1iwidgets::menubar − Create and manipulate menubar menu widgets
3gets::Menubar
10See the "options" manual entry for details on the standard op‐
11tions.
12Name: helpVariable
13Class: HelpVariable
14Command‐Line Switch: ‐helpvariable
15Specifies the global variable to update whenever the mouse is in
16motion over a menu entry. This global variable is updated with
17the current value of the active menu entry’s helpStr. Other wid‐
18gets can "watch" this variable with the trace command, or as is
19the case with entry or label widgets, they can set their
21ple implementation of a help status bar. Whenever the mouse
22leaves a menu entry, the helpVariable is set to the empty string
23{}. The mainwindow(1) associates its helpstatus and its menubar
24in this fashion.
25Name: menuButtons
26Class: MenuButtons
27Command‐Line Switch: ‐menubuttons
28The menuButton option is a string which specifies the arrangement
29of menubuttons on the menubar frame. Each menubutton entry is de‐
30limited by the newline character.
31iwidgets::menubar .mb ‐menubuttons {
32 menubutton file ‐text File
33 menubutton edit ‐text Edit
34 menubutton options ‐text Options
35}
36specifies that three menubuttons will be added to the menubar
37(file, edit, options). Each entry is translated into an add com‐
38mand call. The menuButtons option can accept embedded variables,
39commands, and backslash quoting. Embedded variables and commands
40must be enclosed in curly braces ({}) to ensure proper parsing of
41the substituted values. The iwidgets::menubar command creates a
42new window (given by the pathName argument) and makes it into a
44specified on the command line or in the option database to con‐
45figure aspects of the menubar such as its colors and font. The
47time this command is invoked, there must not exist a window named
48pathName, but pathName’s parent must exist. A menubar is a wid‐
49get that simplifies the task of creating menu hierarchies. It en‐
50capsulates a frame widget, as well as menubuttons, menus, and
51menu entries. The menubar allows menus to be specified and refer‐
52enced in a more consistent manner than using Tk to build menus
53directly.
54
56guage". The menubar accepts a menuButtons option that allows a
57list of menubuttons to be added to the menubar. In turn, each
58menubutton accepts a menu option that specifies a list of menu
59entries to be added to the menubutton’s menu. Cascade entries al‐
60so accept the menu option for specifying a list of menu entries
61to be added to the cascade’s menu.
62Additionally, the menubar allows each component of the menubar
64system to be referenced by a simple menuPathName syntax. The
65menubar also extends the set of options for menu entries to in‐
66clude a helpStr option. A menuPathName is a series of component
67names separated by the ‘.’ character. Each menubar component can
68be referenced via these menuPathNames. menuPathNames are similar
69to widget pathNames in Tk. Some correspond directly to a widget
70pathName (components of type menu or menubutton), others corre‐
71spond to a menu entry type. Every widget and entry in a menubar
72can be referenced with the menuPathName naming convention. A
73menubar can have four types of components: frame. A menubar holds
74exactly one frame which manages menubuttons. The frame is always
75signified by the ‘.’ character as the path name. menubutton. A
76menubutton corresponds directly to a Tk menubutton. See menubut‐
77ton(n). menu. A menu is attached to a menubutton and corresponds
78directly to Tk’s menu widget. A menu is always signified by the
80An entry corresponds directly to Tk’s menu widget entries. Menus
81consist of a column of one line entries. Entries may be of type:
83complete description of these types see the discussion on ENTRIES
84in menu(n). The suffix of a menuPathName may have the form of:
87gets. For example, .file references a menubutton named file. The
89’.’ character. Segment names may be one of the following forms:
910 corresponds to the left‐most menubutton of the menu bar frame.
92As an example, .1 would correspond to the second menubutton on
93the menu bar frame. For entries, 0 corresponds to the top‐most
94entry of the menu. For example, .file.0 would correspond to the
95first entry on the menu attached to the menubutton named file.
97the right‐most entry of the menu bar frame. For menu entries, it
98specifies the bottom‐most entry of the menu. last Same as end.
99Finally, menu components always end with the menu keyword. These
100components are automatically created via the ‐menu option on
101menubuttons and cascades or via the add or insert commands. menu
102Specifes the menu pane that is associated with the given menubut‐
103ton prefix. For example, .file.menu specifies the menu pane at‐
104tached to the .file menubutton. For example, the path .file.new
105specifies the entry named new on the menu associated with the
106file menubutton located on the menu bar. The path .file.menu
107specifies the menu pane associated with the menubutton .file. The
108path .last specifies the last menu on the menu bar. The path
110that menu (quit), yielding .file.quit.
111As a restriction, the last name segment of menuPathName cannot be
113one of the keywords last, menu, end, nor may it be a numeric val‐
114ue (integer). The iwidgets::menubar command creates a new Tcl
115command whose name is pathName. This command may be used to in‐
116voke various operations on the widget. It has the following gen‐
117eral form: pathName option ?arg arg ...? option and the args de‐
118termine the exact behavior of the command. In addition, many of
119the widget commands for menubar take as one argument a path name
120to a menu component. These path names are called menuPathNames.
121See the discussion on MENUBAR PATH NAMES above. The following
122commands are possible for menubar widgets: pathName add type
124the menu bar or a menu entry to a menu pane. If additional argu‐
125ments are present, they specify options available to component
126type entry. See the man pages for menu(1) in the section on EN‐
128If type is one of cascade, checkbutton, command, radiobutton, or
131by the prefix of menuPathName. If additonal arguments are
132present, they specify options available to menu entry widgets. In
133addition, the helpStr option is added by the menubar widget to
134all components of type entry. ‐helpstr value Specifes the string
135to associate with the entry. When the mouse moves over the asso‐
136ciated entry, the variable denoted by helpVariable is set. Anoth‐
137er widget can bind to the helpVariable and thus display status
138help. If the type of the component added is menubutton or cas‐
140tional arguments are present, they specify options available to
141menubutton or cascade widgets. In addition, the menu option is
142added by the menubar widget to all menubutton and cascade wid‐
143gets. ‐menu menuSpec This is only valid for menuPathNames of
144type menubutton or cascade. Specifes an option set and/or a set
145of entries to place on a menu and associate with the menubutton
146or cascade. The option keyword allows the menu widget to be con‐
147figured. Each item in the menuSpec is treated as add commands
148(each with the possibility of having other ‐menu options). In
149this way a menu can be recursively built. The last segment of
151tionally, it may not be a number. However the menuPathName may be
152referenced in this manner (see discussion of COMPONENT PATH
155the earlier discussion on umenubuttons in the "WIDGET‐SPECIFIC
157of the configuration option given by option. pathName configure
158?options value option value? Query or modify the configuration
159options of the widget. If no option is specified, returns a list
160describing all of the available options for pathName (see Tk_Con‐
162is specified with no value, then the command returns a list de‐
163scribing the one named option (this list will be identical to the
164corresponding sublist of the value returned if no option is spec‐
165ified). If one or more option‐value pairs are specified, then the
166command modifies the given widget option(s) to have the given
167value(s); in this case the command returns an empty string.
169of component type Menubutton or Menu, delete operates on menus.
170If menuPathName is of component type Entry, delete operates on
171menu entries.
172This command deletes all components between menuPathName and
175faults to menuPathName. Returns an empty string.
176If menuPathName is of type menubar, then all menus and the menu
178bar frame will be destroyed. In this case menuPathName2 is ig‐
179nored. pathName index menuPathName If menuPathName is of type
180menubutton or menu, it returns the position of the menu/menubut‐
181ton on the menubar frame.
182If menuPathName is of type command, separator, radiobutton,
185index for the entry corresponding to menuPathName. If path is not
186found or the path is equal to ".", a value of ‐1 is returned.
188new component named name before the component specified by menu‐
190component inserted is of type Menu and given the name name. In
191this case valid option value pairs are those accepted by menubut‐
192tons. If menuPathName is of type Entry, the new component in‐
193serted is of type entry and given the name name. In this case,
194valid option value pairs are those accepted by menu entries.
196it may not be a number. However the menuPathName may be refer‐
197enced in this manner (see discussion of COMPONENT PATH NAMES).
199denoted by menuPathName. See the sections on the individual en‐
200tries in the menu(1) man pages. If the menu entry is disabled
201then nothing happens. If the entry has a command associated with
202it then the result of that command is returned as the result of
203the invoke widget command. Otherwise the result is an empty
204string.
205If menuPathName is not a menu entry, an error is issued. path‐
208the configuration option given by option. The component type of
211configuration options of the componet of the menubar specified by
213ing all of the available options for menuPathName (see Tk_Config‐
215specified with no value, then the command returns a list describ‐
216ing the one named option (this list will be identical to the cor‐
217responding sublist of the value returned if no option is speci‐
218fied). If one or more option‐value pairs are specified, then the
219command modifies the given widget option(s) to have the given
220value(s); in this case the command returns an empty string. The
221component type of menuPathName determines the valid available op‐
222tions. pathName path ?mode? pattern Returns a fully formed menu‐
224‐1. The mode argument indicates how the search is to be matched
225against pattern and it must have one of the following values:
227each component path using the same rules as the string match com‐
228mand. ‐regexp Pattern is treated as a regular expression and
229matched against each component of the menuPathName using the same
230rules as the regexp command. The default mode is ‐glob. path‐
232fied by menuPathName. For menu entries, this is the type argument
233passed to the add/insert widget command when the entry was creat‐
234ed, such as command or separator. Othewise it is either a
236decimal string giving the y‐coordinate within the menu window of
237the topmost pixel in the entry specified by menuPathName. If the
239example creates a menubar with "File", "Edit", "Options" menubut‐
240tons. Each of these menubuttons has an associated menu. In turn
241the File menu has menu entries, as well as the Edit menu and the
242Options menu. The Options menu is a tearoff menu with selectColor
243(for radiobuttons) set to blue. In addition, the Options menu
244has a cascade titled More, with several menu entries attached to
245it as well. An entry widget is provided to display help status.
246package require Iwidgets 4.0 iwidgets::menubar .mb ‐helpvariable
247helpVar ‐menubuttons {
248 menubutton file ‐text File ‐menu {
249 options ‐tearoff false
250 command new ‐label New \
251 ‐helpstr "Open new document" \
252 ‐command {puts NEW}
253 command close ‐label Close \
254 ‐helpstr "Close current document" \
255 ‐command {puts CLOSE}
256 separator sep1
257 command exit ‐label Exit ‐command {exit} \
258 ‐helpstr "Exit application"
259 }
260 menubutton edit ‐text Edit ‐menu {
261 options ‐tearoff false
262 command undo ‐label Undo ‐underline 0 \
263 ‐helpstr "Undo last command" \
264 ‐command {puts UNDO}
265 separator sep2
266 command cut ‐label Cut ‐underline 1 \
267 ‐helpstr "Cut selection to clipboard" \
268 ‐command {puts CUT}
269 command copy ‐label Copy ‐underline 1 \
270 ‐helpstr "Copy selection to clipboard" \
271 ‐command {puts COPY}
272 command paste ‐label Paste ‐underline 0 \
273 ‐helpstr "Paste clipboard contents" \
274 ‐command {puts PASTE}
275 }
276 menubutton options ‐text Options ‐menu {
277 options ‐tearoff false ‐selectcolor blue
278 radiobutton byName ‐variable viewMode \
279 ‐value NAME ‐label "by Name" \
280 ‐helpstr "View files by name order" \
281 ‐command {puts NAME}
282 radiobutton byDate ‐variable viewMode \
283 ‐value DATE ‐label "by Date" \
284 ‐helpstr "View files by date order" \
285 ‐command {puts DATE}
286 cascade prefs ‐label Preferences ‐menu {
287 command colors ‐label Colors... \
288 ‐helpstr "Change text colors" \
289 ‐command {puts COLORS}
290 command fonts ‐label Fonts... \
291 ‐helpstr "Change text font" \
292 ‐command {puts FONT}
293 }
294 }
295} frame .fr ‐width 300 ‐height 300 entry .ef ‐textvariable help‐
297Var pack .mb ‐anchor nw ‐fill x ‐expand yes pack .fr ‐fill both
298‐expand yes pack .ef ‐anchor sw ‐fill x ‐expand yes Alternatively
299the same menu could be created by using the add and configure
300methods:
301 package require Iwidgets 4.0
302 iwidgets::menubar .mb
303 .mb configure ‐menubuttons {
304 menubutton file ‐text File ‐menu {
305 command new ‐label New
306 command close ‐label Close
307 separator sep1
308 command quit ‐label Quit
309 }
310 menubutton edit ‐text Edit
311 }
312 .mb add command .edit.undo ‐label Undo ‐underline 0
313 .mb add separator .edit.sep2
314 .mb add command .edit.cut ‐label Cut ‐underline 1
315 .mb add command .edit.copy ‐label Copy ‐underline 1
316 .mb add command .edit.paste ‐label Paste ‐underline 0
317 .mb add menubutton .options ‐text Options ‐menu {
319 radiobutton byName ‐variable viewMode \
320 ‐value NAME ‐label "by Name"
321 radiobutton byDate ‐variable viewMode \
322 ‐value DATE ‐label "by Date"
323}
324 .mb add cascade .options.prefs ‐label Preferences ‐menu {
326 command colors ‐label Colors...
327 command fonts ‐label Fonts...
328 }
329 pack .mb ‐side left ‐anchor nw ‐fill x ‐expand yes
330The ‐menubuttons option as well as the ‐menu option is evaluated 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:
331set fileMenuName "File Menu"
332set var {}
333iwidgets::menubar .mb ‐menubuttons {
334 menubutton file ‐text {$fileMenuName}
335 menubutton edit ‐text Edit ‐menu {
336 checkbutton check \
337 ‐label Check \
338 ‐variable {[scope var]} \
339 ‐onvalue 1 \
340 ‐offvalue 0
341 }
342 menubutton options ‐text Options
343}
344The variable fileMenuName will expand to "File Menu" when the
346tion, the [scope...] command will expand to @scope :: var. By en‐
347closing these inside {} they stay as a single value. Note that
348only {} work for this. [list...], "" etc. will not protect these
349from the subst command. Bret Schumaker 1994 ‐ Early work on a
350menubar widget. Mark Ulferts, Mark Harrison, John Sigler Invalu‐
351able feedback on grammar and usability of the menubar widget Bill
352W. Scott frame, menu, menubutton, entries, help
353