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diff --git a/Build/source/utils/dialog/README b/Build/source/utils/dialog/README new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..49d27e64c2b --- /dev/null +++ b/Build/source/utils/dialog/README @@ -0,0 +1,148 @@ + dialog - Display dialog boxes in shell script (version 0.5) + =========================================================== + +This is a program that will enable you to present a variety of questions or +display messages using dialog boxes from a shell script. Currently, these +types of dialog boxes are implemented: yes/no box, menu box, input box, +message box, text box, info box, checklist box. The idea of writing this +program came from the fact that most questions asked in a shell script (and +many interactive programs as well) can be classified into these few types: + + + 1) One that requires the user to answer either yes or no. + + 2) One that presents a number of options for the user to choose. + + 3) One that requires the user to input a string. + + 4) One that displays a message and optionally wait for a key press + before continuing. + + 5) One that presents a list of options that can be turned on or off. + + +The program 'dialog' can, say for example, be called in a shell script to +present the first type of questions like this: + + + if dialog --yesno <question text> <height> <width> + then + ... + fi + + + e.g. if dialog --yesno "Do you want to continue?" 7 51 + then + echo "Continuing..." + else + echo "Aborting..." + fi + + +I've included a sample shell script for each type of boxes in the directory +samples. The program requires ncurses to compile. Running 'dialog' without +arguments will display the usage. + + + +FEATURES +-------- + + * Friendly dialog box interface with buttons, etc. + + * Auto wrap around of question text if it's too long to fit on + one line. + + * "\n" can be inserted in question text to control line breaking + explicitly. The real newline character '\n' can also be used. + (note - using \n means that you have to do all layout yourself, + as this isn't handled by the word-wrap routine - Stuart) + + * run-time configruation of color settings and other options using + a configuration file. + +WHAT'S NEW SINCE VERSION 0.4? +----------------------------- + + * New guage widget to display progress meter-like stuff. + + * New dialog.pl perl interface to dialog. Makes using + dialog from perl simple and powerful. + + * inputbox widgets now accept an initial string to display + + * Added --separate-output option which affects the output of + checklist widgets. Each selected item is printed on an + individual line, with no quotes. This makes processing of + the output a snap. + + * Word wrap is still broken (see samples/yesno) but wordwrap + using dialog.pl works nicely. + +WHAT'S NEW SINCE VERSION 0.3? +----------------------------- + + * dialog works with ncurses 1.8.5 now (patch is supplied to fix + ncurses 1.8.5 as well) + + * word-wrap in infobox's etc has been fixed (so long as you don't + use \n in your prompts. + + * new default colour scheme (sort of 3D look now) + + * radiolist option added (same as a menu, but with radio buttons) + + * backtitle option added (place a title on the background - can be + used with --title, or instead of it) + + +WHAT'S NEW SINCE VERSION 0.21? +------------------------------ + + * some changes for faster screen update. + + * much more flexible color settings. Can use all 16 colors + (8 normal, 8 highlight) of the Linux console. + + * added run-time configuration using configuration file. + + * some minor bug fixes and cleanups for menubox, checklist and + textbox. + + * added a man page. + + * some changes for easier porting to other Unix systems (tested + on Ultrix, SunOS and HPUX) + + +Savio Lam (lam836@cs.cuhk.hk) + + +COMMENTS +-------- + + * This release is primarily to fix dialog for use with ncurses + 1.8.5, and to include the two new options. + + * This release includes the 8-bit-clean patches, and is derived from + the Slackware sources, rather than from the copy on sunsite. + + * I understand that Savio no longer maintains dialog. To the best + of my knowledge, I've fixed all the remaining bugs in dialog. + + * My quoted email address is only valid until the end of June, 1994. + This means that I'm not in a position to maintain this release :( + +Stuart Herbert, +S.Herbert@Sheffield.ac.uk + + +MORE COMMENTS +------------- + +The 0.5 release was made by me (Marc Ewing). Neither Savio nor Stuart are +maintaining dialog any longer. Please don't bother them with any problems +created by my own alterations! + +Marc Ewing +marc@redhat.com |