Additional procedures
The following procedures are available at any time after the first :frame
procedure has been called
procedure
:path widget
Given a widget name the full TK path name of the window created (or
of the frame window created to hold a complex widget) is returned.
e.g. :path MSG may return .app.panel.msg
procedure
:widget path
Given a full TK path name the WIDGET name of the window created (or
of the frame window created to hold a complex widget) is returned.
e.g. :widget .app.panel.msg may return MSG
procedure
:show T|F
If the value is True then the master window is made visible; if False
then the master window is made non visible.
It is normally necessary for a :show T procedure call to be made at the end of definition of the
master window.
The :show procedure also configures the footer width to the width of the frame and sets the
keyboard focus to follow the mouse position. The procedure open-frame also causes the
window to be made visible but does not define the keyboard focus. This is useful if an
application for some reason requires a different keyboard focus algorithm.
procedure
:set item value
Allows access to the internal constants used by the procedures. The
constant held in the TCL global variable _item is set to value.
Current constants and their default values are :
listch (17); listcw (7); chkbtsize (24); chcesize (24); charh (25); charw (7);
footercharw (6)
The :set procedure can be used to redefine options to be used by the
packer geometry manager for future widgets.
layout default left
anchor default nw
expand default yes
fill default both
ipadx default 0
ipady default 0
padx default 0
pady default 0
footer-position default left
procedure
:enable widget events
Allows additional events to be bound to a window. widget is either a
widget name (it does not start with a period) or is a window name (it does
start with a period).events are a list of TK events which are to be bound to the
widget/window.
e.g. :enable F1 Enter
This causes an event to be generated when the mouse enters the window
identified by F1. The TCL procedure
click frame :Enter widget
will be invoked.
procedure
:help widget text
text defines information to be used for level 1 (task local) help for
widget. For further information see the section on the Help System later in
this document.
procedure
:colour mode window [option value]
Defines the colour to be used for future widgets.
mode can be either local (the colour selection applies only to this
interpreter) or global (the colour selection will apply to the whole session).
window is the window type and is one of: frame, label, entry, listbox,
text, message, scale, scrollbar, button, checkbutton, menubutton, canvas.
option is the window component and is one of: activebackground,
activeforeground, background, disabledforeground, highlightbackground,
highlightcolor, insertbackground, selectcolor, selectbackground,
selectforeground, troughcolor.
value is the colour to use for the selected item.
Note - not all options are valid for all window types.
procedure
:font mode window weight [component value]
Defines the font to be used for future widgets.
window is the window type and is one of: label, entry, listbox, text,
message, scale, button, checkbutton, menubutton, entry, menu.
mode can be either local (the font selection applies only to this
interpreter) or global (the font selection will apply to the whole session).
weight is the font weight and is either b (bold) or n (medium)
component is the window component and is one of: :fndry, :fmly, :wght,
:pxlsz, :ptsz, :slant, :swdth, :rgstry.
value is the value to use for the selected component.
Default values: fndry=adobe; fmly=helvetica; pxlsz=12; ptsz=120; slant=r; swdth=normal;
rgstry=iso8859.
The following procedures are useful following a :panel procedure call to
modify options used in the creation of widgets within the panel;.
procedure
:layout L|R|T|B|H|V
The value supplied determines which side of the master should be
used when packing slave windows into the master. Left, Right,Top and
Bottom are layout options specific to the packer geometery manager and the
geometry manager flag is set so that the packer is used for subsequent
widgets within the current panel. Horizontal and Vertical are options which
select the placer geometry manager and the geometry manager flag is set so
that the placer is used for subsequent widgets within the current panel.
arguments
:pack T|F
If the value is True then the value of the geometry manager flag is set
so that the packer is used by default for subsequent widgets within the current
panel; if the value is False then the value of the geometry manager flag is set
so that the placer is used by default for subsequent widgets within the current
panel.
:place T|F
If the value is True then the value of the geometry manager flag is set
so that the placer is used by default for subsequent widgets within the current
panel; if the value is False then the value of the geometry manager flag is set
so that the packer is used by default for subsequent widgets within the current
panel.
:anchor where
where should be a valid window point to be used when placing or
packing slave windows within their master window. The parameter supplied is
used by default for subsequent widgets within the current panel.
Valid points are n,s,e,w,nw,ne,se,sw.
procedure
:row-gap value
See the :row-gap argument of the :panel procedure. This procedure
allows the current row gap to be changed. It also causes the geometry
manager selected to be the placer.
procedure
:col-gap value
See the :col-gap argument of the :panel procedure. This procedure
allows the current column gap to be changed. It also causes the geometry
manager selected to be the placer.
procedure
:next-row T
Sets the current x position (used when placing widgets) to 0 and
increments the y position (used when placing widgets) by the height of the
last widget created plus any additional space specified by the row-gap
parameter. It also causes the geometry manager selected to be the placer.
procedure
:next-col T
Sets the current y position (used when placing widgets) to 0 and
increments the x position (used when placing widgets) by the width of the last
widget created plus any additional space specified by the col-gap parameter.
It also causes the geometry manager selected to be the placer.
procedure
:hskip number
number is a value in pixels to be added to the current x position (used
when placing widgets). number may be positive in which case positioning
skips to the right or it may be negative in which case positioning skips to the
left.
procedure
:vskip number
number is a value in pixels to be added to the current y position (used
when placing widgets). number may be positive in which case positioning
skips downwards or it may be negative in which case positioning skips
upwards.