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DIALOG(1)							     DIALOG(1)

NAME
       dialog - display dialog boxes from shell scripts

SYNOPSIS
       dialog --clear
       dialog --create-rc file
       dialog --print-maxsize
       dialog common-options box-options

DESCRIPTION
       Dialog is a program that will let you to present a variety of questions
       or display messages using dialog boxes  from  a	shell  script.	 These
       types  of  dialog boxes are implemented (though not all are necessarily
       compiled into dialog):

	      buildlist, calendar, checklist, dselect, editbox, form, fselect,
	      gauge, infobox, inputbox, inputmenu, menu, mixedform,
	      mixedgauge, msgbox (message), passwordbox, passwordform, pause,
	      prgbox, programbox, progressbox, radiolist, rangebox, tailbox,
	      tailboxbg, textbox, timebox, treeview, and yesno (yes/no).

       You can put more than one dialog box into a script:

       ·   Use the "--and-widget" token to force dialog to proceed to the next
	   dialog unless you have pressed ESC to cancel, or

       ·   Simply add the tokens for the next dialog box, making a chain.  Di‐
	   alog stops chaining when the return code from a dialog is  nonzero,
	   e.g., Cancel or No (see DIAGNOSTICS).

       Some  widgets,  e.g.,  checklist,  will	write text to dialog's output.
       Normally that is the standard error, but there are options for changing
       this:  "--output-fd", "--stderr" and "--stdout".	 No text is written if
       the Cancel button (or ESC) is pressed; dialog exits immediately in that
       case.

OPTIONS
       All  options  begin  with  "--"	(two ASCII hyphens, for the benefit of
       those using systems with deranged locale support).

       A "--" by itself is used as an escape, i.e., the next token on the com‐
       mand-line is not treated as an option.
	      dialog --title -- --Not an option

       The "--args" option tells dialog to list the command-line parameters to
       the standard error.  This is useful when debugging complex scripts  us‐
       ing  the	 "--" and "--file", since the command-line may be rewritten as
       these are expanded.

       The "--file" option tells dialog to read parameters from the file named
       as its value.
	      dialog --file parameterfile
       Blanks not within double-quotes are discarded (use backslashes to quote
       single characters).  The result is inserted into the command-line,  re‐
       placing	"--file" and its option value.	Interpretation of the command-
       line resumes from that point.  If parameterfile begins with "&", dialog
       interprets the following text as a file descriptor number rather than a
       filename.

   Common Options
       --ascii-lines
	      Rather than draw graphics lines around boxes, draw ASCII "+" and
	      "-" in the same place.  See also "--no-lines".

       --aspect ratio
	      This  gives  you some control over the box dimensions when using
	      auto sizing (specifying 0 for height and width).	It  represents
	      width / height.  The default is 9, which means 9 characters wide
	      to every 1 line high.

       --backtitle backtitle
	      Specifies a backtitle string to be displayed on the backdrop, at
	      the top of the screen.

       --begin y x
	      Specify the position of the upper left corner of a dialog box on
	      the screen.

       --cancel-label string
	      Override the label used for "Cancel" buttons.

       --clear
	      Clears the widget screen, keeping only  the  screen_color	 back‐
	      ground.	Use  this when you combine widgets with "--and-widget"
	      to erase the contents of a previous widget on the screen, so  it
	      won't  be seen under the contents of a following widget.	Under‐
	      stand this as the complement of "--keep-window".	To compare the
	      effects, use these:

	      All three widgets visible, staircase effect, ordered 1,2,3:

	      dialog \
					     --begin 2 2 --yesno "" 0 0 \
		  --and-widget		     --begin 4 4 --yesno "" 0 0 \
		  --and-widget		     --begin 6 6 --yesno "" 0 0

	      Only the last widget is left visible:

	      dialog \
			       --clear	     --begin 2 2 --yesno "" 0 0 \
		  --and-widget --clear	     --begin 4 4 --yesno "" 0 0 \
		  --and-widget		     --begin 6 6 --yesno "" 0 0

	      All three widgets visible, staircase effect, ordered 3,2,1:

	      dialog \
			       --keep-window --begin 2 2 --yesno "" 0 0 \
		  --and-widget --keep-window --begin 4 4 --yesno "" 0 0 \
		  --and-widget		     --begin 6 6 --yesno "" 0 0

	      First and third widget visible, staircase effect, ordered 3,1:

	      dialog \
			       --keep-window --begin 2 2 --yesno "" 0 0 \
		  --and-widget --clear	     --begin 4 4 --yesno "" 0 0 \
		  --and-widget		     --begin 6 6 --yesno "" 0 0

	      Note,  if	 you  want to restore original console colors and send
	      your cursor home after the dialog program has  exited,  use  the
	      clear (1) command.

       --colors
	      Interpret embedded "\Z" sequences in the dialog text by the fol‐
	      lowing character, which tells dialog to set colors or video  at‐
	      tributes:	 0  through 7 are the ANSI used in curses: black, red,
	      green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan and white respectively.  Bold
	      is  set  by  'b', reset by 'B'.  Reverse is set by 'r', reset by
	      'R'.  Underline is set by 'u', reset by 'U'.  The	 settings  are
	      cumulative,  e.g.,  "\Zb\Z1" makes the following text bold (per‐
	      haps bright) red.	 Restore normal settings with "\Zn".

       --column-separator string
	      Tell dialog to split data for radio/checkboxes and menus on  the
	      occurrences of the given string, and to align the split data in‐
	      to columns.

       --cr-wrap
	      Interpret embedded newlines in the dialog text as a  newline  on
	      the screen.  Otherwise, dialog will only wrap lines where needed
	      to fit inside the text box.

	      Even though you can control line breaks with this,  Dialog  will
	      still wrap any lines that are too long for the width of the box.
	      Without cr-wrap, the layout of your text	may  be	 formatted  to
	      look  nice  in  the source code of your script without affecting
	      the way it will look in the dialog.

	      See also the "--no-collapse" and "--trim" options.

       --create-rc file
	      When dialog supports run-time configuration, this can be used to
	      dump a sample configuration file to the file specified by file.

       --date-format format
	      If the host provides strftime, this option allows you to specify
	      the format of the date printed for the --calendar	 widget.   The
	      time of day (hour, minute, second) are the current local time.

       --defaultno
	      Make  the	 default value of the yes/no box a No.	Likewise, make
	      the default button of widgets that provide "OK" and  "Cancel"  a
	      Cancel.	If "--nocancel" or "--visit-items" are given those op‐
	      tions overrides this, making the	default	 button	 always	 "Yes"
	      (internally the same as "OK").

       --default-button string
	      Set the default (preselected) button in a widget.	 By preselect‐
	      ing a button, a script makes it possible for the user to	simply
	      press  Enter  to	proceed through a dialog with minimum interac‐
	      tion.

	      The option's value is the name of the button: ok,	 yes,  cancel,
	      no, help or extra.

	      Normally	the  first  button in each widget is the default.  The
	      first button shown is determined by the widget together with the
	      "--nook"	and "--nocancel options.  If this option is not given,
	      there is no default button assigned.

       --default-item string
	      Set the default item in a checklist, form or menu box.  Normally
	      the first item in the box is the default.

       --exit-label string
	      Override the label used for "EXIT" buttons.

       --extra-button
	      Show an extra button, between "OK" and "Cancel" buttons.

       --extra-label string
	      Override	the  label used for "Extra" buttons.  Note: for input‐
	      menu widgets, this defaults to "Rename".

       --help Prints the help message to the standard output and  exits.   The
	      help  message  is also printed if no options are given, or if an
	      unrecognized option is given.

       --help-button
	      Show a help-button after "OK" and	 "Cancel"  buttons,  i.e.,  in
	      checklist, radiolist and menu boxes.

	      On  exit,	 the  return status will indicate that the Help button
	      was pressed.  Dialog will also write a message to its output af‐
	      ter the token "HELP":

	      ·	  If  "--item-help"  is also given, the item-help text will be
		  written.

	      ·	  Otherwise, the item's tag (the first field) will be written.

	      You  can	use  the  --help-tags  option  and/or  set  the	  DIA‐
	      LOG_ITEM_HELP  environment variable to modify these messages and
	      exit-status.

       --help-label string
	      Override the label used for "Help" buttons.

       --help-status
	      If the help-button is selected, writes the checklist,  radiolist
	      or  form	information  after  the	 item-help "HELP" information.
	      This can be used to reconstruct the state of a  checklist	 after
	      processing the help request.

       --help-tags
	      Modify  the messages written on exit for --help-button by making
	      them always just the item's tag.	This does not affect the  exit
	      status code.

       --hfile filename
	      Display the given file using a textbox when the user presses F1.

       --hline string
	      Display the given string centered at the bottom of the widget.

       --ignore
	      Ignore  options that dialog does not recognize.  Some well-known
	      ones such as "--icon" are ignored anyway, but this is  a	better
	      choice for compatibility with other implementations.

       --input-fd fd
	      Read keyboard input from the given file descriptor.  Most dialog
	      scripts read from the standard input, but the gauge widget reads
	      a pipe (which is always standard input).	Some configurations do
	      not work properly when dialog tries to reopen the terminal.  Use
	      this  option  (with appropriate juggling of file-descriptors) if
	      your script must work in that type of environment.

       --insecure
	      Makes the password widget friendlier but less secure, by echoing
	      asterisks for each character.

       --item-help
	      Interpret	 the tags data for checklist, radiolist and menu boxes
	      adding a column which is displayed in the	 bottom	 line  of  the
	      screen, for the currently selected item.

       --keep-tite
	      When  built with ncurses, dialog normally checks to see if it is
	      running in an xterm, and in that case tries to suppress the ini‐
	      tialization  strings  that would make it switch to the alternate
	      screen.  Switching between the normal and alternate  screens  is
	      visually	distracting  in	 a  script  which  runs dialog several
	      times.  Use this option to allow dialog to use those initializa‐
	      tion strings.

       --keep-window
	      Normally when dialog performs several tailboxbg widgets connect‐
	      ed by "--and-widget", it clears the old widget from  the	screen
	      by  painting over it.  Use this option to suppress that repaint‐
	      ing.

	      At exit, dialog repaints all of  the  widgets  which  have  been
	      marked with "--keep-window", even if they are not tailboxbg wid‐
	      gets.  That causes them to be repainted in reverse  order.   See
	      the discussion of the "--clear" option for examples.

       --last-key
	      At  exit,	 report	 the last key which the user entered.  This is
	      the curses key code rather than a symbol or  literal  character.
	      It  can be used by scripts to distinguish between two keys which
	      are bound to the same action.

       --max-input size
	      Limit input strings to the given size.  If  not  specified,  the
	      limit is 2048.

       --no-cancel

       --nocancel
	      Suppress the "Cancel" button in checklist, inputbox and menu box
	      modes.  A script can still test if the user pressed the ESC  key
	      to cancel to quit.

       --no-collapse
	      Normally	dialog	converts  tabs	to spaces and reduces multiple
	      spaces to a single space for text which is displayed in  a  mes‐
	      sage boxes, etc.	Use this option to disable that feature.  Note
	      that dialog will still wrap text, subject to the "--cr-wrap" and
	      "--trim" options.

       --no-items
	      Some  widgets  (checklist, inputmenu, radiolist, menu) display a
	      list with two columns (a "tag" and "item", i.e., "description").
	      This  option  tells  dialog  to  read shorter rows, omitting the
	      "item" part of the list.	This is occasionally useful, e.g.,  if
	      the tags provide enough information.

	      See  also --no-tags.  If both options are given, this one is ig‐
	      nored.

       --no-kill
	      Tells dialog to put the tailboxbg box in the background,	print‐
	      ing  its	process id to dialog's output.	SIGHUP is disabled for
	      the background process.

       --no-label string
	      Override the label used for "No" buttons.

       --no-lines
	      Rather than draw lines around boxes, draw	 spaces	 in  the  same
	      place.  See also "--ascii-lines".

       --no-mouse
	      Do not enable the mouse.

       --no-nl-expand
	      Do  not  convert "\n" substrings of the message/prompt text into
	      literal newlines.

       --no-ok

       --nook Suppress the "OK" button in checklist,  inputbox	and  menu  box
	      modes.   A script can still test if the user pressed the "Enter"
	      key to accept the data.

       --no-shadow
	      Suppress shadows that would be drawn to the right and bottom  of
	      each dialog box.

       --no-tags
	      Some  widgets  (checklist, inputmenu, radiolist, menu) display a
	      list with two columns (a "tag" and "description").  The  tag  is
	      useful  for scripting, but may not help the user.	 The --no-tags
	      option (from Xdialog) may be used to suppress the column of tags
	      from  the	 display.  Unlike the --no-items option, this does not
	      affect the data which is read from the script.

	      Xdialog does not	display	 the  tag  column  for	the  analogous
	      buildlist and treeview widgets; dialog does the same.

	      Normally	dialog	allows	you  to quickly move to entries on the
	      displayed list, by matching a  single  character	to  the	 first
	      character	 of the tag.  When the --no-tags option is given, dia‐
	      log matches against the first character of the description.   In
	      either case, the matchable character is highlighted.

       --ok-label string
	      Override the label used for "OK" buttons.

       --output-fd fd
	      Direct output to the given file descriptor.  Most dialog scripts
	      write to the standard error, but	error  messages	 may  also  be
	      written there, depending on your script.

       --separator string

       --output-separatorstring
	      Specify  a string that will separate the output on dialog's out‐
	      put from checklists, rather than a newline (for  --separate-out‐
	      put)  or	a  space.  This applies to other widgets such as forms
	      and editboxes which normally use a newline.

       --print-maxsize
	      Print the maximum size of dialog boxes, i.e., the	 screen	 size,
	      to  dialog's  output.  This may be used alone, without other op‐
	      tions.

       --print-size
	      Prints the size of each dialog box to dialog's output.

       --print-version
	      Prints dialog's version to dialog's output.  This	 may  be  used
	      alone,  without other options.  It does not cause dialog to exit
	      by itself.

       --quoted
	      Normally dialog quotes the strings returned  by  checklist's  as
	      well as the item-help text.  Use this option to quote all string
	      results.

       --scrollbar
	      For widgets holding a scrollable set of data, draw  a  scrollbar
	      on its right-margin.  This does not respond to the mouse.

       --separate-output
	      For checklist widgets, output result one line at a time, with no
	      quoting.	This facilitates parsing by another program.

       --separate-widget string
	      Specify a string that will separate the output on dialog's  out‐
	      put  from each widget.  This is used to simplify parsing the re‐
	      sult of a dialog with several widgets.  If this  option  is  not
	      given, the default separator string is a tab character.

       --shadow
	      Draw a shadow to the right and bottom of each dialog box.

       --single-quoted
	      Use single-quoting as needed (and no quotes if unneeded) for the
	      output of checklist's as well as the item-help  text.   If  this
	      option  is  not set, dialog uses double quotes around each item.
	      In either case, dialog adds backslashes to make the output  use‐
	      ful in shell scripts.

       --size-err
	      Check  the  resulting  size of a dialog box before trying to use
	      it, printing the resulting size if it is larger than the screen.
	      (This  option  is	 obsolete,  since  all	new-window  calls  are
	      checked).

       --sleep secs
	      Sleep (delay) for the given number of seconds after processing a
	      dialog box.

       --stderr
	      Direct output to the standard error.  This is the default, since
	      curses normally writes screen updates to the standard output.

       --stdout
	      Direct output to the standard output.  This option  is  provided
	      for  compatibility  with	Xdialog,  however using it in portable
	      scripts is not recommended, since	 curses	 normally  writes  its
	      screen  updates to the standard output.  If you use this option,
	      dialog attempts to reopen the terminal so it can	write  to  the
	      display.	 Depending  on the platform and your environment, that
	      may fail.

       --tab-correct
	      Convert each tab character  to  one  or  more  spaces  (for  the
	      textbox  widget;	otherwise to a single space).  Otherwise, tabs
	      are rendered according to the curses library's interpretation.

       --tab-len n
	      Specify the number of spaces that a tab  character  occupies  if
	      the  "--tab-correct"  option  is given.  The default is 8.  This
	      option is only effective for the textbox widget.

       --time-format format
	      If the host provides strftime, this option allows you to specify
	      the  format  of  the time printed for the --timebox widget.  The
	      day, month, year values in this case are for the	current	 local
	      time.

       --timeout secs
	      Timeout  (exit  with  error code) if no user response within the
	      given number of seconds.	A timeout of zero seconds is ignored.

	      This option is ignored by the  "--pause"	widget.	  It  is  also
	      overridden  if  the  background  "--tailboxbg" option is used to
	      setup multiple concurrent widgets.

       --title title
	      Specifies a title string to be displayed at the top of the  dia‐
	      log box.

       --trace filename
	      logs  the command-line parameters, keystrokes and other informa‐
	      tion to the given file.  If dialog reads a configure file, it is
	      logged as well.  Piped input to the gauge widget is logged.  Use
	      control/T to log a picture of the current dialog window.

       The dialog program handles some command-line parameters specially,  and
       removes	them from the parameter list as they are processed.  For exam‐
       ple, if the first option is --trace, then that is  processed  (and  re‐
       moved) before dialog initializes the display.

       --trim eliminate	 leading  blanks,  trim	 literal newlines and repeated
	      blanks from message text.

	      See also the "--cr-wrap" and "--no-collapse" options.

       --version
	      Prints dialog's version to the standard output, and exits.   See
	      also "--print-version".

       --visit-items
	      Modify  the  tab-traversal  of checklist, radiolist, menubox and
	      inputmenu to include the list of items as	 one  of  the  states.
	      This  is useful as a visual aid, i.e., the cursor position helps
	      some users.

	      When this option is given, the cursor is initially placed on the
	      list.   Abbreviations (the first letter of the tag) apply to the
	      list items.  If you tab to the button row,  abbreviations	 apply
	      to the buttons.

       --yes-label string
	      Override the label used for "Yes" buttons.

   Box Options
       All dialog boxes have at least three parameters:

       text the caption or contents of the box.

       height
	    the height of the dialog box.

       width
	    the width of the dialog box.

       Other parameters depend on the box type.

       --buildlist text height width [ tag item status ] ...
	      A	 buildlist  dialog displays two lists, side-by-side.  The list
	      on the left shows unselected items.  The list on the right shows
	      selected	items.	As items are selected or unselected, they move
	      between the lists.

	      Use a carriage return or the "OK" button to accept  the  current
	      value  in the selected-window and exit.  The results are written
	      using the order displayed in the selected-window.

	      The initial on/off state of each entry is specified by status.

	      The dialog behaves like a menu, using the --visit-items to  con‐
	      trol whether the cursor is allowed to visit the lists directly.

	      ·	  If --visit-items is not given, tab-traversal uses two states
		  (OK/Cancel).

	      ·	  If --visit-items is given, tab-traversal  uses  four	states
		  (Left/Right/OK/Cancel).

	      Whether  or  not --visit--items is given, it is possible to move
	      the highlight between the two lists using the default "^" (left-
	      column) and "$" (right-column) keys.

	      On  exit,	 a  list  of the tag strings of those entries that are
	      turned on will be printed on dialog's output.

	      If the "--separate-output" option is not given, the strings will
	      be  quoted  as  needed to make it simple for scripts to separate
	      them.  By default, this uses double-quotes.  See the  "--single-
	      quoted" option, which modifies the quoting behavior.

       --calendar text height width day month year
	      A	 calendar  box	displays month, day and year in separately ad‐
	      justable windows.	 If the values for  day,  month	 or  year  are
	      missing or negative, the current date's corresponding values are
	      used.  You can increment or decrement any	 of  those  using  the
	      left-,  up-, right- and down-arrows.  Use vi-style h, j, k and l
	      for moving around the array of days in  a	 month.	  Use  tab  or
	      backtab  to move between windows.	 If the year is given as zero,
	      the current date is used as an initial value.

	      On exit, the date is printed in the  form	 day/month/year.   The
	      format can be overridden using the --date-format option.

       --checklist text height width list-height [ tag item status ] ...
	      A checklist box is similar to a menu box; there are multiple en‐
	      tries presented in the form of a menu.   Another	difference  is
	      that you can indicate which entry is currently selected, by set‐
	      ting its status to on.  Instead of choosing one entry among  the
	      entries,	each  entry  can be turned on or off by the user.  The
	      initial on/off state of each entry is specified by status.

	      On exit, a list of the tag strings of  those  entries  that  are
	      turned on will be printed on dialog's output.

	      If the "--separate-output" option is not given, the strings will
	      be quoted as needed to make it simple for	 scripts  to  separate
	      them.   By default, this uses double-quotes.  See the "--single-
	      quoted" option, which modifies the quoting behavior.

       --dselect filepath height width
	      The directory-selection dialog displays a text-entry  window  in
	      which  you  can  type a directory, and above that a windows with
	      directory names.

	      Here filepath can be a filepath in which case the directory win‐
	      dow  will	 display  the  contents of the path and the text-entry
	      window will contain the preselected directory.

	      Use tab or arrow keys to move between the windows.   Within  the
	      directory	 window, use the up/down arrow keys to scroll the cur‐
	      rent selection.  Use the space-bar to copy the current selection
	      into the text-entry window.

	      Typing any printable characters switches focus to the text-entry
	      window, entering that character as well as scrolling the	direc‐
	      tory window to the closest match.

	      Use  a  carriage return or the "OK" button to accept the current
	      value in the text-entry window and exit.

	      On exit, the contents of the text-entry window  are  written  to
	      dialog's output.

       --editbox filepath height width
	      The  edit-box  dialog displays a copy of the file.  You may edit
	      it using the backspace, delete and cursor keys to correct typing
	      errors.	It  also recognizes pageup/pagedown.  Unlike the --in‐
	      putbox, you must tab to the "OK" or "Cancel"  buttons  to	 close
	      the  dialog.  Pressing the "Enter" key within the box will split
	      the corresponding line.

	      On exit, the contents of the edit window are written to dialog's
	      output.

       --form text height width formheight [ label y x item y x flen ilen ] ...
	      The form dialog displays a form consisting of labels and fields,
	      which are positioned on a scrollable window by coordinates given
	      in the script.  The field length flen and input-length ilen tell
	      how long the field can be.  The former defines the length	 shown
	      for  a  selected field, while the latter defines the permissible
	      length of the data entered in the field.

	      ·	  If flen is zero, the corresponding field cannot be  altered.
		  and  the  contents  of  the  field  determine the displayed-
		  length.

	      ·	  If flen is negative, the corresponding field cannot  be  al‐
		  tered,  and  the  negated  value of flen is used as the dis‐
		  played-length.

	      ·	  If ilen is zero, it is set to flen.

	      Use up/down arrows (or control/N,	 control/P)  to	 move  between
	      fields.  Use tab to move between windows.

	      On exit, the contents of the form-fields are written to dialog's
	      output, each field separated by a newline.   The	text  used  to
	      fill non-editable fields (flen is zero or negative) is not writ‐
	      ten out.

       --fselect filepath height width
	      The fselect (file-selection) dialog displays a text-entry window
	      in  which you can type a filename (or directory), and above that
	      two windows with directory names and filenames.

	      Here filepath can be a filepath in which case the file  and  di‐
	      rectory  windows	will  display the contents of the path and the
	      text-entry window will contain the preselected filename.

	      Use tab or arrow keys to move between the windows.   Within  the
	      directory	 or  filename  windows,	 use the up/down arrow keys to
	      scroll the current selection.  Use the  space-bar	 to  copy  the
	      current selection into the text-entry window.

	      Typing any printable characters switches focus to the text-entry
	      window, entering that character as well as scrolling the	direc‐
	      tory and filename windows to the closest match.

	      Typing the space character forces dialog to complete the current
	      name (up to the point where there may be a  match	 against  more
	      than one entry).

	      Use  a  carriage return or the "OK" button to accept the current
	      value in the text-entry window and exit.

	      On exit, the contents of the text-entry window  are  written  to
	      dialog's output.

       --gauge text height width [percent]
	      A	 gauge	box displays a meter along the bottom of the box.  The
	      meter indicates the percentage.  New percentages are  read  from
	      standard	input,	one integer per line.  The meter is updated to
	      reflect each new percentage.  If the standard  input  reads  the
	      string "XXX", then the first line following is taken as an inte‐
	      ger percentage, then subsequent lines up to  another  "XXX"  are
	      used  for	 a new prompt.	The gauge exits when EOF is reached on
	      the standard input.

	      The percent value denotes the initial percentage	shown  in  the
	      meter.  If not specified, it is zero.

	      On  exit, no text is written to dialog's output.	The widget ac‐
	      cepts no input, so the exit status is always OK.

       --infobox text height width
	      An info box is basically a message box.  However, in this	 case,
	      dialog will exit immediately after displaying the message to the
	      user.  The screen is not cleared when dialog exits, so that  the
	      message will remain on the screen until the calling shell script
	      clears it later.	This is useful when you want to inform the us‐
	      er  that	some  operations are carrying on that may require some
	      time to finish.

	      On exit, no text is written to dialog's output.	Only  an  "OK"
	      button  is provided for input, but an ESC exit status may be re‐
	      turned.

       --inputbox text height width [init]
	      An input box is useful when you want to ask questions  that  re‐
	      quire the user to input a string as the answer.  If init is sup‐
	      plied it is used to initialize the input string.	When  entering
	      the string, the backspace, delete and cursor keys can be used to
	      correct typing errors.  If the input string is longer  than  can
	      fit in the dialog box, the input field will be scrolled.

	      On exit, the input string will be printed on dialog's output.

       --inputmenu text height width menu-height [ tag item ] ...
	      An inputmenu box is very similar to an ordinary menu box.	 There
	      are only a few differences between them:

	      1.  The entries are not automatically centered but left  adjust‐
		  ed.

	      2.  An  extra  button  (called  Rename) is implied to rename the
		  current item when it is pressed.

	      3.  It is possible to rename the current entry by	 pressing  the
		  Rename button.  Then dialog will write the following on dia‐
		  log's output.

		  RENAMED <tag> <item>

       --menu text height width menu-height [ tag item ] ...
	      As its name suggests, a menu box is a dialog  box	 that  can  be
	      used  to present a list of choices in the form of a menu for the
	      user to choose.  Choices are displayed in the order given.  Each
	      menu entry consists of a tag string and an item string.  The tag
	      gives the entry a name to distinguish it from the other  entries
	      in the menu.  The item is a short description of the option that
	      the entry represents.  The user can move between	the  menu  en‐
	      tries  by	 pressing the cursor keys, the first letter of the tag
	      as a hot-key, or the number keys 1-9. There are menu-height  en‐
	      tries  displayed	in  the menu at one time, but the menu will be
	      scrolled if there are more entries than that.

	      On exit the tag of the chosen menu entry will be printed on dia‐
	      log's  output.  If the "--help-button" option is given, the cor‐
	      responding help text will be printed if  the  user  selects  the
	      help button.

       --mixedform text height width formheight [ label y x item y x flen ilen itype ] ...
	      The  mixedform  dialog  displays a form consisting of labels and
	      fields, much like the --form dialog.  It	differs	 by  adding  a
	      field-type  parameter  to each field's description.  Each bit in
	      the type denotes an attribute of the field:

	      1	   hidden, e.g., a password field.

	      2	   readonly, e.g., a label.

       --mixedgauge text height width percent [ tag1 item1 ] ...
	      A mixedgauge box displays a meter along the bottom of  the  box.
	      The meter indicates the percentage.

	      It  also	displays a list of the tag- and item-values at the top
	      of the box.  See dialog(3) for the tag values.

	      The text is shown as a caption between the list and meter.   The
	      percent value denotes the initial percentage shown in the meter.

	      No provision is made for reading data from the standard input as
	      --gauge does.

	      On exit, no text is written to dialog's output.  The widget  ac‐
	      cepts no input, so the exit status is always OK.

       --msgbox text height width
	      A message box is very similar to a yes/no box.  The only differ‐
	      ence between a message box and a yes/no box is  that  a  message
	      box has only a single OK button.	You can use this dialog box to
	      display any message you like.  After reading  the	 message,  the
	      user  can	 press	the ENTER key so that dialog will exit and the
	      calling shell script can continue its operation.

	      If the message is too large for the space, dialog may allow  you
	      to scroll it, provided that the underlying curses implementation
	      is capable enough.  In this case, a percentage is shown  in  the
	      base of the widget.

	      On  exit,	 no  text is written to dialog's output.  Only an "OK"
	      button is provided for input, but an ESC exit status may be  re‐
	      turned.

       --pause text height width seconds
	      A	 pause	box displays a meter along the bottom of the box.  The
	      meter indicates how many seconds remain until  the  end  of  the
	      pause.   The  pause  exits  when	timeout is reached or the user
	      presses the OK button (status OK) or the user presses the CANCEL
	      button or Esc key.

       --passwordbox text height width [init]
	      A	 password box is similar to an input box, except that the text
	      the user enters is not displayed.	 This is useful when prompting
	      for  passwords or other sensitive information.  Be aware that if
	      anything is passed in "init", it will be visible in the system's
	      process table to casual snoopers.	 Also, it is very confusing to
	      the user to provide them with a  default	password  they	cannot
	      see.   For  these	 reasons,  using "init" is highly discouraged.
	      See "--insecure" if you do not care about your password.

	      On exit, the input string will be printed on dialog's output.

       --passwordform text height width formheight [ label y x item y x flen ilen ] ...
	      This is identical to --form except  that	all  text  fields  are
	      treated as password widgets rather than inputbox widgets.

       --prgbox text command height width

       --prgbox command height width
	      A prgbox is very similar to a programbox.

	      This  dialog box is used to display the output of a command that
	      is specified as an argument to prgbox.

	      After the command completes, the user can press the ENTER key so
	      that  dialog will exit and the calling shell script can continue
	      its operation.

	      If three parameters are given, it displays the  text  under  the
	      title,  delineated  from the scrolling file's contents.  If only
	      two parameters are given, this text is omitted.

       --programbox text height width

       --programbox height width
	      A programbox is very similar to a progressbox.  The only differ‐
	      ence  between a program box and a progress box is that a program
	      box displays an OK button	 (but  only  after  the	 command  com‐
	      pletes).

	      This  dialog  box	 is used to display the piped output of a com‐
	      mand.  After the command completes, the user can press the ENTER
	      key  so  that  dialog will exit and the calling shell script can
	      continue its operation.

	      If three parameters are given, it displays the  text  under  the
	      title,  delineated  from the scrolling file's contents.  If only
	      two parameters are given, this text is omitted.

       --progressbox text height width

       --progressbox height width
	      A progressbox is similar to an tailbox, except that

	      a) rather than displaying the contents of a file,
		 it displays the piped output of a command and

	      b) it will exit when it reaches the end of the file
		 (there is no "OK" button).

	      If three parameters are given, it displays the  text  under  the
	      title,  delineated  from the scrolling file's contents.  If only
	      two parameters are given, this text is omitted.

       --radiolist text height width list-height  [ tag item status ] ...
	      A radiolist box is similar to a menu box.	 The  only  difference
	      is  that	you can indicate which entry is currently selected, by
	      setting its status to on.

	      On exit, the tag of the selected item  is	 written  to  dialog's
	      output.

       --tailbox file height width
	      Display text from a file in a dialog box, as in a "tail -f" com‐
	      mand.  Scroll left/right using vi-style 'h' and 'l',  or	arrow-
	      keys.  A '0' resets the scrolling.

	      On  exit,	 no  text is written to dialog's output.  Only an "OK"
	      button is provided for input, but an ESC exit status may be  re‐
	      turned.

       --rangebox text height width list-height min-value max-value default-value
	      Allow  the  user to select from a range of values, e.g., using a
	      slider.  The dialog shows the current value as a bar  (like  the
	      gauge  dialog).	Tabs or arrow keys move the cursor between the
	      buttons and the value.  When the cursor is on the value, you can
	      edit it by:

	      left/right cursor movement to select a digit to modify

	      +/-  characters to increment/decrement the digit by one

	      0 through 9
		   to set the digit to the given value

	      Some keys are also recognized in all cursor positions:

	      home/end
		   set the value to its maximum or minimum

	      pageup/pagedown
		   increment the value so that the slider moves by one column

       --tailboxbg file height width
	      Display  text  from a file in a dialog box as a background task,
	      as in a "tail -f &" command.  Scroll left/right  using  vi-style
	      'h' and 'l', or arrow-keys.  A '0' resets the scrolling.

	      Dialog  treats  the background task specially if there are other
	      widgets (--and-widget) on the screen concurrently.  Until	 those
	      widgets  are  closed (e.g., an "OK"), dialog will perform all of
	      the tailboxbg widgets in the same process, polling for  updates.
	      You may use a tab to traverse between the widgets on the screen,
	      and close them individually, e.g., by pressing ENTER.  Once  the
	      non-tailboxbg  widgets are closed, dialog forks a copy of itself
	      into the background, and prints its process  id  if  the	"--no-
	      kill" option is given.

	      On  exit, no text is written to dialog's output.	Only an "EXIT"
	      button is provided for input, but an ESC exit status may be  re‐
	      turned.

	      NOTE:  Older versions of dialog forked immediately and attempted
	      to update the screen individually.  Besides being bad  for  per‐
	      formance,	 it  was  unworkable.  Some older scripts may not work
	      properly with the polled scheme.

       --textbox file height width
	      A text box lets you display the contents of a text file in a di‐
	      alog  box.   It is like a simple text file viewer.  The user can
	      move through the file by using the  cursor,  page-up,  page-down
	      and HOME/END keys available on most keyboards.  If the lines are
	      too long to be displayed in the box, the LEFT/RIGHT keys can  be
	      used  to	scroll the text region horizontally.  You may also use
	      vi-style keys h, j, k, l in place of the cursor keys, and B or N
	      in  place of the page-up and page-down keys.  Scroll up/down us‐
	      ing vi-style 'k' and 'j', or arrow-keys.	Scroll left/right  us‐
	      ing  vi-style  'h'  and  'l',  or	 arrow-keys.  A '0' resets the
	      left/right scrolling.  For more  convenience,  vi-style  forward
	      and backward searching functions are also provided.

	      On  exit, no text is written to dialog's output.	Only an "EXIT"
	      button is provided for input, but an ESC exit status may be  re‐
	      turned.

       --timebox text height [width hour minute second]
	      A	 dialog	 is  displayed which allows you to select hour, minute
	      and second.  If the values for hour, minute or second are	 miss‐
	      ing  or  negative,  the  current date's corresponding values are
	      used.  You can increment or decrement any	 of  those  using  the
	      left-,  up-, right- and down-arrows.  Use tab or backtab to move
	      between windows.

	      On exit, the result is printed in the  form  hour:minute:second.
	      The format can be overridden using the --time-format option.

       --treeview text height width list-height [ tag item status depth ] ...
	      Display data organized as a tree.	 Each group of data contains a
	      tag, the text to display for  the	 item,	its  status  ("on"  or
	      "off") and the depth of the item in the tree.

	      Only  one item can be selected (like the radiolist).  The tag is
	      not displayed.

	      On exit, the tag of the selected item  is	 written  to  dialog's
	      output.

       --yesno text height width
	      A yes/no dialog box of size height rows by width columns will be
	      displayed.  The string specified by text is displayed inside the
	      dialog  box.   If this string is too long to fit in one line, it
	      will be automatically divided into multiple lines at appropriate
	      places.  The text string can also contain the sub-string "\n" or
	      newline characters `\n' to  control  line	 breaking  explicitly.
	      This  dialog box is useful for asking questions that require the
	      user to answer either yes or no.	The dialog box has a Yes  but‐
	      ton  and	a  No  button, in which the user can switch between by
	      pressing the TAB key.

	      On exit, no text is written to dialog's output.  In addition  to
	      the "Yes" and "No" exit codes (see DIAGNOSTICS) an ESC exit sta‐
	      tus may be returned.

	      The codes used for "Yes" and "No" match those used for "OK"  and
	      "Cancel", internally no distinction is made.

   Obsolete Options
       --beep This was used to tell the original cdialog that it should make a
	      beep when the separate processes of the tailboxbg	 widget	 would
	      repaint the screen.

       --beep-after
	      Beep  after a user has completed a widget by pressing one of the
	      buttons.

RUN-TIME CONFIGURATION
       1.  Create a sample configuration file by typing:

		 "dialog --create-rc <file>"

       2.  At start, dialog determines the settings to use as follows:

	   a)  if environment variable DIALOGRC is set, its  value  determines
	       the name of the configuration file.

	   b)  if  the	file in (a) is not found, use the file $HOME/.dialogrc
	       as the configuration file.

	   c)  if the file in (b) is not found, try using  the	GLOBALRC  file
	       determined at compile-time, i.e., /etc/dialogrc.

	   d)  if the file in (c) is not found, use compiled in defaults.

       3.  Edit	 the  sample configuration file and copy it to some place that
	   dialog can find, as stated in step 2 above.

KEY BINDINGS
       You can override or add to key bindings in dialog by adding to the con‐
       figuration  file.  Dialog's bindkey command maps single keys to its in‐
       ternal coding.

	      bindkey widget curses_key dialog_key

       The widget name can be "*" (all widgets), or specific widgets  such  as
       textbox.	 Specific widget bindings override the "*" bindings.  User-de‐
       fined bindings override the built-in bindings.

       The curses_key can be any of the names  derived	from  curses.h,	 e.g.,
       "HELP" from "KEY_HELP".	Dialog also recognizes ANSI control characters
       such as "^A", "^?", as well as C1-controls such as "~A" and "~?".   Fi‐
       nally, it allows any single character to be escaped with a backslash.

       Dialog's internal keycode names correspond to the DLG_KEYS_ENUM type in
       dlg_keys.h, e.g., "HELP" from "DLGK_HELP".

   Widget Names
       Some widgets (such as the formbox) have an area	where  fields  can  be
       edited.	 Those	are managed in a subwindow of the widget, and may have
       separate keybindings from the main widget because  the  subwindows  are
       registered using a different name.

		     Widget	   Window name	 Subwindow Name
		     calendar	   calendar
		     checklist	   checklist
		     editbox	   editbox	 editbox2
		     form	   formbox	 formfield
		     fselect	   fselect	 fselect2
		     inputbox	   inputbox	 inputbox2
		     menu	   menubox	 menu
		     msgbox	   msgbox
		     pause	   pause
		     progressbox   progressbox
		     radiolist	   radiolist
		     tailbox	   tailbox
		     textbox	   textbox	 searchbox
		     timebox	   timebox
		     yesno	   yesno

       Some  widgets  are  actually  other widgets, using internal settings to
       modify the behavior.  Those use the same widget name as the actual wid‐
       get:

			    Widget	   Actual Widget
			    dselect	   fselect
			    infobox	   msgbox
			    inputmenu	   menu
			    mixedform	   form
			    passwordbox	   inputbox
			    passwordform   form
			    prgbox	   progressbox
			    programbox	   progressbox
			    tailboxbg	   tailbox

   Built-in Bindings
       This  manual  page  does not list the key bindings for each widget, be‐
       cause that detailed information can be obtained by running dialog.   If
       you have set the --trace option, dialog writes the key-binding informa‐
       tion for each widget as it is registered.

   Example
       Normally dialog uses different keys for navigating between the  buttons
       and editing part of a dialog versus navigating within the editing part.
       That is, tab (and back-tab) traverse buttons (or	 between  buttons  and
       the  editing part), while arrow keys traverse fields within the editing
       part.  Tabs are also recognized as a special case  for  traversing  be‐
       tween widgets, e.g., when using multiple tailboxbg widgets.

       Some users may wish to use the same key for traversing within the edit‐
       ing part as for traversing between buttons.  The form widget is written
       to  support  this sort of redefinition of the keys, by adding a special
       group in <code>dlgk_keys.h</code>  for  "form"  (left/right/next/prev).
       Here is an example binding demonstrating how to do this:

	      bindkey formfield TAB  form_NEXT
	      bindkey formbox	TAB  form_NEXT
	      bindkey formfield BTAB form_prev
	      bindkey formbox	BTAB form_prev

       That  type  of redefinition would not be useful in other widgets, e.g.,
       calendar, due to the potentially large number of fields to traverse.

ENVIRONMENT
       DIALOGOPTS     Define this variable to apply any of the common  options
		      to  each	widget.	  Most of the common options are reset
		      before processing each widget.  If you set  the  options
		      in  this	environment variable, they are applied to dia‐
		      log's state after the reset.  As in the "--file" option,
		      double-quotes and backslashes are interpreted.

		      The  "--file"  option  is not considered a common option
		      (so you cannot embed it within  this  environment	 vari‐
		      able).

       DIALOGRC	      Define  this variable if you want to specify the name of
		      the configuration file to use.

       DIALOG_CANCEL

       DIALOG_ERROR

       DIALOG_ESC

       DIALOG_EXTRA

       DIALOG_HELP

       DIALOG_ITEM_HELP

       DIALOG_OK      Define any of these variables to change the exit code on
		      Cancel  (1), error (-1), ESC (255), Extra (3), Help (2),
		      Help with --item-help (2), or OK	(0).   Normally	 shell
		      scripts cannot distinguish between -1 and 255.

       DIALOG_TTY     Set  this	 variable to "1" to provide compatibility with
		      older versions of	 dialog	 which	assumed	 that  if  the
		      script  redirects	 the standard output, that the "--std‐
		      out" option was given.

FILES
       $HOME/.dialogrc	   default configuration file

EXAMPLES
       The dialog sources contain several samples of how to use the  different
       box  options  and  how  they look.  Just take a look into the directory
       samples/ of the source.

DIAGNOSTICS
       Exit status is subject to being overridden  by  environment  variables.
       The  default  values  and  corresponding environment variables that can
       override them are:

       0    if the YES or OK button is pressed (DIALOG_OK).

       1    if the No or Cancel button is pressed (DIALOG_CANCEL).

       2    if the Help button is pressed (DIALOG_HELP),
	    except as noted below about DIALOG_ITEM_HELP.

       3    if the Extra button is pressed (DIALOG_EXTRA).

       4    if the Help button is pressed,
	    and the --item-help option is set
	    and the DIALOG_ITEM_HELP environment variable is set to 4.

	    While any of the exit-codes can be	overridden  using  environment
	    variables,	this  special  case was introduced in 2004 to simplify
	    compatibility.  Dialog uses	 DIALOG_ITEM_HELP(4)  internally,  but
	    unless  the	 environment  variable is also set, it changes that to
	    DIALOG_HELP(2) on exit.

       -1   if errors occur inside dialog (DIALOG_ERROR) or dialog  exits  be‐
	    cause the ESC key (DIALOG_ESC) was pressed.

PORTABILITY
       Dialog  works  with  X/Open curses.  However, some implementations have
       deficiencies:

	  ·   HPUX curses (and perhaps others) do not open the terminal	 prop‐
	      erly  for	 the  newterm function.	 This interferes with dialog's
	      --input-fd option, by preventing cursor-keys and similar	escape
	      sequences from being recognized.

	  ·   NetBSD  5.1  curses  has incomplete support for wide-characters.
	      dialog will build, but not all examples display properly.

COMPATIBILITY
       You may want to write scripts which run with other dialog "clones".

   ORIGINAL DIALOG
       First, there is the "original" dialog program to consider (versions 0.3
       to 0.9).	 It had some misspelled (or inconsistent) options.  The dialog
       program maps those deprecated options to the preferred ones.  They  in‐
       clude:

	      Option	     Treatment
	      ─────────────────────────────────
	      --beep-after   ignored
	      --guage	     mapped to --gauge

   XDIALOG
       Technically,  "Xdialog",	 this is an X application.  With some care, it
       is possible to write useful scripts that work with both Xdialog and di‐
       alog.

       The  dialog program ignores these options which are recognized by Xdia‐
       log:

	      Option		 Treatment
	      ───────────────────────────────────────────────
	      --allow-close	 ignored
	      --auto-placement	 ignored
	      --fixed-font	 ignored
	      --icon		 ignored
	      --keep-colors	 ignored
	      --no-close	 ignored
	      --no-cr-wrap	 ignored
	      --screen-center	 ignored
	      --separator	 mapped to --separate-output
	      --smooth		 ignored
	      --under-mouse	 ignored
	      --wmclass		 ignored

       Xdialog's manpage has a section discussing its compatibility with  dia‐
       log.   There  are some differences not shown in the manpage.  For exam‐
       ple, the html documentation states

	      Note:  former  Xdialog  releases	used  the  "0 (line feed) as a
	      results	separator   for	 the  checklist	 widget; this has been
	      changed  to  "/"	in  Xdialog v1.5.0 so to  make	it  compatible
	      with  (c)dialog.	In  your  old scripts using the Xdialog check‐
	      list, you will  then  have  to  add  the	--separate-output  op‐
	      tion before the --checklist one.

       Dialog  has  not	 used a different separator; the difference was likely
       due to confusion regarding some script.

   WHIPTAIL
       Then there is whiptail.	For practical purposes, it  is	maintained  by
       Debian (very little work is done by its upstream developers).  Its doc‐
       umentation (README.whiptail) claims

	      whiptail(1) is a lightweight replacement for dialog(1),
	      to provide dialog boxes for shell scripts.
	      It is built on the
	      newt windowing library rather than the ncurses library, allowing
	      it to be smaller in embedded enviroments such as installers,
	      rescue disks, etc.

	      whiptail is designed to be drop-in compatible with dialog, but
	      has less features: some dialog boxes are not implemented, such
	      as tailbox, timebox, calendarbox, etc.

       Comparing actual sizes (Debian testing, 2007/1/10): The total of	 sizes
       for  whiptail, the newt, popt and slang libraries is 757kb.  The compa‐
       rable number for dialog (counting ncurses)  is  520kb.	Disregard  the
       first paragraph.

       The  second  paragraph is misleading, since whiptail also does not work
       for common options of dialog, such as the gauge box.  whiptail is  less
       compatible with dialog than the original mid-1990s dialog 0.4 program.

       whiptail's  manpage borrows features from dialog, e.g., but oddly cites
       only dialog versions up to 0.4 (1994) as a source.  That is,  its  man‐
       page  refers  to features which were borrowed from more recent versions
       of dialog, e.g.,

       ·   --gauge (from 0.5)

       ·   --passwordbox (from Debian changes in 1999),

       ·   --default-item (from dialog 2000/02/22),

       ·   --output-fd (from dialog 2002/08/14).

       Somewhat humorously, one may note that the popt	feature	 (undocumented
       in its manpage) of using a "--" as an escape was documented in dialog's
       manpage about a year before it was  mentioned  in  whiptail's  manpage.
       whiptail's  manpage incorrectly attributes that to getopt (and is inac‐
       curate anyway).

       Debian uses whiptail for the official dialog variation.

       The dialog program ignores or maps these options which  are  recognized
       by whiptail:

	      Option		Treatment
	      ───────────────────────────────────────────
	      --cancel-button	mapped to --cancel-label
	      --fb		ignored
	      --fullbutton	ignored
	      --no-button	mapped to --no-label
	      --nocancel	mapped to --no-cancel
	      --noitem		mapped to --no-items
	      --notags		mapped to --no-tags
	      --ok-button	mapped to --ok-label
	      --scrolltext	mapped to --scrollbar
	      --topleft		mapped to --begin 0 0
	      --yes-button	mapped to --yes-label

       There  are  visual  differences which are not addressed by command-line
       options:

       ·   dialog centers lists within the window.   whiptail  typically  puts
	   lists against the left margin.

       ·   whiptail  uses  angle  brackets  ("<" and ">") for marking buttons.
	   dialog uses square brackets.

       ·   whiptail marks the limits of subtitles with vertical bars.	dialog
	   does not mark the limits.

       ·   whiptail  attempts to mark the top/bottom cells of a scrollbar with
	   up/down arrows.  When it cannot do this, it fills those cells  with
	   the background color of the scrollbar and confusing the user.  dia‐
	   log uses the entire scrollbar space, thereby getting better resolu‐
	   tion.

BUGS
       Perhaps.

AUTHOR
       Thomas E. Dickey (updates for 0.9b and beyond)

CONTRIBUTORS
       Kiran Cherupally - the mixed form and mixed gauge widgets.

       Tobias C. Rittweiler

       Valery Reznic - the form and progressbox widgets.

       Yura Kalinichenko adapted the gauge widget as "pause".

       This  is	 a  rewrite (except as needed to provide compatibility) of the
       earlier version of dialog 0.9a, which lists as authors:

       ·   Savio Lam - version 0.3, "dialog"

       ·   Stuart Herbert - patch for version 0.4

       ·   Marc Ewing - the gauge widget.

       ·   Pasquale De Marco "Pako" - version 0.9a, "cdialog"

$Date: 2013/09/02 17:38:36 $					     DIALOG(1)
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