Term::Visual is a "visual" terminal interface for curses
applications. It provides the split-screen interface you may have
seen in console based IRC and MUD clients.
Term::Visual's interface includes four regions. From top to bottom:
A title bar. Term::Visual supports many terminals, each with its
own screen elements, and the title bar is a convenient way to
remember which is currently active.
A large scrolling terminal region. In network clients, this is
where remote output is shown. Many features are supported, the most
notable are colorized text and scrollback.
A one- or two-line configurable status bar. Just about anything can
be placed here, including the current time, and statistics about the
runtime operation of whatever program you write with it.
A one-line entry bar, with many common editing keystrokes
supported. It scrolls horizontally to allow more than just a
screen's width of text.
Term::Visual uses the POE networking and multitasking framework to support
concurrent input from network sockets and the console, multiple
timers, and more.
Term::Visual is a "visual" terminal because it is display rather than line
oriented. It takes up the full screen, provides scrollback features,
and allows you to edit input in what is essentially a one-line text
editor. Similar features make vi the "visual" text editor, and are
elements of TinyFugue's "visual" mode.
The tarball currently has no tests, but there are sample programs in
the examples directory.
Term::Visual installs the usual way:
perl Makefile.PL
make
make install
The project is managed at SourceForge. Various support resources are
for more information.
-- Charles Ayres - lunartear@ambientheory.com