UI::Dialog(3) wrapper for various dialog applications.

SYNOPSIS


use UI::Dialog;
my $d = new UI::Dialog ( backtitle => 'Demo', title => 'Default',
height => 20, width => 65 , listheight => 5,
order => [ 'zenity', 'xdialog' ] );
# Either a Zenity or Xdialog msgbox widget should popup,
# with a preference for Zenity.
$d->msgbox( title => 'Welcome!', text => 'Welcome one and all!' );

ABSTRACT

UI::Dialog is a OOPerl wrapper for the various dialog applications. These dialog backends are currently supported: Zenity, XDialog, GDialog, KDialog, CDialog, and Whiptail. There is also an ASCII backend provided as a last resort interface for the console based dialog variants. UI::Dialog is a class that provides a strict interface to these various backend modules. By using UI:Dialog (with it's imposed limitations on the widgets) you can ensure that your Perl program will function with any available interfaces.

DESCRIPTION

UI::Dialog supports priority ordering of the backend detection process. So if you'd prefer that Xdialog should be used first if available, simply designate the desired order when creating the new object. The default order for detecting and utilization of the backends are as follows:
  (with DISPLAY env): Zenity, GDialog, XDialog, KDialog
  (without DISPLAY): CDialog, Whiptail, ASCII

UI::Dialog is the result of a complete re-write of the UDPM CPAN module. This was done to break away from the bad choice of name (UserDialogPerlModule) and to implement a cleaner, more detached, OOPerl interface.

EXPORT

None

INHERITS

None

CONSTRUCTOR

new( @options )

EXAMPLE
 my $d = new( title => 'Default Title', backtitle => 'Backtitle',
              width => 65, height => 20, listheight => 5,
              order => [ 'zenity', 'xdialog', 'gdialog' ] );
DESCRIPTION
This is the Class Constructor method. It accepts a list of key => value pairs and uses them as the defaults when interacting with the various widgets.
RETURNS
A blessed object reference of the UI::Dialog class.
OPTIONS
The (...)'s after each option indicate the default for the option. An * denotes support by all the widget methods on a per-use policy defaulting to the values decided during object creation.
debug = 0,1,2 (0)
order = [ zenity, xdialog, gdialog, kdialog, cdialog, whiptail, ascii ] (as indicated)
PATH = [ /bin, /usr/bin, /usr/local/bin, /opt/bin ] (as indicated)
backtitle = "backtitle" ('') *
title = "title" ('') *
beepbefore = 0,1 (0) *
beepafter = 0,1 (0) *
height = \d+ (20) *
width = \d+ (65) *
listheight = \d+ (5) *

STATE METHODS

state( )

EXAMPLE
 if ($d->state() eq "OK") {
     $d->msgbox( text => "that went well" );
 }
DESCRIPTION
Returns the state of the last dialog widget command. The value can be one of ``OK'', ``CANCEL'', ``ESC''. The return data is based on the exit codes (return value) of the last widget displayed.
RETURNS
a single SCALAR.

ra( )

EXAMPLE
 my @array = $d->ra();
DESCRIPTION
Returns the last widget's data as an array.
RETURNS
an ARRAY.

rs( )

EXAMPLE
 my $string = $d->rs();
DESCRIPTION
Returns the last widget's data as a (possibly multiline) string.
RETURNS
a SCALAR.

rv( )

EXAMPLE
 my $string = $d->rv();
DESCRIPTION
Returns the last widget's exit status, aka: return value.
RETURNS
a SCALAR.

WIDGET METHODS

yesno( )

EXAMPLE
 if ($d->yesno( text => 'A binary type question?') ) {
     # user pressed yes
 } else {
     # user pressed no or cancel
 }
DESCRIPTION
Present the end user with a message box that has two buttons, yes and no.
RETURNS
TRUE \fIs0(1) for a response of YES or FALSE \fIs0(0) for anything else.

msgbox( )

EXAMPLE
 $d->msgbox( text => 'A simple message' );
DESCRIPTION
Pesent the end user with a message box that has an OK button.
RETURNS
TRUE \fIs0(1) for a response of OK or FALSE \fIs0(0) for anything else.

inputbox( )

EXAMPLE
 my $string = $d->inputbox( text => 'Please enter some text...',
                            entry => 'this is the input field' );
DESCRIPTION
Present the end user with a text input field and a message.
RETURNS
a SCALAR if the response is OK and FALSE \fIs0(0) for anything else.

password( )

EXAMPLE
 my $string = $d->password( text => 'Enter some hidden text.' );
DESCRIPTION
Present the end user with a text input field, that has hidden input, and a message.

Note that the GDialog backend will provide a regular inputbox instead of a password box because gdialog doesn't support passwords. GDialog is on it's way to the proverbial software heaven so this isn't a real problem. Use Zenity instead :)

RETURNS
a SCALAR if the response is OK and FALSE \fIs0(0) for anything else.

textbox( )

EXAMPLE
 $d->textbox( path => '/path/to/a/text/file' );
DESCRIPTION
Present the end user with a simple scrolling box containing the contents of the given text file.
RETURNS
TRUE \fIs0(1) if the response is OK and FALSE \fIs0(0) for anything else.

menu( )

EXAMPLE
 my $selection1 = $d->menu( text => 'Select one:',
                            list => [ 'tag1', 'item1',
                                      'tag2', 'item2',
                                      'tag3', 'item3' ] );
DESCRIPTION
Present the user with a selectable list.
RETURNS
a SCALAR of the chosen tag if the response is OK and FALSE \fIs0(0) for anything else.

checklist( )

EXAMPLE
 my @selection1 = $d->checklist( text => 'Select one:',
                                 list => [ 'tag1', [ 'item1', 0 ],
                                           'tag2', [ 'item2', 1 ],
                                           'tag3', [ 'item3', 1 ] ]
                               );
DESCRIPTION
Present the user with a selectable checklist.
RETURNS
an ARRAY of the chosen tags if the response is OK and FALSE \fIs0(0) for anything else.

radiolist( )

EXAMPLE
 my $selection1 = $d->radiolist( text => 'Select one:',
                                 list => [ 'tag1', [ 'item1', 0 ],
                                           'tag2', [ 'item2', 1 ],
                                           'tag3', [ 'item3', 0 ] ]
                               );
DESCRIPTION
Present the user with a selectable radiolist.
RETURNS
a SCALAR of the chosen tag if the response is OK and FALSE \fIs0(0) for anything else.

fselect( )

EXAMPLE
 my $text = $d->fselect( path => '/path/to/a/file/or/directory' );
DESCRIPTION
Present the user with a file selection widget preset with the given path.
RETURNS
a SCALAR if the response is OK and FALSE \fIs0(0) for anything else.

dselect( )

EXAMPLE
 my $text = $d->dselect( path => '/path/to/a/file/or/directory' );
DESCRIPTION
Present the user with a file selection widget preset with the given path. Unlike fselect() this widget will only return a directory selection.
RETURNS
a SCALAR if the response is OK and FALSE \fIs0(0) for anything else.

BUGS

Please email the author with any bug reports. Include the name of the module in the subject line.

AUTHOR

Kevin C. Krinke, <[email protected]>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

 Copyright (C) 2013  Kevin C. Krinke <[email protected]>
 This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
 License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
 version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
 This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
 Lesser General Public License for more details.
 You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
 License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
 Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307 USA

SEE ALSO

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