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Somewhat related ... Is there a proper name for a "top-like interface" ? I think that "TUI" refers very broadly to any terminal user interface and both 'vim'

by rsync 5y ago

Somewhat related ... Is there a proper name for a "top-like interface" ? I think that "TUI" refers very broadly to any terminal user interface and both 'vim' and 'alpine' and 'top' would fall under this broad category. But is there a specific name for a refresh-every-second, full page status output - like 'top' ? Is there a standard library for creating such an interface, or do people always use curses ? Presumably curses did not exist in the early 80s when 'top' was first written ...

throwawayboise 5y ago
Very crudely, on linux you can do that with almost any CLI progam and the "watch" utility.
- rakoo 5y ago
  In a similar vein, "entr" (https://github.com/eradman/entr https://github.com/eradman/entr) relaunches any CLI command whenever the specified files/directory changes, with the possibility to clear the screen every time.
michaelsbradley 5y ago
TUI generally refers to a program that’s “full screen” with respect to the terminal it’s running in. Programs that don’t drive the whole terminal screen, instead generating output that may be mixed with other output in the same terminal, are often referred to as CLIs. curses dates back to around 1980: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ncurses#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ncurses#History
- rsync 5y ago
  I guess but ... again, 'vim' or 'alpine' are very different than a constantly updating status like 'top'. I guess I'll just keep calling it a "top-like interface".
  - michaelsbradley 5y ago
    > again, 'vim' or 'alpine' are very different than a constantly updating status like 'top' How so? What if `top` redrew the terminal screen if and when you pressed the r-key instead of using a timer?