menu - curses extension for programming menus
The menu library provides terminal-independent facilities for composing
menu systems on character-cell terminals. The library includes: item routines,
which create and modify menu items; and menu routines, which group items into
menus, display menus on the screen, and handle interaction with the user.
The menu library uses the curses libraries, and a
curses initialization routine such as initscr must be called before
using any of these functions. To use the menu library, link with the
options -lmenu -lcurses.
The menu library maintains a default value for item attributes. You can
get or set this default by calling the appropriate get_ or set_
routine with a NULL item pointer. Changing this default with a
set_ function affects future item creations, but does not change the
rendering of items already created.
The following table lists each menu routine and the name of the manual
page on which it is described.
curses Routine Name |
Manual Page Name |
current_item |
mitem_current(3X) |
free_item |
mitem_new(3X) |
free_menu |
menu_new(3X) |
item_count |
menu_items(3X) |
item_description |
mitem_name(3X) |
item_index |
mitem_current(3X) |
item_init |
menu_hook(3X) |
item_name |
mitem_name(3X) |
item_opts |
mitem_opts(3X) |
item_opts_off |
mitem_opts(3X) |
item_opts_on |
mitem_opts(3X) |
item_term |
menu_hook(3X) |
item_userptr |
mitem_userptr(3X) |
item_value |
mitem_value(3X) |
item_visible |
mitem_visible(3X) |
menu_back |
menu_attributes(3X) |
menu_driver |
menu_driver(3X) |
menu_fore |
menu_attributes(3X) |
menu_format |
menu_format(3X) |
menu_grey |
menu_attributes(3X) |
menu_init |
menu_hook(3X) |
menu_items |
menu_items(3X) |
menu_mark |
menu_mark(3X) |
menu_opts |
menu_opts(3X) |
menu_opts_off |
menu_opts(3X) |
menu_opts_on |
menu_opts(3X) |
menu_pad |
menu_attributes(3X) |
menu_pattern |
menu_pattern(3X) |
menu_request_by_name |
menu_requestname(3X) |
menu_request_name |
menu_requestname(3X) |
menu_spacing |
menu_spacing(3X) |
menu_sub |
menu_win(3X) |
menu_term |
menu_hook(3X) |
menu_userptr |
menu_userptr(3X) |
menu_win |
menu_win(3X) |
new_item |
mitem_new(3X) |
new_menu |
menu_new(3X) |
pos_menu_cursor |
menu_cursor(3X) |
post_menu |
menu_post(3X) |
scale_menu |
menu_win(3X) |
set_current_item |
mitem_current(3X) |
set_item_init |
menu_hook(3X) |
set_item_opts |
mitem_opts(3X) |
set_item_term |
menu_hook(3X) |
set_item_userptr |
mitem_userptr(3X) |
set_item_value |
mitem_value(3X) |
set_menu_back |
menu_attributes(3X) |
set_menu_fore |
menu_attributes(3X) |
set_menu_format |
menu_format(3X) |
set_menu_grey |
menu_attributes(3X) |
set_menu_init |
menu_hook(3X) |
set_menu_items |
menu_items(3X) |
set_menu_mark |
menu_mark(3X) |
set_menu_opts |
mitem_opts(3X) |
set_menu_pad |
menu_attributes(3X) |
set_menu_pattern |
menu_pattern(3X) |
set_menu_spacing |
menu_spacing(3X) |
set_menu_sub |
menu_win(3X) |
set_menu_term |
menu_hook(3X) |
set_menu_userptr |
menu_userptr(3X) |
set_menu_win |
menu_win(3X) |
set_top_row |
mitem_current(3X) |
top_row |
mitem_current(3X) |
unpost_menu |
menu_post(3X) |
Routines that return pointers return NULL on error. Routines that return
an integer return one of the following error codes:
- E_OK
- The routine succeeded.
- E_BAD_ARGUMENT
- Routine detected an incorrect or out-of-range argument.
- E_BAD_STATE
- Routine was called from an initialization or termination function.
- E_NO_MATCH
- Character failed to match.
- E_NO_ROOM
- Menu is too large for its window.
- E_NOT_CONNECTED
- No items are connected to the menu.
- E_NOT_POSTED
- The menu has not been posted.
- E_NOT_SELECTABLE
- The designated item cannot be selected.
- E_POSTED
- The menu is already posted.
- E_REQUEST_DENIED
- The menu driver could not process the request.
- E_SYSTEM_ERROR
- System error occurred (see errno(3)).
- E_UNKNOWN_COMMAND
- The menu driver code saw an unknown request code.
The header file <menu.h> automatically includes the header files
<curses.h> and <eti.h>.
In your library list, libmenu.a should be before libncurses.a;
that is, you should say “-lmenu -lncurses”, not the other way
around (which would give a link-error when using static libraries).
These routines emulate the System V menu library. They were not supported on
Version 7 or BSD versions.
The menu facility was documented in SVr4.2 in Character User
Interface Programming (UNIX SVR4.2).
It is not part of X/Open Curses.
Aside from ncurses, there are few implementations:
- systems based on SVr4 source code, e.g., Solaris.
- NetBSD curses.
Juergen Pfeifer. Manual pages and adaptation for ncurses by Eric S. Raymond.
curses(3X) and related pages whose names begin “menu_” for
detailed descriptions of the entry points.
This describes ncurses version 6.3 (patch 20211021).