DIALOG()                         User commands                        DIALOG()



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
       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:

       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.  This is different from
       getopt(1), which uses that token  to  treat  the  remaining  tokens  as
       parameters rather than options.

              dialog --title -- --Not an option
              dialog --title This -- --title is not an option

       Dialog uses no parameters, and uses its own options parser.

       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.

              The extra button appears between "Yes" and "No"  for  the  yesno
              widget.

       --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).

              The help-button appears after  "Yes"  and  "No"  for  the  yesno
              widget.

              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.

       A few bindings are built-in, independent of particular widgets:

       Key               Purpose
       -------------------------------------------------------------------
       Control-I         forward tab-traversal, e.g., with --tailboxbg.
       Control-L         repaints the screen.
       Control-T         writes a screen dump to the --trace file.

       Control-V         suppresses special-keys for the next input byte.
       DLGK_FIELD_NEXT   forward tab-traversal, like Control-I.
       DLGK_FIELD_PREV   backward tab-traversal, like back-tab.
       DLGK_HELPFILE     displays the help-file specified with --hfile.
       KEY_BTAB          backward tab-traversal, e.g., with --tailboxbg.
       -------------------------------------------------------------------


   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.

EXIT STATUS
       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.

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

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).

       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.

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.

AUTHORS
       Thomas E. Dickey (updates for 0.9b and beyond)

       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"



                                  2024-01-01                          DIALOG()
