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31 .\" $Id: form.3x,v 1.43 2023/08/19 20:38:32 tom Exp $
32 .TH form 3X 2023-08-19 "ncurses 6.4" "Library calls"
42 \fBform\fP \- curses extension for programming forms
44 \fB#include <form.h>\fP
46 The \fBform\fP library provides terminal-independent facilities for composing
47 form screens on character-cell terminals.
48 The library includes: field
49 routines, which create and modify form fields; and form routines, which group
50 fields into forms, display forms on the screen, and handle interaction with the
53 The \fBform\fP library uses the \fBcurses\fP libraries.
54 To use the \fBform\fP library, link with the options
55 \fB\-lform \-lcurses\fP.
57 Your program should set up the locale, e.g.,
59 \fBsetlocale(LC_ALL, "");\fP
61 so that input/output processing will work.
63 A curses initialization routine such as \fBinitscr\fP must be called
64 before using any of these functions.
66 .SS Current Default Values for Field Attributes
68 The \fBform\fP library maintains a default value for field attributes.
70 can get or set this default by calling the appropriate \fBset_\fP
72 routine with a \fBNULL\fP field pointer.
73 Changing this default with a
74 \fBset_\fP function affects future field creations, but does not change the
75 rendering of fields already created.
77 .SS Routine Name Index
79 The following table lists each \fBform\fP routine and the name of
80 the manual page on which it is described.
81 Routines flagged with \*(``*\*(''
82 are ncurses-specific, not present in SVr4.
87 \fBcurses\fP Routine Name Manual Page Name
89 current_field \fBform_page\fP(3X)
90 data_ahead \fBform_data\fP(3X)
91 data_behind \fBform_data\fP(3X)
92 dup_field \fBform_field_new\fP(3X)
93 dynamic_field_info \fBform_field_info\fP(3X)
94 field_arg \fBform_field_validation\fP(3X)
95 field_back \fBform_field_attributes\fP(3X)
96 field_buffer \fBform_field_buffer\fP(3X)
97 field_count \fBform_field\fP(3X)
98 field_fore \fBform_field_attributes\fP(3X)
99 field_index \fBform_page\fP(3X)
100 field_info \fBform_field_info\fP(3X)
101 field_init \fBform_hook\fP(3X)
102 field_just \fBform_field_just\fP(3X)
103 field_opts \fBform_field_opts\fP(3X)
104 field_opts_off \fBform_field_opts\fP(3X)
105 field_opts_on \fBform_field_opts\fP(3X)
106 field_pad \fBform_field_attributes\fP(3X)
107 field_status \fBform_field_buffer\fP(3X)
108 field_term \fBform_hook\fP(3X)
109 field_type \fBform_field_validation\fP(3X)
110 field_userptr \fBform_field_userptr\fP(3X)
111 form_driver \fBform_driver\fP(3X)
112 form_driver_w \fBform_driver\fP(3X)*
113 form_fields \fBform_field\fP(3X)
114 form_init \fBform_hook\fP(3X)
115 form_opts \fBform_opts\fP(3X)
116 form_opts_off \fBform_opts\fP(3X)
117 form_opts_on \fBform_opts\fP(3X)
118 form_page \fBform_page\fP(3X)
119 form_request_by_name \fBform_requestname\fP(3X)*
120 form_request_name \fBform_requestname\fP(3X)*
121 form_sub \fBform_win\fP(3X)
122 form_term \fBform_hook\fP(3X)
123 form_userptr \fBform_userptr\fP(3X)
124 form_win \fBform_win\fP(3X)
125 free_field \fBform_field_new\fP(3X)
126 free_fieldtype \fBform_fieldtype\fP(3X)
127 free_form \fBform_new\fP(3X)
128 link_field \fBform_field_new\fP(3X)
129 link_fieldtype \fBform_fieldtype\fP(3X)
130 move_field \fBform_field\fP(3X)
131 new_field \fBform_field_new\fP(3X)
132 new_fieldtype \fBform_fieldtype\fP(3X)
133 new_form \fBform_new\fP(3X)
134 new_page \fBform_new_page\fP(3X)
135 pos_form_cursor \fBform_cursor\fP(3X)
136 post_form \fBform_post\fP(3X)
137 scale_form \fBform_win\fP(3X)
138 set_current_field \fBform_page\fP(3X)
139 set_field_back \fBform_field_attributes\fP(3X)
140 set_field_buffer \fBform_field_buffer\fP(3X)
141 set_field_fore \fBform_field_attributes\fP(3X)
142 set_field_init \fBform_hook\fP(3X)
143 set_field_just \fBform_field_just\fP(3X)
144 set_field_opts \fBform_field_opts\fP(3X)
145 set_field_pad \fBform_field_attributes\fP(3X)
146 set_field_status \fBform_field_buffer\fP(3X)
147 set_field_term \fBform_hook\fP(3X)
148 set_field_type \fBform_field_validation\fP(3X)
149 set_field_userptr \fBform_field_userptr\fP(3X)
150 set_fieldtype_arg \fBform_fieldtype\fP(3X)
151 set_fieldtype_choice \fBform_fieldtype\fP(3X)
152 set_form_fields \fBform_field\fP(3X)
153 set_form_init \fBform_hook\fP(3X)
154 set_form_opts \fBform_field_opts\fP(3X)
155 set_form_page \fBform_page\fP(3X)
156 set_form_sub \fBform_win\fP(3X)
157 set_form_term \fBform_hook\fP(3X)
158 set_form_userptr \fBform_userptr\fP(3X)
159 set_form_win \fBform_win\fP(3X)
160 set_max_field \fBform_field_buffer\fP(3X)
161 set_new_page \fBform_new_page\fP(3X)
162 unfocus_current_field \fBform_page\fP(3X)*
163 unpost_form \fBform_post\fP(3X)
166 Routines that return pointers return \fBNULL\fP on error,
167 and set \fBerrno\fP to the corresponding error-code returned by functions
168 returning an integer.
170 an integer return one of the following error codes:
173 The routine succeeded.
176 Routine detected an incorrect or out-of-range argument.
179 Routine was called from an initialization or termination function.
182 The field is already connected to a form.
185 Contents of a field are not valid.
188 No fields are connected to the form.
191 The form has not been posted.
194 Form is too large for its window.
197 The form is already posted.
200 The form driver could not process the request.
203 System error occurred (see \fBerrno\fP(3)).
206 The form driver code saw an unknown request code.
208 The header file \fB<form.h>\fP automatically includes the header files
209 \fB<curses.h>\fP and \fB<eti.h>\fP.
211 In your library list, libform.a should be before libncurses.a; that is,
212 you want to say \*(``\-lform \-lncurses\*('', not the other way around
213 (which would give you a link error when using static libraries).
215 These routines emulate the System V forms library.
216 They were not supported on
217 Version 7 or BSD versions.
219 The menu facility was documented in SVr4.2 in
220 \fICharacter User Interface Programming (UNIX SVR4.2)\fP.
222 It is not part of X/Open Curses.
224 Aside from ncurses, there are few implementations:
226 systems based on SVr4 source code, e.g., Solaris.
230 A few functions in this implementation are extensions added for ncurses,
231 but not provided by other implementations, e.g.,
233 \fBunfocus_current_field\fP.
236 Manual pages and adaptation for ncurses by Eric
239 \fBcurses\fP(3X) and related pages whose names begin \*(``form_\*('' for detailed
240 descriptions of the entry points.
242 This describes \fBncurses\fP
243 version @NCURSES_MAJOR@.@NCURSES_MINOR@ (patch @NCURSES_PATCH@).