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.
32 Dialog stops chaining when the return code from a dialog is
33 nonzero, 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
46 command-line is not treated as an option.
47 dialog --title -- --Not an option
48 When a common (e.g., non-widget) option is repeated, the last found is
50 the one that is used. Boolean options are handled specially so they
51 can be cancelled, by adding (or omitting) a “no” modifier after the
52 leading “--”. For instance, --no-shadow is documented here, but
53 --shadow also is accepted.
54 The “--args” option tells dialog to list the command-line parameters to
56 the standard error. This is useful when debugging complex scripts
57 using the “--” and “--file”, since the command-line may be rewritten as
58 these are expanded.
59 The “--file” option tells dialog to read parameters from the file named
61 as its value.
62 dialog --file parameterfile
63 Blanks not within double-quotes are discarded (use backslashes to quote
65 single characters). The result is inserted into the command-line,
66 replacing “--file” and its option value. Interpretation of the
67 command-line resumes from that point. If parameterfile begins with
68 “&”, dialog interprets the following text as a file descriptor number
69 rather than a filename.
70 Most widgets accept height and width parameters, which can be used to
72 automatically size the widget to accommodate multi-line message prompt
73 values:
74 • If the parameter is negative, dialog uses the screen's size.
76 • If the parameter is zero, dialog uses minimum size for the widget
78 to display the prompt and data.
79 • Otherwise, dialog uses the given size for the widget.
81 Common Options
83 Most of the common options are reset before processing each widget.
84 --ascii-lines
86 Rather than draw graphics lines around boxes, draw ASCII “+” and
87 “-” in the same place. See also “--no-lines”.
88 --aspect ratio
90 This gives you some control over the box dimensions when using
91 auto sizing (specifying 0 for height and width). It represents
92 width / height. The default is 9, which means 9 characters wide
93 to every 1 line high.
94 --backtitle backtitle
96 Specifies a backtitle string to be displayed on the backdrop, at
97 the top of the screen.
98 --begin y x
100 Specify the position of the upper left corner of a dialog box on
101 the screen.
102 --cancel-label string
104 Override the label used for “Cancel” buttons.
105 --clear
107 Clears the widget screen, keeping only the screen_color
108 background. Use this when you combine widgets with
109 “--and-widget” to erase the contents of a previous widget on the
110 screen, so it won't be seen under the contents of a following
111 widget. Understand this as the complement of “--keep-window”.
112 To compare the effects, use these:
113 All three widgets visible, staircase effect, ordered 1,2,3:
115 dialog \
117 --begin 2 2 --yesno "" 0 0 \
118 --and-widget --begin 4 4 --yesno "" 0 0 \
119 --and-widget --begin 6 6 --yesno "" 0 0
120 Only the last widget is left visible:
122 dialog \
124 --clear --begin 2 2 --yesno "" 0 0 \
125 --and-widget --clear --begin 4 4 --yesno "" 0 0 \
126 --and-widget --begin 6 6 --yesno "" 0 0
127 All three widgets visible, staircase effect, ordered 3,2,1:
129 dialog \
131 --keep-window --begin 2 2 --yesno "" 0 0 \
132 --and-widget --keep-window --begin 4 4 --yesno "" 0 0 \
133 --and-widget --begin 6 6 --yesno "" 0 0
134 First and third widget visible, staircase effect, ordered 3,1:
136 dialog \
138 --keep-window --begin 2 2 --yesno "" 0 0 \
139 --and-widget --clear --begin 4 4 --yesno "" 0 0 \
140 --and-widget --begin 6 6 --yesno "" 0 0
141 Note, if you want to restore original console colors and send
143 your cursor home after the dialog program has exited, use the
144 clear (1) command. Conversely, if you want to clear the screen
145 and send your cursor to the lower left after the dialog program
146 has exited, use the --erase-on-exit option.
147 --colors
149 Interpret embedded “\Z” sequences in the dialog text by the
150 following character, which tells dialog to set colors or video
151 attributes:
152 • 0 through 7 are the ANSI color numbers used in curses:
154 black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan and white
155 respectively.
156 • Bold is set by 'b', reset by 'B'.
158 • Reverse is set by 'r', reset by 'R'.
160 • Underline is set by 'u', reset by 'U'.
162 • The settings are cumulative, e.g., “\Zb\Z1” makes the
164 following text bold (perhaps bright) red.
165 • Restore normal settings with “\Zn”.
167 --column-separator string
169 Tell dialog to split data for radio/checkboxes and menus on the
170 occurrences of the given string, and to align the split data
171 into columns.
172 --cr-wrap
174 Interpret embedded newlines in the dialog text as a newline on
175 the screen. Otherwise, dialog will only wrap lines where needed
176 to fit inside the text box.
177 Even though you can control line breaks with this, Dialog will
179 still wrap any lines that are too long for the width of the box.
180 Without cr-wrap, the layout of your text may be formatted to
181 look nice in the source code of your script without affecting
182 the way it will look in the dialog.
183 The cr-wrap feature is implemented subject to these conditions:
185 • the string contains “\n” and the --no-nl-expand option is
187 not used, or
188 • the --trim option is used.
190 For more information, see Whitespace Options.
192 --create-rc file
194 When dialog supports run-time configuration, this can be used to
195 dump a sample configuration file to the file specified by file.
196 --cursor-off-label
198 Place the terminal cursor at the end of a button instead of on
199 the first character of the button label. This is useful to
200 reduce visual confusion when the cursor coloration interacts
201 poorly with the button-label text colors.
202 --date-format format
204 If the host provides strftime, this option allows you to specify
205 the format of the date printed for the --calendar widget. The
206 time of day (hour, minute, second) are the current local time.
207 --defaultno
209 Make the default value of the yes/no box a No. Likewise, treat
210 the default button of widgets that provide “OK” and “Cancel” as
211 a Cancel. If “--no-cancel” or “--visit-items” are given those
212 options overrides this, making the default button always “Yes”
213 (internally the same as “OK”).
214 --default-button string
216 Set the default (preselected) button in a widget. By
217 preselecting a button, a script makes it possible for the user
218 to simply press Enter to proceed through a dialog with minimum
219 interaction.
220 The option's value is the name of the button: ok, yes, cancel,
222 no, help or extra.
223 Normally the first button in each widget is the default. The
225 first button shown is determined by the widget together with the
226 “--no-ok” and “--no-cancel” options. If this option is not
227 given, there is no default button assigned.
228 --default-item string
230 Set the default item in a checklist, form or menu box. Normally
231 the first item in the box is the default.
232 --erase-on-exit
234 When dialog exits, remove the dialog widget, erasing the entire
235 screen to its native background color, and place the terminal
236 cursor at the lower left corner.
237 --exit-label string
239 Override the label used for “EXIT” buttons.
240 --extra-button
242 Show an extra button, between “OK” and “Cancel” buttons.
243 --extra-label string
245 Override the label used for “Extra” buttons. Note: for
246 inputmenu widgets, this defaults to “Rename”.
247 --help Prints the help message to the standard output and exits. The
249 help message is also printed if no options are given, or if an
250 unrecognized option is given.
251 --help-button
253 Show a help-button after “OK” and “Cancel” buttons in boxes
254 which have a list of tagged items (i.e., checklist, radiolist,
255 menu, and treeview boxes).
256 On exit, the return status indicates that the Help button was
258 pressed. Dialog also writes a message to its output after the
259 token “HELP”:
260 • If "--item-help" is also given, the item-help text is
262 written.
263 • Otherwise, the item's tag (the first field) is written.
265 You can use the --help-tags option and/or set the
267 DIALOG_ITEM_HELP environment variable to modify these messages
268 and exit-status.
269 This option can be applied to other widgets, which have an “OK”
271 button, whether or not the “Cancel” button is used. The return
272 status and output are not treated specially for the other
273 widgets; the help-button is just an extra button.
274 --help-label string
276 Override the label used for “Help” buttons.
277 --help-status
279 If the help-button is selected, writes the checklist, radiolist
280 or form information after the item-help “HELP” information.
281 This can be used to reconstruct the state of a checklist after
282 processing the help request.
283 --help-tags
285 Modify the messages written on exit for --help-button by making
286 them always just the item's tag. This does not affect the exit
287 status code.
288 --hfile filename
290 Display the given file using a textbox when the user presses F1.
291 --hline string
293 Display the given string centered at the bottom of the widget.
294 --ignore
296 Ignore options that dialog does not recognize. Some well-known
297 ones such as “--icon” are ignored anyway, but this is a better
298 choice for compatibility with other implementations.
299 --input-fd fd
301 Read keyboard input from the given file descriptor. Most dialog
302 scripts read from the standard input, but the gauge widget reads
303 a pipe (which is always standard input). Some configurations do
304 not work properly when dialog tries to reopen the terminal. Use
305 this option (with appropriate juggling of file-descriptors) if
306 your script must work in that type of environment.
307 --insecure
309 Makes the password widget friendlier but less secure, by echoing
310 asterisks for each character.
311 --iso-week
313 Set the starting point for the week-number shown in the
314 “--calendar” option according to ISO-8601, which starts
315 numbering with the first week which includes a Thursday in
316 January.
317 --item-help
319 Interpret the tags data for checklist, radiolist and menu boxes
320 adding a column which is displayed in the bottom line of the
321 screen, for the currently selected item.
322 --keep-tite
324 When built with ncurses, dialog normally checks to see if it is
325 running in an xterm, and in that case tries to suppress the
326 initialization strings that would make it switch to the
327 alternate screen. Switching between the normal and alternate
328 screens is visually distracting in a script which runs dialog
329 several times. Use this option to allow dialog to use those
330 initialization strings.
331 --keep-window
333 Normally when dialog performs several tailboxbg widgets
334 connected by “--and-widget”, it clears the old widget from the
335 screen by painting over it. Use this option to suppress that
336 repainting.
337 At exit, dialog repaints all of the widgets which have been
339 marked with “--keep-window”, even if they are not tailboxbg
340 widgets. That causes them to be repainted in reverse order.
341 See the discussion of the “--clear” option for examples.
342 --last-key
344 At exit, report the last key which the user entered. This is
345 the curses key code rather than a symbol or literal character,
346 and is only reported for keys which are bound to an action. It
347 can be used by scripts to distinguish between two keys which are
348 bound to the same action.
349 --max-input size
351 Limit input strings to the given size. If not specified, the
352 limit is 2048.
353 --no-cancel
355 Suppress the “Cancel” button in checklist, inputbox and menu box
356 modes. A script can still test if the user pressed the ESC key
357 to cancel to quit.
358 --no-collapse
360 Normally dialog converts tabs to spaces and reduces multiple
361 spaces to a single space for text which is displayed in a
362 message boxes, etc. Use this option to disable that feature.
363 Note that dialog will still wrap text, subject to the
364 “--cr-wrap” and “--trim” options.
365 The no-collapse feature is implemented subject to these
367 conditions:
368 • the string contains “\n” and the --no-nl-expand option is
370 not used, or
371 • the --trim option is not used.
373 For more information, see Whitespace Options.
375 --no-hot-list
377 Tells dialog to suppress the hotkey feature for lists, e.g., the
378 checkbox, menus.
379 Normally, the first uppercase character of a list entry will be
381 highlighted, and typing that character will move the focus to
382 that entry. This option suppresses both the highlighting and
383 the movement.
384 Hotkeys for buttons (“OK” , “Cancel”, etc.) are unaffected.
386 --no-items
388 Some widgets (checklist, inputmenu, radiolist, menu) display a
389 list with two columns (a “tag” and “item”, i.e., “description”).
390 This option tells dialog to read shorter rows, omitting the
391 “item” part of the list. This is occasionally useful, e.g., if
392 the tags provide enough information.
393 See also --no-tags. If both options are given, this one is
395 ignored.
396 --no-kill
398 Tells dialog to put the tailboxbg box in the background,
399 printing its process id to dialog's output. SIGHUP is disabled
400 for the background process.
401 --no-label string
403 Override the label used for “No” buttons.
404 --no-lines
406 Rather than draw lines around boxes, draw spaces in the same
407 place. See also “--ascii-lines”.
408 --no-mouse
410 Do not enable the mouse.
411 --no-nl-expand
413 Do not convert “\n” substrings of the message/prompt text into
414 literal newlines.
415 The no-nl-expand feature is used only if the string contains
417 “\n” so that there is something to convert.
418 For more information, see Whitespace Options.
420 --no-ok
422 Suppress the “OK” button, so that it is not displayed. A script
423 can still test if the user pressed the “Enter” key to accept the
424 data:
425 • The “Enter” key is always handled as the “OK” button when
427 the --no-ok option is used. That is, by default it is bound
428 to the LEAVE virtual key.
429 When --no-ok is not used, you can use the the Tab key to
431 move the cursor through the fields and buttons on the
432 widget. In that case, the “Enter” key activates the current
433 button if the cursor is positioned on a button.
434 • To provide for the case where you want to activate a button
436 when using --no-ok, there is another virtual key LEAVE,
437 which activates the current button. By default, ^D (EOF) is
438 bound to that key.
439 --no-shadow
441 Suppress shadows that would be drawn to the right and bottom of
442 each dialog box.
443 --no-tags
445 Some widgets (checklist, inputmenu, radiolist, menu) display a
446 list with two columns (a “tag” and “description”). The tag is
447 useful for scripting, but may not help the user. The --no-tags
448 option (from Xdialog) may be used to suppress the column of tags
449 from the display. Unlike the --no-items option, this does not
450 affect the data which is read from the script.
451 Xdialog does not display the tag column for the analogous
453 buildlist and treeview widgets; dialog does the same.
454 Normally dialog allows you to quickly move to entries on the
456 displayed list, by matching a single character to the first
457 character of the tag. When the --no-tags option is given,
458 dialog matches against the first character of the description.
459 In either case, the matchable character is highlighted.
460 --ok-label string
462 Override the label used for “OK” buttons.
463 --output-fd fd
465 Direct output to the given file descriptor. Most dialog scripts
466 write to the standard error, but error messages may also be
467 written there, depending on your script.
468 --separator string
470 --output-separator string
472 Specify a string that will separate the output on dialog's
473 output from checklists, rather than a newline (for
474 --separate-output) or a space. This applies to other widgets
475 such as forms and editboxes which normally use a newline.
476 --print-maxsize
478 Print the maximum size of dialog boxes, i.e., the screen size,
479 to dialog's output. This may be used alone, without other
480 options.
481 --print-size
483 Prints the size of each dialog box to dialog's output when the
484 box is initialized.
485 --print-text-only string [ height [ width ] ]
487 Prints the string as it would be wrapped in a message box to
488 dialog's output.
489 Because the optional height and width default to zero, if they
491 are omitted, dialog autosizes according to the screen
492 dimensions.
493 --print-text-size string [ height [ width ] ]
495 Prints the size of the string as it would be wrapped in a
496 message box, to dialog's output, as
497 height width
499 Because the optional height and width parameters default to
501 zero, if they are omitted, dialog autosizes according to the
502 screen dimensions.
503 --print-version
505 Prints dialog's version to dialog's output. This may be used
506 alone, without other options. It does not cause dialog to exit
507 by itself.
508 --quoted
510 Normally dialog quotes the strings returned by checklist's as
511 well as the item-help text. Use this option to quote all string
512 results as needed (i.e., if the string contains whitespace or a
513 single or double-quote character).
514 --reorder
516 By default, the buildlist widget uses the same order for the
517 output (right) list as for the input (left). Use this option to
518 tell dialog to use the order in which a user adds selections to
519 the output list.
520 --scrollbar
522 For widgets holding a scrollable set of data, draw a scrollbar
523 on its right-margin. This does not respond to the mouse.
524 --separate-output
526 For certain widgets (buildlist, checklist, treeview), output
527 result one line at a time, with no quoting. This facilitates
528 parsing by another program.
529 --separate-widget string
531 Specify a string that will separate the output on dialog's
532 output from each widget. This is used to simplify parsing the
533 result of a dialog with several widgets. If this option is not
534 given, the default separator string is a tab character.
535 --single-quoted
537 Use single-quoting as needed (and no quotes if unneeded) for the
538 output of checklist's as well as the item-help text.
539 If this option is not set, dialog may use double quotes around
541 each item. In either case, dialog adds backslashes to make the
542 output useful in shell scripts.
543 Single quotes would be needed if the string contains whitespace
545 or a single or double-quote character.
546 --size-err
548 Check the resulting size of a dialog box before trying to use
549 it, printing the resulting size if it is larger than the screen.
550 (This option is obsolete, since all new-window calls are
551 checked).
552 --sleep secs
554 Sleep (delay) for the given number of seconds after processing a
555 dialog box.
556 --stderr
558 Direct output to the standard error. This is the default, since
559 curses normally writes screen updates to the standard output.
560 --stdout
562 Direct output to the standard output. This option is provided
563 for compatibility with Xdialog, however using it in portable
564 scripts is not recommended, since curses normally writes its
565 screen updates to the standard output. If you use this option,
566 dialog attempts to reopen the terminal so it can write to the
567 display. Depending on the platform and your environment, that
568 may fail.
569 --tab-correct
571 Convert each tab character to one or more spaces (for the
572 textbox widget; otherwise to a single space). Otherwise, tabs
573 are rendered according to the curses library's interpretation.
574 The --no-collapse option disables tab expansion.
575 --tab-len n
577 Specify the number of spaces that a tab character occupies if
578 the “--tab-correct” option is given. The default is 8. This
579 option is only effective for the textbox widget.
580 --time-format format
582 If the host provides strftime, this option allows you to specify
583 the format of the time printed for the --timebox widget. The
584 day, month, year values in this case are for the current local
585 time.
586 --timeout secs
588 Timeout if no user response within the given number of seconds.
589 A timeout of zero seconds is ignored.
590 Normally a timeout causes an ESC character to be entered in the
592 current widget, cancelling it. Other widgets may still be on
593 the screen; these are not cancelled. Set the DIALOG_TIMEOUT
594 environment variable to tell dialog to directly exit instead,
595 i.e., cancelling all widgets on the screen.
596 This option is ignored by the “--pause” widget. It is also
598 overridden if the background “--tailboxbg” option is used to set
599 up multiple concurrent widgets.
600 --title title
602 Specifies a title string to be displayed at the top of the
603 dialog box.
604 --trace filename
606 logs the command-line parameters, keystrokes and other
607 information to the given file. If dialog reads a configure
608 file, it is logged as well. Piped input to the gauge widget is
609 logged. Use control/T to log a picture of the current dialog
610 window.
611 The dialog program handles some command-line parameters
613 specially, and removes them from the parameter list as they are
614 processed. For example, if the first option is --trace, then
615 that is processed (and removed) before dialog initializes the
616 display.
617 --week-start day
619 sets the starting day for the week, used in the “--calendar”
620 option. The day parameter can be
621 • a number (0 to 6, Sunday through Saturday using POSIX) or
623 • the special value “locale” (this works with systems using
625 glibc, providing an extension to the locale command, the
626 first_weekday value).
627 • a string matching one of the abbreviations for the day of
629 the week shown in the calendar widget, e.g., “Mo” for
630 “Monday”.
631 --trim eliminate leading blanks, trim literal newlines and repeated
633 blanks from message text.
634 The trim feature is implemented subject to these conditions:
636 • the string does not contain “\n” or
638 • the --no-nl-expand option is used.
640 For more information, see Whitespace Options.
642 See also the “--cr-wrap” and “--no-collapse” options.
644 --version
646 Prints dialog's version to the standard output, and exits. See
647 also “--print-version”.
648 --visit-items
650 Modify the tab-traversal of checklist, radiolist, menubox and
651 inputmenu to include the list of items as one of the states.
652 This is useful as a visual aid, i.e., the cursor position helps
653 some users.
654 When this option is given, the cursor is initially placed on the
656 list. Abbreviations (the first letter of the tag) apply to the
657 list items. If you tab to the button row, abbreviations apply
658 to the buttons.
659 --yes-label string
661 Override the label used for “Yes” buttons.
662 Box Options
664 All dialog boxes have at least three parameters:
665 text the caption or contents of the box.
667 height the height of the dialog box.
669 width the width of the dialog box.
671 Other parameters depend on the box type.
673 --buildlist text height width list-height [ tag item status ] ...
675 A buildlist dialog displays two lists, side-by-side. The list
676 on the left shows unselected items. The list on the right shows
677 selected items. As items are selected or unselected, they move
678 between the lists.
679 Use a carriage return or the “OK” button to accept the current
681 value in the selected-window and exit. The results are written
682 using the order displayed in the selected-window.
683 The initial on/off state of each entry is specified by status.
685 The dialog behaves like a menu, using the --visit-items to
687 control whether the cursor is allowed to visit the lists
688 directly.
689 • If --visit-items is not given, tab-traversal uses two states
691 (OK/Cancel).
692 • If --visit-items is given, tab-traversal uses four states
694 (Left/Right/OK/Cancel).
695 Whether or not --visit-items is given, it is possible to move
697 the highlight between the two lists using the default “^” (left-
698 column) and “$” (right-column) keys.
699 On exit, a list of the tag strings of those entries that are
701 turned on will be printed on dialog's output.
702 If the "--separate-output" option is not given, the strings will
704 be quoted as needed to make it simple for scripts to separate
705 them. By default, this uses double-quotes, as needed. See the
706 “--single-quoted” option, which modifies the quoting behavior.
707 --calendar text height width day month year
709 A calendar box displays month, day and year in separately
710 adjustable windows. If the values for day, month or year are
711 missing or negative, the current date's corresponding values are
712 used. You can increment or decrement any of those using the
713 left-, up-, right-, and down-arrows. Use vi-style h, j, k and l
714 for moving around the array of days in a month. Use tab or
715 backtab to move between windows. If the year is given as zero,
716 the current date is used as an initial value.
717 On exit, the date is printed in the form day/month/year. The
719 format can be overridden using the --date-format option.
720 --checklist text height width list-height [ tag item status ] ...
722 A checklist box is similar to a menu box; there are multiple
723 entries presented in the form of a menu. Another difference is
724 that you can indicate which entry is currently selected, by
725 setting its status to on. Instead of choosing one entry among
726 the entries, each entry can be turned on or off by the user.
727 The initial on/off state of each entry is specified by status.
728 On exit, a list of the tag strings of those entries that are
730 turned on will be printed on dialog's output.
731 If the “--separate-output” option is not given, the strings will
733 be quoted as needed to make it simple for scripts to separate
734 them. By default, this uses double-quotes (as needed). See the
735 “--single-quoted” option, which modifies the quoting behavior.
736 --dselect filepath height width
738 The directory-selection dialog displays a text-entry window in
739 which you can type a directory, and above that a windows with
740 directory names.
741 Here filepath can be a filepath in which case the directory
743 window will display the contents of the path and the text-entry
744 window will contain the preselected directory.
745 Use tab or arrow keys to move between the windows. Within the
747 directory window, use the up/down arrow keys to scroll the
748 current selection. Use the space-bar to copy the current
749 selection into the text-entry window.
750 Typing any printable characters switches focus to the text-entry
752 window, entering that character as well as scrolling the
753 directory window to the closest match.
754 Use a carriage return or the “OK” button to accept the current
756 value in the text-entry window and exit.
757 On exit, the contents of the text-entry window are written to
759 dialog's output.
760 --editbox filepath height width
762 The edit-box dialog displays a copy of the file. You may edit
763 it using the backspace, delete and cursor keys to correct typing
764 errors. It also recognizes pageup/pagedown. Unlike the
765 --inputbox, you must tab to the “OK” or “Cancel” buttons to
766 close the dialog. Pressing the “Enter” key within the box will
767 split the corresponding line.
768 On exit, the contents of the edit window are written to dialog's
770 output.
771 --form text height width formheight [ label y x item y x flen ilen ] ...
773 The form dialog displays a form consisting of labels and fields,
774 which are positioned on a scrollable window by coordinates given
775 in the script. The field length flen and input-length ilen tell
776 how long the field can be. The former defines the length shown
777 for a selected field, while the latter defines the permissible
778 length of the data entered in the field.
779 • If flen is zero, the corresponding field cannot be altered.
781 and the contents of the field determine the displayed-
782 length.
783 • If flen is negative, the corresponding field cannot be
785 altered, and the negated value of flen is used as the
786 displayed-length.
787 • If ilen is zero, it is set to flen.
789 Use up/down arrows (or control/N, control/P) to move between
791 fields. Use tab to move between windows.
792 On exit, the contents of the form-fields are written to dialog's
794 output, each field separated by a newline. The text used to
795 fill non-editable fields (flen is zero or negative) is not
796 written out.
797 --fselect filepath height width
799 The fselect (file-selection) dialog displays a text-entry window
800 in which you can type a filename (or directory), and above that
801 two windows with directory names and filenames.
802 Here filepath can be a filepath in which case the file and
804 directory windows will display the contents of the path and the
805 text-entry window will contain the preselected filename.
806 Use tab or arrow keys to move between the windows. Within the
808 directory or filename windows, use the up/down arrow keys to
809 scroll the current selection. Use the space-bar to copy the
810 current selection into the text-entry window.
811 Typing any printable characters switches focus to the text-entry
813 window, entering that character as well as scrolling the
814 directory and filename windows to the closest match.
815 Typing the space character forces dialog to complete the current
817 name (up to the point where there may be a match against more
818 than one entry).
819 Use a carriage return or the “OK” button to accept the current
821 value in the text-entry window and exit.
822 On exit, the contents of the text-entry window are written to
824 dialog's output.
825 --gauge text height width [percent]
827 A gauge box displays a meter along the bottom of the box. The
828 meter indicates the percentage. New percentages are read from
829 standard input, one integer per line. The meter is updated to
830 reflect each new percentage. If the standard input reads the
831 string “XXX”, then the first line following is taken as an
832 integer percentage, then subsequent lines up to another “XXX”
833 are used for a new prompt. The gauge exits when EOF is reached
834 on the standard input.
835 The percent value denotes the initial percentage shown in the
837 meter. If not specified, it is zero.
838 On exit, no text is written to dialog's output. The widget
840 accepts no input, so the exit status is always OK.
841 --infobox text height width
843 An info box is basically a message box. However, in this case,
844 dialog will exit immediately after displaying the message to the
845 user. The screen is not cleared when dialog exits, so that the
846 message will remain on the screen until the calling shell script
847 clears it later. This is useful when you want to inform the
848 user that some operations are carrying on that may require some
849 time to finish.
850 On exit, no text is written to dialog's output. An OK exit
852 status is returned.
853 --inputbox text height width [init]
855 An input box is useful when you want to ask questions that
856 require the user to input a string as the answer. If init is
857 supplied it is used to initialize the input string. When
858 entering the string, the backspace, delete and cursor keys can
859 be used to correct typing errors. If the input string is longer
860 than can fit in the dialog box, the input field will be
861 scrolled.
862 On exit, the input string will be printed on dialog's output.
864 --inputmenu text height width menu-height [ tag item ] ...
866 An inputmenu box is very similar to an ordinary menu box. There
867 are only a few differences between them:
868 1. The entries are not automatically centered but left
870 adjusted.
871 2. An extra button (called Rename) is implied to rename the
873 current item when it is pressed.
874 3. It is possible to rename the current entry by pressing the
876 Rename button. Then dialog will write the following on
877 dialog's output.
878 RENAMED <tag> <item>
880 --menu text height width menu-height [ tag item ] ...
882 As its name suggests, a menu box is a dialog box that can be
883 used to present a list of choices in the form of a menu for the
884 user to choose. Choices are displayed in the order given. Each
885 menu entry consists of a tag string and an item string. The tag
886 gives the entry a name to distinguish it from the other entries
887 in the menu. The item is a short description of the option that
888 the entry represents. The user can move between the menu
889 entries by pressing the cursor keys, the first letter of the tag
890 as a hot-key, or the number keys 1 through 9. There are menu-
891 height entries displayed in the menu at one time, but the menu
892 will be scrolled if there are more entries than that.
893 On exit the tag of the chosen menu entry will be printed on
895 dialog's output. If the “--help-button” option is given, the
896 corresponding help text will be printed if the user selects the
897 help button.
898 --mixedform text height width formheight [ label y x item y x flen ilen itype ] ...
900 The mixedform dialog displays a form consisting of labels and
901 fields, much like the --form dialog. It differs by adding a
902 field-type parameter to each field's description. Each bit in
903 the type denotes an attribute of the field:
904 1 hidden, e.g., a password field.
906 2 readonly, e.g., a label.
908 --mixedgauge text height width percent [ tag1 item1 ] ...
910 A mixedgauge box displays a meter along the bottom of the box.
911 The meter indicates the percentage.
912 It also displays a list of the tag- and item-values at the top
914 of the box. See dialog(3) for the tag values.
915 The text is shown as a caption between the list and meter. The
917 percent value denotes the initial percentage shown in the meter.
918 No provision is made for reading data from the standard input as
920 --gauge does.
921 On exit, no text is written to dialog's output. The widget
923 accepts no input, so the exit status is always OK.
924 --msgbox text height width
926 A message box is very similar to a yes/no box. The only
927 difference between a message box and a yes/no box is that a
928 message box has only a single OK button. You can use this
929 dialog box to display any message you like. After reading the
930 message, the user can press the ENTER key so that dialog will
931 exit and the calling shell script can continue its operation.
932 If the message is too large for the space, dialog may allow you
934 to scroll it, provided that the underlying curses implementation
935 is capable enough. In this case, a percentage is shown in the
936 base of the widget.
937 On exit, no text is written to dialog's output. Only an “OK”
939 button is provided for input, but an ESC exit status may be
940 returned.
941 --pause text height width seconds
943 A pause box displays a meter along the bottom of the box. The
944 meter indicates how many seconds remain until the end of the
945 pause. The pause exits when timeout is reached or the user
946 presses the OK button (status OK) or the user presses the CANCEL
947 button or Esc key.
948 --passwordbox text height width [init]
950 A password box is similar to an input box, except that the text
951 the user enters is not displayed. This is useful when prompting
952 for passwords or other sensitive information. Be aware that if
953 anything is passed in “init”, it will be visible in the system's
954 process table to casual snoopers. Also, it is very confusing to
955 the user to provide them with a default password they cannot
956 see. For these reasons, using “init” is highly discouraged.
957 See “--insecure” if you do not care about your password.
958 On exit, the input string will be printed on dialog's output.
960 --passwordform text height width formheight [ label y x item y x flen ilen ] ...
962 This is identical to --form except that all text fields are
963 treated as password widgets rather than inputbox widgets.
964 --prgbox text command height width
966 --prgbox command height width
968 A prgbox is very similar to a programbox.
969 This dialog box is used to display the output of a command that
971 is specified as an argument to prgbox.
972 After the command completes, the user can press the ENTER key so
974 that dialog will exit and the calling shell script can continue
975 its operation.
976 If four parameters are given, it displays the text under the
978 title, delineated from the scrolling file's contents. If only
979 three parameters are given, this text is omitted.
980 --programbox text height width
982 --programbox height width
984 A programbox is very similar to a progressbox. The only
985 difference between a program box and a progress box is that a
986 program box displays an OK button (but only after the command
987 completes).
988 This dialog box is used to display the piped output of a
990 command. After the command completes, the user can press the
991 ENTER key so that dialog will exit and the calling shell script
992 can continue its operation.
993 If three parameters are given, it displays the text under the
995 title, delineated from the scrolling file's contents. If only
996 two parameters are given, this text is omitted.
997 --progressbox text height width
999 --progressbox height width
1001 A progressbox is similar to an tailbox, except that
1002 a) rather than displaying the contents of a file,
1004 it displays the piped output of a command and
1005 b) it will exit when it reaches the end of the file
1007 (there is no “OK” button).
1008 If three parameters are given, it displays the text under the
1010 title, delineated from the scrolling file's contents. If only
1011 two parameters are given, this text is omitted.
1012 --radiolist text height width list-height [ tag item status ] ...
1014 A radiolist box is similar to a menu box. The only difference
1015 is that you can indicate which entry is currently selected, by
1016 setting its status to on.
1017 On exit, the tag of the selected item is written to dialog's
1019 output.
1020 --rangebox text height width min-value max-value default-value
1022 Allow the user to select from a range of values, e.g., using a
1023 slider. The dialog shows the current value as a bar (like the
1024 gauge dialog). Tabs or arrow keys move the cursor between the
1025 buttons and the value. When the cursor is on the value, you can
1026 edit it by:
1027 left/right cursor movement to select a digit to modify
1029 +/- characters to increment/decrement the digit by one
1031 0 through 9
1033 to set the digit to the given value
1034 Some keys are also recognized in all cursor positions:
1036 home/end
1038 set the value to its maximum or minimum
1039 pageup/pagedown
1041 increment the value so that the slider moves by one column
1042 --tailbox file height width
1044 Display text from a file in a dialog box, as in a “tail -f”
1045 command. Scroll left/right using vi-style 'h' and 'l', or
1046 arrow-keys. A '0' resets the scrolling.
1047 On exit, no text is written to dialog's output. Only an “OK”
1049 button is provided for input, but an ESC exit status may be
1050 returned.
1051 --tailboxbg file height width
1053 Display text from a file in a dialog box as a background task,
1054 as in a “tail -f &” command. Scroll left/right using vi-style
1055 'h' and 'l', or arrow-keys. A '0' resets the scrolling.
1056 Dialog treats the background task specially if there are other
1058 widgets (--and-widget) on the screen concurrently. Until those
1059 widgets are closed (e.g., an “OK”), dialog will perform all of
1060 the tailboxbg widgets in the same process, polling for updates.
1061 You may use a tab to traverse between the widgets on the screen,
1062 and close them individually, e.g., by pressing ENTER. Once the
1063 non-tailboxbg widgets are closed, dialog forks a copy of itself
1064 into the background, and prints its process id if the
1065 “--no-kill” option is given.
1066 On exit, no text is written to dialog's output. Only an “EXIT”
1068 button is provided for input, but an ESC exit status may be
1069 returned.
1070 NOTE: Older versions of dialog forked immediately and attempted
1072 to update the screen individually. Besides being bad for
1073 performance, it was unworkable. Some older scripts may not work
1074 properly with the polled scheme.
1075 --textbox file height width
1077 A text box lets you display the contents of a text file in a
1078 dialog box. It is like a simple text file viewer. The user can
1079 move through the file by using the cursor, page-up, page-down
1080 and HOME/END keys available on most keyboards. If the lines are
1081 too long to be displayed in the box, the LEFT/RIGHT keys can be
1082 used to scroll the text region horizontally. You may also use
1083 vi-style keys h, j, k, and l in place of the cursor keys, and B
1084 or N in place of the page-up and page-down keys. Scroll up/down
1085 using vi-style 'k' and 'j', or arrow-keys. Scroll left/right
1086 using vi-style 'h' and 'l', or arrow-keys. A '0' resets the
1087 left/right scrolling. For more convenience, vi-style forward
1088 and backward searching functions are also provided.
1089 On exit, no text is written to dialog's output. Only an “EXIT”
1091 button is provided for input, but an ESC exit status may be
1092 returned.
1093 --timebox text height [width hour minute second]
1095 A dialog is displayed which allows you to select hour, minute
1096 and second. If the values for hour, minute or second are
1097 missing or negative, the current date's corresponding values are
1098 used. You can increment or decrement any of those using the
1099 left-, up-, right- and down-arrows. Use tab or backtab to move
1100 between windows.
1101 On exit, the result is printed in the form hour:minute:second.
1103 The format can be overridden using the --time-format option.
1104 --treeview text height width list-height [ tag item status depth ] ...
1106 Display data organized as a tree. Each group of data contains a
1107 tag, the text to display for the item, its status (“on” or
1108 “off”) and the depth of the item in the tree.
1109 Only one item can be selected (like the radiolist). The tag is
1111 not displayed.
1112 On exit, the tag of the selected item is written to dialog's
1114 output.
1115 --yesno text height width
1117 A yes/no dialog box of size height rows by width columns will be
1118 displayed. The string specified by text is displayed inside the
1119 dialog box. If this string is too long to fit in one line, it
1120 will be automatically divided into multiple lines at appropriate
1121 places. The text string can also contain the sub-string "\n" or
1122 newline characters `\n' to control line breaking explicitly.
1123 This dialog box is useful for asking questions that require the
1124 user to answer either yes or no. The dialog box has a Yes
1125 button and a No button, in which the user can switch between by
1126 pressing the TAB key.
1127 On exit, no text is written to dialog's output. In addition to
1129 the “Yes” and “No” exit codes (see DIAGNOSTICS) an ESC exit
1130 status may be returned.
1131 The codes used for “Yes” and “No” match those used for “OK” and
1133 “Cancel”, internally no distinction is made.
1134 Obsolete Options
1136 --beep This was used to tell the original cdialog that it should make a
1137 beep when the separate processes of the tailboxbg widget would
1138 repaint the screen.
1139 --beep-after
1141 Beep after a user has completed a widget by pressing one of the
1142 buttons.
1143 Whitespace Options
1145 These options can be used to transform whitespace (space, tab, newline)
1146 as dialog reads the script:
1147 --cr-wrap, --no-collapse, --no-nl-expand, and --trim
1148 The options are not independent:
1150 • Dialog checks if the script contains at least one “\n” and (unless
1152 --no-nl-expand is set) will ignore the --no-collapse and --trim
1153 options.
1154 • After checking for “\n” and the --no-nl-expand option, dialog
1156 handles the --trim option.
1157 If the --trim option takes effect, then dialog ignores
1159 --no-collapse. It changes sequences of tabs, spaces (and newlines
1160 unless -cr-wrap is set) to a single space.
1161 • If neither the “\n” or --trim cases apply, dialog checks
1163 --no-collapse to decide whether to reduce sequences of tabs and
1164 spaces to a single space.
1165 In this case, dialog ignores --cr-wrap and does not modify
1167 newlines.
1168 Taking those dependencies into account, here is a table summarizing the
1170 behavior for the various combinations of options. The table assumes
1171 that the script contains at least one “\n” when the --no-nl-expand
1172 option is not set.
1173 cr- no- no- trim Result
1175 wrap collapse nl-expand
1176 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
1177 no no no no Convert tab to space.
1178 Convert newline to space.
1179 Convert “\n” to newline.
1180 no no no yes Convert tab to space.
1182 Convert newline to space.
1183 Convert “\n” to newline.
1184 no no yes no Convert tab to space. Do not
1185 convert newline to space.
1186 Convert multiple-space to
1187 single. Show “\n” literally.
1188 no no yes yes Convert tab to space.
1189 Convert multiple-space to
1190 single. Convert newline to
1191 space. Show “\n” literally.
1192 no yes no no Convert newline to space.
1193 Convert “\n” to newline.
1194 no yes no yes Convert newline to space.
1195 Convert “\n” to newline.
1196 no yes yes no Do not convert newline to
1197 space. Do not reduce
1198 multiple blanks. Show “\n”
1199 literally.
1200 no yes yes yes Convert multiple-space to
1201 single. Convert newline to
1202 space. Show “\n” literally.
1203 yes no no no Convert tab to space. Wrap
1204 on newline. Convert “\n” to
1205 newline.
1206 yes no no yes Convert tab to space. Wrap
1207 on newline. Convert “\n” to
1208 newline.
1209 yes no yes no Convert tab to space. Do not
1210 convert newline to space.
1211 Convert multiple-space to
1212 single. Show “\n” literally.
1213 yes no yes yes Convert tab to space.
1214 Convert multiple-space to
1215 single. Wrap on newline.
1216 Show “\n” literally.
1217 yes yes no no Wrap on newline. Convert
1218 “\n” to newline.
1219 yes yes no yes Wrap on newline. Convert
1220 “\n” to newline.
1221 yes yes yes no Do not convert newline to
1222 space. Do not reduce
1223 multiple blanks. Show “\n”
1224 literally.
1225 yes yes yes yes Convert multiple-space to
1226 single. Wrap on newline.
1227 Show “\n” literally.
1228
1230 1. Create a sample configuration file by typing:
1231 dialog --create-rc file
1233 2. At start, dialog determines the settings to use as follows:
1235 a) if environment variable DIALOGRC is set, its value determines
1237 the name of the configuration file.
1238 b) if the file in (a) is not found, use the file $HOME/.dialogrc
1240 as the configuration file.
1241 c) if the file in (b) is not found, try using the GLOBALRC file
1243 determined at compile-time, i.e., /etc/dialogrc.
1244 d) if the file in (c) is not found, use compiled in defaults.
1246 3. Edit the sample configuration file and copy it to some place that
1248 dialog can find, as stated in step 2 above.
1249
1251 You can override or add to key bindings in dialog by adding to the
1252 configuration file. Dialog's bindkey command maps single keys to its
1253 internal coding.
1254 bindkey widget curses_key dialog_key
1256 The widget name can be “*” (all widgets), or specific widgets such as
1258 textbox. Specific widget bindings override the “*” bindings. User-
1259 defined bindings override the built-in bindings.
1260 The curses_key can be expressed in different forms:
1262 • It may be any of the names derived from curses.h, e.g., “HELP” from
1264 “KEY_HELP”.
1265 • Dialog also recognizes ANSI control characters such as “^A”, “^?”,
1267 as well as C1-controls such as “~A” and “~?”.
1268 • Finally, dialog allows backslash escapes as in C. Those can be
1270 octal character values such as “\033” (the ASCII escape character),
1271 or the characters listed in this table:
1272 Escaped Actual
1274 ───────────────────────────────
1275 \b backspace
1276 \f form feed
1277 \n new line (line feed)
1278 \r carriage return
1279 \s space
1280 \t tab
1281 \^ “^” (caret)
1282 \? “?” (question mark)
1283 \\ “\” (backslash)
1284 ───────────────────────────────
1285 Dialog's internal keycode names correspond to the DLG_KEYS_ENUM type in
1287 dlg_keys.h, e.g., “HELP” from “DLGK_HELP”.
1288 Widget Names
1290 Some widgets (such as the formbox) have an area where fields can be
1291 edited. Those are managed in a subwindow of the widget, and may have
1292 separate keybindings from the main widget because the subwindows are
1293 registered using a different name.
1294 Widget Window name Subwindow Name
1296 ───────────────────────────────────────────
1297 calendar calendar
1298 checklist checklist
1299 editbox editbox editbox2
1300 form formbox formfield
1301 fselect fselect fselect2
1302 inputbox inputbox inputbox2
1303 menu menubox menu
1304 msgbox msgbox
1305 pause pause
1306 progressbox progressbox
1307 radiolist radiolist
1308 tailbox tailbox
1309 textbox textbox searchbox
1310 timebox timebox
1311 yesno yesno
1312 ───────────────────────────────────────────
1313 Some widgets are actually other widgets, using internal settings to
1315 modify the behavior. Those use the same widget name as the actual
1316 widget:
1317 Widget Actual Widget
1319 ─────────────────────────────
1320 dselect fselect
1321 infobox msgbox
1322 inputmenu menu
1323 mixedform form
1324 passwordbox inputbox
1325 passwordform form
1326 prgbox progressbox
1327 programbox progressbox
1328 tailboxbg tailbox
1329 ─────────────────────────────
1330 Built-in Bindings
1332 This manual page does not list the key bindings for each widget,
1333 because that detailed information can be obtained by running dialog.
1334 If you have set the --trace option, dialog writes the key-binding
1335 information for each widget as it is registered.
1336 Example
1338 Normally dialog uses different keys for navigating between the buttons
1339 and editing part of a dialog versus navigating within the editing part.
1340 That is, tab (and back-tab) traverse buttons (or between buttons and
1341 the editing part), while arrow keys traverse fields within the editing
1342 part. Tabs are also recognized as a special case for traversing
1343 between widgets, e.g., when using multiple tailboxbg widgets.
1344 Some users may wish to use the same key for traversing within the
1346 editing part as for traversing between buttons. The form widget is
1347 written to support this sort of redefinition of the keys, by adding a
1348 special group in dlgk_keys.h for “form” (left/right/next/prev). Here
1349 is an example binding demonstrating how to do this:
1350 bindkey formfield TAB form_NEXT
1352 bindkey formbox TAB form_NEXT
1353 bindkey formfield BTAB form_prev
1354 bindkey formbox BTAB form_prev
1355 That type of redefinition would not be useful in other widgets, e.g.,
1357 calendar, due to the potentially large number of fields to traverse.
1358
1360 DIALOGOPTS Define this variable to apply any of the common options
1361 to each widget. Most of the common options are reset
1362 before processing each widget. If you set the options
1363 in this environment variable, they are applied to
1364 dialog's state after the reset. As in the “--file”
1365 option, double-quotes and backslashes are interpreted.
1366 The “--file” option is not considered a common option
1368 (so you cannot embed it within this environment
1369 variable).
1370 DIALOGRC Define this variable if you want to specify the name of
1372 the configuration file to use.
1373 DIALOG_CANCEL
1375 DIALOG_ERROR
1377 DIALOG_ESC
1379 DIALOG_EXTRA
1381 DIALOG_HELP
1383 DIALOG_ITEM_HELP
1385 DIALOG_TIMEOUT
1387 DIALOG_OK Define any of these variables to change the exit code on
1389 • Cancel (1),
1391 • error (-1),
1393 • ESC (255),
1395 • Extra (3),
1397 • Help (2),
1399 • Help with --item-help (2),
1401 • Timeout (5), or
1403 • OK (0).
1405 Normally shell scripts cannot distinguish between -1 and
1407 255.
1408 DIALOG_TTY Set this variable to “1” to provide compatibility with
1410 older versions of dialog which assumed that if the
1411 script redirects the standard output, that the
1412 “--stdout” option was given.
1413
1415 $HOME/.dialogrc default configuration file
1416
1418 The dialog sources contain several samples of how to use the different
1419 box options and how they look. Just take a look into the directory
1420 samples/ of the source.
1421
1423 Exit status is subject to being overridden by environment variables.
1424 The default values and corresponding environment variables that can
1425 override them are:
1426 0 if the YES or OK button is pressed (DIALOG_OK).
1428 1 if the No or Cancel button is pressed (DIALOG_CANCEL).
1430 2 if the Help button is pressed (DIALOG_HELP),
1432 except as noted below about DIALOG_ITEM_HELP.
1433 3 if the Extra button is pressed (DIALOG_EXTRA).
1435 4 if the Help button is pressed,
1437 and the --item-help option is set
1438 and the DIALOG_ITEM_HELP environment variable is set to 4.
1439 While any of the exit-codes can be overridden using environment
1441 variables, this special case was introduced in 2004 to simplify
1442 compatibility. Dialog uses DIALOG_ITEM_HELP(4) internally, but
1443 unless the environment variable is also set, it changes that to
1444 DIALOG_HELP(2) on exit.
1445 5 if a timeout expires and the DIALOG_TIMEOUT variable is set to 5.
1447 -1 if errors occur inside dialog (DIALOG_ERROR) or dialog exits
1449 because the ESC key (DIALOG_ESC) was pressed.
1450
1452 Dialog works with X/Open curses. However, some implementations have
1453 deficiencies:
1454 • HPUX curses (and perhaps others) do not open the terminal
1456 properly for the newterm function. This interferes with
1457 dialog's --input-fd option, by preventing cursor-keys and
1458 similar escape sequences from being recognized.
1459 • NetBSD 5.1 curses has incomplete support for wide-characters.
1461 dialog will build, but not all examples display properly.
1462
1464 You may want to write scripts which run with other dialog “clones”.
1465 Original Dialog
1467 First, there is the “original” dialog program to consider (versions 0.3
1468 to 0.9). It had some misspelled (or inconsistent) options. The dialog
1469 program maps those deprecated options to the preferred ones. They
1470 include:
1471 Option Treatment
1473 ─────────────────────────────────
1474 --beep-after ignored
1475 --guage mapped to --gauge
1476 ─────────────────────────────────
1477 Xdialog
1479 This is an X application, rather than a terminal program. With some
1480 care, it is possible to write useful scripts that work with both
1481 Xdialog and dialog.
1482 The dialog program ignores these options which are recognized by
1484 Xdialog:
1485 Option Treatment
1487 ───────────────────────────────────────────────
1488 --allow-close ignored
1489 --auto-placement ignored
1490 --fixed-font ignored
1491 --icon ignored
1492 --keep-colors ignored
1493 --no-close ignored
1494 --no-cr-wrap ignored
1495 --screen-center ignored
1496 --separator mapped to --separate-output
1497 --smooth ignored
1498 --under-mouse ignored
1499 --wmclass ignored
1500 ───────────────────────────────────────────────
1501 Xdialog's manpage has a section discussing its compatibility with
1503 dialog. There are some differences not shown in the manpage. For
1504 example, the html documentation states
1505 Note: former Xdialog releases used the “\n” (line feed) as a
1507 results separator for the checklist widget; this has been
1508 changed to “/” in Xdialog v1.5.0 to make it compatible with
1509 (c)dialog. In your old scripts using the Xdialog checklist, you
1510 will then have to add the --separate-output option before the
1511 --checklist one.
1512 Dialog has not used a different separator; the difference was likely
1514 due to confusion regarding some script.
1515 Whiptail
1517 Then there is whiptail. For practical purposes, it is maintained by
1518 Debian (very little work is done by its upstream developers). Its
1519 documentation (README.whiptail) claims
1520 whiptail(1) is a lightweight replacement for dialog(1),
1522 to provide dialog boxes for shell scripts.
1523 It is built on the
1524 newt windowing library rather than the ncurses library, allowing
1525 it to be smaller in embedded environments such as installers,
1526 rescue disks, etc.
1527 whiptail is designed to be drop-in compatible with dialog, but
1529 has less features: some dialog boxes are not implemented, such
1530 as tailbox, timebox, calendarbox, etc.
1531 Comparing actual sizes (Debian testing, 2007/1/10): The total of sizes
1533 for whiptail, the newt, popt and slang libraries is 757 KB. The
1534 comparable number for dialog (counting ncurses) is 520 KB. Disregard
1535 the first paragraph.
1536 The second paragraph is misleading, since whiptail also does not work
1538 for common options of dialog, such as the gauge box. whiptail is less
1539 compatible with dialog than the original mid-1990s dialog 0.4 program.
1540 whiptail's manpage borrows features from dialog, e.g., but oddly cites
1542 only dialog versions up to 0.4 (1994) as a source. That is, its
1543 manpage refers to features which were borrowed from more recent
1544 versions of dialog, e.g.,
1545 • --gauge (from 0.5)
1547 • --passwordbox (from Debian changes in 1999),
1549 • --default-item (from dialog 2000/02/22),
1551 • --output-fd (from dialog 2002/08/14).
1553 Somewhat humorously, one may note that the popt feature (undocumented
1555 in its manpage) of using a “--” as an escape was documented in dialog's
1556 manpage about a year before it was mentioned in whiptail's manpage.
1557 whiptail's manpage incorrectly attributes that to getopt (and is
1558 inaccurate anyway).
1559 Debian uses whiptail for the official dialog variation.
1561 The dialog program ignores or maps these options which are recognized
1563 by whiptail:
1564 Option Treatment
1566 ───────────────────────────────────────────
1567 --cancel-button mapped to --cancel-label
1568 --fb ignored
1569 --fullbutton ignored
1570 --no-button mapped to --no-label
1571 --nocancel mapped to --no-cancel
1572 --noitem mapped to --no-items
1573 --notags mapped to --no-tags
1574 --ok-button mapped to --ok-label
1575 --scrolltext mapped to --scrollbar
1576 --topleft mapped to --begin 0 0
1577 --yes-button mapped to --yes-label
1578 ───────────────────────────────────────────
1579 There are visual differences which are not addressed by command-line
1581 options:
1582 • dialog centers lists within the window. whiptail typically puts
1584 lists against the left margin.
1585 • whiptail uses angle brackets (“<” and “>”) for marking buttons.
1587 dialog uses square brackets.
1588 • whiptail marks the limits of subtitles with vertical bars. dialog
1590 does not mark the limits.
1591 • whiptail attempts to mark the top/bottom cells of a scrollbar with
1593 up/down arrows. When it cannot do this, it fills those cells with
1594 the background color of the scrollbar and confusing the user.
1595 dialog uses the entire scrollbar space, thereby getting better
1596 resolution.
1597
1599 Perhaps.
1600
1602 Thomas E. Dickey (updates for 0.9b and beyond)
1603
1605 Kiran Cherupally – the mixed form and mixed gauge widgets.
1606 Tobias C. Rittweiler
1608 Valery Reznic – the form and progressbox widgets.
1610 Yura Kalinichenko adapted the gauge widget as “pause”.
1612 This is a rewrite (except as needed to provide compatibility) of the
1614 earlier version of dialog 0.9a, which lists as authors:
1615 • Savio Lam – version 0.3, “dialog”
1617 • Stuart Herbert – patch for version 0.4
1619 • Marc Ewing – the gauge widget.
1621 • Pasquale De Marco “Pako” – version 0.9a, “cdialog”
1623$Date: 2021/01/17 17:25:01 $ DIALOG(1)