<!--Copyright (C) 1988-2005 by the Institute of Global Environment and Society (IGES). See file COPYRIGHT for more information.--> <html> <head> <title>GrADS Command: q dialog</title> </head> <body bgcolor="e0f0ff" text="#000000"> <h2><b>q dialog</b></h2> <p> <code>q dialog <i><x y w h> dialog_text</i></code> <p> Launches a dialog box widget that prompts for text or numeric data entry and also provides editing of an input text or value. Returns the text entered by the user. <p> <ul> <code><i>x</i>    </code>X-coordinate of diaglog box center <br> <code><i>y</i>    </code>Y-coordinate of diaglog box center <br> <code><i>w</i>    </code>width of diaglog box <br> <code><i>h</i>    </code>width of diaglog box <br> </ul> <p> There are two options for the formatting of <code><i>dialog_text</i></code>: <p> <ul> <code><i>prompt</i></code> <ul> The prompt string provides an instruction to the user (e.g., "<code>Enter value for PI:</code>"). If <code><i>dialog_text</i></code> contains only a prompt, then the dialog box appears with the prompt and an empty entry point. </ul> <code><i>prompt</i> | <i>initial_string</i></code> <br> <code><i>prompt</i> / <i>initial_string</i></code> <ul> It is possible to give the user a head start or a suggestion as to what to type in the dialog box. For this option, <code><i>dialog_text</i></code> contains a prompt and an initial string separated by a vertical bar or a backslash (e.g., "<code>Enter value for PI: | 3.14159</code>" or "<code>Enter value for PI: / 3.14159</code>"). The dialog box appears with the prompt and the editable initial string at the entry point. </ul> </ul> <p> <h3>Usage Notes</h3> <ol> <li>The string input by the user is returned when the Enter/Return key is pressed. Null text entries are accepted. <p> <li>The x,y,w, and h arguments are optional. GrADS will use the default settings if they are omitted entirely or set to -1. If w and h are set to 0, a minimum sized window is drawn to contain just the <code><i>dialog_text</i></code>. <p> <li>The cursor must be inside the dialog box to allow text entry or editing to occur. <p> <li>All text is centered in the dialog box. If the new text exceeds the window size, the text will be right justified in the window; the left and right arrow keys can be used to scroll the text back and forth. <p> <li>See the <a href="gradcomdsetdialog.html"><code>set dialog</code></a> refrence page for details on controlling the color properties of the dialog box widget. </ol> <p> <h3>Examples </h3> <p> <pre> set dialog 1 0 5 1 6 q dialog Hello World say result </pre> </body> </html>