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* @Id: form.3x,v 1.22 2008/10/11 20:48:11 tom Exp @
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<TITLE>form 3x</TITLE>
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<H1>form 3x</H1>
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<PRE>
<!-- Manpage converted by man2html 3.0.1 -->
<STRONG><A HREF="form.3x.html">form(3x)</A></STRONG> <STRONG><A HREF="form.3x.html">form(3x)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
<H2>NAME</H2><PRE>
<STRONG>form</STRONG> - curses extension for programming forms
</PRE>
<H2>SYNOPSIS</H2><PRE>
<STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG>&lt;form.h&gt;</STRONG>
</PRE>
<H2>DESCRIPTION</H2><PRE>
The <STRONG>form</STRONG> library provides terminal-independent facilities
for composing form screens on character-cell terminals.
The library includes: field routines, which create and
modify form fields; and form routines, which group fields
into forms, display forms on the screen, and handle inter-
action with the user.
The <STRONG>form</STRONG> library uses the <STRONG>curses</STRONG> libraries. To use the
<STRONG>form</STRONG> library, link with the options <STRONG>-lform</STRONG> <STRONG>-lcurses</STRONG>.
Your program should set up the locale, e.g.,
<STRONG>setlocale(LC_ALL,</STRONG> <STRONG>"");</STRONG>
so that input/output processing will work.
A curses initialization routine such as <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> must be
called before using any of these functions.
<STRONG>Current</STRONG> <STRONG>Default</STRONG> <STRONG>Values</STRONG> <STRONG>for</STRONG> <STRONG>Field</STRONG> <STRONG>Attributes</STRONG>
The <STRONG>form</STRONG> library maintains a default value for field
attributes. You can get or set this default by calling
the appropriate <STRONG>set_</STRONG> or retrieval routine with a <STRONG>NULL</STRONG>
field pointer. Changing this default with a <STRONG>set_</STRONG> function
affects future field creations, but does not change the
rendering of fields already created.
<STRONG>Routine</STRONG> <STRONG>Name</STRONG> <STRONG>Index</STRONG>
The following table lists each <STRONG>form</STRONG> routine and the name
of the manual page on which it is described.
<STRONG>curses</STRONG> Routine Name Manual Page Name
-------------------------------------------------
current_field <STRONG><A HREF="form_page.3x.html">form_page(3x)</A></STRONG>
data_ahead <STRONG><A HREF="form_data.3x.html">form_data(3x)</A></STRONG>
data_behind <STRONG><A HREF="form_data.3x.html">form_data(3x)</A></STRONG>
dup_field <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_new.3x.html">form_field_new(3x)</A></STRONG>
dynamic_field_info <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_info.3x.html">form_field_info(3x)</A></STRONG>
field_arg <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_validation.3x.html">form_field_validation(3x)</A></STRONG>
field_back <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_attributes.3x.html">form_field_attributes(3x)</A></STRONG>
field_buffer <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_buffer.3x.html">form_field_buffer(3x)</A></STRONG>
field_count <STRONG><A HREF="form_field.3x.html">form_field(3x)</A></STRONG>
field_fore <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_attributes.3x.html">form_field_attributes(3x)</A></STRONG>
field_index <STRONG><A HREF="form_page.3x.html">form_page(3x)</A></STRONG>
field_info <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_info.3x.html">form_field_info(3x)</A></STRONG>
field_init <STRONG><A HREF="form_hook.3x.html">form_hook(3x)</A></STRONG>
field_just <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_just.3x.html">form_field_just(3x)</A></STRONG>
field_opts <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_opts.3x.html">form_field_opts(3x)</A></STRONG>
field_opts_off <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_opts.3x.html">form_field_opts(3x)</A></STRONG>
field_opts_on <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_opts.3x.html">form_field_opts(3x)</A></STRONG>
field_pad <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_attributes.3x.html">form_field_attributes(3x)</A></STRONG>
field_status <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_buffer.3x.html">form_field_buffer(3x)</A></STRONG>
field_term <STRONG><A HREF="form_hook.3x.html">form_hook(3x)</A></STRONG>
field_type <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_validation.3x.html">form_field_validation(3x)</A></STRONG>
field_userptr <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_userptr.3x.html">form_field_userptr(3x)</A></STRONG>
form_driver <STRONG><A HREF="form_driver.3x.html">form_driver(3x)</A></STRONG>
form_fields <STRONG><A HREF="form_field.3x.html">form_field(3x)</A></STRONG>
form_init <STRONG><A HREF="form_hook.3x.html">form_hook(3x)</A></STRONG>
form_opts <STRONG><A HREF="form_opts.3x.html">form_opts(3x)</A></STRONG>
form_opts_off <STRONG><A HREF="form_opts.3x.html">form_opts(3x)</A></STRONG>
form_opts_on <STRONG><A HREF="form_opts.3x.html">form_opts(3x)</A></STRONG>
form_page <STRONG><A HREF="form_page.3x.html">form_page(3x)</A></STRONG>
form_request_by_name <STRONG><A HREF="form_requestname.3x.html">form_requestname(3x)</A></STRONG>
form_request_name <STRONG><A HREF="form_requestname.3x.html">form_requestname(3x)</A></STRONG>
form_sub <STRONG><A HREF="form_win.3x.html">form_win(3x)</A></STRONG>
form_term <STRONG><A HREF="form_hook.3x.html">form_hook(3x)</A></STRONG>
form_userptr <STRONG><A HREF="form_userptr.3x.html">form_userptr(3x)</A></STRONG>
form_win <STRONG><A HREF="form_win.3x.html">form_win(3x)</A></STRONG>
free_field <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_new.3x.html">form_field_new(3x)</A></STRONG>
free_fieldtype <STRONG><A HREF="form_fieldtype.3x.html">form_fieldtype(3x)</A></STRONG>
free_form <STRONG><A HREF="form_new.3x.html">form_new(3x)</A></STRONG>
link_field <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_new.3x.html">form_field_new(3x)</A></STRONG>
link_fieldtype <STRONG><A HREF="form_fieldtype.3x.html">form_fieldtype(3x)</A></STRONG>
move_field <STRONG><A HREF="form_field.3x.html">form_field(3x)</A></STRONG>
new_field <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_new.3x.html">form_field_new(3x)</A></STRONG>
new_fieldtype <STRONG><A HREF="form_fieldtype.3x.html">form_fieldtype(3x)</A></STRONG>
new_form <STRONG><A HREF="form_new.3x.html">form_new(3x)</A></STRONG>
new_page <STRONG><A HREF="form_new_page.3x.html">form_new_page(3x)</A></STRONG>
pos_form_cursor <STRONG><A HREF="form_cursor.3x.html">form_cursor(3x)</A></STRONG>
post_form <STRONG><A HREF="form_post.3x.html">form_post(3x)</A></STRONG>
scale_form <STRONG><A HREF="form_win.3x.html">form_win(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_current_field <STRONG><A HREF="form_page.3x.html">form_page(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_field_back <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_attributes.3x.html">form_field_attributes(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_field_buffer <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_buffer.3x.html">form_field_buffer(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_field_fore <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_attributes.3x.html">form_field_attributes(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_field_init <STRONG><A HREF="form_hook.3x.html">form_hook(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_field_just <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_just.3x.html">form_field_just(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_field_opts <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_opts.3x.html">form_field_opts(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_field_pad <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_attributes.3x.html">form_field_attributes(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_field_status <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_buffer.3x.html">form_field_buffer(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_field_term <STRONG><A HREF="form_hook.3x.html">form_hook(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_field_type <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_validation.3x.html">form_field_validation(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_field_userptr <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_userptr.3x.html">form_field_userptr(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_fieldtype_arg <STRONG><A HREF="form_fieldtype.3x.html">form_fieldtype(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_fieldtype_choice <STRONG><A HREF="form_fieldtype.3x.html">form_fieldtype(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_form_fields <STRONG><A HREF="form_field.3x.html">form_field(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_form_init <STRONG><A HREF="form_hook.3x.html">form_hook(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_form_opts <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_opts.3x.html">form_field_opts(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_form_page <STRONG><A HREF="form_page.3x.html">form_page(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_form_sub <STRONG><A HREF="form_win.3x.html">form_win(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_form_term <STRONG><A HREF="form_hook.3x.html">form_hook(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_form_userptr <STRONG><A HREF="form_userptr.3x.html">form_userptr(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_form_win <STRONG><A HREF="form_win.3x.html">form_win(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_max_field <STRONG><A HREF="form_field_buffer.3x.html">form_field_buffer(3x)</A></STRONG>
set_new_page <STRONG><A HREF="form_new_page.3x.html">form_new_page(3x)</A></STRONG>
unpost_form <STRONG><A HREF="form_post.3x.html">form_post(3x)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
<H2>RETURN VALUE</H2><PRE>
Routines that return pointers return <STRONG>NULL</STRONG> on error, and
set errno to the corresponding error-code returned by
functions returning an integer. Routines that return an
integer return one of the following error codes:
<STRONG>E_OK</STRONG> The routine succeeded.
<STRONG>E_BAD_ARGUMENT</STRONG>
Routine detected an incorrect or out-of-range argu-
ment.
<STRONG>E_BAD_STATE</STRONG>
Routine was called from an initialization or termina-
tion function.
<STRONG>E_CONNECTED</STRONG>
The field is already connected to a form.
<STRONG>E_INVALID_FIELD</STRONG>
Contents of a field are not valid.
<STRONG>E_NOT_CONNECTED</STRONG>
No fields are connected to the form.
<STRONG>E_NOT_POSTED</STRONG>
The form has not been posted.
<STRONG>E_NO_ROOM</STRONG>
Form is too large for its window.
<STRONG>E_POSTED</STRONG>
The form is already posted.
<STRONG>E_REQUEST_DENIED</STRONG>
The form driver could not process the request.
<STRONG>E_SYSTEM_ERROR</STRONG>
System error occurred (see <STRONG>errno</STRONG>).
<STRONG>E_UNKNOWN_COMMAND</STRONG>
The form driver code saw an unknown request code.
</PRE>
<H2>SEE ALSO</H2><PRE>
<STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG> and related pages whose names begin "form_" for
detailed descriptions of the entry points.
</PRE>
<H2>NOTES</H2><PRE>
The header file <STRONG>&lt;form.h&gt;</STRONG> automatically includes the header
files <STRONG>&lt;curses.h&gt;</STRONG> and <STRONG>&lt;eti.h&gt;</STRONG>.
In your library list, libform.a should be before libn-
curses.a; that is, you want to say `-lform -lncurses', not
the other way around (which would give you a link error
using most linkers).
</PRE>
<H2>PORTABILITY</H2><PRE>
These routines emulate the System V forms library. They
were not supported on Version 7 or BSD versions.
</PRE>
<H2>AUTHORS</H2><PRE>
Juergen Pfeifer. Manual pages and adaptation for ncurses
by Eric S. Raymond.
</PRE>
<H2>SEE ALSO</H2><PRE>
This describes <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> version 5.6 (patch 20081011).
<STRONG><A HREF="form.3x.html">form(3x)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
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