---
name: "drawer.lua"
section: "8"
platform: "freebsd"
package: "base"
version: "16.0-CURRENT-20261027-61c70dc16a79"
release: "FreeBSD 16.0-CURRENT (2026-10-27)"
platforms: ["freebsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/drawer.lua"
---

# drawer.lua(8)

bootloader menu/screen drawer module

## NAME

**drawer.lua** – bootloader menu/screen drawer module

## DESCRIPTION

**drawer.lua** contains functionality for drawing and manipulating the menu, logo, and brand to the screen.

Before using the functionality provided by **drawer.lua**, it must be included with a statement such as the following:

```
local drawer = require("drawer")
```

### BRAND DEFINITIONS

Brand definitions describe a “brand”, traditionally drawn above the menu. The exact position may be controlled by using the [loader.conf(5)](/loader.conf/5.md) variables *loader\_brand\_x* and *loader\_brand\_y*. The following keys may be defined for a brand definition:

- **graphic**

  A table of strings containing rows of text to be drawn to the screen.

### LOGO DEFINITIONS

Logo definitions describe a “logo”, traditionally to the right of the menu. The exact position may be controlled by using the [loader.conf(5)](/loader.conf/5.md) variables *loader\_logo\_x* and *loader\_logo\_y*. The following keys may be defined for a logo definition:

- **requires\_color**

  A boolean describing whether or not this logo definition requires color. If it is chosen to be drawn and it requires color on a color-disabled boot, **drawer.lua** will elect to use the default “orbbw” logo rather than the chosen logo.

- **graphic**

  A table of strings containing rows of text to be drawn to the screen.

- **shift**

  A table describing the *x* and *y* shift that should be applied to all elements should this logo be selected. This is typically used for shifting the menu and brand if an empty or minimal logo are selected.

### CUSTOM BRANDS AND LOGOS

The brand and logo system is designed to allow brands and logos to be easily plugged in. When an unrecognized loader\_brand or loader\_logo are encountered, **drawer.lua** will attempt to include *brand-${loader\_brand}.lua* or *logo-${loader\_logo}.lua* respectively. These files are expected to call either **drawer.addBrand**() or **drawer.addLogo**() to add the requested branddef or logodef. **drawer.lua** will attempt to do another lookup for the requested brand or logo before falling back to one of the following:

- **drawer.default\_brand**

  The default brand to be used if the requested brand cannot be located.

- **drawer.default\_color\_logodef**

  The default logodef to be used if an invalid logodef is requested and [loader(8)](/loader/8.md) has been configured to allow output of color.

- **drawer.default\_bw\_logodef**

  The default logodef to be used if either an invalid logodef has been requested, or a logodef has been requested that requires color and [loader(8)](/loader/8.md) has been configured to not output color.

### FRAME STYLES

**drawer.lua** contains the definitions for the different frame styles that may be drawn around the menu. Frame styles define the characters drawn for horizontal lines, vertical aligns, and each of the four corner styles. The following keys may be defined for a frame style:

- horizontal

- vertical

- top\_left

- bottom\_left

- top\_right

- bottom\_right

Frame styles are currently defined in the table **drawer.frame\_styles** indexed by the name used for loader\_menu\_frame. No API currently exists for manipulating this table indirectly.

### Exported functions

The following functions are exported from **drawer.lua**:

- **drawer.addBrand**(*name*, *def*)

  Add the brand definition described by *def* to the table of known brand definitions, indexed by *name*.

- **drawer.addLogo**(*name*, *def*)

  Add the logo definition described by *def* to the table of known logo definitions, indexed by *name*.

- **drawer.drawscreen**(*menudef*)

  Draws the logo, brand, menu frame, and the current menu as described in *menudef*, formatted as defined by [menu.lua(8)](/menu.lua/8.md).

## SEE ALSO

[menu.lua(8)](/menu.lua/8.md)

## AUTHORS

The **drawer.lua** file was originally written by Pedro Souza ⟨*pedrosouza@FreeBSD.org*⟩. Later work and this manual page was done by Kyle Evans ⟨*kevans@FreeBSD.org*⟩.