# Zenity Manual

Zenity Desktop Application Manual V2.0

2003 2004 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
2007 David Lodge (dave@cirt.net)
2009 Jen Ockwell (jenfraggleubuntu@gmail.com)
Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation Licence (GFDL), Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. You can find a copy of the GFDL at this link or in the file COPYING-DOCS distributed with this manual.

This manual is part of a collection of GNOME manuals distributed under the GFDL. If you want to distribute this manual separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the license to the manual, as described in section 6 of the licence.

Many of the names used by companies to distinguish their products and services are claimed as trademarks. Where those names appear in any GNOME documentation, and the members of the GNOME Documentation Project are made aware of those trademarks, then the names are in capital letters or initial capital letters.

DOCUMENT AND MODIFIED VERSIONS OF THE DOCUMENT ARE PROVIDED UNDER THE TERMS OF THE GNU FREE DOCUMENTATION LICENCE WITH THE FURTHER UNDERSTANDING THAT:

1. DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES THAT THE DOCUMENT OR MODIFIED VERSION OF THE DOCUMENT IS FREE OF DEFECTS MERCHANTABLE, FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGING. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY, ACCURACY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE DOCUMENT OR MODIFIED VERSION OF THE DOCUMENT IS WITH YOU. SHOULD ANY DOCUMENT OR MODIFIED VERSION PROVE DEFECTIVE IN ANY RESPECT, YOU (NOT THE INITIAL WRITER, AUTHOR OR ANY CONTRIBUTOR) ASSUME THE COST OF ANY NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION. THIS DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY CONSTITUTES AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THIS LICENCE. NO USE OF ANY DOCUMENT OR MODIFIED VERSION OF THE DOCUMENT IS AUTHORISED HEREUNDER EXCEPT UNDER THIS DISCLAIMER; AND

2. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES AND UNDER NO LEGAL THEORY, WHETHER IN TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), CONTRACT OR OTHERWISE, SHALL THE AUTHOR, INITIAL WRITER, ANY CONTRIBUTOR OR ANY DISTRIBUTOR OF THE DOCUMENT OR MODIFIED VERSION OF THE DOCUMENT OR ANY SUPPLIER OF ANY OF SUCH PARTIES, BE LIABLE TO ANY PERSON FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY CHARACTER INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY AND ALL OTHER DAMAGES OR LOSSES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO USE OF THE DOCUMENT AND MODIFIED VERSIONS OF THE DOCUMENT, EVEN IF SUCH PARTY SHALL HAVE BEEN INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Sun Java Desktop System Documentation Team
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Glynn Foster
GNOME Documentation Project
Nicholas Curran
GNOME Documentation Project
Zenity Desktop Application Manual V2.0
August 2004

Sun Java Desktop System Documentation Team

Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Zenity Manual V1.0
January 2003

Glynn Foster

GNOME Documentation Project

This manual describes version 2.6.0 of Zenity.

Feedback

To send feedback, follow the directions in the Feedback Page.

Zenity is a rewrite of gdialog, the GNOME port of dialog which allows you to display dialogue boxes from the command line and shell scripts.

## Introduction

Zenity enables you to create the following types of simple dialogue:

- Calendar

- File selection

- List

- Notification icon

- Message

  - Error

  - Information

  - Question

  - Warning

- Progress

- Text entry

- Text information

## Usage

When you write scripts, you can use Zenity to create simple dialogues that interact graphically with the user, as follows:

- You can create a dialogue to obtain information from the user. For example, you can prompt the user to select a date from a calendar dialogue, or to select a file from a file selection dialogue.

- You can create a dialogue to provide the user with information. For example, you can use a progress dialogue to indicate the current status of an operation, or use a warning message dialogue to alert the user.

When the user closes the dialog, Zenity prints the text produced by the dialog to standard output.

When you write Zenity commands, ensure that you place quotation marks around each argument.

For example, use:

    zenity --calendar --title="Holiday Planner"

Do not use:

    zenity --calendar --title=Holiday Planner

If you do not use quotation marks, you might get unexpected results.

### Access Keys

An access key is a key that enables you to perform an action from the keyboard rather than use the mouse to choose a command from a menu or dialogue. Each access key is identified by an underlined letter on a menu or dialogue option.

Some Zenity dialogues support the use of access keys. To specify the character to use as the access key, place an underscore before that character in the text of the dialogue. The following example shows how to specify the letter 'C' as the access key:

    "_Choose a name".

### Exit Codes

Zenity returns the following exit codes:

Exit Code | Description
--- | ---
`0` | The user has pressed either OK or Close.
`1` | The user has either pressed Cancel, or used the window functions to close the dialogue.
`-1` | An unexpected error has occurred.
`5` | The dialogue has been closed because the timeout has been reached.

### General Options

All Zenity dialogues support the following general options:

`--title`=title

  Specifies the title of a dialogue.

`--window-icon`=icon_path

  Specifies the icon that is displayed in the window frame of the dialogue. There are 4 stock icons also available by providing the following keywords - 'info', 'warning', 'question' and 'error'.

`--width`=width

  Specifies the width of the dialogue.

`--height`=height

  Specifies the height of the dialogue.

`--timeout`=timeout

  Specifies the timeout in seconds after which the dialogue is closed.

### Help Options

Zenity provides the following help options:

`--help`

  Displays shortened help text.

`--help-all`

  Displays full help text for all dialogues.

`--help-general`

  Displays help text for general dialogue options.

`--help-calendar`

  Displays help text for calendar dialogue options.

`--help-entry`

  Displays help text for text entry dialogue options.

`--help-error`

  Displays help text for error dialogue options.

`--help-info`

  Displays help text for information dialogue options.

`--help-file-selection`

  Displays help text for file selection dialogue options.

`--help-list`

  Displays help text for list dialogue options.

`--help-notification`

  Displays help text for notification icon options.

`--help-progress`

  Displays help text for progress dialogue options.

`--help-question`

  Displays help text for question dialogue options.

`--help-warning`

  Displays help text for warning dialogue options.

`--help-text-info`

  Displays help for text information dialogue options.

`--help-misc`

  Displays help for miscellaneous options.

`--help-gtk`

  Displays help for GTK+ options.

### Miscellaneous Options

Zenity also provides the following miscellaneous options:

`--about`

  Displays the About Zenity dialogue, which contains Zenity version information, copyright information and developer information.

`--version`

  Displays the version number of Zenity.

### GTK+ Options

Zenity supports the standard GTK+ options. For more information about the GTK+ options, execute the `zenity -?` command.

### Environment Variables

Normally, Zenity detects the terminal window from which it was launched and keeps itself above that window. This behavior can be disabled by unsetting the `WINDOWID` environment variable.

## Calendar Dialogue

Use the `--calendar` option to create a calendar dialog. Zenity returns the selected date to standard output. If no date is specified on the command line, the dialog uses the current date.

The calendar dialogue supports the following options:

`--text`=text

  Specifies the text that is displayed in the calendar dialogue.

`--day`=day

  Specifies the day that is selected in the calendar dialogue. day must be a number between 1 and 31 inclusive.

`--month`=month

  Specifies the month that is selected in the calendar dialogue. month must be a number between 1 and 12 inclusive.

`--year`=year

  Specifies the year that is selected in the calendar dialogue.

`--date-format`=format

  Specifies the format that is returned from the calendar dialogue after date selection. The default format depends on your locale. format must be a format that is acceptable to the `strftime` function, for example `%A %d/%m/%y`.

The following example script shows how to create a calendar dialogue:

            #!/bin/sh

            if zenity --calendar \
            --title="Select a Date" \
            --text="Click on a date to select that date." \
            --day=10 --month=8 --year=2004
              then echo $?
              else echo "No date selected"
            fi

Calendar Dialogue Example

Zenity calendar dialogue example

## File Selection Dialogue

Use the `--file-selection` option to create a file selection dialog. Zenity returns the selected files or directories to standard output. The default mode of the file selection dialog is open.

The file selection dialogue supports the following options:

`--filename`=filename

  Specifies the file or directory that is selected in the file selection dialogue when the dialogue is first shown.

`--multiple`

  Allows the selection of multiple filenames in the file selection dialogue.

`--directory`

  Allows only selection of directories in the file selection dialogue.

`--save`

  Set the file selection dialogue into save mode.

`--separator`=separator

  Specifies the string that is used to divide the returned list of filenames.

The following example script shows how to create a file selection dialogue:

            #!/bin/sh

            FILE=`zenity --file-selection --title="Select a File"`

            case $? in
                     0)
                            echo "\"$FILE\" selected.";;
                     1)
                            echo "No file selected.";;
                    -1)
                            echo "No file selected.";;
            esac

File Selection Dialogue Example

Zenity file selection dialogue example

## Notification Icon

`--text`=text

  Specifies the text that is displayed in the notification area.

The following example script shows how to create a notification icon:

            #!/bin/sh

            zenity --notification\
              --window-icon="info" \
              --text="There are system updates necessary!"

Notification Icon Example

Zenity notification icon example

## List Dialogue

Use the `--list` option to create a list dialog. Zenity returns the entries in the first column of text of selected rows to standard output.

Data for the dialogue must specified column by column, row by row. Data can be provided to the dialogue through standard input. Each entry must be separated by a newline character.

If you use the `--checklist` or `--radiolist` options, each row must start with either 'TRUE' or 'FALSE'.

The list dialogue supports the following options:

`--column`=column

  Specifies the column headers that are displayed in the list dialogue. You must specify a `--column` option for each column that you want to display in the dialogue.

`--checklist`

  Specifies that the first column in the list dialogue contains check boxes.

`--radiolist`

  Specifies that the first column in the list dialogue contains radio boxes.

`--editable`

  Allows the displayed items to be edited.

`--separator`=separator

  Specifies what string is used when the list dialogue returns the selected entries.

`--print-column`=column

  Specifies what column should be printed out upon selection. The default column is '1'. 'ALL' can be used to print out all columns in the list.

The following example script shows how to create a list dialogue:

            #!/bin/sh

            zenity --list \
              --title="Choose the Bugs You Wish to View" \
              --column="Bug Number" --column="Severity" --column="Description" \
                992383 Normal "GtkTreeView crashes on multiple selections" \
                293823 High "GNOME Dictionary does not handle proxy" \
                393823 Critical "Menu editing does not work in GNOME 2.0"

List Dialogue Example

Zenity list dialogue example

## Message Dialogues

Zenity can create four types of message dialogue:

- Error

- Information

- Question

- Warning

For each type, use the `--text` option to specify the text that is displayed in the dialogue.

### Error Dialogue

Use the `--error` option to create an error dialogue.

The following example script shows how to create an error dialogue:

              #!/bin/bash

              zenity --error \
              --text="Could not find /var/log/syslog."

Error Dialogue Example

Zenity error dialogue example

### Information Dialogue

Use the `--info` option to create an information dialogue.

The following example script shows how to create an information dialogue:

              #!/bin/bash

              zenity --info \
              --text="Merge complete. Updated 3 of 10 files."

Information Dialogue Example

Zenity information dialogue example

### Question Dialogue

Use the `--question` option to create a question dialogue.

The following example script shows how to create a question dialogue:

              #!/bin/bash

              zenity --question \
              --text="Are you sure you wish to proceed?"

Question Dialogue Example

Zenity question dialogue example

### Warning Dialogue

Use the `--warning` option to create a warning dialogue.

The following example script shows how to create a warning dialogue:

              #!/bin/bash

              zenity --warning \
              --text="Disconnect the power cable to avoid electrical shock."

Warning Dialogue Example

Zenity warning dialogue example

## Progress Dialogue

Use the `--progress` option to create a progress dialogue.

Zenity reads data from standard input line by line. If a line is prefixed with #, the text is updated with the text on that line. If a line contains only a number, the percentage is updated with that number.

The progress dialogue supports the following options:

`--text`=text

  Specifies the text that is displayed in the progress dialogue.

`--percentage`=percentage

  Specifies the initial percentage that is set in the progress dialogue.

`--auto-close`

  Closes the progress dialogue when 100% has been reached.

`--pulsate`

  Specifies that the progress bar pulsates until an EOF character is read from standard input.

The following example script shows how to create a progress dialogue:

            #!/bin/sh
            (
            echo "10" ; sleep 1
            echo "# Updating mail logs" ; sleep 1
            echo "20" ; sleep 1
            echo "# Resetting cron jobs" ; sleep 1
            echo "50" ; sleep 1
            echo "This line will just be ignored" ; sleep 1
            echo "75" ; sleep 1
            echo "# Rebooting system" ; sleep 1
            echo "100" ; sleep 1
            ) |
            zenity --progress \
              --title="Update System Logs" \
              --text="Scanning mail logs..." \
              --percentage=0

            if [ "$?" = -1 ] ; then
                    zenity --error \
                      --text="Update cancelled."
            fi

Progress Dialogue Example

Zenity progress dialogue example

## Text Entry Dialogue

Use the `--entry` option to create a text entry dialog. Zenity returns the contents of the text entry to standard output.

The text entry dialogue supports the following options:

`--text`=text

  Specifies the text that is displayed in the text entry dialogue.

`--entry-text`=text

  Specifies the text that is displayed in the entry field of the text entry dialogue.

`--hide-text`

  Hides the text in the entry field of the text entry dialogue.

The following example script shows how to create a text entry dialogue:

            #!/bin/sh

            if zenity --entry \
            --title="Add an Entry" \
            --text="Enter your _password:" \
            --entry-text "password" \
            --hide-text
              then echo $?
              else echo "No password entered"
            fi

Text Entry Dialogue Example

Zenity text entry dialogue example

## Text Information Dialogue

Use the `--text-info` option to create a text information dialogue.

The text information dialogue supports the following options:

`--filename`=filename

  Specifies a file that is loaded in the text information dialogue.

`--editable`

  Allows the displayed text to be edited. The edited text is returned to standard output when the dialog is closed.

The following example script shows how to create a text information dialogue:

            #!/bin/sh

            FILE=`zenity --file-selection \
              --title="Select a File"`

            case $? in
                     0)
                            zenity --text-info \
                              --title=$FILE \
                              --filename=$FILE \
                              --editable 2>/tmp/tmp.txt;;
                     1)
                            echo "No file selected.";;
                    -1)
                            echo "No file selected.";;
            esac

Text Information Dialogue Example

Zenity text information dialogue example
zenity command
dialogue creator