Box passed window in ncurses.h - c

Question

I'm having a hard time understanding the problem with a window in ncurses. I created a layout of several windows and want to have a function that will border a window. Look like this:
int main() {
use_env(TRUE);
initscr();
start_color();
cbreak();
noecho();
curs_set(0);
WINDOW *win_corner = newwin(WCLINES, WCCOLS, WCX, WCY);
choose_lvl(win_corner);
...
}
int choose_lvl(WINDOW *win) {
box(win, 0, 0);
wrefresh(win);
refresh();
int c, curr_option = 0;
init_pair(1, COLOR_CYAN, COLOR_BLACK);
attron(COLOR_PAIR(1));
mvwprintw(win, 1, 1, "Choose your level");
...
}
It seems like box() doesnt have any effect at all - what could it be? My current theory is to suppose something wrong with the coordinates of the window.

Answer 1

refresh() refreshes the updates on stdscr. newwin() creates an independant window. A refresh on stdscr does not update the alternate window. The same without refresh() in choose_lvl() function would work fine as you would force update only on the alternate window.
You can also create a sub-window of stdscr with subwin() to make refresh() update the whole hierarchy:
#include <unistd.h>
#include <curses.h>
#define WCLINES 10
#define WCCOLS 80
#define WCX 4
#define WCY 4
int choose_lvl(WINDOW *win) {
box(win, 0, 0);
//wrefresh(win);
//refresh();
int c, curr_option = 0;
init_pair(1, COLOR_CYAN, COLOR_BLACK);
attron(COLOR_PAIR(1));
mvwprintw(win, 1, 1, "Choose your level");
refresh();
return 0;
}
int main() {
use_env(TRUE);
initscr();
start_color();
cbreak();
noecho();
curs_set(0);
//WINDOW *win_corner = newwin(WCLINES, WCCOLS, WCX, WCY);
WINDOW *win_corner = subwin(stdscr, WCLINES, WCCOLS, WCX, WCY);
choose_lvl(win_corner);
// quick&dirty pause to suspend program execution
// right after the windows display
pause();
return 0;
}
Execution:
$ gcc win.c -lncurses
$ ./a.out
The result is: