menu.3x - Man Page

curses extension for programming menus

Synopsis

#include <menu.h>

Description

The menu library provides terminal-independent facilities for composing menu systems on character-cell terminals. The library includes: item routines, which create and modify menu items; and menu routines, which group items into menus, display menus on the screen, and handle interaction with the user.

The menu 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 menu library, link with the options -lmenu -lcurses.

Current Default Values for Item Attributes

The menu library maintains a default value for item attributes. You can get or set this default by calling the appropriate get_ or set_ routine with a NULL item pointer. Changing this default with a set_ function affects future item creations, but does not change the rendering of items already created.

Routine Name Index

The following table lists each menu routine and the name of the manual page on which it is described.

curses Routine NameManual Page Name
current_itemmitem_current(3X)
free_item mitem_new(3X)
free_menu menu_new(3X)
item_countmenu_items(3X)
item_descriptionmitem_name(3X)
item_indexmitem_current(3X)
item_init menu_hook(3X)
item_name mitem_name(3X)
item_opts mitem_opts(3X)
item_opts_offmitem_opts(3X)
item_opts_onmitem_opts(3X)
item_term menu_hook(3X)
item_userptrmitem_userptr(3X)
item_valuemitem_value(3X)
item_visiblemitem_visible(3X)
menu_back menu_attributes(3X)
menu_drivermenu_driver(3X)
menu_fore menu_attributes(3X)
menu_formatmenu_format(3X)
menu_grey menu_attributes(3X)
menu_init menu_hook(3X)
menu_itemsmenu_items(3X)
menu_mark menu_mark(3X)
menu_opts menu_opts(3X)
menu_opts_offmenu_opts(3X)
menu_opts_onmenu_opts(3X)
menu_pad  menu_attributes(3X)
menu_patternmenu_pattern(3X)
menu_request_by_namemenu_requestname(3X)
menu_request_namemenu_requestname(3X)
menu_spacingmenu_spacing(3X)
menu_sub  menu_win(3X)
menu_term menu_hook(3X)
menu_userptrmenu_userptr(3X)
menu_win  menu_win(3X)
new_item  mitem_new(3X)
new_menu  menu_new(3X)
pos_menu_cursormenu_cursor(3X)
post_menu menu_post(3X)
scale_menumenu_win(3X)
set_current_itemmitem_current(3X)
set_item_initmenu_hook(3X)
set_item_optsmitem_opts(3X)
set_item_termmenu_hook(3X)
set_item_userptrmitem_userptr(3X)
set_item_valuemitem_value(3X)
set_menu_backmenu_attributes(3X)
set_menu_foremenu_attributes(3X)
set_menu_formatmenu_format(3X)
set_menu_greymenu_attributes(3X)
set_menu_initmenu_hook(3X)
set_menu_itemsmenu_items(3X)
set_menu_markmenu_mark(3X)
set_menu_optsmitem_opts(3X)
set_menu_padmenu_attributes(3X)
set_menu_patternmenu_pattern(3X)
set_menu_spacingmenu_spacing(3X)
set_menu_submenu_win(3X)
set_menu_termmenu_hook(3X)
set_menu_userptrmenu_userptr(3X)
set_menu_winmenu_win(3X)
set_top_rowmitem_current(3X)
top_row  mitem_current(3X)
unpost_menumenu_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_BAD_ARGUMENT

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

E_BAD_STATE

Routine was called from an initialization or termination function.

E_NO_MATCH

Character failed to match.

E_NO_ROOM

Menu is too large for its window.

E_NOT_CONNECTED

No items are connected to the menu.

E_NOT_POSTED

The menu has not been posted.

E_NOT_SELECTABLE

The designated item cannot be selected.

E_POSTED

The menu is already posted.

E_REQUEST_DENIED

The menu driver could not process the request.

E_SYSTEM_ERROR

System error occurred (see errno(3)).

E_UNKNOWN_COMMAND

The menu driver code saw an unknown request code.

Notes

The header file menu.h itself includes the header file curses.h.

Portability

These routines emulate the System V menu library. They were not supported on Version 7 or BSD versions.

A menu facility was documented in SVr4.2's Character User Interface Programming document.

It is not part of X/Open Curses.

Aside from ncurses, there are few implementations:

Authors

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

See Also

curses(3X) and related pages whose names begin “menu_” for detailed descriptions of the entry points.

Info

2023-12-23 ncurses 6.4 Library calls