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form(3)

NAME

       form - curses extension for programming forms

SYNOPSIS

       #include <form.h>

DESCRIPTION

       The form library provides terminal-independent facilities for composing
       form screens on character-cell terminals.  The library includes:  field
       routines, which create and modify form fields; and form routines, which
       group fields into forms, display forms on the screen, and handle inter-
       action with the user.

       The form library uses the curses libraries, and a curses initialization
       routine such as initscr must be called before using any of these  func-
       tions.  To use the form library, link with the options -lform -lcurses.

   Current Default Values for Field Attributes
       The form library maintains a default value for field  attributes.   You
       can  get  or  set  this	default  by  calling  the  appropriate set_ or
       retrieval routine with a NULL field  pointer.   Changing  this  default
       with  a	set_  function	affects  future  field creations, but does not
       change the rendering of fields already created.

   Routine Name Index
       The following table lists each form routine and the name of the	manual
       page on which it is described.

       curses Routine Name    Manual Page Name
       -------------------------------------------------
       current_field	      form_page(3X)
       data_ahead	      form_data(3X)
       data_behind	      form_data(3X)
       dup_field	      form_field_new(3X)
       dynamic_fieldinfo      form_field_info(3X)
       field_arg	      form_field_validation(3X)
       field_back	      form_field_attributes(3X)
       field_buffer	      form_field_buffer(3X)
       field_count	      form_field(3X)
       field_fore	      form_field_attributes(3X)
       field_index	      form_page(3X)
       field_info	      form_field_info(3X)
       field_init	      form_hook(3X)
       field_just	      form_field_just(3X)
       field_opts	      form_field_opts(3X)
       field_opts_off	      form_field_opts(3X)
       field_opts_on	      form_field_opts(3X)
       field_pad	      form_field_attributes(3X)
       field_status	      form_field_buffer(3X)
       field_term	      form_hook(3X)
       field_type	      form_field_validation(3X)
       field_userptr	      form_field_userptr(3X)
       form_request_by_name   form_requestname(3X)
       form_request_name      form_requestname(3X)
       form_sub 	      form_win(3X)
       form_term	      form_hook(3X)
       form_userptr	      form_userptr(3X)
       form_win 	      form_win(3X)
       free_field	      form_field_new(3X)
       free_form	      form_new(3X)
       link_field	      form_field_new(3X)
       link_fieldtype	      form_fieldtype(3X)
       move_field	      form_field(3X)
       new_field	      form_field_new(3X)
       new_form 	      form_new(3X)
       new_page 	      form_new_page(3X)
       pos_form_cursor	      form_cursor(3X)
       post_form	      form_post(3X)
       scale_form	      form_win(3X)
       set_current_field      form_page(3X)
       set_field_back	      form_field_attributes(3X)
       set_field_buffer       form_field_buffer(3X)
       set_field_fore	      form_field_attributes(3X)
       set_field_init	      form_hook(3X)
       set_field_just	      form_field_just(3X)
       set_field_opts	      form_field_opts(3X)
       set_field_pad	      form_field_attributes(3X)
       set_field_status       form_field_buffer(3X)
       set_field_term	      form_hook(3X)
       set_field_type	      form_field_validation(3X)
       set_field_userptr      form_field_userptr(3X)
       set_fieldtype_arg      form_fieldtype(3X)
       set_fieldtype_choice   form_fieldtype(3X)
       set_form_fields	      form_field(3X)
       set_form_init	      form_hook(3X)
       set_form_opts	      form_field_opts(3X)
       set_form_page	      form_page(3X)
       set_form_sub	      form_win(3X)
       set_form_term	      form_hook(3X)
       set_form_userptr       form_userptr(3X)
       set_form_win	      form_win(3X)
       set_max_field	      form_field_buffer(3X)
       set_new_page	      form_new_page(3X)
       unpost_form	      form_post(3X)

RETURN VALUE

       Routines  that  return  pointers  return  NULL on error.  Routines that
       return an integer return one of the following error codes:

       E_OK The routine succeeded.

       E_CONNECTED
	    The field is already connected to a form.

       E_SYSTEM_ERROR
	    System error occurred (see errno).

       E_BAD_ARGUMENT
	    Routine detected an incorrect or out-of-range argument.


       E_NOT_POSTED
	    The form has not been posted.

       E_UNKNOWN_COMMAND
	    The form driver code saw an unknown request code.

       E_INVALID_FIELD
	    Contents of a field are not valid.

       E_NOT_CONNECTED
	    No fields are connected to the form.

       E_REQUEST_DENIED
	    The form driver could not process the request.

SEE ALSO

       curses(3X)  and	related  pages	whose names begin "form_" for detailed
       descriptions of the entry points.

NOTES

       The header  file  <form.h>  automatically  includes  the  header  files
       <curses.h> and <eti.h>.

       In your library list, libform.a should be before libncurses.a; that is,
       you want to say `-lform -lncurses', not the  other  way	around	(which
       would give you a link error using GNU ld(1) and many other linkers).

PORTABILITY

       These  routines emulate the System V forms library.  They were not sup-
       ported on Version 7 or BSD versions.

AUTHORS

       Juergen Pfeifer.  Manual pages and adaptation for ncurses  by  Eric  S.
       Raymond.

								      form(3X)

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