Skip to content
    • Welcome to the Linux Foundation Forum!

    Help function of "dialog"

    Posts: 15
    in Command Line

    Hi all,

    I'm currently writing some bash scripts using the "dialog" functionality to enhance the user experience on the command line.

    All is going well, but there is one problem I cannot sort out and little info is found via Google, that is, the help system of dialog. There are options to show a help button and when the user selects it, the corresponding help text appears.

    I can get the button to shop up, but there is no documentation on how to show the corresponding help text into a box. Dialog just quits with "HELP:".

    Does anyone here on the forums have any usable knowledge about the help functionality of dialog and is willing to help me out?

    Thanks in advance and should you need more information, please ask, so I can supply it.

    Welcome!

    It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.
    Sign In

    Comments

    • Posts: 15
      Hmm, I haven't thought about that strategy yet. Though it is a bit cumbersome, especially when handling multiple actions and various dialog boxes. I would have to think about a good strategy for that.

      Another question, if I read the help correctly, it should be possible to keep the originating window and place the help window on top of that. Do you have any idea to accomplish this?

      Thanks already for your help!
    • Posts: 15
      edited November 2011
      That's possible, I'm only pasting the part of what's relevant, since it's a huge script by now :)
      1. #!/bin/bash
      2. escaper()
      3. {
      4.         action=$?
      5.         if [ $action = 1 -o $action = 255 ];
      6.         then
      7.                 dialog --title "$title" --yesno "\nAre you sure you want to quit?" 7 35
      8.                 sure=$?
      9.                 if [ $sure = 0 ];
      10.                 then
      11.                         clear
      12.                         exit
      13.                 fi
      14.         fi
      15. }
      16. genhour()
      17. {
      18.         genhour=9
      19.         hour=$RANDOM
      20.         let "hour %= $genhour"
      21. }
      22. genminute()
      23. {
      24.         genminute=59
      25.         minute=$RANDOM
      26.         let "minute %= $genminute"
      27. }
      28. pid=$(echo $$)
      29. if [ -z $1 ];
      30. then
      31.         genhour
      32.         genminute
      33.         dialog --backtitle "$backtitle" --title "$title" --keep-window --form "\nYour Backup Account Details\n" 20 60 0 \
      34.         "Username....:" 1 1 "" 1 15 14 0 \
      35.         "Password....:" 2 1 "" 2 15 14 0 \
      36.         "Server......:" 3 1 "" 3 15 30 0 \
      37.         "Backup root.:" 4 1 "/" 4 15 30 0 \
      38.         "Weeks.......:" 5 1 "0" 5 15 2 0 \
      39.         "Months......:" 6 1 "0" 6 15 2 0 \
      40.         "MySQL dumps.:" 7 1 "$mysqldumps" 7 15 1 0 \
      41.         "SQL Dir.....:" 8 1 "/var/sqlbackups/" 8 15 30 0 \
      42.         "Cron (HH)...:" 9 1 "$hour" 9 15 2 0 \
      43.         "Cron (MM)...:" 10 1 "$minute" 10 15 2 0 \
      44.         "Logging.....:" 11 1 "Y" 11 15 1 0 \
      45.         "Email log...:" 12 1 "N" 12 15 1 0 \
      46.         "Emailaddress:" 13 1 "" 13 15 30 0 2> /tmp/$pid-options
      47.         escaper
      48.         choice=$?
      49.         array=( `cat /tmp/$pid-options `)
      50.         if [ -f /tmp/$pid-options ];
      51.         then
      52.                 rm /tmp/$pid-options > /dev/null 2> /dev/null
      53.         fi
      54.         while ! [ ${#array[@]} = 13 ]
      55.         do
      56.                 dialog --backtitle "$backtitle" --title "$title" --msgbox "\nNot all fields are populated!\n\nPlease make sure you fill in all the fields." 10 50; clear
      57.                 genhour
      58.                 genminute
      59.                 dialog --backtitle "$backtitle" --title "$title" --keep-window --form "\nYour Backup Account Details\n" 20 60 0 \
      60.                 "Username....:" 1 1 "" 1 15 14 0 \
      61.                 "Password....:" 2 1 "" 2 15 14 0 \
      62.                 "Server......:" 3 1 "" 3 15 30 0 \
      63.                 "Backup root.:" 4 1 "$defaultbackuppath" 4 15 30 0 \
      64.                 "Weeks.......:" 5 1 "0" 5 15 2 0 \
      65.                 "Months......:" 6 1 "0" 6 15 2 0 \
      66.                 "MySQL dumps.:" 7 1 "$mysqldumps" 7 15 1 0 \
      67.                 "SQL Dir.....:" 8 1 "/var/sqlbackups/" 8 15 30 0 \
      68.                 "Cron (HH)...:" 9 1 "$hour" 9 15 2 0 \
      69.                 "Cron (MM)...:" 10 1 "$minute" 10 15 2 0 \
      70.                 "Logging.....:" 11 1 "Y" 11 15 1 0 \
      71.                 "Email log...:" 12 1 "N" 12 15 1 0 \
      72.                 "Emailaddress:" 13 1 "" 13 15 30 0 2> /tmp/$pid-options
      73.                 escaper
      74.                 choice=$?
      75.                 array=( `cat /tmp/$pid-options `)
      76.                 if [ -f /tmp/$pid-options ];
      77.                 then
      78.                         rm /tmp/$pid-options > /dev/null 2> /dev/null
      79.                 fi
      80.         done
      81. fi

      As you can see, it's showing a message if the array is not completely filled. I want that window on top of the original box, so if a user selects OK, it returns to the original window, keeping the fields with their input.

      As stated before, it's not the complete code, but enough to run :). Should you need more, let me know. And indeed, the manpage on dialog is very limited...
    • Posts: 647
      edited November 2011
      Before getting into your problem, I'll make a couple of suggestions.

      Since you are using bash ((#!/bin/bash):
      1 - Use [[ (builtin) instead of [ (external test/[ command). [[ is safer,faster and has more options than test/[
      2 - Don't use `` for commands, as it is deprecated. Use $() instead (it's easier to nest commands, better readability, you can use "",etc)
      3 - Try not to insert external commands into variables ( array=( ` cat /tmp/$pid-option `) ). Better use something like: 
      1. while read -r line
      2.     do
      3.         echo "$line"
      4.     done < "$file"

      4 - "pid=$(echo $$)" ?? Why not just "pid=$$"? ( This could go in the point 3 )

      Now, to your problem:

      You have the options that the user chose in the /tmp/$pid-options file (or in the array variable) , why don't you use that info to fill the blanks on the call to the dialog? I mean, if your user, for example, just introduced the "Username" field that data can be used to fill the first spot in your dialog:
      1. "Username....:" 1 1 "${array[0]}" 1 15 14 0

      Gosshhh I love scripting :D

    Welcome!

    It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.
    Sign In

    Welcome!

    It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.
    Sign In

    Quick Links

    Categories

    Upcoming Training