- the given field to contain a given string. Buffer 0 is
- the displayed value of the field; other numbered buffers
- may be allocated by applications through the <STRONG>nbuf</STRONG> argument
- of (see <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_new.3x.html">form_field_new(3x)</A></STRONG>) but are not manipulated by the
- forms library. The function <STRONG>field_buffer</STRONG> returns the
- address of the buffer. Please note that this buffer has
- always the length of the buffer, that means that it may
- typically contain trailing spaces. If you entered leading
- spaces the buffer may also contain them. If you want the
- raw data, you must write your own routine that copies the
- value out of the buffer and removes the leading and trail-
- ing spaces. Please note also, that subsequent operations
- on the form will probably change the content of the
- buffer. So don't use it for long term storage of the
- entered form data.
+ the given field to contain a given string:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Buffer 0 is the displayed value of the field.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Other numbered buffers may be allocated by applica-
+ tions through the <STRONG>nbuf</STRONG> argument of (see
+ <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_new.3x.html">form_field_new(3x)</A></STRONG>) but are not manipulated by the
+ forms library.
+
+ The function <STRONG>field_buffer</STRONG> returns a pointer to the con-
+ tents of the given numbered buffer:
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The buffer contents always have the same length,
+ and are padded with trailing spaces as needed to
+ ensure this length is the same.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The buffer may contain leading spaces, depending on
+ how it was set.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> The buffer contents are set with <STRONG>set_field_buffer</STRONG>,
+ or as a side effect of any editing operations on
+ the corresponding field.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Editing operations are based on the <EM>window</EM> which
+ displays the field, rather than a <EM>string</EM>. The win-
+ dow contains only printable characters, and is
+ filled with blanks. If you want the raw data, you
+ must write your own routine that copies the value
+ out of the buffer and removes the leading and
+ trailing spaces.
+
+ <STRONG>o</STRONG> Because editing operations change the content of
+ the buffer to correspond to the window, you should
+ not rely on using buffers for long-term storage of
+ form data.