panel(3X)																 panel(3X)

NAME

       panel - panel stack extension for curses

SYNOPSIS

       #include <panel.h>

       cc [flags] sourcefiles -lpanel -lncurses

       PANEL *new_panel(WINDOW *win)
       int bottom_panel(PANEL *pan)
       int top_panel(PANEL *pan)
       int show_panel(PANEL *pan)
       void update_panels();
       int hide_panel(PANEL *pan)
       WINDOW *panel_window(const PANEL *pan)
       int replace_panel(PANEL *pan, WINDOW *window)
       int move_panel(PANEL *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)
       int del_panel(PANEL *pan)

DESCRIPTION

       Panels are curses(3X) windows with the added feature of depth.  Panel functions allow the use of stacked windows and ensure the proper por-
       tions 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 every panel. The panel routines enable you to create, move, hides, and show panels, as well as position a panel
       at any desired location in the stack.

       Panel routines are a functional layer added to curses(3X), make only high-level curses calls, and work anywhere terminfo curses does.

FUNCTIONS

       new_panel(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.

       void update_panels()
	      refreshes  the  virtual screen to reflect the relations between the panels in the stack, but does not call doupdate() to refresh the
	      physical screen.	Use this function and not wrefresh or wnoutrefresh.  update_panels() may be called more than once before a call to
	      doupdate(), but doupdate() is the function responsible for updating the physical screen.

       del_panel(pan)
	      removes the given panel from the	stack and deallocates the PANEL structure (but not its associated window).

       hide_panel(pan)
	      removes  the  given panel from the panel stack and thus hides it from view. The PANEL structure is not lost, merely removed from the
	      stack.

       show_panel(pan)
	      makes a hidden panel visible by placing it on top of the panels in the panel stack. See COMPATIBILITY below.

       top_panel(pan)
	      puts the given visible panel on top of all panels in the stack.  See COMPATIBILITY below.

       bottom_panel(pan)
	      puts panel at the bottom of all panels.

       move_panel(pan,starty,startx)
	      moves the given panel 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(), to move a panel window.

       replace_panel(pan,window)
	      replaces	the  current  window of panel with window (useful, for example if you want to resize a panel; if you're using ncurses, you
	      can call replace_panel on the output of wresize(3X)).  It does not change the position of the panel in the stack.

       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(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.

       set_panel_userptr(pan,ptr)
	      sets the panel's user pointer.

       panel_userptr(pan)
	      returns the user pointer for a given panel.

       panel_window(pan)
	      returns a pointer to the window of the given panel.

DIAGNOSTICS

       Each routine that returns a pointer returns NULL if an error occurs. Each routine that returns an int value returns OK if it executes  suc-
       cessfully and ERR if not.

COMPATIBILITY

       Reasonable  care  has  been  taken to  ensure  compatibility with  the  native  panel facility introduced in SVr3.2 (inspection of the SVr4
       manual pages suggests the programming interface is unchanged).  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 native 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 compati-
       bility with native panel libraries.

NOTE

       In your library list, libpanel.a should be before libncurses.a; that is, you want to say `-lpanel -lncurses',  not  the	other  way  around
       (which would give you a link error using GNU ld(1) and some other linkers).

FILES

       panel.h interface for the panels library

       libpanel.a the panels library itself

SEE ALSO

       curses(3X)

AUTHOR

       Originally  written  by	Warren Tucker <wht@n4hgf.mt-park.ga.us>, primarily to assist in porting u386mon to systems without a native panels
       library.  Repackaged for ncurses by Zeyd ben-Halim.

																	 panel(3X)