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.
10
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, the ini‐
63 tial directory defaults to the current working directory on non-
64 Windows systems and on Windows systems prior to Vista. On Vista
65 and later systems, the initial directory defaults to the last
66 user-selected directory for the application. If the parameter
67 specifies a relative path, the return value will convert the
68 relative path to an absolute path.
69 -initialfile filename
71 Specifies a filename to be displayed in the dialog when it pops
72 up.
73 -message string
75 Specifies a message to include in the client area of the dialog.
76 This is only available on Mac OS X.
77 -multiple boolean
79 Allows the user to choose multiple files from the Open dialog.
80 -parent window
82 Makes window the logical parent of the file dialog. The file
83 dialog is displayed on top of its parent window. On Mac OS X,
84 this turns the file dialog into a sheet attached to the parent
85 window.
86 -title titleString
88 Specifies a string to display as the title of the dialog box. If
89 this option is not specified, then a default title is displayed.
90 -typevariable variableName
92 The global variable variableName is used to preselect which fil‐
93 ter is used from filterList when the dialog box is opened and is
94 updated when the dialog box is closed, to the last selected fil‐
95 ter. The variable is read once at the beginning to select the
96 appropriate filter. If the variable does not exist, or its value
97 does not match any filter typename, or is empty ({}), the dialog
98 box will revert to the default behavior of selecting the first
99 filter in the list. If the dialog is canceled, the variable is
100 not modified.
101 If the user selects a file, both tk_getOpenFile and tk_getSaveFile
103 return the full pathname of this file. If the user cancels the opera‐
104 tion, both commands return the empty string.
105
107 The filePatternList value given by the -filetypes option is a list of
108 file patterns. Each file pattern is a list of the form
109 typeName {extension ?extension ...?} ?{macType ?macType ...?}?
110 typeName is the name of the file type described by this file pattern
111 and is the text string that appears in the File types listbox. exten‐
112 sion is a file extension for this file pattern. macType is a four-
113 character Macintosh file type. The list of macTypes is optional and may
114 be omitted for applications that do not need to execute on the Macin‐
115 tosh platform.
116 Several file patterns may have the same typeName, in which case they
118 refer to the same file type and share the same entry in the listbox.
119 When the user selects an entry in the listbox, all the files that match
120 at least one of the file patterns corresponding to that entry are
121 listed. Usually, each file pattern corresponds to a distinct type of
122 file. The use of more than one file pattern for one type of file is
123 only necessary on the Macintosh platform.
124 On the Macintosh platform, a file matches a file pattern if its name
126 matches at least one of the extension(s) AND it belongs to at least one
127 of the macType(s) of the file pattern. For example, the C Source Files
128 file pattern in the sample code matches with files that have a .c
129 extension AND belong to the macType TEXT. To use the OR rule instead,
130 you can use two file patterns, one with the extensions only and the
131 other with the macType only. The GIF Files file type in the sample code
132 matches files that either have a .gif extension OR belong to the mac‐
133 Type GIFF.
134 On the Unix and Windows platforms, a file matches a file pattern if its
136 name matches at least one of the extension(s) of the file pattern. The
137 macTypes are ignored.
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140 On the Unix and Macintosh platforms, extensions are matched using glob-
141 style pattern matching. On the Windows platform, extensions are matched
142 by the underlying operating system. The types of possible extensions
143 are:
144 (1) the special extension “*” matches any file;
146 (2) the special extension “” matches any files that do not have an
148 extension (i.e., the filename contains no full stop character);
149 (3) any character string that does not contain any wild card charac‐
151 ters (* and ?).
152 Due to the different pattern matching rules on the various platforms,
154 to ensure portability, wild card characters are not allowed in the
155 extensions, except as in the special extension “*”. Extensions without
156 a full stop character (e.g. “~”) are allowed but may not work on all
157 platforms.
158
160 set types {
161 {{Text Files} {.txt} }
162 {{TCL Scripts} {.tcl} }
163 {{C Source Files} {.c} TEXT}
164 {{GIF Files} {.gif} }
165 {{GIF Files} {} GIFF}
166 {{All Files} * }
167 }
168 set filename [tk_getOpenFile -filetypes $types]
169 if {$filename ne ""} {
171 # Open the file ...
172 }
173
175 tk_chooseDirectory
176
178 file selection dialog
179Tk 4.2 tk_getOpenFile(n)