menu_attributes(3)

menu_attributes3

Color and attribute control for menus

Usage

#include <menu.h>

int set_menu_fore(MENU *menu, chtype attr); chtype menu_fore(const MENU *menu);

int set_menu_back(MENU *menu, chtype attr); chtype menu_back(const MENU *menu);

int set_menu_grey(MENU *menu, chtype attr); chtype menu_grey(const MENU *menu);

int set_menu_pad(MENU *menu, int pad); int menu_pad(const MENU *menu);

Overview

The function set_menu_fore sets the foreground attribute of menu. This is the highlight used for selected menu items. menu_fore returns the foreground attribute. The default is A_REVERSE.

The function set_menu_back sets the background attribute of menu. This is the highlight used for selectable (but not currently selected) menu items. The function menu_back returns the background attribute. The default is A_NORMAL.

The function set_menu_grey sets the grey attribute of menu. This is the highlight used for un-selectable menu items in menus that permit more than one selection. The function menu_grey returns the grey attribute. The default is A_UNDERLINE.

The function set_menu_pad sets the character used to fill the space between the name and description parts of a menu item. menu_pad returns the given menu's pad character. The default is a blank.

Return value

These routines return one of the following:

E_OK

The routine succeeded.

E_SYSTEM_ERROR

System error occurred (see errno(3)).

E_BAD_ARGUMENT

Routine detected an incorrect or out-of-range argument.

Portability

These routines emulate the System V menu library. They were not supported on Version 7 or BSD versions.

Releases

66 releases since FreeBSD 4.3-RELEASE; the text changed 7 times.

  1. 4.3–4.11
  2. 5.0–6.2
  3. 6.3–7.4
  4. 8.0–10.4
  5. 11.0–12.4
  6. 13.0–13.5
  7. 14.0–14.1
  8. 14.2–16.0

Authors

Juergen Pfeifer. Manual pages and adaptation for new curses by Eric S. Raymond.

From base 16.0-CURRENT-20261027-61c70dc16a79 in FreeBSD 16.0-CURRENT (2026-10-27). Parsed by carta from the page's man source.