rfortier@palladium.UUCP (Richard W. Fortier) (11/19/87)
I need help finding a source for a good character-oriented forms
package for the C language on BSD class UNIX(tm) systems. I'll be
using the forms both for command menus and for data entry. I'm
interested in hearing about all experiences, good and bad. Please
respond to me and I will summarize to the net; thanks in advance for
the help.
A quick shopping list of some of the features I'd like (I'm aware I
almost certainly won't get all of them):
Source license must be available for a reasonable fee.
C or C++ language.
Ability to build a hierarchy of menus.
Ability for expert users to shortcut through the menu tree.
Help support per-form and per-field.
At least two levels of help, terse & verbose (or, if you
prefer, terse and expert).
Support for numeric, alphabetic, alphanumeric, ASCII, one of
enumerated list, and set from enumerated list field types.
Ability to dynamically construct the members of an enumerated
field, e.g., generate a list of filenames and let the user
pick one.
Ability to scroll through large enumerated lists, e.g. a list
of filenames can get quite long.
Per-field data validations, such as numeric range,
alphanumerics, etc., with escapes to permit use of an
arbitrary C function for field validation.
Programmable key bindings; I want do define which keys do what.
Interruptable redisplay (i.e., process all typehead as it
occurs, THEN display the form properly)
Automatic layout of a large form onto multiple screens, or
ability to scroll through a large form. Automatic adjustment
to screen size (don't assume 24 lines).
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Richard W. Fortier, Epoch Systems, Marlboro MA
{linus!alliant, harvard!cfisun}!palladium!rfortier