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30 .\" $Id: form.3x,v 1.21 2008/04/26 17:11:52 tom Exp $
33 \fBform\fR - curses extension for programming forms
35 \fB#include <form.h>\fR
38 The \fBform\fR library provides terminal-independent facilities for composing
39 form screens on character-cell terminals. The library includes: field
40 routines, which create and modify form fields; and form routines, which group
41 fields into forms, display forms on the screen, and handle interaction with the
44 The \fBform\fR library uses the \fBcurses\fR libraries, and a curses
45 initialization routine such as \fBinitscr\fR must be called before using any of
46 these functions. To use the \fBform\fR library, link with the options
47 \fB-lform -lcurses\fR.
49 .SS Current Default Values for Field Attributes
51 The \fBform\fR library maintains a default value for field attributes. You
52 can get or set this default by calling the appropriate \fBset_\fR
54 routine with a \fBNULL\fR field pointer. Changing this default with a
55 \fBset_\fR function affects future field creations, but does not change the
56 rendering of fields already created.
58 .SS Routine Name Index
60 The following table lists each \fBform\fR routine and the name of
61 the manual page on which it is described.
66 \fBcurses\fR Routine Name Manual Page Name
68 current_field \fBform_page\fR(3X)
69 data_ahead \fBform_data\fR(3X)
70 data_behind \fBform_data\fR(3X)
71 dup_field \fBform_field_new\fR(3X)
72 dynamic_field_info \fBform_field_info\fR(3X)
73 field_arg \fBform_field_validation\fR(3X)
74 field_back \fBform_field_attributes\fR(3X)
75 field_buffer \fBform_field_buffer\fR(3X)
76 field_count \fBform_field\fR(3X)
77 field_fore \fBform_field_attributes\fR(3X)
78 field_index \fBform_page\fR(3X)
79 field_info \fBform_field_info\fR(3X)
80 field_init \fBform_hook\fR(3X)
81 field_just \fBform_field_just\fR(3X)
82 field_opts \fBform_field_opts\fR(3X)
83 field_opts_off \fBform_field_opts\fR(3X)
84 field_opts_on \fBform_field_opts\fR(3X)
85 field_pad \fBform_field_attributes\fR(3X)
86 field_status \fBform_field_buffer\fR(3X)
87 field_term \fBform_hook\fR(3X)
88 field_type \fBform_field_validation\fR(3X)
89 field_userptr \fBform_field_userptr\fR(3X)
90 form_driver \fBform_driver\fR(3X)
91 form_fields \fBform_field\fR(3X)
92 form_init \fBform_hook\fR(3X)
93 form_opts \fBform_opts\fR(3X)
94 form_opts_off \fBform_opts\fR(3X)
95 form_opts_on \fBform_opts\fR(3X)
96 form_page \fBform_page\fR(3X)
97 form_request_by_name \fBform_requestname\fR(3X)
98 form_request_name \fBform_requestname\fR(3X)
99 form_sub \fBform_win\fR(3X)
100 form_term \fBform_hook\fR(3X)
101 form_userptr \fBform_userptr\fR(3X)
102 form_win \fBform_win\fR(3X)
103 free_field \fBform_field_new\fR(3X)
104 free_fieldtype \fBform_fieldtype\fR(3X)
105 free_form \fBform_new\fR(3X)
106 link_field \fBform_field_new\fR(3X)
107 link_fieldtype \fBform_fieldtype\fR(3X)
108 move_field \fBform_field\fR(3X)
109 new_field \fBform_field_new\fR(3X)
110 new_fieldtype \fBform_fieldtype\fR(3X)
111 new_form \fBform_new\fR(3X)
112 new_page \fBform_new_page\fR(3X)
113 pos_form_cursor \fBform_cursor\fR(3X)
114 post_form \fBform_post\fR(3X)
115 scale_form \fBform_win\fR(3X)
116 set_current_field \fBform_page\fR(3X)
117 set_field_back \fBform_field_attributes\fR(3X)
118 set_field_buffer \fBform_field_buffer\fR(3X)
119 set_field_fore \fBform_field_attributes\fR(3X)
120 set_field_init \fBform_hook\fR(3X)
121 set_field_just \fBform_field_just\fR(3X)
122 set_field_opts \fBform_field_opts\fR(3X)
123 set_field_pad \fBform_field_attributes\fR(3X)
124 set_field_status \fBform_field_buffer\fR(3X)
125 set_field_term \fBform_hook\fR(3X)
126 set_field_type \fBform_field_validation\fR(3X)
127 set_field_userptr \fBform_field_userptr\fR(3X)
128 set_fieldtype_arg \fBform_fieldtype\fR(3X)
129 set_fieldtype_choice \fBform_fieldtype\fR(3X)
130 set_form_fields \fBform_field\fR(3X)
131 set_form_init \fBform_hook\fR(3X)
132 set_form_opts \fBform_field_opts\fR(3X)
133 set_form_page \fBform_page\fR(3X)
134 set_form_sub \fBform_win\fR(3X)
135 set_form_term \fBform_hook\fR(3X)
136 set_form_userptr \fBform_userptr\fR(3X)
137 set_form_win \fBform_win\fR(3X)
138 set_max_field \fBform_field_buffer\fR(3X)
139 set_new_page \fBform_new_page\fR(3X)
140 unpost_form \fBform_post\fR(3X)
143 Routines that return pointers return \fBNULL\fR on error,
144 and set errno to the corresponding error-code returned by functions
145 returning an integer.
147 an integer return one of the following error codes:
150 The routine succeeded.
153 Routine detected an incorrect or out-of-range argument.
156 Routine was called from an initialization or termination function.
159 The field is already connected to a form.
162 Contents of a field are not valid.
165 No fields are connected to the form.
168 The form has not been posted.
171 Form is too large for its window.
174 The form is already posted.
177 The form driver could not process the request.
180 System error occurred (see \fBerrno\fR).
183 The form driver code saw an unknown request code.
185 \fBcurses\fR(3X) and related pages whose names begin "form_" for detailed
186 descriptions of the entry points.
188 The header file \fB<form.h>\fR automatically includes the header files
189 \fB<curses.h>\fR and \fB<eti.h>\fR.
191 In your library list, libform.a should be before libncurses.a; that is,
192 you want to say `-lform -lncurses', not the other way around (which would
193 give you a link error using most linkers).
195 These routines emulate the System V forms library. They were not supported on
196 Version 7 or BSD versions.
198 Juergen Pfeifer. Manual pages and adaptation for ncurses by Eric
201 This describes \fBncurses\fR
202 version @NCURSES_MAJOR@.@NCURSES_MINOR@ (patch @NCURSES_PATCH@).
204 .\"# The following sets edit modes for GNU EMACS
205 .\"# Local Variables: