panel(3) Library calls panel(3)
NAME
panel - panel stack extension for curses
SYNOPSIS
#include <panel.h>
panel(3) *win);
panel(3) *pan);
panel(3) *pan);
panel(3) *pan);
void update_panels(void);
panel(3) *pan);
WINDOW *panel_window(const PANEL *pan);
panel(3) *pan, WINDOW *window);
panel(3) *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);
panel(3) *pan);
/* ncurses extensions */
panel(3) *sp);
panel(3) *sp);
DESCRIPTION
Panels are curses(3X) windows with the added property of depth. Panel
functions allow the use of stacked windows and ensure that 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 each panel. The panel routines enable you
to create, move, hide, and show panels. You can relocate a panel to
any desired position in the stack.
Panel routines are a functional layer added to curses, make only high-
level curses calls, and work anywhere curses does.
FUNCTIONS
bottom_panel
panel(3)pan) puts panel pan at the bottom of all panels.
ceiling_panel
panel(3)sp) acts like panel_below(NULL) for the given SCREEN sp.
del_panel
panel(3)pan) removes the given panel pan from the stack and
deallocates the PANEL structure (but not its associated window).
ground_panel
panel(3)sp) acts like panel_above(NULL) for the given SCREEN sp.
hide_panel
panel(3)pan) removes the given panel pan from the panel stack and
thus hides it from view. The PANEL structure is not lost, merely
removed from the stack.
move_panel
panel(3)pan, starty, startx) moves the given panel pan's 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(3X), to move a panel window.
new_panel
panel(3)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.
panel_above
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
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.
panel_hidden
panel_hidden(pan) returns FALSE if the panel pan is in the panel stack,
and TRUE if it is not. If the panel is a null pointer, it returns ERR.
panel_userptr
panel_userptr(pan) returns the user pointer for a given panel pan.
panel_window
panel_window(pan) returns a pointer to the window of the given panel
pan.
replace_panel
panel(3)pan, window) replaces the current window of panel pan
with window This is useful if, for example, you want to resize a panel.
In ncurses, you can call replace_panel to resize a panel using a window
resized with wresize(3X). It does not change the position of the panel
in the stack.
set_panel_userptr
set_panel_userptr(pan, ptr) sets the panel's user pointer.
show_panel
panel(3)pan) makes a hidden panel visible by placing it on top of
the panels in the panel stack. See "PORTABILITY" below.
top_panel
panel(3)pan) puts the given visible panel pan on top of all panels in
the stack. See "PORTABILITY" below.
update_panels
update_panels() refreshes the virtual screen to reflect the relations
between the panels in the stack, but does not call doupdate(3X) to
refresh the physical screen. Use this function and not wrefresh(3X) or
wnoutrefresh(3X).
update_panels may be called more than once before a call to doupdate,
but doupdate is the function responsible for updating the physical
screen.
RETURN VALUE
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.
Except as noted, the pan and window parameters must be non-null. If
either is null, an error is returned.
The move_panel function uses mvwin(3X), and returns an error if mvwin
returns an error.
NOTES
The header file panel.h itself includes the header file curses.h.
PORTABILITY
Reasonable care has been taken to ensure compatibility with the native
panel facility introduced in System V; inspection of the SVr4 manual
pages suggests the programming interface never changed. 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 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 System V panel libraries.
HISTORY
A panel facility was documented in SVr4.2's Character User Interface
Programming document.
It is not part of X/Open Curses.
A few implementations exist:
o Systems based on SVr4 source code, such as Solaris, provide this
library.
o ncurses (since version 0.6 in 1993) and PDCurses (since version 2.2
in 1995) provide a panel library whose common ancestor is a public
domain implementation by Warren Tucker published in u386mon 2.20
(1990).
According to Tucker, the System V panel library was first released
in SVr3.2 (1988), and his implementation helped with a port to
SVr3.1 (1987).
Several developers have improved each of these; they are no longer
the same as Tucker's implementation.
o NetBSD 8 (2018) has a panel library begun by Valery Ushakov in
2015, based on the System V documentation.
AUTHORS
Warren Tucker <wht@n4hgf.mt-park.ga.us> originally wrote this
implementation, primarily to assist in porting u386mon to systems
without a native panel library.
Zeyd ben-Halim repackaged it for ncurses.
Juergen Pfeifer and Thomas E. Dickey revised and improved the library.
SEE ALSO
curses(3X), curs_variables(3X)
ncurses 6.5 2024-03-16 panel(3)
ncurses 6.5 - Generated Wed May 1 15:52:43 CDT 2024