i need for a routine application some form of a TUI (text-based user interface) which will then be used by other users as well. the interface does not need to be crazy sophisticated though a dozen or so elements for text display and text input will be necessary. years ago i remember having seen in stores those kind of DOS based terminals for database access or cash registers with simple colored interfaces : something similar i envision for this project.

our underlying software and API is written in python so it would convenient if the TUI software uses the same language. furthermore the TUI should be compatible with TMUX windows and panes. and it should be well supported as it will be used in a long-term project.

in the GUI world i would imagine using something like tkinter but in terms of TUIs i found dialogue-based and ncurses-based software, and then also new independent languages such as picotui. what options are there out for us ? what are the pros and cons for the various options ?

Looks like you found the answer: there are dialogue-based and ncurses-based software (and others).
And you need to know which one is [more] suitable for you, for your environment and existing code.
Anyway, I would try to implement a prototype or a python module (or something similar) - using different base - to see how do they fit...

Just an example (this looks quite simple - at least for me): https://docs.python.org/3/howto/curses.html

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thank you, pan64, köszönöm - thinking a bit harder about this project (remotely manipulating data & database via vpn/ssh) i think we will go with pythondialog. for our simple needs it will do it while ncurses and alike may be an overkill. thank you for feedback !

you are welcome. Yes, pythondialog is ok (as long as you do not need more features).
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