Reference

bsddialog(1)

TUI dialogs

NAME

bsddialog – TUI dialogs

SYNOPSIS

bsddialog --help | --version

bsddialog [--option] --dialog text rows cols [dialog-argument] [--option]

bsddialog ... --dialog1 ... [--and-dialog --dialog2 ...] ...

DESCRIPTION

The bsddialog utility builds Text User Interface dialogs and widgets.

The option --help prints a brief list of features and exits. The option --version prints the version and exits. The option --and-dialog builds another dialog unless the previous one returns Error, ESC or Cancel.

Each dialog accepts text to print a message inside, rows and cols to set height and width, 0 for autosize and -1 for fullscreen.

The possible input from the user interface is printed to standard error at exit.

Options

The following options can change the default behavior of the utility and are common to some dialog.

--alternate-screen

Set alternate screen mode if the terminal and curses(3) provide it. If enabled bsddialog draws to the alternate screen and restores the main screen after exit. See “smcup” in terminfo(5).

--ascii-lines

Ascii characters to draw lines.

--backtitle backtitle

Screen title.

--begin-x x

Set dialog horizontal position, -1 center, 0 left screen.

--begin-y y

Set dialog vertical position, -1 center, 0 top screen.

--bikeshed

Random settings. Colors, title delimiter, button delimiter; see theme features. Title margin. Buttons always active or TAB to switch focus with other components, see --switch-buttons. Zero padding with time output; see --time-format. Zero padding with date output; see --date-format. User Interface date format for --datebox; see --datebox-format.

--cancel-exit-code retval

Set an exit code value for the “Cancel” button.

--cancel-label label

Label for the “Cancel” button.

--clear-dialog

Hide the dialog at exit.

--clear-screen

Clear the screen, wait a dialog if built.

--columns-per-row columns

Try to set the number of columns for a row of text with autosizing; default 10.

--cr-wrap

Keep new line in text also if it constains a “\n”, see --text-unchanged.

--datebox-format format

String to customize --datebox interface, possible values: “d/m/y”, “m/y/d”, “y/m/d”.

--date-format format

String accepted by strftime(3) to customize the output of --datebox and --calendar.

--default-button label

Focus on the button with label on startup.

--default-item name

Focus on the item with name, for Checklist, Menu, Radiolist and Treeview.

--default-no

Focus on “Cancel” or “No” button on startup.

--disable-esc

Disable ESC key to quit.

--error-exit-code retval

Set an exit code value for the bsddialog errors.

--esc-exit-code retval

Set an exit code value for the ESC key.

--extra-button

Add a button with “Extra” label.

--extra-exit-code retval

Set an exit code value for the “Extra” button.

--extra-label label

Set label for the “Extra” button.

--left1-button label

Add a button with label.

--left1-exit-code retval

Set an exit code for --left1-button.

--left2-button label

Add a button with label.

--left2-exit-code retval

Set an exit code for --left2-button.

--left3-button label

Add a button with label.

--left3-exit-code retval

Set an exit code for --left3-button.

--help-button

Add a button with “Help” label.

--help-exit-code retval

Set an exit code value for the “Help” button.

--help-label label

Set label for “Help” button.

--help-print-items

Print also the selected items or form values if the “Help” button is pressed.

--help-print-name

Print the name of the focused item if the “Help” button is pressed also with --item-bottom-desc.

--hfile filename

Open filename in a Textbox if F1 key is pressed.

--hline string

Dialog subtitle.

--hmsg string

Open a Msgbox with string if the F1 key is pressed.

--ignore

Do not exit with unknown options.

--insecure

Print ‘*’ to hide passwords while typing, white space otherwise.

--item-bottom-desc

Set a help string for each item of a Checklist, Form, Menu, Mixedform, Passwordform, Radiolist and Treeview to display at the bottom screen side.

--item-depth

Specify a margin for items, available for Checklist, Menu and Radiolist.

--item-prefix

Set a string to prefix each item of a Checklist, Menu, Radiolist or Treeview.

--load-theme file

Load theme from file.

--max-input size

Maximum length of the input for --inputbox and --passwordbox, default 2048.

--no-cancel

Do not show “Cancel” button.

--no-descriptions

Do not display items desciption, for Checklist, Menu, Radiolist or Treeview; mutually exclusive with --no-names.

--no-lines

Do not draw borders and lines.

--no-names

Do not display items name, for Checklist, Menu and Radiolist; mutually exclusive with --no-descriptions.

--no-ok

Do not draw “OK” button.

--no-shadow

No not draw the shadow of the dialog.

--ok-label label

Set label for “OK” button.

--ok-exit-code retval

Set an exit code value for the “Ok” button.

--normal-screen

Set normal screen mode. bsddialog does not restore the previous screen after exit. See “rmcup” in terminfo(5).

--output-fd fd

Print input from user interface to the specified file descriptor.

--output-separator sep

Set a sepator for the items in output, default white space.

--print-maxsize

Screen size. This option can be used without a dialog.

--print-size

Print dialog height and width at exit.

--print-version

Print version. This option can be used without a dialog.

--quoted

Quote items in output, default only when necessary.

--right1-button label

Add a button with label.

--right1-exit-code retval

Set an exit code for --right1-button.

--right2-button label

Add a button with label.

--right2-exit-code retval

Set an exit code for --right2-button.

--right3-button label

Add a button with label.

--right3-exit-code retval

Set an exit code for --right3-button.

--save-theme file

Save the current theme. This option can be used without a dialog.

--separate-output

Print selected items separated by a new line and avoid to quote.

--shadow

Show a shadow for the dialog, enabled by default.

--single-quoted

Use single quote for items in output.

--sleep secs

Wait secs seconds to close the dialog.

--stderr

Print input from user interface to standand error, default.

--stdout

Print input from user interface to standard output.

--switch-buttons

Enable focus switching between buttons and input components pressing TAB, otherwise buttons are always active and ENTER key closes the dialog. Suitable for: --form, --inputbox, --mixedform, --passwordbox, --passwordform, --timebox, --calendar and --datebox.

--tab-escape

Replace “\t” with a tab in text.

--tab-len spaces

Number of spaces to print a TAB in text.

--text-escape

Enable escapes in text:

“\Z0”
“\Z1”
“\Z2”
“\Z3”
“\Z4”
“\Z5”
“\Z6”
“\Z7”
“\Zb”
“\ZB”
“\Zd”
“\ZD”
“\Zk”
“\ZK”
“\Zr”
“\ZR”
“\Zs”
“\ZS”
“\Zu”
“\ZU”
“\Zn”
--text-unchanged

Disable text modification. By default text is changed before to be printed in the dialog. If it contains at least a “\n” each new line and TAB is converted to a space, subsequent spaces are merged. Otherwise new line characters are preserved and a TAB becomes a space.

--theme theme

Set theme, possible values: “3d”, “blackwhite”, “flat”.

--time-format format

String accepted by strftime(3) to customize the output of --timebox.

--timeout-exit-code retval

Set an exit code value for the --pause timeout.

--title title

Dialog title.

Keys

The following keys are available at runtime:

Ctrl-l

Redraw the dialog.

F1

See --hfile and --hmsg.

SPACE

Select menu item.

UP DOWN LEFT RIGHT - + HOME END PAGEUP PAGEDOWN Ctrl-p Ctrl-n TAB

Navigate elements and set value, depending on the dialog.

Dialogs

The following dialogs are available:

--calendar text rows cols [day month year]

Dialog to select a date.

--checklist text rows cols menurows [name desc status] ...

Checklist to select some item from a list via the SPACE key. An item has a name, desc and a default status specified by “on” or “off”. The names of the selected items are printed to standard error. menurows is the graphical height of the list, 0 for autosize.

--datebox text rows cols [day month year]

Dialog to select a date.

--form text rows cols formrows [label ylabel xlabel init yfield xfield fieldlen maxletters] ...

Dialog to get a list of strings via forms. A form has a label at the position ylabel and xlabel, a field to get the input at the position yfield and xfield. fieldlen is the field width, if negative is readonly and the width is the absolute value, if 0 the field becomes readonly and its value is the init width. The field input is not printed to output if it is readonly. maxletters is the maximum input length, if is 0 its value is fieldlen. init is the default value in the field. formrows is the graphical height of the list, 0 for autosize.

--gauge text rows cols [percentage]

Dialog with a bar to shows percentage, then it waits to read “XXX” from the standard input, then the first string replaces percentage and the following strings replace text until the next “XXX”, the loop ends reading “EOF”.

--infobox text rows cols

Dialog without buttons to display a message and to exit immediately.

--inputbox text rows cols [init]

Dialog to get a string in input, init is the default value.

--menu text rows cols menurows [name desc] ...

Builds a menu to select an item from a list, SPACE key is equivalent to ENTER. An item has a name and a desc. The name of the selected item is printed to standard error. menurows is the graphical height of the list, 0 for autosize.

--mixedform text rows cols formrows [label ylabel xlabel init yfield xfield fieldlen maxletters flag] ...

Dialog to get a list of strings via forms. A form has a label at the position ylabel and xlabel, a field to get the input at the position yfield and xfield. fieldlen is the field width, if negative is readonly and the width is the absolute value, if 0 the field becomes readonly and its value is the init width. The field input is not printed to output if fieldlen is less than or equal to 0. maxletters is the maximum input length, if is 0 its value is fieldlen. init is the default value in the field. flag can customize field: 0 normal, 1 hide typed characters, 2 readonly. formrows is the graphical height of the list, 0 for autosize.

--mixedgauge text rows cols mainperc [minilabel miniperc] ...

Dialog to show a main bar to represent mainperc from 0 to 100. Some mini bar with a minilabel string and a miniperc with a value from 0 and 100 or negative to print a descriptive string: -1 “Succeeded”, -2 “Failed”, -3 “Passed”, -4 “Completed”, -5 “Checked”, -6 “Done”, -7 “Skipped”, -8 “In Progress”, -9 to hide miniperc, -10 “N/A”, -11 “Pending”, otherwise “UNKNOWN”.

--msgbox text rows cols

Dialog to diplay a message without the “Cancel” button.

--passwordbox text rows cols [init]

Dialog to get a password, init is the default value.

--passwordform text rows cols formrows [label ylabel xlabel init yfield xfield fieldlen maxletters] ...

Dialog to get a list of passwords, equivalent to --form except typed characters are hidden.

--pause text rows cols seconds

Dialog runs until seconds timeout expires or a button is pressed.

--radiolist text rows cols menurows [name desc status] ...

Radiolist to select at most an item from a list via the SPACE key. An item has a name, desc and a default status specified by “on” or “off”. The name of the selected item is printed to standard error. menurows is the graphical height of the list, 0 for autosize.

--rangebox text rows cols min max [init]

Dialog to select a value between min and max, init is the default value.

--textbox file rows cols

Opens and prints file. TAB changes button. Extra keys 0, h, l, k, j are available to navigate the text. “OK” button is renamed “EXIT”.

--timebox text rows cols [hour min sec]

Dialog to select a time.

--treeview text rows cols menurows [depth name desc status] ...

Equivalent to Radiolist with --item-depth and --no-name.

--yesno text rows cols

“Yes-No Question”, “OK” and “Cancel” buttons are renamed “Yes” and “No”.

ENVIRONMENT

The following environment variables take effect only on startup, other options can override their setting.

NO_COLOR

If present and not an empty string (regardless of its value) equivalent to --theme blackwhite.

BSDDIALOG_ERROR, BSDDIALOG_OK, BSDDIALOG_CANCEL, BSDDIALOG_HELP, BSDDIALOG_EXTRA, BSDDIALOG_TIMEOUT, BSDDIALOG_ESC, BSDDIALOG_LEFT1, BSDDIALOG_LEFT2, BSDDIALOG_LEFT3, BSDDIALOG_RIGHT1, BSDDIALOG_RIGHT2, BSDDIALOG_RIGHT3

Set exit codes.

BSDDIALOG_THEMEFILE file

Equivalent to --load-theme file.

FILES

The theme file $HOME/.bsddialog.conf is read on startup if exists.

EXIT STATUS

The bsddialog utility exits 255 on unsuccessful, otherwise depending on the button or key pressed the following values can be returned:

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

EXAMPLES

Backtitle, title and message:

bsddialog --backtitle MESSAGE --title Msgbox --msgbox Message 0 0

Yes-No Question and theme:

bsddialog --theme blackwhite --yesno Question 10 30

Save a custom theme:

bsddialog --save-theme mytheme.txt --infobox Saving theme... 0 0

Load a custom theme:

bsddialog --load-theme mytheme.txt --infobox Custom theme 0 0

Checklist:

bsddialog --checklist Checklist 0 0 3 N1 D1 off N2 D2 on N3 D3 off

Form:

bsddialog --form Form 0 0 0 L1: 0 0 X 0 4 20 25 L2: 1 0 Y 1 4 20 25

Multi-dialog:

bsddialog --normal-screen --begin-y 1 --yesno Continue? 0 0 \ --and-dialog --begin-y 10 --infobox Yes 0 0

Bikeshed:

bsddialog --bikeshed --inputbox Example 0 0


bsddialog --bikeshed --datebox Example 0 0

Mixedgauge:

bsddialog --sleep 3 --mixedgauge Example 10 30 60 L1 -1 L2 30

Mixedgauge script:

perc=0
while [ $perc -le 100 ]
do
	bsddialog --sleep 1 --title Mixedgauge          \
		--mixedgauge "\nExample...\n" 0 0 $perc \
		"Hidden"   " -9"                        \
		"Label 1"  " -4"                        \
		"Label 2"  " -4"                        \
		"Label 3"  $perc
	perc=`expr $perc + 20`
done

Gauge script:

i=1
for c in A B C D E F G H
do
	sleep 1
	echo XXX
	echo "$(expr $(expr $i "*" 100) "/" 8)"
	echo "[$i/8] Char: $c"
	echo XXX
	if [ $i -eq 8 ]
	then
		sleep 1
		echo EOF
	fi
	i=`expr $i + 1`
done | bsddialog --title Gauge --gauge "Starting..." 10 70

COMPATIBILITY

Outdated options are retained for compatibility, properly equivalent options are used:

Obsolete                     Equivalent
--and-widget                 --and-dialog
--calendar <text> 2 <cols>   --calendar <text> 0 <cols>
--clear                      --clear-screen
--colors                     --text-escape
--defaultno                  --default-no
--exit-label                 --ok-label
--help-status                --help-print-items
--help-tags                  --help-print-name
--item-help                  --item-bottom-desc
--keep-tite                  --alternate-screen
--no-items                   --no-descriptions
--no-label                   --cancel-label
--no-tags                    --no-names
--nocancel                   --no-cancel
--nook                       --no-ok
--separator                  --output-separator
--yes-label                  --ok-label

SEE ALSO

bsddialog(3), strftime(3), terminfo(5)

HISTORY

The bsddialog utility first appeared in FreeBSD 14.0.

AUTHORS

bsddialog was written by Alfonso Sabato Siciliano ⟨[email protected]⟩. Braulio Rivas ⟨[email protected]⟩ implemented the slider dialog for the “GSoC 2025 Full Disk Administration Tool for FreeBSD”.

bsddialog provides also a subset of the functionality described in the dialog manual. The following features were reimplemented:

Options: --and-widget, --ascii-lines, --backtitle, --cancel-label, --clear, --colors, --cr-wrap, --date-format, --defaultno, --default-button, --default-no, --default-item, --exit-label, --extra-button, --extra-label, --help, --help-button, --help-label, --help-status, --help-tags, --hfile, --hline, --ignore, --insecure, --item-help, --keep-tite, --max-input, --no-cancel, --nocancel, --no-items, --no-label, --no-lines, --no-ok, --nook, --no-shadow, --no-tags, --ok-label, --output-fd, --output-separator, --print-maxsize, --print-size, --print-version, --quoted, --separate-output, --separator, --shadow, --single-quoted, --sleep, --stderr, --stdout, --tab-len, --time-format, --title, --version, --yes-label.

Keys: Ctrl-l, F1.

Dialogs: --calendar, --checklist, --form, --gauge, --infobox, --inputbox, --menu, --mixedform, --mixedgauge, --msgbox, --passwordbox, --passwordform, --pause, --radiolist, --rangebox, --textbox, --timebox, --treeview, --yesno.

Some feature differs in input, output, or behavior. Compatibility is not a priority for future development.

THANKS TO

Baptiste Daroussin ⟨[email protected]⟩, Ed Maste ⟨[email protected]⟩, Juraj Lutter ⟨[email protected]⟩ and Trenton Schulz for suggestions, help, and testing.

History

--cancel-exit-code since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE; --datebox-format since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE; --error-exit-code since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE; --esc-exit-code since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE; --extra-exit-code since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE; --help-exit-code since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE; --help-print-items since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE; --left1-button since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE; --left1-exit-code since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE; --left2-button since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE; --left2-exit-code since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE; --left3-button since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE; --left3-exit-code since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE; --ok-exit-code since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE; --right1-button since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE; --right1-exit-code since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE; --right2-button since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE; --right2-exit-code since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE; --right3-button since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE; --right3-exit-code since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE; --text-escape since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE; --timeout-exit-code since FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE.

--colors until FreeBSD 14.5-RELEASE; --esc-return-cancel until FreeBSD 14.5-RELEASE; --generic-button1 until FreeBSD 14.5-RELEASE; --generic-button2 until FreeBSD 14.5-RELEASE; --help-status until FreeBSD 14.5-RELEASE.