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DIALOG(1)		    General Commands Manual		     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 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  com-
       piled 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:

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

       o   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

       When  a common (e.g., non-widget) option	is repeated, the last found is
       the one that is used.  Boolean options are handled  specially  so  they
       can  be	cancelled,  by	adding (or omitting) a "no" modifier after the
       leading "--".   For  instance,  --no-shadow  is	documented  here,  but
       --shadow	also is	accepted.

       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.

       Most widgets accept height and width parameters,	which can be  used  to
       automatically  size the widget to accommodate multi-line	message	prompt
       values:

       o   If the parameter is negative, dialog	uses the screen's size.

       o   If the parameter is zero, dialog uses minimum size for  the	widget
	   to display the prompt and data.

       o   Otherwise, dialog uses the given size for the widget.

   Common Options
       Most of the common options are reset before processing each widget.

       --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.  Conversely, if you want to clear the	screen
	      and send your cursor to the lower	left after the dialog  program
	      has exited, use the --erase-on-exit option.

       --colors
	      Interpret	 embedded  "\Z"	 sequences  in	the dialog text	by the
	      following	character, which tells dialog to set colors  or	 video
	      attributes:

	      o	  0  through  7	 are  the  ANSI	 color numbers used in curses:
		  black, red, green, yellow, blue,  magenta,  cyan  and	 white
		  respectively.

	      o	  Bold is set by 'b', reset by 'B'.

	      o	  Reverse is set by 'r', reset by 'R'.

	      o	  Underline is set by 'u', reset by 'U'.

	      o	  The  settings	 are  cumulative,  e.g.,  "\Zb\Z1"  makes  the
		  following text bold (perhaps bright) red.

	      o	  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.

	      The cr-wrap feature is implemented subject to these conditions:

	      o	  the string contains "\n" and the  --no-nl-expand  option  is
		  not used, or

	      o	  the --trim option is used.

	      For more information, see	Whitespace 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.

       --cursor-off-label
	      Place  the  terminal cursor at the end of	a button instead of on
	      the first	character of the button	 label.	  This	is  useful  to
	      reduce  visual  confusion	 when  the cursor coloration interacts
	      poorly with the button-label text	colors.

       --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, treat
	      the default button of widgets that provide "OK" and "Cancel"  as
	      a	 Cancel.   If "--no-cancel" 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
	      "--no-ok"	and "--no-cancel" 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.

       --erase-on-exit
	      When  dialog exits, remove the dialog widget, erasing the	entire
	      screen to	its native background color, and  place	 the  terminal
	      cursor at	the lower left corner.

       --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  in	 boxes
	      which  have  a list of tagged items (i.e., checklist, radiolist,
	      menu, and	treeview boxes).

	      On exit, the return status indicates that	the  Help  button  was
	      pressed.	 Dialog	 also writes a message to its output after the
	      token "HELP":

	      o	  If "--item-help"  is	also  given,  the  item-help  text  is
		  written.

	      o	  Otherwise, the item's	tag (the first field) is written.

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

	      This  option can be applied to other widgets, which have an "OK"
	      button, whether or not the "Cancel" button is used.  The	return
	      status  and  output  are	not  treated  specially	 for the other
	      widgets; the help-button is just an extra	button.

       --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.

       --iso-week
	      Set  the	starting  point	 for  the  week-number	shown  in  the
	      "--calendar"   option   according	  to  ISO-8601,	 which	starts
	      numbering	with the first	week  which  includes  a  Thursday  in
	      January.

       --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,
	      and  is only reported for	keys which are bound to	an action.  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
	      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.

	      The  no-collapse	feature	 is  implemented  subject   to	 these
	      conditions:

	      o	  the  string  contains	 "\n" and the --no-nl-expand option is
		  not used, or

	      o	  the --trim option is not used.

	      For more information, see	Whitespace Options.

       --no-hot-list
	      Tells dialog to suppress the hotkey feature for lists, e.g., the
	      checkbox,	menus.

	      Normally,	the first uppercase character of a list	entry will  be
	      highlighted,  and	 typing	 that character	will move the focus to
	      that entry.  This	option suppresses both	the  highlighting  and
	      the movement.

	      Hotkeys for buttons ("OK"	, "Cancel", etc.) are unaffected.

       --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.

	      The  no-nl-expand	 feature  is  used only	if the string contains
	      "\n" so that there is something to convert.

	      For more information, see	Whitespace Options.

       --no-ok
	      Suppress the "OK"	button,	so that	it is not displayed.  A	script
	      can still	test if	the user pressed the "Enter" key to accept the
	      data:

	      o	  The "Enter" key is always handled as the  "OK"  button  when
		  the --no-ok option is	used.  That is,	by default it is bound
		  to the LEAVE virtual key.

		  When	--no-ok	 is  not  used,	you can	use the	the Tab	key to
		  move the cursor  through  the	 fields	 and  buttons  on  the
		  widget.  In that case, the "Enter" key activates the current
		  button if the	cursor is positioned on	a button.

	      o	  To  provide for the case where you want to activate a	button
		  when using --no-ok, there  is	 another  virtual  key	LEAVE,
		  which	activates the current button.  By default, ^D (EOF) is
		  bound	to that	key.

       --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-separator string
	      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 when the
	      box is initialized.

       --print-text-only string	[ height [ width ] ]
	      Prints the string	as it would be wrapped in  a  message  box  to
	      dialog's output.

	      Because  the  optional height and	width default to zero, if they
	      are  omitted,  dialog  autosizes	 according   to	  the	screen
	      dimensions.

       --print-text-size string	[ height [ width ] ]
	      Prints  the  size	 of  the  string  as  it would be wrapped in a
	      message box, to dialog's output, as

	      height width

	      Because the optional height  and	width  parameters  default  to
	      zero,  if	 they  are  omitted, dialog autosizes according	to the
	      screen dimensions.

       --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  as needed (i.e.,	if the string contains whitespace or a
	      single or	double-quote character).

       --reorder
	      By default, the buildlist	widget uses the	 same  order  for  the
	      output (right) list as for the input (left).  Use	this option to
	      tell  dialog to use the order in which a user adds selections to
	      the output list.

       --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  certain  widgets  (buildlist,  checklist, treeview),	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.

       --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	may use	double	quotes	around
	      each  item.  In either case, dialog adds backslashes to make the
	      output useful in shell scripts.

	      Single quotes would be needed if the string contains  whitespace
	      or a single or double-quote character.

       --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.
	      The --no-collapse	option disables	tab expansion.

       --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 if no user response within the given number of  seconds.
	      A	timeout	of zero	seconds	is ignored.

	      Normally	a timeout causes an ESC	character to be	entered	in the
	      current widget, cancelling it.  Other widgets may	 still	be  on
	      the  screen;  these  are	not cancelled.	Set the	DIALOG_TIMEOUT
	      environment variable to tell dialog to  directly	exit  instead,
	      i.e., cancelling all widgets on the screen.

	      This  option  is	ignored	 by  the "--pause" widget.  It is also
	      overridden if the	background "--tailboxbg" option	is used	to set
	      up 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.

       --week-start day
	      sets  the	 starting  day	for the	week, used in the "--calendar"
	      option.  The day parameter can be

	      o	  a number (0 to 6, Sunday through Saturday using POSIX) or

	      o	  the special value "locale" (this works  with	systems	 using
		  glibc,  providing  an	 extension  to the locale command, the
		  first_weekday	value).

	      o	  a string matching one	of the abbreviations for  the  day  of
		  the  week  shown  in	the  calendar  widget,	e.g., "Mo" for
		  "Monday".

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

	      The trim feature is implemented subject to these conditions:

	      o	  the string does not contain "\n" or

	      o	  the --no-nl-expand option is used.

	      For more information, see	Whitespace Options.

	      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 list-height [ 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.

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

	      o	  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, as needed.  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 (as needed).  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.

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

	      o	  If  flen  is	negative,  the	corresponding  field cannot be
		  altered, and the negated  value  of  flen  is	 used  as  the
		  displayed-length.

	      o	  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.  An OK exit
	      status is	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 through 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 four parameters are given, it displays	 the  text  under  the
	      title,  delineated  from the scrolling file's contents.  If only
	      three 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.

       --rangebox text height width 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

       --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.

       --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, and 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.

   Whitespace Options
       These options can be used to transform whitespace (space, tab, newline)
       as dialog reads the script:
	      --cr-wrap, --no-collapse,	--no-nl-expand,	and --trim

       The options are not independent:

       o   Dialog  checks if the script	contains at least one "\n" and (unless
	   --no-nl-expand is set) will ignore  the  --no-collapse  and	--trim
	   options.

       o   After  checking  for	 "\n"  and  the	 --no-nl-expand	option,	dialog
	   handles the --trim option.

	   If  the  --trim  option   takes   effect,   then   dialog   ignores
	   --no-collapse.   It changes sequences of tabs, spaces (and newlines
	   unless -cr-wrap is set) to a	single space.

       o   If  neither	the  "\n"  or  --trim  cases  apply,   dialog	checks
	   --no-collapse  to  decide  whether  to reduce sequences of tabs and
	   spaces to a single space.

	   In  this  case,  dialog  ignores  --cr-wrap	and  does  not	modify
	   newlines.

       Taking those dependencies into account, here is a table summarizing the
       behavior	 for  the  various combinations	of options.  The table assumes
       that the	script contains	at least  one  "\n"  when  the	--no-nl-expand
       option is not set.
	    cr-	   no-	      no-	  trim	 Result
	    wrap   collapse   nl-expand
	    -------------------------------------------------------------------
	    no	   no	      no	  no	 Convert tab to	space.
						 Convert newline to space.
						 Convert "\n" to newline.
	    no	   no	      no	  yes	 Convert tab to	space.
						 Convert newline to space.
						 Convert "\n" to newline.
	    no	   no	      yes	  no	 Convert tab to	space.	Do not
						 convert newline to space.
						 Convert multiple-space	to
						 single.  Show "\n" literally.
	    no	   no	      yes	  yes	 Convert tab to	space.
						 Convert multiple-space	to
						 single.  Convert newline to
						 space.	 Show "\n" literally.
	    no	   yes	      no	  no	 Convert newline to space.
						 Convert "\n" to newline.
	    no	   yes	      no	  yes	 Convert newline to space.
						 Convert "\n" to newline.
	    no	   yes	      yes	  no	 Do not	convert	newline	to
						 space.	 Do not	reduce
						 multiple blanks.  Show	"\n"
						 literally.
	    no	   yes	      yes	  yes	 Convert multiple-space	to
						 single.  Convert newline to
						 space.	 Show "\n" literally.
	    yes	   no	      no	  no	 Convert tab to	space.	Wrap
						 on newline.  Convert "\n" to
						 newline.
	    yes	   no	      no	  yes	 Convert tab to	space.	Wrap
						 on newline.  Convert "\n" to
						 newline.
	    yes	   no	      yes	  no	 Convert tab to	space.	Do not
						 convert newline to space.
						 Convert multiple-space	to
						 single.  Show "\n" literally.
	    yes	   no	      yes	  yes	 Convert tab to	space.
						 Convert multiple-space	to
						 single.  Wrap on newline.
						 Show "\n" literally.
	    yes	   yes	      no	  no	 Wrap on newline.  Convert
						 "\n" to newline.
	    yes	   yes	      no	  yes	 Wrap on newline.  Convert
						 "\n" to newline.
	    yes	   yes	      yes	  no	 Do not	convert	newline	to
						 space.	 Do not	reduce
						 multiple blanks.  Show	"\n"
						 literally.
	    yes	   yes	      yes	  yes	 Convert multiple-space	to
						 single.  Wrap on newline.
						 Show "\n" literally.

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 expressed in different forms:

       o   It may be any of the	names derived from curses.h, e.g., "HELP" from
	   "KEY_HELP".

       o   Dialog  also	recognizes ANSI	control	characters such	as "^A", "^?",
	   as well as C1-controls such as "~A" and "~?".

       o   Finally, dialog allows backslash escapes as in  C.	Those  can  be
	   octal character values such as "\033" (the ASCII escape character),
	   or the characters listed in this table:
		 Escaped   Actual
		 -------------------------------
		 \b	   backspace
		 \f	   form	feed
		 \n	   new line (line feed)
		 \r	   carriage return
		 \s	   space
		 \t	   tab
		 \^	   "^" (caret)
		 \?	   "?" (question mark)
		 \\	   "\" (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	dlgk_keys.h 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_TIMEOUT

       DIALOG_OK      Define any of these variables to change the exit code on

		      o	  Cancel (1),

		      o	  error	(-1),

		      o	  ESC (255),

		      o	  Extra	(3),

		      o	  Help (2),

		      o	  Help with --item-help	(2),

		      o	  Timeout (5), or

		      o	  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.

       5    if a timeout expires and the DIALOG_TIMEOUT	variable is set	to 5.

       -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:

	  o   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.

	  o   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
       This is an X application, rather	than a terminal	 program.   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 "\n" (line feed) as a
	      results separator	 for  the  checklist  widget;  this  has  been
	      changed  to  "/"	in  Xdialog  v1.5.0 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 environments	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 757 KB.  The
       comparable number for dialog (counting ncurses) is  520 KB.   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.,

       o   --gauge (from 0.5)

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

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

       o   --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:

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

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

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

       o   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:

       o   Savio Lam - version 0.3, "dialog"

       o   Stuart Herbert - patch for version 0.4

       o   Marc	Ewing -	the gauge widget.

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

$Date: 2021/01/17 17:25:01 $					     DIALOG(1)

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | OPTIONS | RUN-TIME CONFIGURATION | KEY BINDINGS | ENVIRONMENT | FILES | EXAMPLES | DIAGNOSTICS | PORTABILITY | COMPATIBILITY | BUGS | AUTHOR | CONTRIBUTORS

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