is set, its value determines
1186 the name of the configuration file.
1187 b) if the file in (a) is not found, use the file $HOME/.dialogrc
1189 as the configuration file.
1190 c) if the file in (b) is not found, try using the GLOBALRC file
1192 determined at compile-time, i.e., /etc/dialogrc.
1193 d) if the file in (c) is not found, use compiled in defaults.
1195 3. Edit the sample configuration file and copy it to some place that
1197 dialog can find, as stated in step 2 above.
1198
1200 You can override or add to key bindings in dialog by adding to the con‐
1201 figuration file. Dialog's bindkey command maps single keys to its in‐
1202 ternal coding.
1203 bindkey widget curses_key dialog_key
1205 The widget name can be “*” (all widgets), or specific widgets such as
1207 textbox. Specific widget bindings override the “*” bindings. User-de‐
1208 fined bindings override the built-in bindings.
1209 The curses_key can be expressed in different forms:
1211 · It may be any of the names derived from curses.h, e.g., “HELP” from
1213 “KEY_HELP”.
1214 · Dialog also recognizes ANSI control characters such as “^A”, “^?”,
1216 as well as C1-controls such as “~A” and “~?”.
1217 · Finally, dialog allows backslash escapes as in C. Those can be oc‐
1219 tal character values such as “\033” (the ASCII escape character),
1220 or the characters listed in this table:
1221 Escaped Actual
1223 ───────────────────────────────
1224 \b backspace
1225 \f form feed
1226 \n new line (line feed)
1227 \r carriage return
1228 \s space
1229 \t tab
1230 \^ “^” (caret)
1231 \? “?” (question mark)
1232 \\ “\” (backslash)
1233 ───────────────────────────────
1234 Dialog's internal keycode names correspond to the DLG_KEYS_ENUM type in
1236 dlg_keys.h, e.g., “HELP” from “DLGK_HELP”.
1237 Widget Names
1239 Some widgets (such as the formbox) have an area where fields can be
1240 edited. Those are managed in a subwindow of the widget, and may have
1241 separate keybindings from the main widget because the subwindows are
1242 registered using a different name.
1243 Widget Window name Subwindow Name
1245 ───────────────────────────────────────────
1246 calendar calendar
1247 checklist checklist
1248 editbox editbox editbox2
1249 form formbox formfield
1250 fselect fselect fselect2
1251 inputbox inputbox inputbox2
1252 menu menubox menu
1253 msgbox msgbox
1254 pause pause
1255 progressbox progressbox
1256 radiolist radiolist
1257 tailbox tailbox
1258 textbox textbox searchbox
1259 timebox timebox
1260 yesno yesno
1261 ───────────────────────────────────────────
1262 Some widgets are actually other widgets, using internal settings to
1264 modify the behavior. Those use the same widget name as the actual wid‐
1265 get:
1266 Widget Actual Widget
1268 ─────────────────────────────
1269 dselect fselect
1270 infobox msgbox
1271 inputmenu menu
1272 mixedform form
1273 passwordbox inputbox
1274 passwordform form
1275 prgbox progressbox
1276 programbox progressbox
1277 tailboxbg tailbox
1278 ─────────────────────────────
1279 Built-in Bindings
1281 This manual page does not list the key bindings for each widget, be‐
1282 cause that detailed information can be obtained by running dialog. If
1283 you have set the --trace option, dialog writes the key-binding informa‐
1284 tion for each widget as it is registered.
1285 Example
1287 Normally dialog uses different keys for navigating between the buttons
1288 and editing part of a dialog versus navigating within the editing part.
1289 That is, tab (and back-tab) traverse buttons (or between buttons and
1290 the editing part), while arrow keys traverse fields within the editing
1291 part. Tabs are also recognized as a special case for traversing be‐
1292 tween widgets, e.g., when using multiple tailboxbg widgets.
1293 Some users may wish to use the same key for traversing within the edit‐
1295 ing part as for traversing between buttons. The form widget is written
1296 to support this sort of redefinition of the keys, by adding a special
1297 group in dlgk_keys.h for “form” (left/right/next/prev). Here is an ex‐
1298 ample binding demonstrating how to do this:
1299 bindkey formfield TAB form_NEXT
1301 bindkey formbox TAB form_NEXT
1302 bindkey formfield BTAB form_prev
1303 bindkey formbox BTAB form_prev
1304 That type of redefinition would not be useful in other widgets, e.g.,
1306 calendar, due to the potentially large number of fields to traverse.
1307
1309 DIALOGOPTS Define this variable to apply any of the common options
1310 to each widget. Most of the common options are reset
1311 before processing each widget. If you set the options
1312 in this environment variable, they are applied to dia‐
1313 log's state after the reset. As in the “--file” option,
1314 double-quotes and backslashes are interpreted.
1315 The “--file” option is not considered a common option
1317 (so you cannot embed it within this environment vari‐
1318 able).
1319 DIALOGRC Define this variable if you want to specify the name of
1321 the configuration file to use.
1322 DIALOG_CANCEL
1324 DIALOG_ERROR
1326 DIALOG_ESC
1328 DIALOG_EXTRA
1330 DIALOG_HELP
1332 DIALOG_ITEM_HELP
1334 DIALOG_OK Define any of these variables to change the exit code on
1336 Cancel (1), error (-1), ESC (255), Extra (3), Help (2),
1337 Help with --item-help (2), or OK (0). Normally shell
1338 scripts cannot distinguish between -1 and 255.
1339 DIALOG_TTY Set this variable to “1” to provide compatibility with
1341 older versions of dialog which assumed that if the
1342 script redirects the standard output, that the “--std‐
1343 out” option was given.
1344
1346 $HOME/.dialogrc default configuration file
1347
1349 The dialog sources contain several samples of how to use the different
1350 box options and how they look. Just take a look into the directory
1351 samples/ of the source.
1352
1354 Exit status is subject to being overridden by environment variables.
1355 The default values and corresponding environment variables that can
1356 override them are:
1357 0 if the YES or OK button is pressed (DIALOG_OK).
1359 1 if the No or Cancel button is pressed (DIALOG_CANCEL).
1361 2 if the Help button is pressed (DIALOG_HELP),
1363 except as noted below about DIALOG_ITEM_HELP.
1364 3 if the Extra button is pressed (DIALOG_EXTRA).
1366 4 if the Help button is pressed,
1368 and the --item-help option is set
1369 and the DIALOG_ITEM_HELP environment variable is set to 4.
1370 While any of the exit-codes can be overridden using environment
1372 variables, this special case was introduced in 2004 to simplify
1373 compatibility. Dialog uses DIALOG_ITEM_HELP(4) internally, but
1374 unless the environment variable is also set, it changes that to
1375 DIALOG_HELP(2) on exit.
1376 -1 if errors occur inside dialog (DIALOG_ERROR) or dialog exits be‐
1378 cause the ESC key (DIALOG_ESC) was pressed.
1379
1381 Dialog works with X/Open curses. However, some implementations have
1382 deficiencies:
1383 · HPUX curses (and perhaps others) do not open the terminal prop‐
1385 erly for the newterm function. This interferes with dialog's
1386 --input-fd option, by preventing cursor-keys and similar escape
1387 sequences from being recognized.
1388 · NetBSD 5.1 curses has incomplete support for wide-characters.
1390 dialog will build, but not all examples display properly.
1391
1393 You may want to write scripts which run with other dialog “clones”.
1394 Original Dialog
1396 First, there is the “original” dialog program to consider (versions 0.3
1397 to 0.9). It had some misspelled (or inconsistent) options. The dialog
1398 program maps those deprecated options to the preferred ones. They in‐
1399 clude:
1400 Option Treatment
1402 ─────────────────────────────────
1403 --beep-after ignored
1404 --guage mapped to --gauge
1405 ─────────────────────────────────
1406 Xdialog
1408 This is an X application, rather than a terminal program. With some
1409 care, it is possible to write useful scripts that work with both Xdia‐
1410 log and dialog.
1411 The dialog program ignores these options which are recognized by Xdia‐
1413 log:
1414 Option Treatment
1416 ───────────────────────────────────────────────
1417 --allow-close ignored
1418 --auto-placement ignored
1419 --fixed-font ignored
1420 --icon ignored
1421 --keep-colors ignored
1422 --no-close ignored
1423 --no-cr-wrap ignored
1424 --screen-center ignored
1425 --separator mapped to --separate-output
1426 --smooth ignored
1427 --under-mouse ignored
1428 --wmclass ignored
1429 ───────────────────────────────────────────────
1430 Xdialog's manpage has a section discussing its compatibility with dia‐
1432 log. There are some differences not shown in the manpage. For exam‐
1433 ple, the html documentation states
1434 Note: former Xdialog releases used the “\n” (line feed) as a re‐
1436 sults separator for the checklist widget; this has been changed
1437 to “/” in Xdialog v1.5.0 to make it compatible with (c)dialog.
1438 In your old scripts using the Xdialog checklist, you will then
1439 have to add the --separate-output option before the --checklist
1440 one.
1441 Dialog has not used a different separator; the difference was likely
1443 due to confusion regarding some script.
1444 Whiptail
1446 Then there is whiptail. For practical purposes, it is maintained by
1447 Debian (very little work is done by its upstream developers). Its doc‐
1448 umentation (README.whiptail) claims
1449 whiptail(1) is a lightweight replacement for dialog(1),
1451 to provide dialog boxes for shell scripts.
1452 It is built on the
1453 newt windowing library rather than the ncurses library, allowing
1454 it to be smaller in embedded environments such as installers,
1455 rescue disks, etc.
1456 whiptail is designed to be drop-in compatible with dialog, but
1458 has less features: some dialog boxes are not implemented, such
1459 as tailbox, timebox, calendarbox, etc.
1460 Comparing actual sizes (Debian testing, 2007/1/10): The total of sizes
1462 for whiptail, the newt, popt and slang libraries is 757 KB. The compa‐
1463 rable number for dialog (counting ncurses) is 520 KB. Disregard the
1464 first paragraph.
1465 The second paragraph is misleading, since whiptail also does not work
1467 for common options of dialog, such as the gauge box. whiptail is less
1468 compatible with dialog than the original mid-1990s dialog 0.4 program.
1469 whiptail's manpage borrows features from dialog, e.g., but oddly cites
1471 only dialog versions up to 0.4 (1994) as a source. That is, its man‐
1472 page refers to features which were borrowed from more recent versions
1473 of dialog, e.g.,
1474 · --gauge (from 0.5)
1476 · --passwordbox (from Debian changes in 1999),
1478 · --default-item (from dialog 2000/02/22),
1480 · --output-fd (from dialog 2002/08/14).
1482 Somewhat humorously, one may note that the popt feature (undocumented
1484 in its manpage) of using a “--” as an escape was documented in dialog's
1485 manpage about a year before it was mentioned in whiptail's manpage.
1486 whiptail's manpage incorrectly attributes that to getopt (and is inac‐
1487 curate anyway).
1488 Debian uses whiptail for the official dialog variation.
1490 The dialog program ignores or maps these options which are recognized
1492 by whiptail:
1493 Option Treatment
1495 ───────────────────────────────────────────
1496 --cancel-button mapped to --cancel-label
1497 --fb ignored
1498 --fullbutton ignored
1499 --no-button mapped to --no-label
1500 --nocancel mapped to --no-cancel
1501 --noitem mapped to --no-items
1502 --notags mapped to --no-tags
1503 --ok-button mapped to --ok-label
1504 --scrolltext mapped to --scrollbar
1505 --topleft mapped to --begin 0 0
1506 --yes-button mapped to --yes-label
1507 ───────────────────────────────────────────
1508 There are visual differences which are not addressed by command-line
1510 options:
1511 · dialog centers lists within the window. whiptail typically puts
1513 lists against the left margin.
1514 · whiptail uses angle brackets (“<” and “>”) for marking buttons.
1516 dialog uses square brackets.
1517 · whiptail marks the limits of subtitles with vertical bars. dialog
1519 does not mark the limits.
1520 · whiptail attempts to mark the top/bottom cells of a scrollbar with
1522 up/down arrows. When it cannot do this, it fills those cells with
1523 the background color of the scrollbar and confusing the user. dia‐
1524 log uses the entire scrollbar space, thereby getting better resolu‐
1525 tion.
1526
1528 Perhaps.
1529
1531 Thomas E. Dickey (updates for 0.9b and beyond)
1532
1534 Kiran Cherupally – the mixed form and mixed gauge widgets.
1535 Tobias C. Rittweiler
1537 Valery Reznic – the form and progressbox widgets.
1539 Yura Kalinichenko adapted the gauge widget as “pause”.
1541 This is a rewrite (except as needed to provide compatibility) of the
1543 earlier version of dialog 0.9a, which lists as authors:
1544 · Savio Lam – version 0.3, “dialog”
1546 · Stuart Herbert – patch for version 0.4
1548 · Marc Ewing – the gauge widget.
1550 · Pasquale De Marco “Pako” – version 0.9a, “cdialog”
1552$Date: 2020/03/27 21:14:23 $ DIALOG(1)