Command: choice

Syntax

choice <message>,<ident> {,<ident> ... } {
    <text>
    ...
}

Description

Get the value of an identifier from a multiple choice menu of values.

Parameters

• <message>
  The text to be used as the menu title.

• <ident>
  The identifier(s) whose value(s) are being set.

• <text>
  The values to be displayed in the menu one of which may be selected. Each line of text may contain multiple values, separated by commas, corresponding to the number of <ident> parameters on the command line.

Switches

• -col=<color>
  The color of the menu. If omitted, a default color is used.

• -d=<num>
  Use the <num>th line of <text> as the default value if no option is selected, e.g. if selection is made from the keyboard, before tabbing through options, rather than using the mouse.

• -fil=<string>
  A wildcard filter to be applied to options in the menu list. If this switch is present then only the options satisfying the filter will appear in the menu. If this switch is not present, all options are shown.

• -fo=<font>
  The font to be used for text in the pop-up menu. This must be a fixed font. If omitted, a default system font is used.

• -h=<num>
  The number of options high in the menu. This defines the number of options in the scrollable list. The default is the total number of options, with a maximum of 32.

• -if=<file>
  Get the text to be displayed in the menu from a data file, instead of a data block. If neither the -if nor -is switch is present, a data block containing text lines must be present.

• -is=<string_array>
  Get the text to be displayed in the menu from an array of string values, instead of a data block. If neither the -is nor -if switch is present, a data block containing text lines must be present.

• -l
  Treat text as a single value to be read into a string ident. If this is omitted, reading of a string from text will stop at the first comma.

• -m{p}
  Permit the operator to choose from the master menus as an alternative to picking from the pop-up menu.

• If -mp is used, all commands selected from master menus will be executed in-line, i.e. control will return to the pop-up menu after execution.

• If -m is used then only master menu commands beginning with a | character will be executed in-line, and commands without a leading | will abort the pop-up before being executed.

• -ocol=<color>
  The other color for use in the pop-up menu, e.g. for text. If omitted, a default color is used.

• -pos=<screen_xy>
  The position of the menu in screen co-ordinates. If omitted, the value of the system numeric menu_position is used.

• -tit=<string>
  The text to be displayed in the menu window frame. If omitted, the program name is displayed.

• -us
  Permit the user/operator to enter values from the keyboard as an alternative to picking from the menu. The default is "menu selection" only. This switch is valid only for alpha menus.

Notes

The menu is displayed as a pop-up scrollable list. Option selection is by double-clicking the mouse over the required option.

A menu remains displayed until a valid option is picked or typed
(-us), or until aborted by selecting from a master menu in conjunction with the -m switch.

Examples

Choose a numeric value from a choice of four.

numeric x
choice 'Pick a Value',x {
   100; 200; 300; 400
}

Choose multiple values from a choice of three sets.

numeric x,y; string s
choice 'Choose Configuration',x,y,s, -l {
   900, 900, Single Sash
   900, 1200, Horizontal Slider
   1200, 1200, Vertical Slider
}

See Also