NAME

Curses::Widgets::TextField - Text Field Widgets

MODULE VERSION

$Id: TextField.pm,v 1.99 2001/12/05 09:54:40 corliss Exp $

SYNOPSIS

        use Curses::Widgets::TextField;

        $tf = Curses::Widgets::TextField->new({
                CAPTION                 => undef,
                CAPTIONCOL              => undef,
                LENGTH                  => 10,
                MAXLENGTH               => 255,
                MASK                    => undef,
                VALUE                   => '',
                INPUTFUNC               => \&scankey,
                FOREGROUND              => undef,
                BACKGROUND              => 'black',
                BORDER                  => 1,
                BORDERCOL               => 'red',
                FOCUSSWITCH             => "\t\n",
                CURSORPOS               => 0,
                TEXTSTART               => 0,
                PASSWORD                => 0,
                X                       => 1,
                Y                       => 1,
                READONLY                => 0,
                });

        $tf->draw($mwh, 1);

        See the Curses::Widgets pod for other methods.

REQUIREMENTS

Curses Curses::Widgets

DESCRIPTION

Curses::Widgets::TextField provides simplified OO access to Curses-based single line text fields. Each object maintains its own state information.

METHODS

new (inherited from Curses::Widgets)

        $tf = Curses::Widgets::TextField->new({
                CAPTION                 => undef,
                CAPTIONCOL              => undef,
                LENGTH                  => 10,
                MAXLENGTH               => 255,
                MASK                    => undef,
                VALUE                   => '',
                INPUTFUNC               => \&scankey,
                FOREGROUND              => undef,
                BACKGROUND              => 'black',
                BORDER                  => 1,
                BORDERCOL               => 'red',
                FOCUSSWITCH             => "\t\n",
                CURSORPOS               => 0,
                TEXTSTART               => 0,
                PASSWORD                => 0,
                X                       => 1,
                Y                       => 1,
                READONLY                => 0,
                });

The new method instantiates a new TextField object. The only mandatory key/value pairs in the configuration hash are X and Y. All others have the following defaults:

        Key             Default         Description
        ============================================================
        CAPTION         undef           Caption superimposed on border
        CAPTIONCOL      undef           Foreground colour for caption 
                                        text
        LENGTH          10              Number of columns displayed
        MAXLENGTH       255             Maximum string length allowed
        MASK            undef           Not yet implemented
        VALUE           ''              Current field text
        INPUTFUNC       \&scankey       Function to use to scan for 
                                        keystrokes
        FOREGROUND      undef           Default foreground colour
        BACKGROUND      'black'         Default background colour
        BORDER          1               Display a border around the 
                                        field
        BORDERCOL       undef           Foreground colour for border
        FOCUSSWITCH     "\t\n"          Characters which signify end of 
                                        input
        CURSORPOS       0               Starting position of the cursor
        TEXTSTART       0               Position in string to start 
                                        displaying
        PASSWORD        0               Subsitutes '*' instead of 
                                        characters
        READONLY        0               Prevents alteration to content

The CAPTION is only valid when the BORDER is enabled. If the border is disabled, the field will be underlined, provided the terminal supports it.

If MAXLENGTH is undefined, no limit will be placed on the string length.

draw

        $tf->draw($mwh, 1);

The draw method renders the text field in its current state. This requires a valid handle to a curses window in which it will render itself. The optional second argument, if true, will cause the field's text cursor to be rendered as well.

HISTORY

1999/12/29 -- Original text field widget in functional model 2001/07/05 -- First incarnation in OO architecture

AUTHOR/COPYRIGHT

(c) 2001 Arthur Corliss (corliss@digitalmages.com)