Original author(s) | Savio Lam |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Thomas Dickey |
Initial release | 1994 |
Stable release | 1.3-20240307[1]
/ 10 March 2024 |
Repository | |
Operating system | Unix, Linux, POSIX |
Type | Shell scripts |
License | LGPL |
Website | invisible-island |
Dialog is an application used in shell scripts which displays text user interface widgets. It uses the curses or ncurses library. The latter provides users with the ability to use a mouse, e.g., in an xterm.
Dialog was created by Savio Lam (first reported version 0.3 was in 1994).[2][3][4] It was further modified by several people. Since 1999 it has been maintained (and rewritten) by Thomas Dickey.[5]
At least one fork exists, a FreeBSD-only split into application and library in late 1994.[6][7] One might also consider lxdialog (part of menuconfig), except that it has been reduced to fragments that can no longer run dialog scripts.
There are several programs inspired by dialog; not all read the same scripts. The most well-known are Xdialog and whiptail.