[Chapter 18] 18.2 Geometry Managers

[Chapter 18] 18.2 Geometry Managers



Causes the allocation rectangle to fill the remaining space available in the window. Values are 'yes',

'no', 1, and 0. The default is 0 ('no').

-anchor => position

Anchors the widget inside the allocation rectangle. Values for position are 'n', 'ne', 'e',

'se', 's', 'sw', 'w', 'nw', and 'center'. The default is 'center'.

-after => $widget

Puts the widget after another widget in packing order.

-before => $widget

Puts the widget before another widget in packing order.

-in => $window

Packs the widget inside another window rather than inside its parent.

-ipadx => amount

Increases the size of the widget horizontally by amount * 2. amount can be represented as a number

followed by c (centimeters), i (inches), m (millimeters), and p (printer points). Pixels are the default

units.

-ipady => amount

Increases the size of the widget vertically by amount * 2. amount can be represented as a number

followed by c (centimeters), i (inches), m (millimeters), and p (printer points). Pixels are the default

units.

-padx => amount

Places padding on the left and right of the widget. amount can be represented as a number followed

by c (centimeters), i (inches), m (millimeters), and p (printer points). Pixels are the default units.

-pady amount

Places padding on the top and bottom of the widget. amount can be represented as a number followed

by c (centimeters), i (inches), m (millimeters), and p (printer points). Pixels are the default units.

18.2.1.1 Pack methods

The following methods are associated with pack:

packForget

Causes a widget to be removed from view.

$widget->packForget;

The widget is not destroyed, but is no longer managed by pack. The widget is removed from the

packing order, so if it were repacked later, it would appear at the end of the packing order.

packInfo

Returns a list containing all pack information about that widget.

$info = $widget->packInfo;

packPropagate

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Suppresses automatic resizing of a Toplevel or Frame widget to accommodate items packed inside of

it. The following line turns off automatic resizing:

$widget->packPropagate(0);

packSlaves

Returns an ordered list of all the widgets packed into the parent widget.

$children = $widget->packSlaves;



18.2.2 The grid Geometry Manager

The grid geometry manager divides the window into a grid composed of columns and rows starting at 0,0

in the upper left-hand corner. The resulting grid resembles a spreadsheet, with each widget assigned a cell

according to the options to grid. To create a grid, create a frame that is packed inside the parent window

and then grid the widgets within the frame.

You can specify explicit rows and columns using options to grid. However, if several widgets are meant to

appear in the same row, you can use a single grid command with a list of widgets rather than calling grid

for each one. The first widget invokes the grid command, and all other widgets for that column are

specified as options to grid. Any subsequent grid commands increment the row by one and start again.

You can use special characters as placeholders:

- (minus sign)

The previous widget should span this column as well. May not follow ^ or x.

x

Leave a blank space.

^

The widget above this one (same column, previous row) should span this row.

Options to grid are:

-column => n

The column in which to place the widget. n is any integer >= 0.

-row => m

The row in which to place the widget. m is any integer >= 0.

-columnspan => n

The number of columns for the widget to span, beginning with the column specified with -column. n

is any integer > 0.

-rowspan => m

The number of rows for the widget to span, beginning with the column specified with -row. m is any

integer > 0.

-sticky => sides



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Stick widget to specified side(s). sides contains characters n, s, e, or w.

-in => $window

Grid widget inside another window instead of its parent.

-ipadx => amount

Increases the size of the widget horizontally by amount * 2. amount can be represented as a number

followed by c (centimeters), i (inches), m (millimeters), and p (printer points). Pixels are the default

units.

-ipady => amount

Increases the size of the widget vertically by amount * 2. amount can be represented as a number

followed by c (centimeters), i (inches), m (millimeters), and p (printer points). Pixels are the default

units.

-padx => amount

Places padding on the left and right of the widget. amount can be represented as a number followed

by c (centimeters), i (inches), m (millimeters), and p (printer points). Pixels are the default units.

-pady amount

Places padding on the top and bottom of the widget. amount can be represented as a number followed

by c (centimeters), i (inches), m (millimeters), and p (printer points). Pixels are the default units.

18.2.2.1 Grid methods

The following methods are associated with grid:

gridColumnconfigure

Configures the column specified by the first argument using -weight and -minsize arguments.

The -weight argument determines the amount of space to allocate to that column, and the

-minsize argument sets the minimum size in pixels. For example:

$widget->gridColumnconfigure(3, -weight => 1);

gridRowconfigure

Configures the row specified by the first argument using -weight and -minsize arguments. The

-weight argument determines the amount of space to allocate to that row, and the -minsize

argument sets the minimum size in pixels. For example:

$widget->gridRowconfigure(3, -weight => 1);

gridBbox

Returns the bounding box in pixels for the space occupied by the specified grid position (in the order

of column, row). For example:

$widget->gridBbox(3,2);

gridForget

Causes the widget(s) to be removed from view. Additional widgets can be specified as arguments.

$widget1->gridForget($widget2, widget3, ...);



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gridInfo

Returns information about the widget in list format.

$widget->gridInfo;

gridLocation

Returns the column and row of the widget nearest the specified x,y coordinates (in pixels).

$widget->gridLocation(120, 32);

gridPropagate

Turns off automatic resizing of the widget.

$widget->gridPropagate;

gridSize

Returns the size of the grid, i.e., the number of columns and rows.

$widget->gridSize;

gridSlaves

Returns a list of all widgets contained within a master widget. Optional -row and -column

arguments restrict the response to the widget(s) within that row or column.

$children = $widget->gridSlaves(-row => 2);



18.2.3 The Place Geometry Manager

The place geometry manager lets you position a window at explicit x,y coordinates. With place, you can

overlap widgets, which isn't allowed with grid or pack. For example, to position a button widget at the

upper left corner of a window:

$button->place(-x => 0, -y => 0);

Options to place are:

-anchor => position

The position in the widget that will be placed at the coordinates specified. Values for position are

'n', 'ne', 'e', 'se', 's', 'sw', 'w', 'nw', and 'center'. Default is 'nw'.

-bordermode => location

Determines whether or not the border portion of the widget is included in the coordinate system.

Values for location are 'inside', 'outside', and 'ignore'.

-height => amount

Absolute height of the widget. amount can be represented as a number followed by c (centimeters), i

(inches), m (millimeters), and p (printer points). Pixels are the default units.

-in => $window

The child widget will be packed inside the specified window instead of the parent that created it. Any

relative coordinates or sizes will still refer to the parent.

-relheight => ratio



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The height of the widget relates to the parent widget's height by the specified ratio.

-relwidth => ratio

The width of the widget relates to the parent widget's width by the specified ratio.

-relx => xratio

The widget will be placed relative to its parent by the specified ratio. xratio is a floating point

number from 0.0 to 1.0, with 0.0 representing the left side of the parent widget and 1.0 representing the

right side.

-rely => yratio

The widget will be placed relative to its parent by the specified ratio. yratio is a floating point

number from 0.0 to 1.0, with 0.0 representing the top of the parent widget and 1.0 representing the

bottom.

-width => amount

The width of the widget will be the specified amount. amount can be represented as a number

followed by c (centimeters), i (inches), m (millimeters), and p (printer points). Pixels are the default

units.

-x => xcoord

The widget will be placed at the specified x coordinate.

-y => ycoord

The widget will be placed at the specified y coordinate.

The following methods are associated with place:

placeForget

Causes the widget to be removed from view.

placeInfo

Returns information about the widget.

placeSlaves

Returns a list of widgets managed by the specified parent widget.



18.1 Widgets



18.3 Common Widget

Configuration Options



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[Chapter 18] 18.3 Common Widget Configuration Options



Chapter 18

Perl/Tk



18.3 Common Widget Configuration Options

In the remainder of this chapter, we'll be discussing each widget: the command used to create each

widget, the options used to configure them, and the methods for manipulating them.

You'll find that there are many, many configuration options that are shared by multiple widgets. We

could list them individually for each widget, but in the interest of saving a tree or two, we're instead

going to list the shared options up front, rather than repeating them over and over. That way we can

concentrate on the options that are crucial to the behavior of each particular widget, and save the reader

from being lost in a sea of options.

The following options are supported by the widgets noted:

-activebackground => color

Sets the background color when the mouse cursor is over the widget.

Applicable widgets: Button, Checkbutton, Menu, Menubutton, Optionmenu, Radiobutton, Scale,

Scrollbar

-activeforeground => color

Sets the text color when the mouse cursor is over the widget. Applicable widgets: Button,

Checkbutton, Menu, Menubutton, Optionmenu, Radiobutton

-anchor => position

Causes the text to stick to that position in the widget. Values for position are 'n', 'ne', 'e',

'se', 's', 'sw', 'w', 'nw', and 'center'. Applicable widgets: Button, Checkbutton,

Label, Menubutton, Optionmenu, Radiobutton

-background => color

-bg => color

Sets the background of the widget to the specified color. Applicable widgets: Button, Canvas,

Checkbutton, Entry, Frame, Label, Listbox, Menu, Menubutton, Optionmenu, Radiobutton, Scale,

Scrollbar, Text, Toplevel

-bitmap => 'bitmapname'

Uses a bitmap instead of text in the widget. You can specify either a default bitmap or the location

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of a bitmap file (with @ in front of the path). Applicable widgets: Button, Checkbutton, Label,

Menubutton, Optionmenu, Radiobutton

-borderwidth => amount

-bd => amount

Changes the width of the edge drawn around the widget. Applicable widgets: Button, Canvas,

Checkbutton, Entry, Frame, Label, Listbox, Menu, Menubutton, Optionmenu, Radiobutton, Scale,

Scrollbar, Text, Toplevel

-cursor => 'cursorname'

Mouse cursor will change to specified cursor when over the widget. Applicable widgets: Button,

Canvas, Checkbutton, Entry, Frame, Label, Listbox, Menu, Menubutton, Optionmenu,

Radiobutton, Scale, Scrollbar, Text, Toplevel

-disabledforeground => color

Sets the color of the text when the widget is disabled. Applicable widgets: Button, Checkbutton,

Menu, Menubutton, Optionmenu, Radiobutton

-exportselection => boolean

Determines whether selected text is exported to the window system's clipboard. (For a listbox,

-exportselection => 1 means two listboxes cannot have selections at the same time.)

Applicable widgets: Entry, Listbox, Text

-font => 'fontname'

Changes the font of all the text on the widget to fontname. Applicable widgets: Button,

Checkbutton, Entry, Label, Listbox, Menu, Menubutton, Optionmenu, Radiobutton, Scale, Text

-foreground => color

-fg => color

Changes the text color to color. Applicable widgets: Button, Checkbutton, Entry, Label, Listbox,

Menu, Menubutton, Optionmenu, Radiobutton, Scale, Text

-height => amount

Specifies the height of the widget. amount represents a number of characters if text is displayed,

or a screen distance if an image or bitmap is displayed. Applicable widgets: Button, Canvas,

Checkbutton, Frame, Label, Listbox, Menubutton, Optionmenu, Radiobutton, Text, Toplevel

-highlightbackground => color

Sets the color of a non-focus rectangle. Applicable widgets: Button, Canvas, Checkbutton, Entry,

Frame, Label, Listbox, Menubutton, Optionmenu, Radiobutton, Scale, Scrollbar, Text, Toplevel

-highlightcolor => color

Sets the color of the focus rectangle. Applicable widgets: Button, Canvas, Checkbutton, Entry,

Frame, Label, Listbox, Menubutton, Optionmenu, Radiobutton, Scale, Scrollbar, Text, Toplevel

-highlightthickness => amount



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