The dialog package is a nifty little tool that was originally created by Savio Lam and is currently maintained by Thomas E. Dickey. This package actually recreates standard Windows dialog boxes in a text environment using ANSI escape control codes. These dialog boxes can be easily incorporated into your shell scripts to interact with your script users.
The dialog package isn’t installed in all Linux distributions by default, but it’s almost always included in the software repository. For Ubuntu Linux, the following command can be used to install the package.
sudo apt-get install dialog
It installs the dialog package plus the required libraries for the system.
The format for the box options is as follows
There are many dialog widgets. Among them, a few of them are:
Dialog widgets
1. Calendar – Provides a calendar to display the selected date
The format for this widget is
--calendar <text> <height> <width> <day> <month> <year>
The command which we wrote in the script file is
dialog --calendar 'calendar' 5 50 30 6 2021
calendar widget
After running the script, we get the calendar as shown below.
2. Checklist – Displays multiple entries where each entry can be turned on or off.
The format for this widget is
–checklist <text> <height> <width> <list height> <tag1> <item1> <status1>…
The command which we wrote in the script file is
dialog –checklist ‘checklist’ 15 10 10 ‘apple’ 5 ‘on’ ‘banana’ 2 ‘off’ ‘coco’ 3 ‘on’ ‘delta’ 4 ‘off’
checklist widget
After running the script, we get the checklist as shown below.
3. Form – This allows you to build a form with labels and text fields to be filled out.
The format for this widget is
–form <text> <height> <width> <form height> <label1> <l_y1> <l_x1> <item1> <i_y1> <i_x1> <flen1> <ilen1> …
Here, flen is the length of the field, and ilen is the length of the field that allows input to move between fields.
The command which we wrote in the script file is
dialog –form “Please enter the information” 12 40 4 “Name :” 1 1 “” 1 12 15 0 “Age: ” 2 1 “” 2 12 15 0 “Mail id:” 3 1 “” 3 12 15 0
Form widget
After running the script, we get the form as shown below.
4. Gauge – Allows you to display the gauge progress window
The format for this widget is
--gauge <text> <height> <width> [<percent>]
The command which we wrote in the script file is
dialog --gauge "progress.." 10 20 40
gauge widget
After running the script, we get the window as shown below.
5. Message box – Displays a message and requires the user to select an OK button
The format for this widget is
-- msgbox <text> <height> <width>
The command which we wrote in the script file is
dialog --msgbox "This is a message" 10 25
message box widget
After running the script, we get the message box as shown below.
6. Fselect – Provides a file selection window to browse for a file.
The format for this widget is
-- fselect <filepath> <height> < width >
The command which we wrote in the script file is
dialog --title "fselect" --fselect /documents 15 40
fselect widget
After running the script, we get the window as shown below.
7. Infobox – Displays a message without waiting for a response.
The format for this widget is
--infobox <text> <height> <width>
The command which we wrote in the script file is
dialog --infobox "This is a message" 15 30
inforbox widget
After running the script, we get the information box as shown below.
8. Inputbox – Displays a single text form box for text entry.
The format for this widget is
--inputbox <text> <height> <width> [<init>]
The command which we wrote in the script file is
dialog --inputbox "Enter the name" 15 30 'enter here'
inputbox widget
After running the script, we get the input box as shown below.
9. Inputmenu – This widget provides an editable menu.
The format for this widget is
–inputmenu <text> <height> <width> <menu height> <tag1> <item1>…
The command which we wrote in the script file is
dialog –inputmenu “Edit if necessary” 12 45 25 1 “hello” 2 “good morning” 3 ” take care “
inputmenu widget
After running the script, we get the window to edit as shown below.
10. Menu – This widget displays a list of selections from which to choose.
The format for this widget is
–menu <text> <height> <width> <menu height> <tag1> <item1>…
The command which we wrote in the script file is
dialog –menu “Choose the option” 12 45 25 1 “apple” 2 “banana” 3 “mango”
menu widget
After running the script, we get the window to edit as shown below.
11. Pause – It displays a meter showing the status of a specified pause period.
The format for this widget is
--pause <text> <height> <width> <seconds>
The command which we wrote in the script file is
dialog --pause "pause" 20 40 30
Pause widget
After running the script, we get the window as shown below.
The timer starts running….. out of which two images are depicted below
12. Mixed form – This widget allows you to build a form with labels and text fields of different forms to be filled out.
The format for this widget is
–mixedform <text> <height> <width> <form height> <label1> <l_y1> <l_x1> <item1> <i_y1> <i_x1> <flen1> <ilen1> <itype>…
The command which we wrote in the script file is
dialog –mixedform “Please enter the information” 12 40 4 “Name :” 1 1 “” 1 12 15 0 a “Age: ” 2 1 “” 2 12 15 0 a “Mail id:” 3 1 “” 3 12 15 0 a
Mixed form widget
After running the script, we get the form as shown below.
13. Mixedgauge – allows you to display the gauge progress window with multiple items.
The format for this widget is
--mixedgauge <text> <height> <width> <percent> <tag1> <item1>...
The command which we wrote in the script file is
dialog --mixedgauge "Gauge box" 10 20 40 app one
Mixedgauge widget
After running the script, we get the window as shown below.
14. Password – This widget displays a single textbox that hides entered text.
The format for this widget is
--passwordbox <text> <height> <width> [<init>]
The command which we wrote in the script file is
dialog --passwordbox "Password" 10 20
Password widget
After running the script, we get the window as shown below.
15. Passwordform – This widget displays a form with labels and hidden text fields.
The format for this widget is
–passwordform <text> <height> <width> <form height> <label1> <l_y1> <l_x1> <item1> <i_y1> <i_x1> <flen1> <ilen1>…
The command which we wrote in the script file is
dialog –passwordform “Please enter the information” 12 40 4 “Password:” 1 1 “” 1 12 15 0 “otp: ” 2 1 “” 2 12 15 0 “secret key:” 3 1 “” 3 12 15 0
Passwordform widget
After running the script, we get the window as shown below.
16. Radiolist – This widget provides a group of menu items where only one item can be selected.
The format for this widget is
–radiolist <text> <height> <width> <list height> <tag1> <item1> <status1>…
The command which we wrote in the script file is
dialog –radiolist ‘radiolist’ 15 10 10 ‘apple’ 5 ‘off’ ‘banana’ 2 ‘off’ ‘coffee’ 3 ‘off’ ‘dessert’ 4 ‘off’
Radiolist widget
After running the script, we get the window as shown below.
17. Program box – This widget lets you display the output of the command in the dialog box.
The format for this widget is
--prgbox <text> <command> <height> <width>
The command which we wrote in the script file is
dialog --prgbox "command" "ls" 10 30
Program box widget
After running the script, we get the window as shown below.
18. Textbox – This widget displays the contents of a file in a scroll window
The format for this widget is
--textbox <file> <height> <width>
The command which we wrote in the script file is
dialog –textbox /etc/hosts 10 60
Textbox widget
After running the script, we get the window as shown below.
19. Tailbox – This widget displays text from a file in a scroll window using the tail command.
The format for this widget is
--tailbox <file> <height> <width>
The command which we wrote in the script file is
dialog --tailbox /etc/hosts 10 60
tailbox widget
After running the script, we get the window as shown below.
20. Yes no – This widget provides a simple message with Yes and No buttons.
The format for this widget is
--yesno <text> <height> <width>
The command which we wrote in the script file is
dialog --yesno "Do you want run the command" 10 30
yesno widgetimage widget
After running the script, we get the window as shown below.
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