cdk_dialog(3)

📦

version 5.0.20260119 · 4 versions

5.0.20260119 · debian trixie, fedora 43, fedora 44, nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking (latest)
5.0.20240619 · fedora 43
5.0.20230201 · opensuse-leap 16.0, ubuntu noble
5.0.20180306 · debian bookworm, ubuntu jammy

, in debian trixie, fedora 43, fedora 44, nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

✨ NAME ✨

cdk_dialog — it's the Cdk dialog widget, bestie 💖 the little pop-up box that says stuff and gives you buttons to smash.

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

Compile it like this, periodt:

cc [ flag ... ] file ...  -lcdk [ library ... ]

#include <cdk.h>

And here's the whole squad of functions, verbatim, no cap:

int activateCDKDialog (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog,
               chtype * actions);

void destroyCDKDialog (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog);

void drawCDKDialog (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog,
               boolean box);

void drawCDKDialogButtons (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog);

void eraseCDKDialog (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog);

boolean getCDKDialog (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog);

boolean getCDKDialogBox (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog);

chtype getCDKDialogHighlight (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog);

boolean getCDKDialogSeparator (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog);

int injectCDKDialog (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog,
               chtype input);

void moveCDKDialog (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog,
               int xpos,
               int ypos,
               boolean relative,
               boolean refresh);

CDKDIALOG *newCDKDialog (
               CDKSCREEN *cdkscreen,
               int xpos,
               int ypos,
               CDK_CONST char ** message,
               int rows,
               CDK_CONST char ** buttons,
               int buttonCount,
               chtype highlight,
               boolean separator,
               boolean box,
               boolean shadow);

void positionCDKDialog (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog);

void setCDKDialogBox (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog,
               boolean boxWidget);

void setCDKDialog (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog,
               chtype highlight,
               boolean separator,
               boolean box);

void setCDKDialogBackgroundAttrib (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog,
               chtype attribute);

void setCDKDialogBackgroundColor (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog,
               const char * color);

void setCDKDialogBox (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog,
               boolean box);

void setCDKDialogBoxAttribute (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog,
               chtype character);

void setCDKDialogHighlight (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog,
               chtype highlight);

void setCDKDialogHorizontalChar (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog,
               chtype character);

void setCDKDialogLLChar (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog,
               chtype character);

void setCDKDialogLRChar (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog,
               chtype character);

void setCDKDialogPostProcess (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog,
               PROCESSFN callback,
               void * data);

void setCDKDialogPreProcess (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog,
               PROCESSFN callback,
               void * data);

void setCDKDialogSeparator (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog,
               boolean separator);

void setCDKDialogULChar (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog,
               chtype character);

void setCDKDialogURChar (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog,
               chtype character);

void setCDKDialogVerticalChar (
               CDKDIALOG *dialog,
               chtype character);

Not me noticing there are two setCDKDialogBox prototypes in here 🙈 one takes boolean boxWidget and the other takes boolean box. I'm just the messenger, I'm reading it exactly how it's written, okay? 👑

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

So. The Cdk dialog widget 💅 it builds you a dialog box — a whole moment, honestly — with a message inside it and a varied number of buttons to choose from. Like, as many buttons as your heart desires, and then you pick one. Main character energy fr fr.

The functions listed below are the ones that create the Cdk dialog box widget, or manipulate it once it exists. Create it, draw it, poke at it, tear it down — the full arc. ✨

iykyk 🦋

✨ AVAILABLE FUNCTIONS ✨

okay bestie, this is the whole roster of functions this widget ships with, and honestly? it's giving full-service. every single one, no skips 💅

`activateCDKDialog`

activates the dialog widget and lets the user interact with the widget. this is the glow-up moment where your widget actually does stuff 🔥

The parameter dialog is a pointer to a non-NULL dialog widget.
If the actions parameter is passed with a non-NULL value, the characters in the array will be injected into the widget.

To activate the widget interactively pass in a NULL pointer for actions.

If the character entered into this widget is RETURN or TAB then this function will return a value from 0 to the number of buttons -1, representing the button selected. It also sets the widget data exitType to vNORMAL.

If the character entered into this widget was ESCAPE, then the widget returns a value of -1 and the widget data exitType will be set to vESCAPE_HIT.

`destroyCDKDialog`

removes the widget from the screen and frees memory the object used. like, fully gone, ghosted, no refunds 🫶

`drawCDKDialog`

draws the dialog widget on the screen.

If the box parameter is true, the widget is drawn with a box. ✨

`drawCDKDialogButtons`

draws the dialog buttons and the separation line. the little divider moment, we love her 🎀

`eraseCDKDialog`

removes the widget from the screen. This does NOT destroy the widget. so she's off-screen but still alive and thriving, lowkey iconic 💖

`getCDKDialog`

returns true if the list will be drawn with a box around it.

`getCDKDialogBox`

returns true if the dialog will be drawn with a box around it.

`getCDKDialogHighlight`

returns the highlight attribute of the widget.

`getCDKDialogSeparator`

returns the state of the separator flag.

`injectCDKDialog`

injects a single character into the widget. sneaky little character drop, love that for us 🙈

The parameter dialog is a pointer to a non-NULL dialog widget.
The parameter character is the character to inject into the widget.

The return value and side-effect (setting the widget data exitType) depend upon the injected character:

RETURN or TAB — the function returns a value from zero to one less than the number of buttons, representing the button selected. The widget data exitType is set to vNORMAL.
ESCAPE — the function returns -1. The widget data exitType is set to vESCAPE_HIT.
Otherwise — unless modified by preprocessing, postprocessing or key bindings, the function returns -1. The widget data exitType is set to vEARLY_EXIT.

`moveCDKDialog`

moves the given widget to the given position. relocation era 🦋

The parameters xpos and ypos are the new position of the widget.

The parameter xpos may be an integer or one of the pre-defined values TOP, BOTTOM, and CENTER.

The parameter ypos may be an integer or one of the pre-defined values LEFT, RIGHT, and CENTER.

The parameter relative states whether the xpos/ypos pair is a relative move or an absolute move.

For example, if xpos = 1 and ypos = 2 and relative = TRUE, then the widget would move one row down and two columns right. If the value of relative was FALSE, then the widget would move to the position (1,2).

Do not use the values TOP, BOTTOM, LEFT, RIGHT, or CENTER when relative = TRUE. (weird things may happen). seriously bestie, weird things WILL happen 💀

The final parameter refresh is a boolean value which states whether the widget will get refreshed after the move.

`newCDKDialog`

creates a dialog widget and returns a pointer to it. fresh widget, just dropped 👑

Parameters:

screen — is the screen you wish this widget to be placed in.
xpos — controls the placement of the object along the horizontal axis. It may be integer or one of the pre-defined values LEFT, RIGHT, and CENTER.
ypos — controls the placement of the object along the vertical axis. It may be an integer or one of the pre-defined values TOP, BOTTOM, and CENTER.
message — is the text to be displayed in the message region of the dialog box.
rows — is the number of elements in the message list.
buttons — is an array containing the button labels to be displayed on the bottom of the dialog box.
buttonCount — is the number of elements in the buttons array.
highlight — is the attribute of the currently highlighted button.
box — is true if the widget should be drawn with a box around it.
separator — is true if a separator line should be drawn between the message region and the buttons.
shadow — turns the shadow on or off around this widget.

If the widget could not be created then a NULL pointer is returned. 😭

`positionCDKDialog`

allows the user to move the widget around the screen via the cursor/keypad keys. See cdk_position (3) for key bindings. drag her around like a lil app icon ✨

`setCDKDialogBox`

sets whether the widget will be drawn with a box around it.

`setCDKDialog`

lets the programmer modify certain elements of an existing dialog widget.

The parameter names correspond to the same parameter names listed in the newCDKDialog function. glow-up on demand 💅

`setCDKDialogBackgroundAttrib`

sets the background attribute of the widget.

The parameter attribute is a curses attribute, e.g., A_BOLD.

`setCDKDialogBackgroundColor`

sets the background color of the widget.

The parameter color is in the format of the Cdk format strings.

See cdk_display (3). setCDKDialogBox sets the box attribute of the dialog widget.

`setCDKDialogBoxAttribute`

function sets the attribute of the box.

`setCDKDialogHighlight`

sets the highlight attribute of the selected button.

`setCDKDialogHorizontalChar`

sets the horizontal drawing character for the box to the given character.

`setCDKDialogLLChar`

sets the lower left hand corner of the widget's box to the given character.

`setCDKDialogLRChar`

sets the lower right hand corner of the widget's box to the given character.

`setCDKDialogPreProcess`

allows the user to have the widget call a function after a key is hit and before the key is applied to the widget. pregame function, the opening act 🎀

The parameter function is the callback function.
The parameter data is a pointer to void.

To learn more about pre-processing see cdk_process(3).

`setCDKDialogPostProcess`

allows the user to have the widget call a function after the key has been applied to the widget. the afters, the encore 🌸

The parameter function is the callback function.
The parameter data points to data passed to the callback function.

To learn more about post-processing see cdk_process(3).

`setCDKDialogSeparator`

sets the boolean flag whether the widget will be drawn with the separator bar between the buttons and the message area.

`setCDKDialogULChar`

function sets the upper left hand corner of the widget's box to the given character.

`setCDKDialogURChar`

sets the upper right hand corner of the widget's box to the given character.

`setCDKDialogVerticalChar`

sets the vertical drawing character for the box to the given character.

✨ KEY BINDINGS ✨

Okay bestie, once the widget is activated, there's a whole set of default key bindings just vibing there, ready to help the user enter or manipulate the information fast. The following list lays out the keys and their actions for this widget. 🎀

Left Arrow — Selects the button to the left of the current button.
Right Arrow — Selects the button to the right of the current button.
Tab — Selects the button to the right of the current button.
Space — Selects the button to the right of the current button.
Return — Exits the widget and returns the index of the selected button. This also sets the widget data exitType to vNORMAL.
Tab — Exits the widget and returns the index of the selected button. This also sets the widget data exitType to vNORMAL.
Escape — Exits the widget and returns -1. This also sets the widget data exitType to vESCAPE_HIT.
Ctrl-L — Refreshes the screen.

Not me pointing out that Tab is literally listed twice with two completely different jobs — once it's moving you right, once it's yeeting you out of the widget. That's the manpage being real, not me being messy. Both are canon. 💅

🌸 SEE ALSO 🌸

Go read these too, they're the friend group:

And that's a wrap on cdk_dialog(3), bestie!! 🫶 This little icon comes to you courtesy of the CDK source, dated 2025-01-14, and the manual page itself is cdk_dialog(3). Now go forth and make your dialogs absolutely slay. 💖✨🎀

📦 where this page comes from

debian trixie: libcdk5-dev 5.0.20250116-1 · BSD-4-Clause
fedora 43: cdk 5.0.20251014-1.fc43 · X11-distribute-modifications-variant
fedora 43: cdk 5.0.20251014-1.fc43 · X11-distribute-modifications-variant
fedora 44: cdk 5.0.20251014-3.fc44 · X11-distribute-modifications-variant
fedora 44: cdk 5.0.20251014-3.fc44 · X11-distribute-modifications-variant
nixos 26.05: cdk 5.0-20260119
nixpkgs unstable: cdk 5.0-20260119
ubuntu questing: libcdk5-dev 5.0.20250116-1
ubuntu resolute: libcdk5-dev 5.0.20251014-1 · BSD-4-Clause
ubuntu stonking: libcdk5-dev 5.0.20260119-1 · BSD-4-Clause
💖 girlified by deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash on 2026-10-14: a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms