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33.\" $Id: form.3,v 1.7 2023/10/17 09:52:10 nicm Exp $
34.TH form 3 2023-08-19 "ncurses 6.4" "Library calls"
35.ie \n(.g .ds `` \(lq
36.el .ds `` ``
37.ie \n(.g .ds '' \(rq
38.el .ds '' ''
39.de bP
40.ie n .IP \(bu 4
41.el .IP \(bu 2
42..
43.SH NAME
44\fBform\fP \- curses extension for programming forms
45.SH SYNOPSIS
46\fB#include <form.h>\fP
47.SH DESCRIPTION
48The \fBform\fP library provides terminal-independent facilities for composing
49form screens on character-cell terminals.
50The library includes: field
51routines, which create and modify form fields; and form routines, which group
52fields into forms, display forms on the screen, and handle interaction with the
53user.
54.PP
55The \fBform\fP library uses the \fBcurses\fP libraries.
56To use the \fBform\fP library, link with the options
57\fB\-lform \-lcurses\fP.
58.PP
59Your program should set up the locale, e.g.,
60.sp
61 \fBsetlocale(LC_ALL, "");\fP
62.sp
63so that input/output processing will work.
64.PP
65A curses initialization routine such as \fBinitscr\fP must be called
66before using any of these functions.
67.
68.SS Current Default Values for Field Attributes
69.
70The \fBform\fP library maintains a default value for field attributes.
71You
72can get or set this default by calling the appropriate \fBset_\fP
73or retrieval
74routine with a \fBNULL\fP field pointer.
75Changing this default with a
76\fBset_\fP function affects future field creations, but does not change the
77rendering of fields already created.
78.
79.SS Routine Name Index
80.
81The following table lists each \fBform\fP routine and the name of
82the manual page on which it is described.
83Routines flagged with \*(``*\*(''
84are ncurses-specific, not present in SVr4.
85.PP
86.TS
87l l
88l l .
89\fBcurses\fP Routine Name Manual Page Name
90=
91current_field \fBform_page\fP(3)
92data_ahead \fBform_data\fP(3)
93data_behind \fBform_data\fP(3)
94dup_field \fBform_field_new\fP(3)
95dynamic_field_info \fBform_field_info\fP(3)
96field_arg \fBform_field_validation\fP(3)
97field_back \fBform_field_attributes\fP(3)
98field_buffer \fBform_field_buffer\fP(3)
99field_count \fBform_field\fP(3)
100field_fore \fBform_field_attributes\fP(3)
101field_index \fBform_page\fP(3)
102field_info \fBform_field_info\fP(3)
103field_init \fBform_hook\fP(3)
104field_just \fBform_field_just\fP(3)
105field_opts \fBform_field_opts\fP(3)
106field_opts_off \fBform_field_opts\fP(3)
107field_opts_on \fBform_field_opts\fP(3)
108field_pad \fBform_field_attributes\fP(3)
109field_status \fBform_field_buffer\fP(3)
110field_term \fBform_hook\fP(3)
111field_type \fBform_field_validation\fP(3)
112field_userptr \fBform_field_userptr\fP(3)
113form_driver \fBform_driver\fP(3)
114form_driver_w \fBform_driver\fP(3)*
115form_fields \fBform_field\fP(3)
116form_init \fBform_hook\fP(3)
117form_opts \fBform_opts\fP(3)
118form_opts_off \fBform_opts\fP(3)
119form_opts_on \fBform_opts\fP(3)
120form_page \fBform_page\fP(3)
121form_request_by_name \fBform_requestname\fP(3)*
122form_request_name \fBform_requestname\fP(3)*
123form_sub \fBform_win\fP(3)
124form_term \fBform_hook\fP(3)
125form_userptr \fBform_userptr\fP(3)
126form_win \fBform_win\fP(3)
127free_field \fBform_field_new\fP(3)
128free_fieldtype \fBform_fieldtype\fP(3)
129free_form \fBform_new\fP(3)
130link_field \fBform_field_new\fP(3)
131link_fieldtype \fBform_fieldtype\fP(3)
132move_field \fBform_field\fP(3)
133new_field \fBform_field_new\fP(3)
134new_fieldtype \fBform_fieldtype\fP(3)
135new_form \fBform_new\fP(3)
136new_page \fBform_new_page\fP(3)
137pos_form_cursor \fBform_cursor\fP(3)
138post_form \fBform_post\fP(3)
139scale_form \fBform_win\fP(3)
140set_current_field \fBform_page\fP(3)
141set_field_back \fBform_field_attributes\fP(3)
142set_field_buffer \fBform_field_buffer\fP(3)
143set_field_fore \fBform_field_attributes\fP(3)
144set_field_init \fBform_hook\fP(3)
145set_field_just \fBform_field_just\fP(3)
146set_field_opts \fBform_field_opts\fP(3)
147set_field_pad \fBform_field_attributes\fP(3)
148set_field_status \fBform_field_buffer\fP(3)
149set_field_term \fBform_hook\fP(3)
150set_field_type \fBform_field_validation\fP(3)
151set_field_userptr \fBform_field_userptr\fP(3)
152set_fieldtype_arg \fBform_fieldtype\fP(3)
153set_fieldtype_choice \fBform_fieldtype\fP(3)
154set_form_fields \fBform_field\fP(3)
155set_form_init \fBform_hook\fP(3)
156set_form_opts \fBform_field_opts\fP(3)
157set_form_page \fBform_page\fP(3)
158set_form_sub \fBform_win\fP(3)
159set_form_term \fBform_hook\fP(3)
160set_form_userptr \fBform_userptr\fP(3)
161set_form_win \fBform_win\fP(3)
162set_max_field \fBform_field_buffer\fP(3)
163set_new_page \fBform_new_page\fP(3)
164unfocus_current_field \fBform_page\fP(3)*
165unpost_form \fBform_post\fP(3)
166.TE
167.SH RETURN VALUE
168Routines that return pointers return \fBNULL\fP on error,
169and set \fBerrno\fP to the corresponding error-code returned by functions
170returning an integer.
171Routines that return
172an integer return one of the following error codes:
173.TP 5
174.B E_OK
175The routine succeeded.
176.TP 5
177.B E_BAD_ARGUMENT
178Routine detected an incorrect or out-of-range argument.
179.TP 5
180.B E_BAD_STATE
181Routine was called from an initialization or termination function.
182.TP 5
183.B E_CONNECTED
184The field is already connected to a form.
185.TP 5
186.B E_INVALID_FIELD
187Contents of a field are not valid.
188.TP 5
189.B E_NOT_CONNECTED
190No fields are connected to the form.
191.TP 5
192.B E_NOT_POSTED
193The form has not been posted.
194.TP 5
195.B E_NO_ROOM
196Form is too large for its window.
197.TP 5
198.B E_POSTED
199The form is already posted.
200.TP 5
201.B E_REQUEST_DENIED
202The form driver could not process the request.
203.TP 5
204.B E_SYSTEM_ERROR
205System error occurred (see \fBerrno\fP(3)).
206.TP 5
207.B E_UNKNOWN_COMMAND
208The form driver code saw an unknown request code.
209.SH NOTES
210The header file \fB<form.h>\fP automatically includes the header files
211\fB<curses.h>\fP and \fB<eti.h>\fP.
212.PP
213In your library list, libform.a should be before libncurses.a; that is,
214you want to say \*(``\-lform \-lncurses\*('', not the other way around
215(which would give you a link error when using static libraries).
216.SH PORTABILITY
217These routines emulate the System V forms library.
218They were not supported on
219Version 7 or BSD versions.
220.PP
221The menu facility was documented in SVr4.2 in
222\fICharacter User Interface Programming (UNIX SVR4.2)\fP.
223.PP
224It is not part of X/Open Curses.
225.PP
226Aside from ncurses, there are few implementations:
227.bP
228systems based on SVr4 source code, e.g., Solaris.
229.bP
230NetBSD curses.
231.PP
232A few functions in this implementation are extensions added for ncurses,
233but not provided by other implementations, e.g.,
234\fBform_driver_w\fP,
235\fBunfocus_current_field\fP.
236.SH AUTHORS
237Juergen Pfeifer.
238Manual pages and adaptation for ncurses by Eric
239S. Raymond.
240.SH SEE ALSO
241\fBcurses\fP(3) and related pages whose names begin \*(``form_\*('' for detailed
242descriptions of the entry points.
243.PP
244This describes \fBncurses\fP
245version 6.4 (patch 20230826).