NAME

ckstr - display a prompt; verify and return a string answer

SYNOPSIS

ckstr [-Q] [-W width] [[-r regexp] [...]]  [-l  length]  [-d
default] [-h help] [-e error]
[-p prompt] [-k pid [-s signal]]

errstr [-W] [-e error]
helpstr [-W] [-h help]
valstr input

DESCRIPTION

ckstr prompts a user and validates the response. It defines, among other things, a prompt message whose response should be a string, text for help and error messages, and a default value (which will be returned if the user responds with a carriage return). The answer returned from this command must match the defined regular expression and be no longer than the length specified. If no regular expression is given, valid input must be a string with a length less than or equal to the length defined with no internal, leading or trailing white space. If no length is defined, the length is not checked. Either a regular expression or a length must be given with the command. All messages are limited in length to 70 characters and are formatted automatically. Any white space used in the definition (including newline) is stripped. The -W option cancels the automatic formatting. When a tilde is placed at the beginning or end of a message definition, the default text will be inserted at that point, allowing both custom text and the default text to be displayed. If the prompt, help or error message is not defined, the default message (as defined under NOTES) will be displayed. Three visual tool modules are linked to the ckstr command. They are errstr (which formats and displays an error message), helpstr (which formats and displays a help message), and valstr (which validates a response). These modules should be used in conjunction with FACE objects. In this instance, the FACE object defines the prompt. The options and arguments for this command are:

-Q Specifies that quit will not be allowed as a valid response.

-W Specifies that prompt, help and error messages will be formatted to a line length of width.

-r Specifies a regular expression, regexp, against which the input should be validated. May include white space. If multiple expressions are defined, the answer must match only one of them.

-l Specifies the maximum length of the input.

-d Defines the default value as default. The default is not validated and so does not have to meet any criteria.

-h Defines the help messages as help.

-e Defines the error message as error.

-p Defines the prompt message as prompt.

-k Specifies that process ID pid is to be sent a signal if the user chooses to abort.

-s Specifies that the process ID pid defined with the -k option is to be sent signal signal when quit is chosen. If no signal is specified, SIGTERM is used.

input

Input to be verified against format length and/or regular expression criteria.

EXIT CODES

0 = Successful execution
1 = EOF on input
2 = Usage error
3 = User termination (quit)

NOTES

The default prompt for ckstr is:

    Enter an appropriate value [?,q]:
 The default error message is dependent upon the type of vali-
 dation  involved.   The  user  will  be  told either that the
 length or the pattern matching failed.  The default help mes-
 sage  is also dependent upon the type of validation involved.
 If a regular expression has been defined, the message is:

   Please enter a string which matches the following pattern:
   regexp
Other messages define the length requirement and  the  defini-
tion  of  a  string.   When  the  quit  option  is chosen (and
allowed), q is returned along with the  return  code  3.   The
valstr  module  will  not produce any output.  It returns zero
for success and non-zero for failure.