form(3FORM)

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 interaction 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 functions. 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 | page(3FORM)
data_ahead | data(3FORM)
data_behind | data(3FORM)
dup_field | field_new(3FORM)
dynamic_fieldinfo | field_info(3FORM)
field_arg | field_validation(3FORM)
field_back | field_attributes(3FORM)
field_buffer | field_buffer(3FORM)
field_count | field(3FORM)
field_fore | field_attributes(3FORM)
field_index | page(3FORM)
field_info | field_info(3FORM)
field_init | hook(3FORM)
field_just | field_just(3FORM)
field_opts | field_opts(3FORM)
field_opts_off | field_opts(3FORM)
field_opts_on | field_opts(3FORM)
field_pad | field_attributes(3FORM)
field_status | field_buffer(3FORM)
field_term | hook(3FORM)
field_type | field_validation(3FORM)
field_userptr | field_userptr(3FORM)
form_driver | driver(3FORM)
form_fields | field(3FORM)
form_init | hook(3FORM)
form_opts | opts(3FORM)
form_opts_off | opts(3FORM)
form_opts_on | opts(3FORM)
form_page | page(3FORM)
form_request_by_name | requestname(3FORM)
form_request_name | requestname(3FORM)
form_sub | win(3FORM)
form_term | hook(3FORM)
form_userptr | userptr(3FORM)
form_win | win(3FORM)
free_field | field_new(3FORM)
free_form | new(3FORM)
link_field | field_new(3FORM)
link_fieldtype | fieldtype(3FORM)
move_field | field(3FORM)
new_field | field_new(3FORM)
new_form | new(3FORM)
new_page | new_page(3FORM)
pos_form_cursor | cursor(3FORM)
post_form | post(3FORM)
scale_form | win(3FORM)
set_current_field | page(3FORM)
set_field_back | field_attributes(3FORM)
set_field_buffer | field_buffer(3FORM)
set_field_fore | field_attributes(3FORM)
set_field_init | hook(3FORM)
set_field_just | field_just(3FORM)
set_field_opts | field_opts(3FORM)
set_field_pad | field_attributes(3FORM)
set_field_status | field_buffer(3FORM)
set_field_term | hook(3FORM)
set_field_type | field_validation(3FORM)
set_field_userptr | field_userptr(3FORM)
set_fieldtype_arg | fieldtype(3FORM)
set_fieldtype_choice | fieldtype(3FORM)
set_form_fields | field(3FORM)
set_form_init | hook(3FORM)
set_form_opts | field_opts(3FORM)
set_form_page | page(3FORM)
set_form_sub | win(3FORM)
set_form_term | hook(3FORM)
set_form_userptr | userptr(3FORM)
set_form_win | win(3FORM)
set_max_field | field_buffer(3FORM)
set_new_page | new_page(3FORM)
unpost_form | post(3FORM)

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_POSTED
    The form is already posted.

E_BAD_STATE
    Routine was called from an initialization or termination function.

E_NO_ROOM
    Form is too large for its window.

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
ncurses(3NCURSES) 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 supported on Version 7 or BSD versions.

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