menu(3X)

💖 menu(3X) — Library calls 💖

okay bestie, sit down, hydrate, and let me tell you about menu — the literal blueprint for presenting menus in curses windows. no cap, this one's a whole library.

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✨ NAME ✨

menu — present menus in curses windows 🎀

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <menu.h>

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so the menu library is giving terminal-independent facilities for composing menu systems on character-cell terminals. icon behavior, truly. it comes in two flavors of routine:

• item routines — they create and modify menu items ✨
• menu routines — they group items into menus, display menus on the screen, and handle interaction with the user 👑

the menu library rides on the curses libraries, so a curses initialization routine such as initscr must be called before you use any of these functions. mandatory. non-negotiable. and when you link? you link with the options -lmenu -lcurses. that's the vibe. 💅

💜 Current Default Values for Item Attributes

the menu library keeps a default value for item attributes, lowkey like a little settings drawer. you can get or set this default by calling the appropriate get_ or set_ routine with a NULL item pointer. and listen — changing this default with a set_ function affects future item creations, but does not change the rendering of items that already exist. past items are past items, bestie. 🫶

🌈 Routine Name Index

here's the roster, the main character list, mapping every menu routine to the manual page that describes it:

• current_item — mitem_current(3X)
• free_item — mitem_new(3X)
• free_menu — menu_new(3X)
• item_count — menu_items(3X)
• item_description — mitem_name(3X)
• item_index — mitem_current(3X)
• item_init — menu_hook(3X)
• item_name — mitem_name(3X)
• item_opts — mitem_opts(3X)
• item_opts_off — mitem_opts(3X)
• item_opts_on — mitem_opts(3X)
• item_term — menu_hook(3X)
• item_userptr — mitem_userptr(3X)
• item_value — mitem_value(3X)
• item_visible — mitem_visible(3X)
• menu_back — menu_attributes(3X)
• menu_driver — menu_driver(3X)
• menu_fore — menu_attributes(3X)
• menu_format — menu_format(3X)
• menu_grey — menu_attributes(3X)
• menu_init — menu_hook(3X)
• menu_items — menu_items(3X)
• menu_mark — menu_mark(3X)
• menu_opts — menu_opts(3X)
• menu_opts_off — menu_opts(3X)
• menu_opts_on — menu_opts(3X)
• menu_pad — menu_attributes(3X)
• menu_pattern — menu_pattern(3X)
• menu_request_by_name — menu_requestname(3X)
• menu_request_name — menu_requestname(3X)
• menu_spacing — menu_spacing(3X)
• menu_sub — menu_win(3X)
• menu_term — menu_hook(3X)
• menu_userptr — menu_userptr(3X)
• menu_win — menu_win(3X)
• new_item — mitem_new(3X)
• new_menu — menu_new(3X)
• pos_menu_cursor — menu_cursor(3X)
• post_menu — menu_post(3X)
• scale_menu — menu_win(3X)
• set_current_item — mitem_current(3X)
• set_item_init — menu_hook(3X)
• set_item_opts — mitem_opts(3X)
• set_item_term — menu_hook(3X)
• set_item_userptr — mitem_userptr(3X)
• set_item_value — mitem_value(3X)
• set_menu_back — menu_attributes(3X)
• set_menu_fore — menu_attributes(3X)
• set_menu_format — menu_format(3X)
• set_menu_grey — menu_attributes(3X)
• set_menu_init — menu_hook(3X)
• set_menu_items — menu_items(3X)
• set_menu_mark — menu_mark(3X)
• set_menu_opts — mitem_opts(3X)
• set_menu_pad — menu_attributes(3X)
• set_menu_pattern — menu_pattern(3X)
• set_menu_spacing — menu_spacing(3X)
• set_menu_sub — menu_win(3X)
• set_menu_term — menu_hook(3X)
• set_menu_userptr — menu_userptr(3X)
• set_menu_win — menu_win(3X)
• set_top_row — mitem_current(3X)
• top_row — mitem_current(3X)
• unpost_menu — menu_post(3X)

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🔥 RETURN VALUE 🔥

routines that return pointers return NULL on error. that's the universal "nope" signal 🙈

routines that return an integer return one of these error codes, and each one is telling you exactly what went wrong:

• E_OK — the routine succeeded. slay. we love to see it ✨
• E_BAD_ARGUMENT — routine detected an incorrect or out-of-range argument. you handed it something cursed 💀
• E_BAD_STATE — routine was called from an initialization or termination function. wrong place, wrong time.
• E_NO_MATCH — character failed to match. no match found, bestie 😭
• E_NO_ROOM — menu is too large for its window. it's giving "doesn't fit" 🎀
• E_NOT_CONNECTED — no items are connected to the menu. it's empty, it's lonely 🦋
• E_NOT_POSTED — the menu has not been posted.
• E_NOT_SELECTABLE — the designated item cannot be selected. sorry, that one's off-limits.
• E_POSTED — the menu is already posted. we been knew.
• E_REQUEST_DENIED — the menu driver could not process the request. denied. 💅
• E_SYSTEM_ERROR — system error occurred (see errno(3)).
• E_UNKNOWN_COMMAND — the menu driver code saw an unknown request code. who is she? never heard of her.

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🍓 NOTES 🍓

fun fact: the header file menu.h itself includes the header file curses.h. free include, no extra work. you're welcome 💖

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👑 PORTABILITY 👑

these routines emulate the System V menu library. they were not supported on Version 7 or BSD versions. so if you're time-traveling, adjust expectations accordingly 🌸

a menu facility was documented in SVr4.2's Character User Interface Programming document.

it is not part of X/Open Curses. no cap.

aside from ncurses, there are few implementations:

• systems based on SVr4 source code, e.g., Solaris.
• NetBSD curses.

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🌟 AUTHORS 🌟

Juergen Pfeifer. manual pages and adaptation for ncurses by Eric S. Raymond. legends, honestly 🫶

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💫 SEE ALSO 💫

curses(3X) and related pages whose names begin “menu_” for detailed descriptions of the entry points. iykyk 🌈

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and that's the whole page, bestie — this was menu(3X) from ncurses 6.6, dated 2025-11-11. go forth and build the cutest little terminal menus ever. periodt 💅✨