panel 3x



panel(3x)                                                     panel(3x)




NAME

       panel - panel stack extension for curses


SYNOPSIS

       #include <panel.h>

       cc [flags] sourcefiles -lpanel -lncurses

       PANEL *new_panel(WINDOW *win)
       int bottom_panel(PANEL *pan)
       int top_panel(PANEL *pan)
       int show_panel(PANEL *pan)
       void update_panels();
       int hide_panel(PANEL *pan)
       WINDOW *panel_window(const PANEL *pan)
       int replace_panel(PANEL *pan, WINDOW *window)
       int move_panel(PANEL *pan, int starty, int startx)
       int panel_hidden(const PANEL *pan)
       PANEL *panel_above(const PANEL *pan)
       PANEL *panel_below(const PANEL *pan)
       int set_panel_userptr(PANEL *pan, const void *ptr)
       const void *panel_userptr(const PANEL *pan)
       int del_panel(PANEL *pan)


DESCRIPTION

       Panels  are  curses(3x)  windows with the added feature of
       depth.  Panel functions allow the use of  stacked  windows
       and  ensure  the  proper  portions  of each window and the
       curses stdscr window are hidden or displayed  when  panels
       are  added,  moved,  modified or removed.  The set of cur-
       rently visible panels is the stack of panels.  The  stdscr
       window  is  beneath all panels, and is not considered part
       of the stack.

       A window is associated with every panel.  The  panel  rou-
       tines  enable  you to create, move, hide, and show panels,
       as well as position a panel at any desired location in the
       stack.

       Panel routines are a functional layer added to curses(3x),
       make only high-level curses calls, and work anywhere  ter-
       minfo curses does.


FUNCTIONS

       new_panel(win)
              allocates   a   PANEL structure, associates it with
              win, places the panel  on  the  top  of  the  stack
              (causes   it  to   be   displayed  above  any other
              panel) and returns a pointer to the new panel.

       update_panels()
              refreshes the virtual screen to reflect  the  rela-
              tions between the panels in the stack, but does not
              call doupdate() to  refresh  the  physical  screen.
              Use this function and not wrefresh or wnoutrefresh.
              update_panels may be called more than once before a
              call  to doupdate(), but doupdate() is the function
              responsible for updating the physical screen.

       del_panel(pan)
              removes the given panel from the  stack and deallo-
              cates  the  PANEL structure (but not its associated
              window).

       hide_panel(pan)
              removes the given panel from the  panel  stack  and
              thus hides it from view. The PANEL structure is not
              lost, merely removed from the stack.

       panel_hidden(pan)
              returns TRUE if the panel is in  the  panel  stack,
              FALSE  if  it  is  not.   If  the  panel  is a null
              pointer, return ERR.

       show_panel(pan)
              makes a hidden panel visible by placing it  on  top
              of the panels in the panel stack. See COMPATIBILITY
              below.

       top_panel(pan)
              puts the given visible panel on top of  all  panels
              in the stack.  See COMPATIBILITY below.

       bottom_panel(pan)
              puts panel at the bottom of all panels.

       move_panel(pan,starty,startx)
              moves the given panel window so that its upper-left
              corner is at starty, startx.  It  does  not  change
              the position of the panel in the stack.  Be sure to
              use this function, not mvwin(),  to  move  a  panel
              window.

       replace_panel(pan,window)
              replaces  the  current  window of panel with window
              (useful, for example if you want to resize a panel;
              if you're using ncurses, you can call replace_panel
              on the output of wresize(3x)).  It does not  change
              the position of the panel in the stack.

       panel_above(pan)
              returns  a  pointer to the panel above pan.  If the
              panel argument is (PANEL *)0, it returns a  pointer
              to the bottom panel in the stack.

       panel_below(pan)
              returns  a pointer to the panel just below pan.  If
              the panel argument is  (PANEL  *)0,  it  returns  a
              pointer to the top panel in the stack.

       set_panel_userptr(pan,ptr)
              sets the panel's user pointer.

       panel_userptr(pan)
              returns the user pointer for a given panel.

       panel_window(pan)
              returns a pointer to the window of the given panel.


DIAGNOSTICS

       Each  routine  that  returns  a pointer returns NULL if an
       error occurs. Each  routine  that  returns  an  int  value
       returns OK if it executes successfully and ERR if not.


COMPATIBILITY

       Reasonable  care  has been taken to  ensure  compatibility
       with  the  native  panel  facility  introduced  in  SVr3.2
       (inspection of the SVr4 manual pages suggests the program-
       ming interface is unchanged).  The PANEL  data  structures
       are  merely   similar. The  programmer is cautioned not to
       directly use PANEL fields.

       The functions show_panel() and top_panel()  are  identical
       in  this  implementation,  and work equally well with dis-
       played or hidden panels.  In the native System V implemen-
       tation, show_panel() is intended for making a hidden panel
       visible (at the top  of  the  stack)  and  top_panel()  is
       intended  for  making an already-visible panel move to the
       top of the stack. You are cautioned  to  use  the  correct
       function   to   ensure  compatibility  with  native  panel
       libraries.


NOTE

       In your library list, libpanel.a should  be  before  libn-
       curses.a;  that  is,  you want to say `-lpanel -lncurses',
       not the other way around (which would usually give a link-
       error).


FILES

       panel.h interface for the panels library

       libpanel.a the panels library itself


SEE ALSO

       curses(3x), curs_variables(3x),

       This describes ncurses version 5.7 (patch 20101002).


AUTHOR

       Originally   written   by   Warren  Tucker  <wht@n4hgf.mt-
       park.ga.us>, primarily to assist  in  porting  u386mon  to
       systems  without  a native panels library.  Repackaged for
       ncurses by Zeyd ben-Halim.



                                                              panel(3x)

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