Exploring Zenity: A Comprehensive Guide to Dialog Boxes

Introduction: Zenity is a powerful command-line tool that provides a simple way to create graphical dialog boxes in Linux. These dialog boxes can be used to collect user input, display information, and create interactive scripts. In this guide, we’ll explore various options and use cases for Zenity, complete with output screenshots to help you understand its capabilities better.

Table of Contents:

1. Installation
2. Basic Usage

• Displaying Information Dialogs
• Getting User Input

1. Advanced Dialog Boxes

• File Selection Dialog
• Color Selection Dialog
• Progress Bar Dialog

1. Creating Custom Dialogs

• Using GtkBuilder

1. Integrating Zenity in Scripts

• Real-World Examples

1. Conclusion

1. Installation: Before diving into Zenity, ensure it’s installed on your system. Most Linux distributions have it pre-installed, but you can install it with your package manager if needed.

2. Basic Usage:

• Displaying Information Dialogs:
• The --info, --warning, and --error options display informational, warning, and error dialog boxes, respectively.
• Example: zenity --info --text "This is an information dialog."
• Getting User Input:
• The --entry, --password, and --list options allow you to collect user input.
• Example: zenity --entry --text "Enter your name:"

3. Advanced Dialog Boxes:

• File Selection Dialog:
• Use --file-selection to create a file chooser dialog.
• Example: zenity --file-selection --title "Choose a File"
• Color Selection Dialog:
• Create color picker dialogs with --color-selection.
• Example: zenity --color-selection --title "Pick a Color"
• Progress Bar Dialog:
• Monitor progress using --progress.
• Example: zenity --progress --title "Downloading" --text "Please wait..." --percentage=50

4. Creating Custom Dialogs:

• Zenity allows you to create custom dialog boxes using GtkBuilder XML files.
• Example: zenity --text-info --filename=my_custom_dialog.xml

5. Integrating Zenity in Scripts:

• Explore real-world examples of how Zenity can be used in scripts, such as creating backup scripts with progress bars and interactive installation scripts.

6. Conclusion:

• Zenity is a versatile tool that makes it easy to create graphical dialog boxes in Linux.
• With its various options and capabilities, it can be a valuable addition to your scripting toolkit.
• Experiment with Zenity to streamline user interactions and enhance the functionality of your scripts.

Zenity is a program that will display GTK+ dialogs, and return (either in the return code, or on standard output) the users input. This allows you to present information, and ask for information from the user, from all manner of shell scripts.

=> man zentity — this command shows the manual of zentity

this manual shows how to use Zenity command with Options and it shows its Usages.

zenity — display GTK dialogs

GTk is a program file in linux wherever we use graphics in linux that represent as gtk.

Lets see more beautiful zenity commands with options.

=> zenity — calendar — title=”Calender selection” — text=”Select your date”

— year=2000 — date-format=”%Y %B %d %A”

zenity — calendar displays the calendar dialog box

we can change the title with — title option

we can also append text with — text option

we can set the year with — year and day with — day and month with — month options

we can also Set the format for the returned date with — date-format . The default depends on the user locale or be set with the strftime style.

=> Zenity — file-selection — filename=”Downloads”

Zenity — file-selection will Display file selection dialog

we can Set the file or directory to be selected by default with — filename option

=> Zenity — notification — listen

zenity — notification command display info dialog box

we can Set the notification text with — text Option

we can use — listen option for commands on stdin. Commands include ‘message’, ‘tooltip’, ‘icon’, and ‘visible’ separated by a colon.

=>Zenity — progress — text=”processing” — pulsate — auto-close

Zenity — progress :display progress indication dialog.

we can set the dialog text with — text option

we can Close dialog when 100% has been reached with — auto-close option

we can set the Pulsate progress bar with — pulsate option

=>Zenity — question — title=”Making sure “

— text=”are you sure you want to proceed” — no-wrap — no-markup

Zenity — question :Display question dialog

we can set the dialog title with — title option

we can Set the dialog text with — text option

we can Do not enable text wrapping with — no-wrap

we can Do not enable pango markup with — no-markup

=>Zenity — text-info — title=”zenity dialog commands” — checkbox=”i have read all commands” — filename=”/root/documents/linuxworld” — editable

Zenity — text-info : Display text information dialog

we can Enable a checkbox for use like a ‘I read and accept the terms’ with — checkbox option

we can Open file with — filename option

we can Allow changes to text with — editable option

=>Zenity — warning — title=”warning” — text=”your system is running at low storage space” — no-wrap — no-markup

Zenity — warning :Display warning dialog

we can Set the dialog text with — text option

we can Do not enable text wrapping with — no-wrap option

we can Do not enable pango markup with — no-markup option

=> Zenity — scale — title=”volume” — text=”Adjust your volume”

value=50 — min-value=10 — max-value=90

Zenity — scale :Display scale dialog

we can Set the dialog text with — text option

we can set the value with — value and minimum value with — min-value and maximum value with — max-value options

=>Zenity — color-selection — color=blue

Zenity — color-selection :Display color selection dialog

we can Set the initial color with — color optio

we can Show the palette with — palette option

=>age=$(zenity — entry — title=”Age” — text=”enter your age”)

=>echo $age

Zenity — entry:Display text entry dialog

we can set the dialog text with — text option

*we can also store the out put of zenity command and retrieve with echo command

=>espeak-ng -v en+f2 “$(zenity — entry — title=”speech” — text=”Enter your speech to deliver in voice”)”

we can take text output from zenity with — entry option and we can give that text to

espeak-ng command as a input to get the output in audio

=>Zenity — info — title=”week name your birthdate” — text=”$(date +%A -d$(zenity — entry — title =”week name of your birthdate” — text=”Enter your birthdate in the format of YYYYMMDD”))”

we can take birthdate as a input from zenity — entry option and we can give the birthdate day name as a output in a information dialog with — info option

=>zenity — notification — text=”someone tried to login your account”

“$(zenity — password — title=Login)”

we can take password as input with zenity — password option and we can give that password to error dialog with zenity — error option and after error dialog occurs the notification will be sent as a output to the user and the notification can be sent with the zenity — notification option

=>zenity — list — text=”select your gender” — column=select — column=gender male male female female others others — radiolist

zenity — list: Display list dialog

we can set the dialog text with — text option

we can set the column header with — column option

we can use radio buttons for first column with — radiolist option

we can also use checklist for first column with — checklist option

=>zenity — forms — title=”signup details” — add-entry=”Lastname” — add-entry=”Firstname” — add-entry=”email” — add-calendar=”Select your date of birth”

zenity — forms :Display form dialog

we can add a new Entry in forms dialog with — add-entry option

we add a new password entry in forms dialog with — add-password

we can also add calendar entry in forms dialog with — add-calendar

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**to know more about zenity dialog options “man zenity (or) zenity — help”

• Throughout the guide, include screenshots of the various Zenity dialog boxes and options in action, making it easier for readers to understand and replicate.

In conclusion, Zenity is a valuable utility for Linux users and scriptwriters. With its ability to create graphical dialog boxes, it enhances the user experience and adds interactivity to scripts. By following the steps and examples in this guide, you can harness the power of Zenity and unlock new possibilities for your Linux system and scripts.

Thats it for today keep learning !