1tk_getOpenFile(n) Tk Built-In Commands tk_getOpenFile(n)
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8 tk_getOpenFile, tk_getSaveFile - pop up a dialog box for the user to
9 select a file to open or save.
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12 tk_getOpenFile ?option value ...?
13 tk_getSaveFile ?option value ...?
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17 The procedures tk_getOpenFile and tk_getSaveFile pop up a dialog box
18 for the user to select a file to open or save. The tk_getOpenFile com‐
19 mand is usually associated with the Open command in the File menu. Its
20 purpose is for the user to select an existing file only. If the user
21 enters a non-existent file, the dialog box gives the user an error
22 prompt and requires the user to give an alternative selection. If an
23 application allows the user to create new files, it should do so by
24 providing a separate New menu command.
25 The tk_getSaveFile command is usually associated with the Save as com‐
27 mand in the File menu. If the user enters a file that already exists,
28 the dialog box prompts the user for confirmation whether the existing
29 file should be overwritten or not.
30 The following option-value pairs are possible as command line arguments
32 to these two commands:
33 -confirmoverwrite boolean
35 Configures how the Save dialog reacts when the selected file
36 already exists, and saving would overwrite it. A true value
37 requests a confirmation dialog be presented to the user. A
38 false value requests that the overwrite take place without con‐
39 firmation. Default value is true.
40 -defaultextension extension
42 Specifies a string that will be appended to the filename if the
43 user enters a filename without an extension. The default value
44 is the empty string, which means no extension will be appended
45 to the filename in any case. This option is ignored on Mac OS X,
46 which does not require extensions to filenames, and the UNIX
47 implementation guesses reasonable values for this from the
48 -filetypes option when this is not supplied.
49 -filetypes filePatternList
51 If a File types listbox exists in the file dialog on the partic‐
52 ular platform, this option gives the filetypes in this listbox.
53 When the user choose a filetype in the listbox, only the files
54 of that type are listed. If this option is unspecified, or if it
55 is set to the empty list, or if the File types listbox is not
56 supported by the particular platform then all files are listed
57 regardless of their types. See the section SPECIFYING FILE PAT‐
58 TERNS below for a discussion on the contents of filePatternList.
59 -initialdir directory
61 Specifies that the files in directory should be displayed when
62 the dialog pops up. If this parameter is not specified, then the
63 files in the current working directory are displayed. If the
64 parameter specifies a relative path, the return value will con‐
65 vert the relative path to an absolute path.
66 -initialfile filename
68 Specifies a filename to be displayed in the dialog when it pops
69 up.
70 -message string
72 Specifies a message to include in the client area of the dialog.
73 This is only available on Mac OS X.
74 -multiple boolean
76 Allows the user to choose multiple files from the Open dialog.
77 -parent window
79 Makes window the logical parent of the file dialog. The file
80 dialog is displayed on top of its parent window. On Mac OS X,
81 this turns the file dialog into a sheet attached to the parent
82 window.
83 -title titleString
85 Specifies a string to display as the title of the dialog box. If
86 this option is not specified, then a default title is displayed.
87 -typevariable variableName
89 The global variable variableName is used to preselect which fil‐
90 ter is used from filterList when the dialog box is opened and is
91 updated when the dialog box is closed, to the last selected fil‐
92 ter. The variable is read once at the beginning to select the
93 appropriate filter. If the variable does not exist, or its value
94 does not match any filter typename, or is empty ({}), the dialog
95 box will revert to the default behavior of selecting the first
96 filter in the list. If the dialog is canceled, the variable is
97 not modified.
98 If the user selects a file, both tk_getOpenFile and tk_getSaveFile
100 return the full pathname of this file. If the user cancels the opera‐
101 tion, both commands return the empty string.
102
104 The filePatternList value given by the -filetypes option is a list of
105 file patterns. Each file pattern is a list of the form
106 typeName {extension ?extension ...?} ?{macType ?macType ...?}?
107 typeName is the name of the file type described by this file pattern
108 and is the text string that appears in the File types listbox. exten‐
109 sion is a file extension for this file pattern. macType is a four-
110 character Macintosh file type. The list of macTypes is optional and may
111 be omitted for applications that do not need to execute on the Macin‐
112 tosh platform.
113 Several file patterns may have the same typeName, in which case they
115 refer to the same file type and share the same entry in the listbox.
116 When the user selects an entry in the listbox, all the files that match
117 at least one of the file patterns corresponding to that entry are
118 listed. Usually, each file pattern corresponds to a distinct type of
119 file. The use of more than one file pattern for one type of file is
120 only necessary on the Macintosh platform.
121 On the Macintosh platform, a file matches a file pattern if its name
123 matches at least one of the extension(s) AND it belongs to at least one
124 of the macType(s) of the file pattern. For example, the C Source Files
125 file pattern in the sample code matches with files that have a .c
126 extension AND belong to the macType TEXT. To use the OR rule instead,
127 you can use two file patterns, one with the extensions only and the
128 other with the macType only. The GIF Files file type in the sample code
129 matches files that either have a .gif extension OR belong to the mac‐
130 Type GIFF.
131 On the Unix and Windows platforms, a file matches a file pattern if its
133 name matches at least one of the extension(s) of the file pattern. The
134 macTypes are ignored.
135
137 On the Unix and Macintosh platforms, extensions are matched using glob-
138 style pattern matching. On the Windows platform, extensions are matched
139 by the underlying operating system. The types of possible extensions
140 are:
141 (1) the special extension “*” matches any file;
143 (2) the special extension matches any files that do not have an
145 extension (i.e., the filename contains no full stop character);
146 (3) any character string that does not contain any wild card
148 characters (* and ?).
149 Due to the different pattern matching rules on the various platforms,
151 to ensure portability, wild card characters are not allowed in the
152 extensions, except as in the special extension “*”. Extensions without
153 a full stop character (e.g. “~”) are allowed but may not work on all
154 platforms.
155
157 set types {
158 {{Text Files} {.txt} }
159 {{TCL Scripts} {.tcl} }
160 {{C Source Files} {.c} TEXT}
161 {{GIF Files} {.gif} }
162 {{GIF Files} {} GIFF}
163 {{All Files} * }
164 }
165 set filename [tk_getOpenFile -filetypes $types]
166 if {$filename != ""} {
168 # Open the file ...
169 }
170
172 tk_chooseDirectory
173
175 file selection dialog
176Tk 4.2 tk_getOpenFile(n)