Re: Displaying multiple forms at the same time

[Thomas Dickey]

On Wed, Nov 25, 2015 at 12:38:15PM -0800, Elliot Li wrote:
> Hello!
> 
> I’m new to ncurses and am trying to develop a C/C++ program that should look
> like HDCopy [1].  The content of the Messages box will be dynamically added
> and should be scrollable (no need to be editable).
>  
> I think each block should be programmed using a form and managed separately
> but please let me know if there’s an easier way to achieve that appearance.
> 
> I’m testing the dialog library because I like its style and widgets.  But it
> seems not supporting showing multiple forms (or dialogs) at the same time so
> I’m digging into the lower level and am trying to do it using dlg_*
> functions.
> 
> Do you guys think this is the right direction to go?  Or should I try CDK
> instead?  Or just use plain ncurses?

Both dialog and cdk have limited ability to use the tab-key for traversing
between widgets.  However - that is "limited", and it's easy to conceive
of user interfaces which require something more sophisticated (or specialized).

Likewise, the form- and menu-libraries in ncurses address a certain style.
So... if you really know what you want, and spend time on it, low-level
ncurses works well.  But if you want something quick which follows one of
the respective libraries' limitations, then the libraries are a good choice.
 
> Thanks for your advices.  If you think I should be using a certain library
> please kindly let me know what kind of mechanism (form?  pad?  window?  oh,
> my!) I should use.  Better if there is a sample program that looks like
> HDCopy.  For now I’m just studying the formbox.c file from libdialog.
> 
> [1] http://www.asiawide.or.jp/Images/HD_COPY1.jpg
> 
> Elliot
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-- 
Thomas E. Dickey <address@hidden>
http://invisible-island.net
ftp://invisible-island.net

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