| Figure C |
 |
| Figure D |
 |
Lists are also useful for configuration tools, and these too can be done quite easily. The ask_from_list function expects a title, a prompt, a list of selections, and the default value. Listing E shows how you can provide a popup ToolTip. (The ToolTip doesn't work in text mode.) A more elaborate list might involve a tree or outline type selection. Listing F illustrates this technique. In Listing F, you declare the pipe symbol [|] as the separator in argument three of ask_from_treelist, and you declare Fruit|Apple as the default, as well as a None option. In the GUI display, the pipe symbol parses the tree display. On the console, the string is displayed as is, without the visual tree effect, as shown in Figures E and F, respectively.
| Figure E |
 |
| Figure F |
 |
Combinations of the above widgets, along with the other interfaces in interactive.pm, should be enough to allow you to create a user interface to cover most tasks. The text interface is not quite as sophisticated as the GUI. If you can keep the interface simple, being able to run in both the console and GUI is a definite plus. MandrakeSoft's toolkit is licensed under the GPL, and you are free to use and adapt the code even if you don't use Mandrake Linux.
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