Provided by: dialog_1.2-20130928-1_amd64 bug

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.  Dialog 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  command-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 using 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,  replacing  "--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 background.  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.
              Understand 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  following  character,
              which tells dialog to set colors or video attributes: 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 (perhaps 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 into 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  options 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  preselecting  a  button,  a
              script  makes  it  possible for the user to simply press Enter to proceed through a
              dialog with minimum interaction.

              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 inputmenu 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 after 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 DIALOG_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 initialization 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 initialization strings.

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

              At exit, dialog repaints all of the widgets which have been  marked  with  "--keep-
              window",  even if they are not tailboxbg widgets.  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 message 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 ignored.

       --no-kill
              Tells dialog to put the tailboxbg box in the background, printing 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, dialog 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 output from  checklists,
              rather  than  a  newline (for --separate-output) 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 options.

       --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 output from each widget.
              This is used to simplify parsing the result 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 useful 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 dialog box.

       --trace filename
              logs  the  command-line  parameters,  keystrokes and other information 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 example, if the first option is --trace,
       then that is processed (and removed) 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  control  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 adjustable  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 entries  presented  in
              the  form  of  a  menu.  Another difference is that you can indicate which entry is
              currently selected, by setting 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 window 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 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 directory 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  --inputbox,  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 altered, and the negated
                  value of flen is used as the displayed-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 written 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 directory  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 directory 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 integer 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 accepts  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 user 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 returned.

       --inputbox text height width [init]
              An input box is useful when you want to ask questions  that  require  the  user  to
              input  a  string  as  the answer.  If init is supplied 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 adjusted.

              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 dialog'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 entries 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 entries
              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 dialog's output.  If
              the "--help-button" option is given, the corresponding 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 accepts  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 difference 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 returned.

       --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  difference  between  a
              program  box  and  a  progress box is that a program box displays an OK button (but
              only after the command completes).

              This dialog box is used to display the  piped  output  of  a  command.   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" command.  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 returned.

       --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 returned.

              NOTE:  Older  versions  of  dialog  forked  immediately and attempted to update the
              screen individually.  Besides being bad for performance, 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 dialog 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 using vi-style 'k' and 'j', or arrow-keys.  Scroll left/right using
              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 returned.

       --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  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  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 button 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 status 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  configuration  file.
       Dialog's bindkey command maps single keys to its internal 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-defined 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 "~?".  Finally, 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 widget:

                                      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,  because  that  detailed
       information can be obtained by running dialog.  If you have set the --trace option, dialog
       writes the key-binding information 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 between
       widgets, e.g., when using multiple tailboxbg widgets.

       Some users may wish to use the same key for traversing within  the  editing  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  dialog'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 variable).

       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 "--stdout" 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 because 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 properly 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 include:

              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 dialog.

       The dialog program ignores these options which are recognized by Xdialog:

              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 dialog.  There are  some
       differences not shown in the manpage.  For example, 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
              checklist, you will  then  have  to  add  the --separate-output option  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 documentation (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  comparable  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 manpage 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 inaccurate 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.  dialog uses the entire scrollbar space, thereby
           getting better resolution.

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)