menubar - Create and manipulate menubar menu widgets
menubar pathName ?options?
itk::Widget <- menubar
options.
motion over a menu entry. This global variable is updated with
the current value of the active menu entry's helpStr. Other wid-
gets can «watch» this variable with the trace command, or as is
the case with entry or label widgets, they can set their
textVariable to the same global variable. This allows for a sim-
ple implementation of a help status bar. Whenever the mouse
leaves a menu entry, the helpVariable is set to the empty string
{}. The mainwindow(1)
associates its helpstatus and its menubar
in this fashion.
of menubuttons on the menubar frame. Each menubutton entry is
delimited by the newline character.
menubar .mb -menubuttons {
menubutton file -text File
menubutton edit -text Edit
menubutton options -text Options
}
specifies that three menubuttons will be added to the menubar
(file, edit, options). Each entry is translated into an add com-
mand call.
and backslash quoting. Embedded variables and commands must be
enclosed in curly braces ({}) to ensure proper parsing of the
substituted values.
_________________________________________________________________
argument) and makes it into a menubar menu widget. Additional options, described above may be specified on the command line or in the option database to configure aspects of the menubar such as its colors and font. The menubar command returns its pathName argument. At the time this command is invoked, there must not exist a window named pathName, but pathName's parent must exist.
hierarchies. It encapsulates a frame widget, as well as menubut- tons, menus, and menu entries. The menubar allows menus to be specified and referenced in a more consistent manner than using
list of menubuttons to be added to the menubar. In turn, each menubutton accepts a menu option that specifies a list of menu entries to be added to the menubutton's menu. Cascade entries also accept the menu option for specifying a list of menu entries to be added to the cascade's menu.
system to be referenced by a simple menuPathName syntax. The
menubar also extends the set of options for menu entries to
include a helpStr option.
`.' character. Each menubar component can be referenced via these menuPathNames. menuPathNames are similar to widget pathNames in
type menu or menubutton), others correspond to a menu entry type.
menuPathName naming convention. A menubar can have four types of
components:
frame. A menubar holds exactly one frame which manages menubut-
tons. The frame is always signified by the `.' character as the
path name.
menubutton. A menubutton corresponds directly to a Tk menubutton.
menu. A menu is attached to a menubutton and corresponds directly to Tk's menu widget. A menu is always signified by the menuPath-
entry. An entry corresponds directly to Tk's menu widget entries.
type: command, checkbutton, radiobutton, separator, or cascade.
tkWidgetName Specifies the name of the component, either a
frame, menubutton, menu, or an entry. This is the
normal naming of widgets. For example, .file references
a menubutton named file.
the `.' character. Segment names may be one of the following
forms:
components are automatically created via the -menu option on menubuttons and cascades or via the add or insert commands.
the menu associated with the file menubutton located on the menu bar. The path .file.menu specifies the menu pane associated with the menubutton .file. The path .last specifies the last menu on the menu bar. The path .0.last would specify the first menu (file) and the last entry on that menu (quit), yielding .file.quit.
one of the keywords last, menu, end, nor may it be a numeric
value (integer).
the widget. It has the following general form:
pathName option ?arg arg ...?
option and the args determine the exact behavior of the command.
argument a path name to a menu component. These path names are
called menuPathNames. See the discussion on MENUBAR PATH NAMES
above.
pathName add type menuPathName ?option value option value?
pane.
able to component type entry. See the man pages for menu(1) in the section on ENTRIES.
separator it adds a new entry to the bottom of the menu denoted
by the prefix of menuPathName. If additonal arguments are pre-
sent, they specify options available to menu entry widgets. In
addition, the helpStr option is added by the menubar widget to
all components of type entry.
-helpstr value
moves over the associated entry, the variable denoted by help-
thus display status help.
menubutton or cascade is added to the menubar. If additional
arguments are present, they specify options available to menubut-
ton or cascade widgets. In addition, the menu option is added by
the menubar widget to all menubutton and cascade widgets.
-menu menuSpec
cade. Specifes an option set and/or a set of entries to place on
a menu and associate with the menubutton or cascade. The option
keyword allows the menu widget to be configured. Each item in the
menuSpec is treated as add commands (each with the possibility of
having other -menu options). In this way a menu can be recur-
sively built.
last, menu, end. Additionally, it may not be a number. However
the menuPathName may be referenced in this manner (see discussion
of COMPONENT PATH NAMES).
option strings as did to -menubuttons option strings. See the earlier discussion on umenubuttons in the «WIDGET-SPECIFIC
pathName cget option
option.
pathName configure ?options value option value?
option is specified, returns a list describing all of the avail-
able options for pathName (see Tk_ConfigureInfo for information
on the format of this list). If option is specified with no
value, then the command returns a list describing the one named
option (this list will be identical to the corresponding sublist
of the value returned if no option is specified). If one or more
option-value pairs are specified, then the command modifies the
given widget option(s) to have the given value(s); in this case
the command returns an empty string.
pathName delete menuPathName ?menuPathName2?
operates on menus. If menuPathName is of component type Entry, delete operates on menu entries.
menuPathName2 inclusive. If menuPathName2 is omitted then it defaults to menuPathName. Returns an empty string.
bar frame will be destroyed. In this case menuPathName2 is
ignored.
pathName index menuPathName
position of the menu/menubutton on the menubar frame.
checkbutton, or cascade, it returns the menu widget's numerical index for the entry corresponding to menuPathName. If path is not found or the path is equal to «.", a value of -1 is returned. pathName insert menuPathName type name ?option value?
by menuPathName.
inserted is of type Menu and given the name name. In this case valid option value pairs are those accepted by menubuttons.
of type entry and given the name name. In this case, valid option
value pairs are those accepted by menu entries. Name cannot be
one of the keywords last, menu, end. Additionally, it may not be
a number. However the menuPathName may be referenced in this man-
ner (see discussion of COMPONENT PATH NAMES).
pathName invoke menuPathName
the sections on the individual entries in the menu(1) man pages.
has a command associated with it then the result of that command is returned as the result of the invoke widget command. Otherwise the result is an empty string.
pathName menucget menuPathName option
option. The component type of menuPathName determines the valid
available options.
pathName menuconfigure menuPathName ?option value?
menubar specified by menuPathName. If no option is specified, returns a list describing all of the available options for menu-
this list). If option is specified with no value, then the com-
mand returns a list describing the one named option (this list
will be identical to the corresponding sublist of the value
returned if no option is specified). If one or more option-value
pairs are specified, then the command modifies the given widget
option(s) to have the given value(s); in this case the command
returns an empty string. The component type of menuPathName
determines the valid available options.
pathName path ?mode? pattern
match is found it returns -1. The mode argument indicates how the
search is to be matched against pattern and it must have one of
the following values:
-glob
component path using the same rules as the string match command.
-regexp
each component of the menuPathName using the same rules as the
regexp command. The default mode is -glob.
pathName type menuPathName
menu entries, this is the type argument passed to the add/insert
widget command when the entry was created, such as command or
separator. Othewise it is either a menubutton or a menu.
pathName yposition menuPathName
window of the topmost pixel in the entry specified by menuPath-
«Options» menubuttons. Each of these menubuttons has an associ-
ated menu. In turn the File menu has menu entries, as well as
the Edit menu and the Options menu. The Options menu is a tearoff
menu with selectColor (for radiobuttons) set to blue. In addi-
tion, the Options menu has a cascade titled More, with several
menu entries attached to it as well. An entry widget is provided
to display help status.
menubar .mb -helpvariable helpVar -menubuttons {
menubutton file -text File -menu {
options -tearoff false
command new -label New \
-helpstr «Open new document» \
-command {puts NEW}
command close -label Close \
-helpstr «Close current document» \
-command {puts CLOSE}
separator sep1
command exit -label Exit -command {exit} \
-helpstr «Exit application"
}
menubutton edit -text Edit -menu {
options -tearoff false
command undo -label Undo -underline 0 \
-helpstr «Undo last command» \
-command {puts UNDO}
separator sep2
command cut -label Cut -underline 1 \
-helpstr «Cut selection to clipboard» \
-command {puts CUT}
command copy -label Copy -underline 1 \
-helpstr «Copy selection to clipboard» \
-command {puts COPY}
command paste -label Paste -underline 0 \
-helpstr «Paste clipboard contents» \
-command {puts PASTE}
}
menubutton options -text Options -menu {
options -tearoff false -selectcolor blue
radiobutton byName -variable viewMode \
-value NAME -label «by Name» \
-helpstr «View files by name order» \
-command {puts NAME}
radiobutton byDate -variable viewMode \
-value DATE -label «by Date» \
-helpstr «View files by date order» \
-command {puts DATE}
cascade prefs -label Preferences -menu {
command colors -label Colors... \
-helpstr «Change text colors» \
-command {puts COLORS}
command fonts -label Fonts... \
-helpstr «Change text font» \
-command {puts FONT}
}
}
} frame .fr -width 300 -height 300 entry .ef -textvariable help-
-expand yes pack .ef -anchor sw -fill x -expand yes Alternatively
the same menu could be created by using the add and configure
methods:
menubar .mb
.mb configure -menubuttons {
menubutton file -text File -menu {
command new -label New
command close -label Close
separator sep1
.mb add menubutton .options -text Options -menu {
radiobutton byName -variable viewMode \
-value NAME -label «by Name"
radiobutton byDate -variable viewMode \
-value DATE -label «by Date"
}
.mb add cascade .options.prefs -label Preferences -menu {
command colors -label Colors...
command fonts -label Fonts...
}
pack .mb -side left -anchor nw -fill x -expand yes
by menubar with the subst command. The positive side of this is
that the option string may contain variables, commands, and/or
backslash substitutions. However, substitutions might expand into
more than a single word. These expansions can be protected by
enclosing candidate substitutions in curly braces ({}). This
ensures, for example, a value for an option will still be treated
as a single value and not multiple values. The following example
illustrates this case:
set fileMenuName «File Menu"
set var {}
menubar .mb -menubuttons {
menubutton file -text {$fileMenuName}
menubutton edit -text Edit -menu {
checkbutton check \
-label Check \
-variable {[scope var]} \
-onvalue 1 \
-offvalue 0
}
menubutton options -text Options
}
subst command is used on the menubutton specification. In addi-
tion, the [scope...] command will expand to @scope :: var. By
enclosing these inside {} they stay as a single value. Note that
only {} work for this. [list...], «» etc. will not protect these
from the subst command.
1994 - Early work on a menubar widget.
get
frame, menu, menubutton, entries, help