NAME

       panel - panel stack extension for curses

SYNOPSIS

       #include <panel.h>

       cc [flags] sourcefiles -lpanel -lncurses

       PANEL *new_panel(WINDOW *win)
       int bottom_panel(PANEL *pan)
       int top_panel(PANEL *pan)
       int show_panel(PANEL *pan)
       void update_panels();
       int hide_panel(PANEL *pan)
       WINDOW *panel_window(const PANEL *pan)
       int replace_panel(PANEL *pan, WINDOW *window)
       int move_panel(PANEL *pan, int starty, int startx)
       int panel_hidden(const PANEL *pan)
       PANEL *panel_above(const PANEL *pan)
       PANEL *panel_below(const PANEL *pan)
       int set_panel_userptr(PANEL *pan, const void *ptr)
       const void *panel_userptr(const PANEL *pan)
       int del_panel(PANEL *pan)

DESCRIPTION

       Panels  are  ncurses(3NCURSES) windows with the added feature of depth.  Panel functions allow the use of
       stacked windows and ensure the proper portions of each window and the curses stdscr window are hidden  or
       displayed  when panels are added, moved, modified or removed.  The set of currently visible panels is the
       stack of panels.  The stdscr window is beneath all panels, and is not considered part of the stack.

       A window is associated with every panel. The panel routines enable you to create, move,  hide,  and  show
       panels, as well as position a panel at any desired location in the stack.

       Panel  routines are a functional layer added to ncurses(3NCURSES), make only high-level curses calls, and
       work anywhere terminfo curses does.

FUNCTIONS

       new_panel(win)
              allocates  a  PANEL structure, associates it with win, places the panel on the top  of  the  stack
              (causes  it to  be  displayed above any other panel) and returns a pointer to the new panel.

       update_panels()
              refreshes  the  virtual  screen to reflect the relations between the panels in the stack, but does
              not call doupdate() to refresh the physical  screen.   Use  this  function  and  not  wrefresh  or
              wnoutrefresh.   update_panels  may  be  called  more  than  once  before a call to doupdate(), but
              doupdate() is the function responsible for updating the physical screen.

       del_panel(pan)
              removes the given panel from  the   stack  and  deallocates  the  PANEL  structure  (but  not  its
              associated window).

       hide_panel(pan)
              removes  the  given panel from the panel stack and thus hides it from view. The PANEL structure is
              not lost, merely removed from the stack.

       panel_hidden(pan)
              returns TRUE if the panel is in the panel stack, FALSE if it is not.   If  the  panel  is  a  null
              pointer, return ERR.

       show_panel(pan)
              makes  a  hidden  panel  visible  by  placing  it  on  top  of  the panels in the panel stack. See
              COMPATIBILITY below.

       top_panel(pan)
              puts the given visible panel on top of all panels in the stack.  See COMPATIBILITY below.

       bottom_panel(pan)
              puts panel at the bottom of all panels.

       move_panel(pan,starty,startx)
              moves the given panel window so that its upper-left corner is at  starty,  startx.   It  does  not
              change the position of the panel in the stack.  Be sure to use this function, not mvwin(), to move
              a panel window.

       replace_panel(pan,window)
              replaces  the  current  window  of  panel with window (useful, for example if you want to resize a
              panel; if you're using ncurses, you can call replace_panel on the  output  of  wresize(3NCURSES)).
              It does not change the position of the panel in the stack.

       panel_above(pan)
              returns  a  pointer  to  the  panel  above pan.  If the panel argument is (PANEL *)0, it returns a
              pointer to the bottom panel in the stack.

       panel_below(pan)
              returns a pointer to the panel just below pan.  If the panel argument is (PANEL *)0, it returns  a
              pointer to the top panel in the stack.

       set_panel_userptr(pan,ptr)
              sets the panel's user pointer.

       panel_userptr(pan)
              returns the user pointer for a given panel.

       panel_window(pan)
              returns a pointer to the window of the given panel.

DIAGNOSTICS

       Each  routine  that  returns  a pointer returns NULL if an error occurs. Each routine that returns an int
       value returns OK if it executes successfully and ERR if not.

COMPATIBILITY

       Reasonable care has been taken to  ensure  compatibility with  the  native  panel facility introduced  in
       SVr3.2  (inspection of the SVr4 manual pages suggests the programming interface is unchanged).  The PANEL
       data structures are merely  similar. The  programmer is cautioned not to directly use PANEL fields.

       The functions show_panel() and top_panel() are identical in this implementation, and  work  equally  well
       with  displayed  or  hidden  panels.  In the native System V implementation, show_panel() is intended for
       making a hidden panel visible (at the top of the  stack)  and  top_panel()  is  intended  for  making  an
       already-visible  panel  move  to  the  top of the stack. You are cautioned to use the correct function to
       ensure compatibility with native panel libraries.

NOTE

       In your library list, libpanel.a should be before  libncurses.a;  that  is,  you  want  to  say  `-lpanel
       -lncurses', not the other way around (which would usually give a link-error).

FILES

       panel.h interface for the panels library

       libpanel.a the panels library itself

SEE ALSO

       ncurses(3NCURSES), curses_variables(3NCURSES),

       This describes ncurses version 5.9 (patch 20140118).

AUTHOR

       Originally  written by Warren Tucker <wht@n4hgf.mt-park.ga.us>, primarily to assist in porting u386mon to
       systems without a native panels library.  Repackaged for ncurses by Zeyd ben-Halim.

                                                                                                  panel(3CURSES)