1menu(n)                      Tk Built-In Commands                      menu(n)
2
3
4
5______________________________________________________________________________
6

NAME

8       menu,  tk_menuSetFocus  -  Create  and  manipulate  'menu'  widgets and
9       menubars
10

SYNOPSIS

12       menu pathName ?options?
13       tk_menuSetFocus pathName
14

STANDARD OPTIONS

16       -activebackground     -borderwidth         -foreground
17       -activeborderwidth    -cursor              -relief
18       -activeforeground     -disabledforeground  -takefocus
19       -background           -font
20
21       See the options manual entry for details on the standard options.
22

WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS

24       Command-Line Name:-postcommand
25       Database Name:  postCommand
26       Database Class: Command
27
28              If this option is specified then it provides a  Tcl  command  to
29              execute each time the menu is posted.  The command is invoked by
30              the post widget command before posting the menu. Note that in Tk
31              8.0  on  Macintosh and Windows, all post-commands in a system of
32              menus are executed before any of those menus are  posted.   This
33              is due to the limitations in the individual platforms' menu man‐
34              agers.
35
36       Command-Line Name:-selectcolor
37       Database Name:  selectColor
38       Database Class: Background
39
40              For menu entries that are check buttons or radio  buttons,  this
41              option  specifies the color to display in the indicator when the
42              check button or radio button is selected.
43
44       Command-Line Name:-tearoff
45       Database Name:  tearOff
46       Database Class: TearOff
47
48              This option must have a proper boolean  value,  which  specifies
49              whether  or  not the menu should include a tear-off entry at the
50              top.  If so, it will exist as entry 0 of the menu and the  other
51              entries  will  number  starting at 1.  The default menu bindings
52              arrange for the menu to be torn off when the tear-off  entry  is
53              invoked.   This  option is ignored under Aqua/MacOS, where menus
54              cannot be torn off.
55
56       Command-Line Name:-tearoffcommand
57       Database Name:  tearOffCommand
58       Database Class: TearOffCommand
59
60              If this option has a non-empty value, then it  specifies  a  Tcl
61              command  to  invoke  whenever  the menu is torn off.  The actual
62              command will consist of the value of this option, followed by  a
63              space,  followed  by  the name of the menu window, followed by a
64              space, followed by the name of the name of  the  torn  off  menu
65              window.   For  example,  if the option's value is “a b” and menu
66              .x.y is torn off to create a new menu .x.tearoff1, then the com‐
67              mand “a b .x.y .x.tearoff1” will be invoked.  This option is ig‐
68              nored under Aqua/MacOS, where menus cannot be torn off.
69
70       Command-Line Name:-title
71       Database Name:  title
72       Database Class: Title
73
74              The string will be used to title the window  created  when  this
75              menu  is  torn  off.  If the title is NULL, then the window will
76              have the title of the menubutton or the text of the cascade item
77              from which this menu was invoked.
78
79       Command-Line Name:-type
80       Database Name:  type
81       Database Class: Type
82
83              This  option  can  be one of menubar, tearoff, or normal, and is
84              set when the menu is created. While the string returned  by  the
85              configuration  database  will  change if this option is changed,
86              this does not affect the menu widget's behavior. This is used by
87              the  cloning mechanism and is not normally set outside of the Tk
88              library.
89______________________________________________________________________________
90

INTRODUCTION

92       The menu command creates a new top-level window (given by the  pathName
93       argument) and makes it into a menu widget.  That menu widget can either
94       be used as a pop-up window or applied to a toplevel (with its -menu op‐
95       tion)  to  make  it into the menubar for that toplevel.  Additional op‐
96       tions, described above, may be specified on the command line or in  the
97       option database to configure aspects of the menu such as its colors and
98       font.  The menu command returns its pathName  argument.   At  the  time
99       this  command is invoked, there must not exist a window named pathName,
100       but pathName's parent must exist.
101
102       A menu is a widget that displays a collection of one-line  entries  ar‐
103       ranged  in one or more columns.  There exist several different types of
104       entries, each with different properties.  Entries  of  different  types
105       may be combined in a single menu.  Menu entries are not the same as en‐
106       try widgets.  In fact, menu entries are not even distinct widgets;  the
107       entire menu is one widget.
108
109       Menu  entries are displayed with up to three separate fields.  The main
110       field is a label in the form of a text string, a bitmap, or  an  image,
111       controlled  by  the  -label, -bitmap, and -image options for the entry.
112       If the  -accelerator option is specified for an  entry  then  a  second
113       textual  field is displayed to the right of the label.  The accelerator
114       typically describes a keystroke sequence that may be used in the appli‐
115       cation  to cause the same result as invoking the menu entry.  This is a
116       display option, it does not  actually  set  the  corresponding  binding
117       (which  can be achieved using the bind command).  The third field is an
118       indicator.  The indicator is present only for checkbutton or  radiobut‐
119       ton entries.  It indicates whether the entry is selected or not, and is
120       displayed to the left of the entry's string.
121
122       In normal use, an entry becomes active  (displays  itself  differently)
123       whenever the mouse pointer is over the entry.  If a mouse button is re‐
124       leased over the entry then the entry is invoked.  The effect of invoca‐
125       tion  is  different for each type of entry; these effects are described
126       below in the sections on individual entries.
127
128       Entries may be disabled, which causes their labels and accelerators  to
129       be  displayed  with  dimmer colors.  The default menu bindings will not
130       allow a disabled entry to be activated or  invoked.   Disabled  entries
131       may  be  re-enabled, at which point it becomes possible to activate and
132       invoke them again.
133
134       Whenever a menu's active entry is  changed,  a  <<MenuSelect>>  virtual
135       event is send to the menu. The active item can then be queried from the
136       menu, and an action can be taken,  such  as  setting  context-sensitive
137       help text for the entry.
138

TYPES OF ENTRIES

140   COMMAND ENTRIES
141       The  most  common  kind of menu entry is a command entry, which behaves
142       much like a button widget.  When a command entry is invoked, a Tcl com‐
143       mand  is  executed.  The Tcl command is specified with the -command op‐
144       tion.
145
146   SEPARATOR ENTRIES
147       A separator is an entry that is  displayed  as  a  horizontal  dividing
148       line.   A  separator may not be activated or invoked, and it has no be‐
149       havior other than its display appearance.
150
151   CHECKBUTTON ENTRIES
152       A checkbutton menu entry behaves much like a checkbutton widget.   When
153       it  is invoked it toggles back and forth between the selected and dese‐
154       lected states.  When the entry  is  selected,  a  particular  value  is
155       stored  in  a particular global variable (as determined by the -onvalue
156       and -variable options for the entry);  when the entry is deselected an‐
157       other  value  (determined  by  the  -offvalue  option) is stored in the
158       global variable.  An indicator box is displayed to the left of the  la‐
159       bel  in a checkbutton entry.  If the entry is selected then the indica‐
160       tor's center is displayed in the color given by the -selectcolor option
161       for  the  entry;  otherwise  the indicator's center is displayed in the
162       background color for the menu.  If a -command option is specified for a
163       checkbutton  entry,  then  its value is evaluated as a Tcl command each
164       time the entry is invoked;  this happens after toggling the entry's se‐
165       lected state.
166
167   RADIOBUTTON ENTRIES
168       A  radiobutton  menu entry behaves much like a radiobutton widget.  Ra‐
169       diobutton entries are organized in groups of which only one  entry  may
170       be selected at a time.  Whenever a particular entry becomes selected it
171       stores a particular value into a particular global variable (as  deter‐
172       mined  by the -value and -variable options for the entry).  This action
173       causes any previously-selected entry in the same group to deselect  it‐
174       self.  Once an entry has become selected, any change to the entry's as‐
175       sociated variable will cause the entry to deselect itself.  Grouping of
176       radiobutton  entries  is  determined by their associated variables:  if
177       two entries have the same associated variable then they are in the same
178       group.   An  indicator diamond is displayed to the left of the label in
179       each radiobutton entry.  If the entry is selected then the  indicator's
180       center  is  displayed in the color given by the -selectcolor option for
181       the entry; otherwise the indicator's center is displayed in  the  back‐
182       ground color for the menu.  If a -command option is specified for a ra‐
183       diobutton entry, then its value is evaluated as a Tcl command each time
184       the entry is invoked;  this happens after selecting the entry.
185
186   CASCADE ENTRIES
187       A cascade entry is one with an associated menu (determined by the -menu
188       option).  Cascade entries allow the construction  of  cascading  menus.
189       The postcascade widget command can be used to post and unpost the asso‐
190       ciated menu just next to of the cascade  entry.   The  associated  menu
191       must  be  a  child  of  the  menu containing the cascade entry (this is
192       needed in order for menu traversal to work correctly).
193
194       A cascade entry posts its associated menu by invoking a Tcl command  of
195       the form
196              menu post x y
197       where menu is the path name of the associated menu, and x and y are the
198       root-window coordinates of the upper-right corner of the cascade entry.
199       On  Unix,  the  lower-level menu is unposted by executing a Tcl command
200       with the form
201              menu unpost
202       where menu is the name of the associated menu.  On other platforms, the
203       platform's native code takes care of unposting the menu.
204
205       If a -command option is specified for a cascade entry then it is evalu‐
206       ated as a Tcl command whenever the entry is invoked. This is  not  sup‐
207       ported on Windows.
208
209   TEAR-OFF ENTRIES
210       A  tear-off  entry  appears  at the top of the menu if enabled with the
211       -tearoff option.  It is not like other menu entries in that  it  cannot
212       be  created  with the add widget command and cannot be deleted with the
213       delete widget command.  When a tear-off entry is created it appears  as
214       a  dashed line at the top of the menu.  Under the default bindings, in‐
215       voking the tear-off entry causes a torn-off copy to be made of the menu
216       and all of its submenus.
217
219       Any  menu  can  be set as a menubar for a toplevel window (see toplevel
220       command for syntax). On the Macintosh,  whenever  the  toplevel  is  in
221       front,  this menu's cascade items will appear in the menubar across the
222       top of the main monitor. On Windows and Unix, this menu's items will be
223       displayed  in  a menubar across the top of the window. These menus will
224       behave according to the interface guidelines of  their  platforms.  For
225       every  menu set as a menubar, a clone menu is made. See the CLONES sec‐
226       tion for more information.
227
228       As noted, menubars may behave differently on different platforms.   One
229       example  of this concerns the handling of checkbuttons and radiobuttons
230       within the menu.  While it is permitted to put these menu  elements  on
231       menubars,  they may not be drawn with indicators on some platforms, due
232       to system restrictions.
233
234   SPECIAL MENUS IN MENUBARS
235       Certain menus in a menubar will be treated specially.   On  the  Macin‐
236       tosh,  access to the special Application, Window and Help menus is pro‐
237       vided. On Windows, access to the Windows System menu in each window  is
238       provided.   On  X  Windows,  a special right-justified help menu may be
239       provided if Motif menu compatibility is enabled. In  all  cases,  these
240       menus  must  be  created with the command name of the menubar menu con‐
241       catenated with the special name. So for a menubar  named  .menubar,  on
242       the Macintosh, the special menus would be .menubar.apple, .menubar.win‐
243       dow  and  .menubar.help;  on  Windows,  the  special  menu   would   be
244       .menubar.system; on X Windows, the help menu would be .menubar.help.
245
246       When  Tk  sees  a .menubar.apple menu as the first menu in a menubar on
247       the Macintosh, that menu's contents make up the first items of the  Ap‐
248       plication  menu whenever the window containing the menubar is in front.
249       After all of the Tk-defined items, the menu will have a separator, fol‐
250       lowed  by all standard Application menu items.  Such a .apple menu must
251       be present in a menu when that menu is first configured as a toplevel's
252       menubar,  otherwise a default application menu (hidden from Tk) will be
253       inserted into the menubar at that time and  subsequent  addition  of  a
254       .apple menu will no longer result in it becoming the Application menu.
255
256       When  Tk  sees a .menubar.window menu on the Macintosh, the menu's con‐
257       tents are inserted into the standard Window menu of the user's  menubar
258       whenever  the window's menubar is in front. The first items in the menu
259       are provided by Mac OS X, and the names of the  current  toplevels  are
260       automatically  appended after all the Tk-defined items and a separator.
261       The Window menu on the Mac also  allows  toggling  the  window  into  a
262       fullscreen state, and managing a tabbed window interface (multiple win‐
263       dows grouped into a single window) if supported by that version of  the
264       operating system.
265
266       When Tk sees a .menubar.help menu on the Macintosh, the menu's contents
267       are appended to the standard Help menu of the user's  menubar  whenever
268       the  window's menubar is in front. The first items in the menu are pro‐
269       vided by Mac OS X.
270
271       When Tk sees a System menu on Windows, its items are  appended  to  the
272       system  menu  that the menubar is attached to. This menu is tied to the
273       application icon and can  be  invoked  with  the  mouse  or  by  typing
274       Alt+Spacebar.  Due to limitations in the Windows API, any font changes,
275       colors, images, bitmaps, or tearoff images will not appear in the  sys‐
276       tem menu.
277
278       When  Tk  sees a Help menu on X Windows and Motif menu compatibility is
279       enabled the menu is moved to be last in the menubar and is right justi‐
280       fied.  Motif  menu  compatibility  is  enabled by setting the Tk option
281       *Menu.useMotifHelp to true or by calling tk::classic::restore menu.
282

CLONES

284       When a menu is set as a menubar for a toplevel window, or when  a  menu
285       is  torn  off, a clone of the menu is made. This clone is a menu widget
286       in its own right, but it is a child of the  original.  Changes  in  the
287       configuration of the original are reflected in the clone. Additionally,
288       any cascades that are pointed to are also cloned so that menu traversal
289       will  work  right.  Clones  are  destroyed  when  either the tearoff or
290       menubar goes away, or when the original menu is destroyed.
291

WIDGET COMMAND

293       The menu command creates a new Tcl  command  whose  name  is  pathName.
294       This  command  may  be used to invoke various operations on the widget.
295       It has the following general form:
296              pathName option ?arg arg ...?
297       Option and the args determine the exact behavior of the command.
298
299       Many of the widget commands for a menu take as one argument an  indica‐
300       tor  of  which  entry  of  the menu to operate on. These indicators are
301       called indexes and may be specified in any of the following forms:
302
303       active      Indicates the entry that is currently active.  If no  entry
304                   is  active then this form is equivalent to none.  This form
305                   may not be abbreviated.
306
307       end         Indicates the bottommost entry in the menu.  If  there  are
308                   no  entries  in  the  menu  then this form is equivalent to
309                   none.  This form may not be abbreviated.
310
311       last        Same as end.
312
313       none        Indicates “no entry at all”; this  is  used  most  commonly
314                   with  the  activate option to deactivate all the entries in
315                   the menu.  In most cases the specification of  none  causes
316                   nothing to happen in the widget command.  This form may not
317                   be abbreviated.
318
319       @number     In this form, number is treated as a  y-coordinate  in  the
320                   menu's  window;   the entry closest to that y-coordinate is
321                   used.  For example, “@0” indicates the  top-most  entry  in
322                   the window.
323
324       number      Specifies the entry numerically, where 0 corresponds to the
325                   top-most entry of the menu, 1 to the entry below it, and so
326                   on.
327
328       pattern     If  the  index does not satisfy one of the above forms then
329                   this form is used.  Pattern is pattern-matched against  the
330                   label  of  each  entry  in  the menu, in order from the top
331                   down, until a matching entry is found.  The rules of string
332                   match are used.
333
334       If  the  index  could  match more than one of the above forms, then the
335       form earlier in the above list takes precedence.
336
337       The following widget commands are possible for menu widgets:
338
339       pathName activate index
340              Change the state of the entry indicated by index to  active  and
341              redisplay it using its active colors.  Any previously-active en‐
342              try is deactivated.  If index is specified as none,  or  if  the
343              specified  entry  is disabled, then the menu ends up with no ac‐
344              tive entry.  Returns an empty string.
345
346       pathName add type ?option value option value ...?
347              Add a new entry to the bottom of the menu.  The new entry's type
348              is  given  by type and must be one of cascade, checkbutton, com‐
349              mand, radiobutton, or separator, or a unique abbreviation of one
350              of the above.  If additional arguments are present, they specify
351              the options listed in the MENU ENTRY OPTIONS section below.  The
352              add widget command returns an empty string.
353
354       pathName cget option
355              Returns  the  current value of the configuration option given by
356              option.  Option may have any of the values accepted by the  menu
357              command.
358
359       pathName clone newPathname ?cloneType?
360              Makes  a clone of the current menu named newPathName. This clone
361              is a menu in its own right, but any changes  to  the  clone  are
362              propagated to the original menu and vice versa. cloneType can be
363              normal, menubar, or tearoff. Should not normally be called  out‐
364              side of the Tk library. See the CLONES section for more informa‐
365              tion.
366
367       pathName configure ?option? ?value option value ...?
368              Query or modify the configuration options of the widget.  If  no
369              option is specified, returns a list describing all of the avail‐
370              able options for pathName (see Tk_ConfigureInfo for  information
371              on  the  format  of  this list).  If option is specified with no
372              value, then the command returns a list describing the one  named
373              option (this list will be identical to the corresponding sublist
374              of the value returned if no option is  specified).   If  one  or
375              more option-value pairs are specified, then the command modifies
376              the given widget option(s) to have the given value(s);  in  this
377              case  the  command returns an empty string.  Option may have any
378              of the values accepted by the menu command.
379
380       pathName delete index1 ?index2?
381              Delete all of the menu entries between index1 and index2  inclu‐
382              sive.   If  index2  is  omitted then it defaults to index1.  At‐
383              tempts to delete a tear-off menu entry are ignored (instead, you
384              should change the -tearoff option to remove the tear-off entry).
385
386       pathName entrycget index option
387              Returns  the current value of a configuration option for the en‐
388              try given by index.  Option may have any of the names  described
389              in the MENU ENTRY OPTIONS section below.
390
391       pathName entryconfigure index ?options...?
392              This command is similar to the configure command, except that it
393              applies to the options for an individual entry, whereas  config‐
394              ure applies to the options for the menu as a whole.  Options may
395              have any of the values described in the MENU ENTRY OPTIONS  sec‐
396              tion  below.   If options are specified, options are modified as
397              indicated in the  command  and  the  command  returns  an  empty
398              string.   If no options are specified, returns a list describing
399              the current options for entry index  (see  Tk_ConfigureInfo  for
400              information on the format of this list).
401
402       pathName index index
403              Returns  the  numerical index corresponding to index, or none if
404              index was specified as none.
405
406       pathName insert index type ?option value option value ...?
407              Same as the add widget command except that it  inserts  the  new
408              entry just before the entry given by index, instead of appending
409              to the end of the menu.  The type, option, and  value  arguments
410              have  the same interpretation as for the add widget command.  It
411              is not possible to insert new menu entries before  the  tear-off
412              entry, if the menu has one.
413
414       pathName invoke index
415              Invoke  the  action  of the menu entry.  See the sections on the
416              individual entries above for details on what  happens.   If  the
417              menu entry is disabled then nothing happens.  If the entry has a
418              command associated with it then the result of  that  command  is
419              returned  as the result of the invoke widget command.  Otherwise
420              the result is an empty string.  Note:   invoking  a  menu  entry
421              does  not  automatically  unpost the menu;  the default bindings
422              normally take care of this before  invoking  the  invoke  widget
423              command.
424
425       pathName post x y ?index?
426              Arrange  for the menu to be displayed on the screen at the root-
427              window coordinates given by x and y.  If an index  is  specified
428              the  menu  will  be located so that the entry with that index is
429              displayed at the point.  These coordinates are adjusted if  nec‐
430              essary  to  guarantee  that  the  entire  menu is visible on the
431              screen.  This command normally returns an empty string.  If  the
432              -postcommand  option  has been specified, then its value is exe‐
433              cuted as a Tcl script before posting the menu and the result  of
434              that  script  is  returned as the result of the post widget com‐
435              mand.  If an error returns while executing the command, then the
436              error is returned without posting the menu.
437
438       pathName postcascade index
439              Posts the submenu associated with the cascade entry given by in‐
440              dex, and unposts any previously posted submenu.  If  index  does
441              not correspond to a cascade entry, or if pathName is not posted,
442              the command has no effect except to unpost any currently  posted
443              submenu.
444
445       pathName type index
446              Returns  the type of the menu entry given by index.  This is the
447              type argument passed to the add or insert  widget  command  when
448              the  entry was created, such as command or separator, or tearoff
449              for a tear-off entry.
450
451       pathName unpost
452              Unmap the window so that it is no longer displayed.  If a lower-
453              level  cascaded  menu  is  posted, unpost that menu.  Returns an
454              empty string. This subcommand does not work on Windows  and  the
455              Macintosh,  as  those  platforms have their own way of unposting
456              menus.
457
458       pathName xposition index
459              Returns a decimal string giving the x-coordinate within the menu
460              window of the leftmost pixel in the entry specified by index.
461
462       pathName yposition index
463              Returns a decimal string giving the y-coordinate within the menu
464              window of the topmost pixel in the entry specified by index.
465

MENU ENTRY OPTIONS

467       The following options are allowed on menu entries. Most options are not
468       supported by all entry types.
469
470       -activebackground value
471              Specifies  a  background  color to use for displaying this entry
472              when it is active. This option is ignored on Aqua/MacOS.  If  it
473              is specified as an empty string (the default), then the -active‐
474              background  option  for  the  overall  menu  is  used.   If  the
475              tk_strictMotif  variable  has  been  set to request strict Motif
476              compliance, then this option is ignored and the -background  op‐
477              tion  is  used  in  its place.  This option is not available for
478              separator or tear-off entries.
479
480       -activeforeground value
481              Specifies a foreground color to use for  displaying  this  entry
482              when  it  is active.   This option is ignored on Aqua/macOS.  If
483              this option is specified as an empty string (the default),  then
484              the -activeforeground option for the overall menu is used.  This
485              option is not available for separator or tear-off entries.
486
487       -accelerator value
488              Specifies a string to display at the right side of the menu  en‐
489              try.   Normally describes an accelerator keystroke sequence that
490              may be used to invoke the same function as the menu entry.  This
491              is  a display option, it does not actually set the corresponding
492              binding (which can be achieved using the bind command). This op‐
493              tion is not available for separator or tear-off entries.
494
495       -background value
496              Specifies  a  background  color to use for displaying this entry
497              when it is in the normal state (neither  active  nor  disabled).
498              This  option is ignored on Aqua/macOS.  If it is specified as an
499              empty string (the default), then the -background option for  the
500              overall  menu is used.  This option is not available for separa‐
501              tor or tear-off entries.
502
503       -bitmap value
504              Specifies a bitmap to display in the menu instead of  a  textual
505              label,  in  any of the forms accepted by Tk_GetBitmap.  This op‐
506              tion overrides the -label option (as controlled by the -compound
507              option)  but may be reset to an empty string to enable a textual
508              label to be displayed.  If a -image option has  been  specified,
509              it  overrides -bitmap.  This option is not available for separa‐
510              tor or tear-off entries.
511
512       -columnbreak value
513              When this option is zero, the entry appears below  the  previous
514              entry.  When this option is one, the entry appears at the top of
515              a new column in the menu.  This option is ignored on Aqua/macOS,
516              where menus are always a single column.
517
518       -command value
519              Specifies  a  Tcl  command to execute when the menu entry is in‐
520              voked.  Not available for separator or tear-off entries.
521
522       -compound value
523              Specifies whether the menu entry should display  both  an  image
524              and  text,  and if so, where the image should be placed relative
525              to the text.  Valid values for this option are  bottom,  center,
526              left,  none,  right and top.  The default value is none, meaning
527              that the button will display either an image or text,  depending
528              on the values of the -image and -bitmap options.
529
530       -font value
531              Specifies  the font to use when drawing the label or accelerator
532              string in this entry.  If this option is specified as  an  empty
533              string  (the default) then the -font option for the overall menu
534              is used.  This option is not available for separator or tear-off
535              entries.
536
537       -foreground value
538              Specifies  a  foreground  color to use for displaying this entry
539              when it is in the normal state (neither  active  nor  disabled).
540              This  option is ignored on Aqua/macOS.  If it is specified as an
541              empty string (the default), then the -foreground option for  the
542              overall  menu is used.  This option is not available for separa‐
543              tor or tear-off entries.
544
545       -hidemargin value
546              Specifies whether the standard margins should be drawn for  this
547              menu  entry. This is useful when creating palette with images in
548              them, i.e., color palettes, pattern palettes, etc.  1  indicates
549              that the margin for the entry is hidden; 0 means that the margin
550              is used.
551
552       -image value
553              Specifies an image to display in the  menu  instead  of  a  text
554              string or bitmap.  The image must have been created by some pre‐
555              vious invocation of image create.   This  option  overrides  the
556              -label  and  -bitmap options (as controlled by the -compound op‐
557              tion) but may be reset to an empty string to enable a textual or
558              bitmap  label to be displayed.  This option is not available for
559              separator or tear-off entries.
560
561       -indicatoron value
562              Available only for checkbutton and radiobutton  entries.   Value
563              is a boolean that determines whether or not the indicator should
564              be displayed.
565
566       -label value
567              Specifies a string to display as an  identifying  label  in  the
568              menu entry.  Not available for separator or tear-off entries.
569
570       -menu value
571              Available  only for cascade entries.  Specifies the path name of
572              the submenu associated with this entry.  The submenu must  be  a
573              child of the menu.
574
575       -offvalue value
576              Available  only for checkbutton entries.  Specifies the value to
577              store in the entry's associated variable when the entry is dese‐
578              lected.
579
580       -onvalue value
581              Available  only for checkbutton entries.  Specifies the value to
582              store in the entry's associated variable when the entry  is  se‐
583              lected.
584
585       -selectcolor value
586              Available  only for checkbutton and radiobutton entries.  Speci‐
587              fies the color to display in the indicator when the entry is se‐
588              lected.   If the value is an empty string (the default) then the
589              -selectcolor option for the menu determines the indicator color.
590
591       -selectimage value
592              Available only for checkbutton and radiobutton entries.   Speci‐
593              fies  an  image  to display in the entry (in place of the -image
594              option) when it is selected.  Value is the  name  of  an  image,
595              which  must have been created by some previous invocation of im‐
596              age create.  This option is ignored unless the -image option has
597              been specified.
598
599       -state value
600              Specifies one of three states for the entry:  normal, active, or
601              disabled.  In normal state the  entry  is  displayed  using  the
602              -foreground  option for the menu and the -background option from
603              the entry or the menu.  The active state is typically used  when
604              the  pointer  is  over  the entry.  In active state the entry is
605              displayed using the -activeforeground option for the menu  along
606              with  the  -activebackground  option  from  the entry.  Disabled
607              state means that the entry should be insensitive:   the  default
608              bindings  will  refuse to activate or invoke the entry.  In this
609              state the entry is displayed  according  to  the  -disabledfore‐
610              ground  option  for the menu and the -background option from the
611              entry.  This option is not available for separator entries.
612
613       -underline value
614              Specifies the integer index of a character to underline  in  the
615              entry.   This option is also queried by the default bindings and
616              used to implement keyboard  traversal.   0  corresponds  to  the
617              first  character  of  the  text displayed in the entry, 1 to the
618              next character, and so on.  If a bitmap or image is displayed in
619              the  entry  then  this  option  is  ignored.  This option is not
620              available for separator or tear-off entries.
621
622       -value value
623              Available only for radiobutton entries.  Specifies the value  to
624              store  in  the entry's associated variable when the entry is se‐
625              lected.  If an empty string is specified, then the -label option
626              for the entry as the value to store in the variable.
627
628       -variable value
629              Available  only for checkbutton and radiobutton entries.  Speci‐
630              fies the name of a global variable to set when the entry is  se‐
631              lected.   For  checkbutton entries the variable is also set when
632              the entry is deselected.  For radiobutton entries, changing  the
633              variable causes the currently-selected entry to deselect itself.
634
635              For  checkbutton  entries,  the  default value of this option is
636              taken from the -label option, and for radiobutton entries a sin‐
637              gle  fixed  value is used. It is recommended that you always set
638              the -variable option when creating either a checkbutton or a ra‐
639              diobutton.
640
642       The default bindings support four different ways of using menus:
643
644       Pulldown Menus in Menubar
645              This is the most common case. You create a menu widget that will
646              become the menu bar. You then add cascade entries to this  menu,
647              specifying the pull down menus you wish to use in your menu bar.
648              You then create all of the pulldowns. Once you have  done  this,
649              specify the menu using the -menu option of the toplevel's widget
650              command. See the toplevel manual entry for details.
651
652       Pulldown Menus in Menu Buttons
653              This is the compatible way to do  menu  bars.   You  create  one
654              menubutton widget for each top-level menu, and typically you ar‐
655              range a series of menubuttons in a row in a menubar window.  You
656              also  create  the top-level menus and any cascaded submenus, and
657              tie them together with -menu options in menubuttons and  cascade
658              menu  entries.   The  top-level  menu  must  be  a  child of the
659              menubutton, and each submenu must be a child of  the  menu  that
660              refers  to  it.   Once  you have done this, the default bindings
661              will allow users to traverse and invoke the tree  of  menus  via
662              its menubutton;  see the menubutton manual entry for details.
663
664       Popup Menus
665              Popup  menus  typically post in response to a mouse button press
666              or keystroke.  You create the popup menus and any cascaded  sub‐
667              menus,  then  you call the tk_popup procedure at the appropriate
668              time to post the top-level menu.
669
670       Option Menus
671              An option menu consists of a menubutton with an associated  menu
672              that  allows  you  to select one of several values.  The current
673              value is displayed in the menubutton and is  also  stored  in  a
674              global  variable.  Use the tk_optionMenu procedure to create op‐
675              tion menubuttons and their menus.
676
677       Torn-off Menus
678              You create a torn-off menu by invoking the tear-off entry at the
679              top of an existing menu.  The default bindings will create a new
680              menu that is a copy of the original menu  and  leave  it  perma‐
681              nently  posted as a top-level window.  The torn-off menu behaves
682              just the same as the original menu.
683

DEFAULT BINDINGS

685       Tk automatically creates class bindings for menus that  give  them  the
686       following default behavior:
687
688       [1]    When  the  mouse  enters  a menu, the entry underneath the mouse
689              cursor activates;  as the mouse moves around the menu,  the  ac‐
690              tive entry changes to track the mouse.
691
692       [2]    When  the mouse leaves a menu all of the entries in the menu de‐
693              activate, except in the special case where the mouse moves  from
694              a menu to a cascaded submenu.
695
696       [3]    When a button is released over a menu, the active entry (if any)
697              is invoked.  The menu also unposts unless it is a torn-off menu.
698
699       [4]    The Space and Return keys invoke the active entry and unpost the
700              menu.
701
702       [5]    If any of the entries in a menu have letters underlined with the
703              -underline option, then pressing one of the  underlined  letters
704              (or  its upper-case or lower-case equivalent) invokes that entry
705              and unposts the menu.
706
707       [6]    The Escape key aborts a menu selection in progress  without  in‐
708              voking any entry.  It also unposts the menu unless it is a torn-
709              off menu.
710
711       [7]    The Up and Down keys activate the next higher or lower entry  in
712              the menu.  When one end of the menu is reached, the active entry
713              wraps around to the other end.
714
715       [8]    The Left key moves to the next menu to the left.  If the current
716              menu is a cascaded submenu, then the submenu is unposted and the
717              current menu entry becomes the cascade entry in the parent.   If
718              the  current  menu is a top-level menu posted from a menubutton,
719              then the current menubutton is unposted and the next  menubutton
720              to  the  left  is posted.  Otherwise the key has no effect.  The
721              left-right order of menubuttons is determined by their  stacking
722              order:   Tk assumes that the lowest menubutton (which by default
723              is the first one created) is on the left.
724
725       [9]    The Right key moves to the next menu to the right.  If the  cur‐
726              rent  entry  is  a cascade entry, then the submenu is posted and
727              the  current menu entry becomes the first entry in the  submenu.
728              Otherwise,  if  the  current  menu was posted from a menubutton,
729              then the current menubutton is unposted and the next  menubutton
730              to the right is posted.
731
732       Disabled  menu  entries  are  non-responsive:  they do not activate and
733       they ignore mouse button presses and releases.
734
735       Several of the bindings make use of the  command  tk_menuSetFocus.   It
736       saves  the  current  focus and sets the focus to its pathName argument,
737       which is a menu widget.
738
739       The behavior of menus can be changed by defining new bindings for indi‐
740       vidual widgets or by redefining the class bindings.
741

BUGS

743       At  present  it  is  not possible to use the option database to specify
744       values for the options to individual entries.
745

SEE ALSO

747       bind(n), menubutton(n), ttk::menubutton(n), toplevel(n)
748

KEYWORDS

750       menu, widget
751
752
753
754Tk                                    4.1                              menu(n)
Impressum