[xtoys] / xgetline.1

.TH xgetline 1 "15 November 1998" "Edgeware tools"
.SH NAME
xgetline \- request a line of text in an X dialogue box
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B xgetline
.RB [ -in ]
.RB [ \-t
.IR title ]
.RB [ \-p
.IR prompt ]
.RB [ \-d
.IR default ]
.RB [ \-l | \-H
.IR file ]
.RB [ \- m
.IR max ]
.SH DESCRIPTION
The
.B xgetline
program reads a line of text from the user via a pretty GTK dialogue
box.  The title bar contents, prompt string, and default text are all
configurable.  If the user enters a string and clicks the
.B OK
button (or
presses
.IR enter ),
the string is echoed to standard output and
.B xgetline
returns an exit status of zero.  If the user cancels the dialogue box
(by closing it, or pressing
.IR escape ),
.B xgetline
echoes nothing and returns an exit status of one.
.PP
The
.B xgetline
program is intended to be used in window manager configuration files, to
allow users to fill in bits of text (e.g., hostnames or shell commands)
in generally useful places.  For example, the author has the following
shell command attached to a hotkey:
.PP
.RS 5
.ft B
.nf
cmd=`xgetline -t "Shell command in window" -p "Command:"` &&
  xterm -T "$cmd" -e sh -c "$cmd"
.ft R
.fi
.SS OPTIONS
.TP 5
.B \-i, \-\-invisible
Don't echo characters to the screen when they're typed.  Useful when
requesting passwords and similar secrets.
.TP 5
.BI "\-t, \-\-title " title
Sets the title of the dialogue box to
.IR title .
The default title is
.RB ` "Input request" '.
.TP 5
.BI "\-p, \-\-prompt " prompt
Sets the prompt string in the dialogue box to
.IR prompt .
The default is to have no prompt string.
.TP 5
.BI "\-d, \-\-default " default
Sets the default text in the entry field to
.IR default .
The default default is the first item in the empty string.  The special
default string
.RB ` @ '
sets the default to be the first item in the history list, if one is
supplied.
.TP 5
.BI "\-l, \-\-list " file
Reads a list of alternatives from
.I file
and displays them in a drop-down list box.  The user can rapidly select
an item from the drop-down list using the mouse or cursor keys.  The
file is not modified (but see the
.B \-\-history
option below).
.TP 5
.B "\-n, \-\-no-choice"
One of the items from the selection list must be chosen; the user may
not type an entry in directly.
.TP 5
.BI "\-H, \-\-history " file
Reads a file and displays the contents in a drop-down list, as for
.B \-\-list
above.  Once the user has entered a string, a new list written to 
.I file
containing the newly entered string as the first item; other lines
matching the newly entered string are not written.
.TP 5
.BI "\-m, \-\-histmax " max
When writing an updated history file, do not write more than
.I max
lines.  The default is 20; a value of 0 disables a length limit on the
history file.
.SH AUTHOR
Mark Wooding (mdw@nsict.org).
.SH BUGS
Hopefully none.
Commit	Line	Data
90b2c5d4	1	.TH xgetline 1 "15 November 1998" "Edgeware tools"
	2	.SH NAME
	3	xgetline \- request a line of text in an X dialogue box
	4	.SH SYNOPSIS
	5	.B xgetline
0a47c222	6	.RB [ -in ]
90b2c5d4	7	.RB [ \-t
	8	.IR title ]
	9	.RB [ \-p
	10	.IR prompt ]
	11	.RB [ \-d
	12	.IR default ]
0a47c222	13	.RB [ \-l \| \-H
	14	.IR file ]
	15	.RB [ \- m
	16	.IR max ]
90b2c5d4	17	.SH DESCRIPTION
	18	The
	19	.B xgetline
	20	program reads a line of text from the user via a pretty GTK dialogue
	21	box. The title bar contents, prompt string, and default text are all
	22	configurable. If the user enters a string and clicks the
	23	.B OK
	24	button (or
	25	presses
	26	.IR enter ),
	27	the string is echoed to standard output and
	28	.B xgetline
	29	returns an exit status of zero. If the user cancels the dialogue box
	30	(by closing it, or pressing
	31	.IR escape ),
	32	.B xgetline
	33	echoes nothing and returns an exit status of one.
	34	.PP
	35	The
	36	.B xgetline
	37	program is intended to be used in window manager configuration files, to
	38	allow users to fill in bits of text (e.g., hostnames or shell commands)
	39	in generally useful places. For example, the author has the following
	40	shell command attached to a hotkey:
	41	.PP
	42	.RS 5
	43	.ft B
	44	.nf
	45	cmd=`xgetline -t "Shell command in window" -p "Command:"` &&
	46	xterm -T "$cmd" -e sh -c "$cmd"
	47	.ft R
	48	.fi
	49	.SS OPTIONS
	50	.TP 5
f3b35b6b	51	.B \-i, \-\-invisible
	52	Don't echo characters to the screen when they're typed. Useful when
	53	requesting passwords and similar secrets.
	54	.TP 5
90b2c5d4	55	.BI "\-t, \-\-title " title
	56	Sets the title of the dialogue box to
	57	.IR title .
	58	The default title is
	59	.RB ` "Input request" '.
	60	.TP 5
	61	.BI "\-p, \-\-prompt " prompt
	62	Sets the prompt string in the dialogue box to
	63	.IR prompt .
	64	The default is to have no prompt string.
	65	.TP 5
	66	.BI "\-d, \-\-default " default
	67	Sets the default text in the entry field to
	68	.IR default .
0a47c222	69	The default default is the first item in the empty string. The special
	70	default string
	71	.RB ` @ '
	72	sets the default to be the first item in the history list, if one is
	73	supplied.
	74	.TP 5
	75	.BI "\-l, \-\-list " file
	76	Reads a list of alternatives from
	77	.I file
	78	and displays them in a drop-down list box. The user can rapidly select
	79	an item from the drop-down list using the mouse or cursor keys. The
	80	file is not modified (but see the
	81	.B \-\-history
	82	option below).
	83	.TP 5
	84	.B "\-n, \-\-no-choice"
	85	One of the items from the selection list must be chosen; the user may
	86	not type an entry in directly.
	87	.TP 5
	88	.BI "\-H, \-\-history " file
	89	Reads a file and displays the contents in a drop-down list, as for
	90	.B \-\-list
	91	above. Once the user has entered a string, a new list written to
	92	.I file
	93	containing the newly entered string as the first item; other lines
	94	matching the newly entered string are not written.
	95	.TP 5
	96	.BI "\-m, \-\-histmax " max
	97	When writing an updated history file, do not write more than
	98	.I max
	99	lines. The default is 20; a value of 0 disables a length limit on the
	100	history file.
90b2c5d4	101	.SH AUTHOR
	102	Mark Wooding (mdw@nsict.org).
	103	.SH BUGS
	104	Hopefully none.