panel(3) UNIX Programmer's Manual panel(3)NAME
panel - panel stack extension for curses
SYNOPSIS
#include <panel.h>
cc [flags] sourcefiles -lpanel -lncurses
PANEL *new_panel(WINDOW *win)
int bottom_panel(PANEL *pan)
int top_panel(PANEL *pan)
int show_panel(PANEL *pan)
void update_panels();
int hide_panel(PANEL *pan)
WINDOW *panel_window(const PANEL *pan)
int replace_panel(PANEL *pan, WINDOW *window)
int move_panel(PANEL *pan, int starty, int startx)
int panel_hidden(const PANEL *pan)
PANEL *panel_above(const PANEL *pan)
PANEL *panel_below(const PANEL *pan)
int set_panel_userptr(PANEL *pan, const void *ptr)
const void *panel_userptr(const PANEL *pan)
int del_panel(PANEL *pan)
DESCRIPTION
Panels are curses(3) windows with the added feature of
depth. Panel functions allow the use of stacked windows and
ensure the proper portions of each window and the curses
stdscr window are hidden or displayed when panels are added,
moved, modified or removed. The set of currently visible
panels is the stack of panels. The stdscr window is beneath
all panels, and is not considered part of the stack.
A window is associated with every panel. The panel routines
enable you to create, move, hide, and show panels, as well
as position a panel at any desired location in the stack.
Panel routines are a functional layer added to curses(3),
make only high-level curses calls, and work anywhere ter-
minfo curses does.
FUNCTIONSnew_panel(win)
allocates a PANEL structure, associates it with win,
places the panel on the top of the stack (causes it
to be displayed above any other panel) and returns a
pointer to the new panel.
void update_panels()
refreshes the virtual screen to reflect the relations
between the panels in the stack, but does not call
doupdate() to refresh the physical screen. Use this
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panel(3) UNIX Programmer's Manual panel(3)
function and not wrefresh or wnoutrefresh.
update_panels() may be called more than once before a
call to doupdate(), but doupdate() is the function
responsible for updating the physical screen.
del_panel(pan)
removes the given panel from the stack and deallocates
the PANEL structure (but not its associated window).
hide_panel(pan)
removes the given panel from the panel stack and thus
hides it from view. The PANEL structure is not lost,
merely removed from the stack.
show_panel(pan)
makes a hidden panel visible by placing it on top of
the panels in the panel stack. See COMPATIBILITY below.
top_panel(pan)
puts the given visible panel on top of all panels in
the stack. See COMPATIBILITY below.
bottom_panel(pan)
puts panel at the bottom of all panels.
move_panel(pan,starty,startx)
moves the given panel window so that its upper-left
corner is at starty, startx. It does not change the
position of the panel in the stack. Be sure to use
this function, not mvwin(), to move a panel window.
replace_panel(pan,window)
replaces the current window of panel with window (use-
ful, for example if you want to resize a panel; if
you're using ncurses, you can call replace_panel on the
output of wresize(3)). It does not change the position
of the panel in the stack.
panel_above(pan)
returns a pointer to the panel above pan. If the panel
argument is (PANEL *)0, it returns a pointer to the
bottom panel in the stack.
panel_below(pan)
returns a pointer to the panel just below pan. If the
panel argument is (PANEL *)0, it returns a pointer to
the top panel in the stack.
set_panel_userptr(pan,ptr)
sets the panel's user pointer.
panel_userptr(pan)MirOS BSD #10-current Printed 18.8.2011 2
panel(3) UNIX Programmer's Manual panel(3)
returns the user pointer for a given panel.
panel_window(pan)
returns a pointer to the window of the given panel.
DIAGNOSTICS
Each routine that returns a pointer returns NULL if an error
occurs. Each routine that returns an int value returns OK if
it executes successfully and ERR if not.
COMPATIBILITY
Reasonable care has been taken to ensure compatibility
with the native panel facility introduced in SVr3.2
(inspection of the SVr4 manual pages suggests the program-
ming interface is unchanged). The PANEL data structures are
merely similar. The programmer is cautioned not to
directly use PANEL fields.
The functions show_panel() and top_panel() are identical in
this implementation, and work equally well with displayed or
hidden panels. In the native System V implementation,
show_panel() is intended for making a hidden panel visible
(at the top of the stack) and top_panel() is intended for
making an already-visible panel move to the top of the
stack. You are cautioned to use the correct function to
ensure compatibility with native panel libraries.
NOTE
In your library list, libpanel.a should be before
libncurses.a; that is, you want to say `-lpanel -lncurses',
not the other way around (which would give you a link error
using GNU ld(1) and some other linkers).
FILES
panel.h interface for the panels library
libpanel.a the panels library itself
SEE ALSOcurses(3)AUTHOR
Originally written by Warren Tucker <wht@n4hgf.mt-
park.ga.us>, primarily to assist in porting u386mon to sys-
tems without a native panels library. Repackaged for
ncurses by Zeyd ben-Halim.
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