# phpman > man > WHIPTAIL(1) > **TLDR:** Display text-based dialog boxes from shell scripts. > - Display a simple message: `whiptail --title "{{title}}" --msgbox "{{message}}" {{height_in_chars}} {{width_in_chars}}` - Display a boolean choice, returning the result through the exit code: `whiptail --title "{{title}}" --yesno "{{message}}" {{height_in_chars}} {{width_in_chars}}` - Customize the text on the yes/no buttons: `whiptail --title "{{title}}" --yes-button "{{text}}" --no-button "{{text}}" --yesno "{{message}}" {{height_in_chars}} {{width_in_chars}}` - Display a text input box: `{{result_variable_name}}="$(whiptail --title "{{title}}" --inputbox "{{message}}" {{height_in_chars}} {{width_in_chars}} {{default_text}} 3>&1 1>&2 2>&3)"` - Display a password input box: `{{result_variable_name}}="$(whiptail --title "{{title}}" --passwordbox "{{message}}" {{height_in_chars}} {{width_in_chars}} 3>&1 1>&2 2>&3)"` - Display a multiple-choice menu: `{{result_variable_name}}=$(whiptail --title "{{title}}" --menu "{{message}}" {{height_in_chars}} {{width_in_chars}} {{menu_display_height}} {{"value_1" "display_text_1" "value_2" "display_text_2" ...}} 3>&1 1>&2 2>&3)` *Source: tldr-pages* --- [WHIPTAIL(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/WHIPTAIL/1/markdown) General Commands Manual [WHIPTAIL(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/WHIPTAIL/1/markdown) ## NAME whiptail - display dialog boxes from shell scripts ## SYNOPSIS **whiptail** [ **--title** _title_ ] [ **--backtitle** _backtitle_ ] [ **--clear** ] [ **--default-item** _string_ ] [ **--defaultno** ] [ **--fb** ] [ **--nocancel** ] [ **--yes-button** _text_ ] [ **--no-button** _text_ ] [ **--ok-but**‐‐ **ton** _text_ ] [ **--cancel-button** _text_ ] [ **--noitem** [ ] **--output-fd** _fd_ ] [ **--separate-output** ] [ **--scrolltext** ] [ **--topleft** ] **box-options** ## DESCRIPTION **whiptail** is a program that will let you present a variety of questions or display messages using dialog boxes from a shell script. Currently, these types of dialog boxes are imple‐ mented: **yes/no** box, **menu** box, **input** box, **message** box, **text** box, **info** box, **checklist** box, **radiolist** box**,** **gauge** box, and **password** box. ## OPTIONS ### --clear The screen will be cleared to the **screen** **attribute** on exit. This doesn't work in an xterm (and descendants) if alternate screen switching is enabled, because in that case slang writes to (and clears) an alternate screen. ### --defaultno The dialog box will open with the cursor over the **No** button. **--default-item** _string_ Set the default item in a menu box. Normally the first item in the box is the de‐ fault. **--fb**, **--fullbuttons** Use full buttons. (By default, **whiptail** uses compact buttons). ### --nocancel The dialog box won't have a **Cancel** button**.** **--yes-button** _text_ Set the text of the **Yes** button. **--no-button** _text_ Set the text of the **No** button. **--ok-button** _text_ Set the text of the **Ok** button. **--cancel-button** _text_ Set the text of the **Cancel** button. ### --noitem The menu, checklist and radiolist widgets will display tags only, not the item strings. The menu widget still needs some items specified, but checklist and radiolist expect only tag and status. ### --notags Don't display tags in the menu, checklist and radiolist widgets. ### --separate-output For checklist widgets, output result one line at a time, with no quoting. This facil‐ itates parsing by another program. **--output-fd** _fd_ Direct output to the given file descriptor. Most **whiptail** scripts write to standard error, but error messages may also be written there, depending on your script. **--title** _title_ Specifies a _title_ string to be displayed at the top of the dialog box. **--backtitle** _backtitle_ Specifies a _backtitle_ string to be displayed on the backdrop, at the top of the screen. ### --scrolltext Force the display of a vertical scrollbar. ### --topleft Put window in top-left corner. ### -h --help Print a help message and exit. ### -v --version Print version information and exit. ### Box Options **--yesno** _text_ _height_ _width_ A **yes/no** dialog box of size _height_ rows by _width_ columns will be displayed. The string specified by _text_ is displayed inside the dialog box. If this string is too long to be fit in one line, it will be automatically divided into multiple lines at appropriate places. The _text_ string may also contain the sub-string _"\n"_ or newline characters _`\n'_ to control line breaking explicitly. This dialog box is useful for asking ques‐ tions that require the user to answer either yes or no. The dialog box has a **Yes** but‐ ton and a **No** button, in which the user can switch between by pressing the _TAB_ key. **--msgbox** _text_ _height_ _width_ A **message** box is very similar to a **yes/no** box. The only difference between a **message** box and a **yes/no** box is that a **message** box has only a single **OK** button. You can use this dialog box to display any message you like. After reading the message, the user can press the _ENTER_ key so that **whiptail** will exit and the calling shell script can continue its operation. **--infobox** _text_ _height_ _width_ An **info** box is basically a **message** box. However, in this case, **whiptail** will exit im‐ mediately after displaying the message to the user. The screen is not cleared when **whiptail** exits, so that the message will remain on the screen until the calling shell script clears it later. This is useful when you want to inform the user that some op‐ erations are carrying on that may require some time to finish. **--inputbox** _text_ _height_ _width_ _[init]_ An **input** box is useful when you want to ask questions that require the user to input a string as the answer. If init is supplied it is used to initialize the input string. When inputing the string, the _BACKSPACE_ key can be used to correct typing errors. If the input string is longer than the width of the dialog box, the input field will be scrolled. On exit, the input string will be printed on _stderr_. **--passwordbox** _text_ _height_ _width_ _[init]_ A **password** box is similar to an input box, except the text the user enters is not dis‐ played. This is useful when prompting for passwords or other sensitive information. Be aware that if anything is passed in "init", it will be visible in the system's process table to casual snoopers. Also, it is very confusing to the user to provide them with a default password they cannot see. For these reasons, using "init" is highly discour‐ aged. **--textbox** _file_ _height_ _width_ A **text** box lets you display the contents of a text file in a dialog box. It is like a simple text file viewer. The user can move through the file by using the _UP/DOWN_, _PGUP/PGDN_ and _HOME/END_ keys available on most keyboards. If the lines are too long to be displayed in the box, the _LEFT/RIGHT_ keys can be used to scroll the text region horizontally. For more convenience, forward and backward searching functions are also provided. **--menu** _text_ _height_ _width_ _menu-height_ [ _tag_ _item_ ] _..._ As its name suggests, a **menu** box is a dialog box that can be used to present a list of choices in the form of a menu for the user to choose. Each menu entry consists of a _tag_ string and an _item_ string. The _tag_ gives the entry a name to distinguish it from the other entries in the menu. The _item_ is a short description of the option that the entry represents. The user can move between the menu entries by pressing the _UP/DOWN_ keys, the first letter of the _tag_ as a hot-key. There are _menu-height_ entries dis‐ played in the menu at one time, but the menu will be scrolled if there are more en‐ tries than that. When **whiptail** exits, the _tag_ of the chosen menu entry will be printed on _stderr_. **--checklist** _text_ _height_ _width_ _list-height_ [ _tag_ _item_ _status_ ] _..._ A **checklist** box is similar to a **menu** box in that there are multiple entries presented in the form of a menu. You can select and deselect items using the SPACE key. The initial on/off state of each entry is specified by _status_. On exit, a list of the _tag_ strings of those entries that are turned on will be printed on _stderr_. **--radiolist** _text_ _height_ _width_ _list-height_ [ _tag_ _item_ _status_ ] _..._ A **radiolist** box is similar to a **menu** box. The only difference is that you can indi‐ cate which entry is currently selected, by setting its _status_ to _on_. **--gauge** _text_ _height_ _width_ _percent_ A **gauge** box displays a meter along the bottom of the box. The meter indicates a per‐ centage. New percentages are read from standard input, one integer per line. The me‐ ter is updated to reflect each new percentage. If stdin is XXX, the first following line is a percentage and subsequent lines up to another XXX are used for a new prompt. The gauge exits when EOF is reached on stdin. ## NOTES whiptail interprets arguments starting with a dash "-" as being arguments. To avoid this, and start some text in, for example, a menubox item, with a dash, whiptail honours the getopt convention of accepting the special argument "--" which means that all following arguments with dashes are to be treated verbatim and not parsed as options. ## DIAGNOSTICS Exit status is 0 if **whiptail** is exited by pressing the **Yes** or **OK** button, and 1 if the **No** or **Cancel** button is pressed. Otherwise, if errors occur inside **whiptail** or **whiptail** is exited by pressing the _ESC_ key, the exit status is 255. ## AUTHOR Based on the man page for [dialog(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/dialog/1/markdown) by: Savio Lam () - version 0.3 Stuart Herbert () - patch for version 0.4 Modifications for whiptail by: Enrique Zanardi () Alastair McKinstry () Whiptail Version 0.52.5 31 January 2007 [WHIPTAIL(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/WHIPTAIL/1/markdown)