Path: usenet.cise.ufl.edu!barley.lw.net!news.icix.net!news-w.ans.net!newsfeeds.ans.net!feeder.chicago.cic.net!ddsw1!news.mcs.net!hammer.uoregon.edu!arclight.uoregon.edu!newsfeeds.sol.net!hunter.premier.net!uunet!in2.uu.net!192.108.254.3!news.teleport.com!not-for-mail From: skunz@iastate.edu (Steven L. Kunz) Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl.announce,comp.lang.perl.modules Subject: ANNOUNCE: PerlMenu version 4.0 Followup-To: comp.lang.perl.modules Date: 21 Feb 1997 18:26:10 GMT Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA Lines: 237 Sender: news-merlyn@gadget.cscaper.com Approved: merlyn@stonehenge.com (comp.lang.perl.announce) Message-ID: <5ekpc2$n0l$1@nadine.teleport.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: gadget.cscaper.com X-Disclaimer: The "Approved" header verifies header information for article transmission and does not imply approval of content. Xref: usenet.cise.ufl.edu comp.lang.perl.announce:107 comp.lang.perl.modules:1827 ---------------------------------- Announcing PerlMenu Version 4.0 ---------------------------------- This is the official announcement of the release of the latest PerlMenu package, version 4.0. Version 4.0 is a release that incorporates several new features and bug-fixes. This package has been tested with both Perl5/Curses and Perl4/curseperl. For this first time PerlMenu is distributed as a "perlmenu.pm" module (a converter is supplied to generate a Perl4-style "menu.pl" module). -------- Overview -------- The "PerlMenu" package is a Perl5 package (built into your Perl program with a "use perlmenu;" command) that automates curses-based full screen menus and data entry. A "menu.pl" module can be generated to function under Perl4/curseperl (or existing "menu.pl" Perl5 applications). Using three simple calls, any number of items may be selected from a single or multiple-page menu by moving an arrow to the desired item (or directly entering the selection number displayed on the screen). In addition to simple "single one-shot selection menus", "radio button" style menus and "multiple-item-selection" menus are provided. Paging through multiple-page menus is handled automatically. Menu titles, sub-titles, prompts, "single column", and "multiple column" menus are supported. Using two simple calls a full-screen data entry template may be loaded and a fully-titled data entry input screen may be created. Defaults, maximum field lengths, and numeric-only data are supported. The "perlmenu.pm" package uses curses interface routine calls supplied by the Curses extension for Perl5 (you should be running AT LEAST Perl 5.001). A "menu.pl" package can be created which uses curses interface routine calls supplied by the "curseperl" package for Perl4. All functions and features are identical whether you are using Perl4 or Perl5. ------------------------------ Compatibility and New Features ------------------------------ For the first time, this version is distributed as a Perl5-style "perlmenu.pm" module. A program is provided in the distribution kit to convert "perlmenu.pm" to a Perl4-style "menu.pl" module. For current Perl4 or Perl5 "menu.pl version 3.x" users, the resulting "menu.pl" module is call-compatible with older versions (you need not modify your existing source unless you want to take advantage of the new features). For current Perl5 users wishing to convert to use the new "perlmenu.pm" module, conversion is usually as simple as replacing your 'require "menu.pl";' statements with "use perlmenu;" statements. You may want to modify your source to take advantage of the new features. Changes between perlmenu.pm version 4.0 and menu.pl version 3.3: - Converted to Perl5-style "perlmenu.pm" module. A program (create_menu.pl) is included to convert this module to the old Perl4-style "menu.pl" module for legacy applications and Perl4+curseperl users. All old PerlMenu programs should run without changes using this new "menu.pl" module. Conversion to use "perlmenu.pm" under Perl5 should only require changing "require" to a "use". - Added multiple-column menu support (requested by many people). Single call to "menu_prefs" converts all menus to "multiple column" selections. No changes to existing menu construction routines in old code required. Automatically scales and computes proper number of columns based on length of longest selection text. - Added a "highlighted" selection cursor preference. Previous versions only displayed the selection cursor with a "->" in front of the item. A new preference setting removes the "->" and highlights the selection text (in reverse video on most systems). Single call to "menu_prefs" converts all menus to "highlighted" selections. - Expanded the main "demo" program to enable switching between single and multiple column menus, arrowed or highlighted selection cursor, numbered and unnumbered menus. - Split out (and rewrote) the installation instructions into a new file called "INSTALLATION". Included a new "install_hints.pl" program (for Perl5+Curses users) which tries to figure out what tweeks you may need to make it work on your system. - Made appropriate changes to all other documentation as appropriate for the new features. - Added a new "FAQ" document. - Fixed a bug in that relates to typing an item selection number that is greater than the last item in the menu. Previously it dropped the selection arrow to the last item but crashed when you pressed "return". Now it "beeps" (to indicate an invalid selection). Thanks to Jay Fowler (CSU-Fresno, USA) for pointing this out. - Fixed bug in demo scripts. Previous versions were missing some calls to "endwin" prior to every "exit", which meant the original terminal environment was not restored (leaving the terminal in "raw" mode, etc.). Thanks to Warren Jones (Fluke Corporation, Everett, WA, USA) for the bug report and patches. - Added comment for HP-UX 9.05 terminfo/tput users in perlmenu.pm ("tput kent" does not work on these systems, use "tput cr"). Thanks to Stuart Poulin (Applied Microsystems Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA) for supplying this info. ------------------------------------ The Official PerlMenu WWW home page: ------------------------------------ The official PerlMenu WWW home page (maintained by the author) is at: http://www.cc.iastate.edu/perlmenu/ ---------------------------- Official Distribution Points ---------------------------- The PerlMenu package is distributed via "CPAN" (the "Comprehensive Perl Archive Network"). Pick a CPAN site near you with a WWW browser pointed at "http://www.perl.com/perl/CPAN/CPAN.html" and go into the "authors/Steven_L_Kunz" folder. You should find "perlmenu.v4.0.tar.Z" in there. The author's official distribution is also available via anonymous FTP from: ftp://ftp.iastate.edu/pub/perl/perlmenu.v4.0.tar.Z New releases are announced in the Usenet newsgroups "comp.lang.perl.announce" and "comp.lang.perl.modules". ---------------------- Distribution Contents ---------------------- This is "perlmenu.pm" - a set of perl routines that will perform full screen menu functions using Perl5+Curses. What you should have after unpacking this package is the following: ARTISTIC Artistic License COPYING Library GNU Public License FAQ Frequently Asked Questions INSTALLATION Guide to installing PerlMenus MENU_DOC A user's guide to the perlmenu.pm routines. MENU_DOC A user's guide to the menuutil.pl routines. README (this file) RELEASE_NOTES Differences between this version and previous versions. TO_DO List of things on my "to do" sheet. create_menu.pl Create a Perl4-style "menu.pl" module from the Perl5-style "perlmenu.pm" module. Used for legacy applications under Perl4 or Perl5. demo A simple menu demo showing all several types of menu selection capabilities (simple single-page, simple multiple-page, radio-button, and multiple-selection). demo_getstr A simple menu demo using the "menu_getstr" routine. demo_template A demo using the "menu_load_template" and "menu_display_template" routines. demo_top A simple menu demo with "top" menus. demo_util A simple demo of the routines in "menuutil.pl". ezpasswd A more involved demo showing how menu_getstr, menuutil.pl, and templates can be used to display full-screen formatted entries from a BSD-style /etc/password file. ezreg A more involved demo showing how menu template routines can be used in a full-screen user registration panel that a multiple required fields. ezview A more involved demo showing how menus can be used to call routines, select files, etc. install_hints.pl A small Perl5 program that helps you decide how to tweek "perlmenu.pm" for use on your system (with your flavor of termcap or terminfo). perlmenu.pm The PerlMenu subroutines in a Perl5-style package (usually placed somewhere like /usr/local/lib/perl/perlmenu.pm). See also "create_menu.pl". menuutil.pl Some curses subroutines useful in constructing curseperl transactions which use "perlmenu.pm". These are purely optional and are not needed for using PerlMenus ("perlmenu.pm"). Shows some examples of "curses" programming techniques. paint_text A sample file used by "demo" to display bottom-titles loaded from a file. template_data A sample full-screen input template used by "demo_template" to input name/address/phone data records. template_ezp The display template used by ezpasswd. template_reg The display template used by ezreg. ------- License ------- PerlMenu - Perl library module for curses-based menus & data-entry templates Copyright (C) 1992-97 Iowa State University Computation Center Ames, Iowa (USA) This Perl library module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Library General Public License (as published by the Free Software Foundation) or the Artistic License. This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Library General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU Library General Public License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. --- Steven L. Kunz Networked Applications Iowa State University Computation Center, Iowa State University, Ames IA Email: skunz@iastate.edu -- Steven L. Kunz Networked Applications -- Project Manager, Microcomputer Networked Services Iowa State University Computation Center, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa E-mail: skunz@iastate.edu