menu_items(3X)

📦
version 6.6_p20260516 · 6 versions
, in alpine 3.24, arch rolling, fedora 44

okay bestie, so this is menu_items(3X) from the ncurses library-calls corner of the universe, and it's literally about making and breaking the connections between items and menus. like, matching them up. situationship management, but for cursors. 💅

✨ NAME ✨

set_menu_items, menu_items, item_count — make and break connections between items and menus 🫶

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <menu.h>

int set_menu_items(MENU *menu, ITEM **items);
ITEM **menu_items(const MENU *menu);
int item_count(const MENU *menu);

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so first up, set_menu_items — she changes the item pointer array of the given menu. and like, the array must be terminated by a NULL. no cap, that's a hard requirement. that NULL is the periodt at the end of the sentence. 🙈

then we have menu_items, the lowkey simpler one — she just returns the item array of the given menu. that's it. that's the whole job. 👑

and finally item_count, who returns the count of items in menu. the headcount. the roster. the attendance sheet. 🌈

💜 RETURN VALUE 💜

  • menu_items returns a pointer — which may be NULL. and ngl, it does not set errno. so don't go checking that, bestie, it's not the vibe. 🎀
  • item_count returns ERR (that's the general curses error return value, the classic 💀) if its menu parameter is NULL. like, if you hand her nothing, she's gonna give you ERR back.
  • set_menu_items returns one of the following codes on error:
    • E_OK — the routine succeeded. slay, we ate. ✨
    • E_BAD_ARGUMENT — routine detected an incorrect or out-of-range argument. you gave her something she simply could not work with, bestie. 😭
    • E_NOT_CONNECTED — no items are connected to the menu. empty. barren. nothing attached. the group chat has zero members. 🫶
    • E_POSTED — the menu is already posted. she's busy, she's out, she's on main character energy and cannot be edited rn. 💅
    • E_SYSTEM_ERROR — system error occurred (see errno(3)). something went wrong at the system level, go read errno(3) for the tea. 🍓

🧚 PORTABILITY 🧚

these routines emulate the System V menu library. they were not supported on Version 7 or BSD versions. so like, if you're on a V7 or BSD situation, this is not giving what you need. 💀

also, the SVr4 menu library documentation specifies the item_count error value as -1 (which is the value of ERR). just so you know. iykyk. 👑

👑 AUTHORS 👑

Juergen Pfeifer. manual pages and adaptation for new curses by Eric S. Raymond. iconic behavior from both of them, fr fr. 🫶

🌟 SEE ALSO 🌟

  • curses(3X)
  • menu(3X)
ok literally the whole point: set_menu_items connects (remember the NULL terminator, bestie!!), menu_items reads, item_count counts. don't skip the NULL. the NULL is not optional. the NULL is the moment. 😤

and that's the page, bestie!! this one came from ncurses 6.6, dated 2024-12-28, and yes it's still serving menu_items(3X) energy. mwah 💖

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