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Updated: Wednesday, July 27, 2022
 
 

menu (1t)

Name

menu - Create and manipulate 'menu' widgets and menubars

Synopsis

menu pathName ?options?
tk_menuSetFocus pathName

Description

menu(1t)                     Tk Built-In Commands                     menu(1t)



______________________________________________________________________________

NAME
       menu,  tk_menuSetFocus  -  Create  and  manipulate  'menu'  widgets and
       menubars

SYNOPSIS
       menu pathName ?options?
       tk_menuSetFocus pathName

STANDARD OPTIONS
       -activebackground     -borderwidth         -foreground
       -activeborderwidth    -cursor              -relief
       -activeforeground     -disabledforeground  -takefocus
       -background           -font

       See the options manual entry for details on the standard options.

WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
       Command-Line Name:-postcommand
       Database Name:  postCommand
       Database Class: Command

              If this option is specified then it provides a  Tcl  command  to
              execute each time the menu is posted.  The command is invoked by
              the post widget command before posting the menu. Note that in Tk
              8.0  on  Macintosh and Windows, all post-commands in a system of
              menus are executed before any of those menus are  posted.   This
              is due to the limitations in the individual platforms' menu man-
              agers.

       Command-Line Name:-selectcolor
       Database Name:  selectColor
       Database Class: Background

              For menu entries that are check buttons or radio  buttons,  this
              option  specifies the color to display in the indicator when the
              check button or radio button is selected.

       Command-Line Name:-tearoff
       Database Name:  tearOff
       Database Class: TearOff

              This option must have a proper boolean  value,  which  specifies
              whether  or  not the menu should include a tear-off entry at the
              top.  If so, it will exist as entry 0 of the menu and the  other
              entries  will  number  starting at 1.  The default menu bindings
              arrange for the menu to be torn off when the tear-off  entry  is
              invoked.   This  option  is  ignored  under Aqua/Mac OS X, where
              menus cannot be torn off.

       Command-Line Name:-tearoffcommand
       Database Name:  tearOffCommand
       Database Class: TearOffCommand

              If this option has a non-empty value, then it  specifies  a  Tcl
              command  to  invoke  whenever  the menu is torn off.  The actual
              command will consist of the value of this option, followed by  a
              space,  followed  by  the name of the menu window, followed by a
              space, followed by the name of the name of  the  torn  off  menu
              window.   For  example,  if the option's value is "a b" and menu
              .x.y is torn off to create a new menu .x.tearoff1, then the com-
              mand  "a  b  .x.y  .x.tearoff1" will be invoked.  This option is
              ignored under Aqua/Mac OS X, where menus cannot be torn off.

       Command-Line Name:-title
       Database Name:  title
       Database Class: Title

              The string will be used to title the window  created  when  this
              menu  is  torn  off.  If the title is NULL, then the window will
              have the title of the menubutton or the text of the cascade item
              from which this menu was invoked.

       Command-Line Name:-type
       Database Name:  type
       Database Class: Type

              This  option  can  be one of menubar, tearoff, or normal, and is
              set when the menu is created. While the string returned  by  the
              configuration  database  will  change if this option is changed,
              this does not affect the menu widget's behavior. This is used by
              the  cloning mechanism and is not normally set outside of the Tk
              library.
______________________________________________________________________________

INTRODUCTION
       The menu command creates a new top-level window (given by the  pathName
       argument) and makes it into a menu widget.  That menu widget can either
       be used as a pop-up window or applied to a  toplevel  (with  its  -menu
       option)  to  make  it  into  the menubar for that toplevel.  Additional
       options, described above, may be specified on the command  line  or  in
       the option database to configure aspects of the menu such as its colors
       and font.  The menu command returns its pathName argument.  At the time
       this  command is invoked, there must not exist a window named pathName,
       but pathName's parent must exist.

       A menu is a widget that  displays  a  collection  of  one-line  entries
       arranged  in  one or more columns.  There exist several different types
       of entries, each with different properties.  Entries of different types
       may  be  combined  in  a single menu.  Menu entries are not the same as
       entry widgets.  In fact, menu entries are not  even  distinct  widgets;
       the entire menu is one widget.

       Menu  entries are displayed with up to three separate fields.  The main
       field is a label in the form of a text string, a bitmap, or  an  image,
       controlled  by  the  -label, -bitmap, and -image options for the entry.
       If the  -accelerator option is specified for an  entry  then  a  second
       textual  field is displayed to the right of the label.  The accelerator
       typically describes a keystroke sequence that may be used in the appli-
       cation  to cause the same result as invoking the menu entry.  This is a
       display option, it does not  actually  set  the  corresponding  binding
       (which  can be achieved using the bind command).  The third field is an
       indicator.  The indicator is present only for checkbutton or  radiobut-
       ton entries.  It indicates whether the entry is selected or not, and is
       displayed to the left of the entry's string.

       In normal use, an entry becomes active  (displays  itself  differently)
       whenever  the  mouse  pointer  is over the entry.  If a mouse button is
       released over the entry then the entry is invoked.  The effect of invo-
       cation is different for each type of entry; these effects are described
       below in the sections on individual entries.

       Entries may be disabled, which causes their labels and accelerators  to
       be  displayed  with  dimmer colors.  The default menu bindings will not
       allow a disabled entry to be activated or  invoked.   Disabled  entries
       may  be  re-enabled, at which point it becomes possible to activate and
       invoke them again.

       Whenever a menu's active entry is  changed,  a  <<MenuSelect>>  virtual
       event is send to the menu. The active item can then be queried from the
       menu, and an action can be taken,  such  as  setting  context-sensitive
       help text for the entry.

TYPES OF ENTRIES
   COMMAND ENTRIES
       The  most  common  kind of menu entry is a command entry, which behaves
       much like a button widget.  When a command entry is invoked, a Tcl com-
       mand  is  executed.   The  Tcl  command  is specified with the -command
       option.

   SEPARATOR ENTRIES
       A separator is an entry that is  displayed  as  a  horizontal  dividing
       line.   A  separator  may  not  be  activated or invoked, and it has no
       behavior other than its display appearance.

   CHECKBUTTON ENTRIES
       A checkbutton menu entry behaves much like a checkbutton widget.   When
       it  is invoked it toggles back and forth between the selected and dese-
       lected states.  When the entry  is  selected,  a  particular  value  is
       stored  in  a particular global variable (as determined by the -onvalue
       and -variable options for the entry);  when  the  entry  is  deselected
       another  value  (determined  by  the -offvalue option) is stored in the
       global variable.  An indicator box is displayed  to  the  left  of  the
       label  in a checkbutton entry.  If the entry is selected then the indi-
       cator's center is displayed in the  color  given  by  the  -selectcolor
       option  for the entry; otherwise the indicator's center is displayed in
       the background color for the menu.  If a -command option  is  specified
       for  a  checkbutton entry, then its value is evaluated as a Tcl command
       each time the entry  is  invoked;   this  happens  after  toggling  the
       entry's selected state.

   RADIOBUTTON ENTRIES
       A  radiobutton  menu  entry  behaves  much  like  a radiobutton widget.
       Radiobutton entries are organized in groups of which only one entry may
       be selected at a time.  Whenever a particular entry becomes selected it
       stores a particular value into a particular global variable (as  deter-
       mined  by the -value and -variable options for the entry).  This action
       causes any previously-selected entry in  the  same  group  to  deselect
       itself.   Once  an entry has become selected, any change to the entry's
       associated variable will cause the entry to deselect itself.   Grouping
       of radiobutton entries is determined by their associated variables:  if
       two entries have the same associated variable then they are in the same
       group.   An  indicator diamond is displayed to the left of the label in
       each radiobutton entry.  If the entry is selected then the  indicator's
       center  is  displayed in the color given by the -selectcolor option for
       the entry; otherwise the indicator's center is displayed in  the  back-
       ground  color  for  the  menu.  If a -command option is specified for a
       radiobutton entry, then its value is evaluated as a  Tcl  command  each
       time the entry is invoked;  this happens after selecting the entry.

   CASCADE ENTRIES
       A cascade entry is one with an associated menu (determined by the -menu
       option).  Cascade entries allow the construction  of  cascading  menus.
       The postcascade widget command can be used to post and unpost the asso-
       ciated menu just next to of the cascade  entry.   The  associated  menu
       must  be  a  child  of  the  menu containing the cascade entry (this is
       needed in order for menu traversal to work correctly).

       A cascade entry posts its associated menu by invoking a Tcl command  of
       the form
              menu post x y
       where menu is the path name of the associated menu, and x and y are the
       root-window coordinates of the upper-right corner of the cascade entry.
       On  Unix,  the  lower-level menu is unposted by executing a Tcl command
       with the form
              menu unpost
       where menu is the name of the associated menu.  On other platforms, the
       platform's native code takes care of unposting the menu.

       If a -command option is specified for a cascade entry then it is evalu-
       ated as a Tcl command whenever the entry is invoked. This is  not  sup-
       ported on Windows.

   TEAR-OFF ENTRIES
       A  tear-off  entry  appears  at the top of the menu if enabled with the
       -tearoff option.  It is not like other menu entries in that  it  cannot
       be  created  with the add widget command and cannot be deleted with the
       delete widget command.  When a tear-off entry is created it appears  as
       a  dashed  line  at  the  top of the menu.  Under the default bindings,
       invoking the tear-off entry causes a torn-off copy to be  made  of  the
       menu and all of its submenus.

MENUBARS
       Any  menu  can  be set as a menubar for a toplevel window (see toplevel
       command for syntax). On the Macintosh,  whenever  the  toplevel  is  in
       front,  this menu's cascade items will appear in the menubar across the
       top of the main monitor. On Windows and Unix, this menu's items will be
       displayed  in  a menubar across the top of the window. These menus will
       behave according to the interface guidelines of  their  platforms.  For
       every  menu set as a menubar, a clone menu is made. See the CLONES sec-
       tion for more information.

       As noted, menubars may behave differently on different platforms.   One
       example  of this concerns the handling of checkbuttons and radiobuttons
       within the menu.  While it is permitted to put these menu  elements  on
       menubars,  they may not be drawn with indicators on some platforms, due
       to system restrictions.

   SPECIAL MENUS IN MENUBARS
       Certain menus in a menubar will be treated specially.   On  the  Macin-
       tosh,  access to the special Application, Window and Help menus is pro-
       vided. On Windows, access to the Windows System menu in each window  is
       provided.   On  X  Windows,  a special right-justified help menu may be
       provided if Motif menu compatibility is enabled. In  all  cases,  these
       menus  must  be  created with the command name of the menubar menu con-
       catenated with the special name. So for a menubar  named  .menubar,  on
       the Macintosh, the special menus would be .menubar.apple, .menubar.win-
       dow  and  .menubar.help;  on  Windows,  the  special  menu   would   be
       .menubar.system; on X Windows, the help menu would be .menubar.help.

       When  Tk  sees  a .menubar.apple menu as the first menu in a menubar on
       the Macintosh, that menu's contents make up  the  first  items  of  the
       Application  menu  whenever  the  window  containing  the menubar is in
       front.  After all of the Tk-defined items, the menu will have a separa-
       tor,  followed  by  all standard Application menu items.  Such a .apple
       menu must be present in a menu when that menu is first configured as  a
       toplevel's  menubar,  otherwise a default application menu (hidden from
       Tk) will be inserted into the menubar at that time and subsequent addi-
       tion of a .apple menu will no longer result in it becoming the Applica-
       tion menu.

       When Tk sees a .menubar.window menu on the Macintosh, the  menu's  con-
       tents  are inserted into the standard Window menu of the user's menubar
       whenever the window's menubar is in front. The first items in the  menu
       are  provided  by  Mac OS X, and the names of the current toplevels are
       automatically appended after all the Tk-defined items and a separator.

       When Tk sees a .menubar.help menu on the Macintosh, the menu's contents
       are  appended  to the standard Help menu of the user's menubar whenever
       the window's menubar is in front. The first items in the menu are  pro-
       vided by Mac OS X.

       When  Tk  sees  a System menu on Windows, its items are appended to the
       system menu that the menubar is attached to. This menu is tied  to  the
       application  icon  and  can  be  invoked  with  the  mouse or by typing
       Alt+Spacebar.  Due to limitations in the Windows API, any font changes,
       colors,  images, bitmaps, or tearoff images will not appear in the sys-
       tem menu.

       When Tk sees a Help menu on X Windows and Motif menu  compatibility  is
       enabled the menu is moved to be last in the menubar and is right justi-
       fied. Motif menu compatibility is enabled  by  setting  the  Tk  option
       *Menu.useMotifHelp to true or by calling tk::classic::restore menu.

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

WIDGET COMMAND
       The  menu  command  creates  a  new Tcl command whose name is pathName.
       This command may be used to invoke various operations  on  the  widget.
       It has the following general form:
              pathName option ?arg arg ...?
       Option and the args determine the exact behavior of the command.

       Many  of the widget commands for a menu take as one argument an indica-
       tor of which entry of the menu to  operate  on.  These  indicators  are
       called indexes and may be specified in any of the following forms:

       active      Indicates  the entry that is currently active.  If no entry
                   is active then this form is equivalent to none.  This  form
                   may not be abbreviated.

       end         Indicates  the  bottommost entry in the menu.  If there are
                   no entries in the menu then  this  form  is  equivalent  to
                   none.  This form may not be abbreviated.

       last        Same as end.

       none        Indicates  "no  entry  at  all"; this is used most commonly
                   with the activate option to deactivate all the  entries  in
                   the  menu.   In most cases the specification of none causes
                   nothing to happen in the widget command.  This form may not
                   be abbreviated.

       @number     In  this  form,  number is treated as a y-coordinate in the
                   menu's window;  the entry closest to that  y-coordinate  is
                   used.   For  example,  "@0" indicates the top-most entry in
                   the window.

       number      Specifies the entry numerically, where 0 corresponds to the
                   top-most entry of the menu, 1 to the entry below it, and so
                   on.

       pattern     If the index does not satisfy one of the above  forms  then
                   this  form is used.  Pattern is pattern-matched against the
                   label of each entry in the menu,  in  order  from  the  top
                   down, until a matching entry is found.  The rules of string
                   match are used.

       If the index could match more than one of the  above  forms,  then  the
       form earlier in the above list takes precedence.

       The following widget commands are possible for menu widgets:

       pathName activate index
              Change  the  state of the entry indicated by index to active and
              redisplay it using its  active  colors.   Any  previously-active
              entry  is deactivated.  If index is specified as none, or if the
              specified entry is disabled, then  the  menu  ends  up  with  no
              active entry.  Returns an empty string.

       pathName add type ?option value option value ...?
              Add a new entry to the bottom of the menu.  The new entry's type
              is given by type and must be one of cascade,  checkbutton,  com-
              mand, radiobutton, or separator, or a unique abbreviation of one
              of the above.  If additional arguments are present, they specify
              the options listed in the MENU ENTRY OPTIONS section below.  The
              add widget command returns an empty string.

       pathName cget option
              Returns the current value of the configuration option  given  by
              option.   Option may have any of the values accepted by the menu
              command.

       pathName clone newPathname ?cloneType?
              Makes a clone of the current menu named newPathName. This  clone
              is  a  menu  in  its own right, but any changes to the clone are
              propagated to the original menu and vice versa. cloneType can be
              normal,  menubar, or tearoff. Should not normally be called out-
              side of the Tk library. See the CLONES section for more informa-
              tion.

       pathName configure ?option? ?value option value ...?
              Query  or modify the configuration options of the widget.  If no
              option is specified, returns a list describing all of the avail-
              able  options for pathName (see Tk_ConfigureInfo for information
              on the format of this list).  If option  is  specified  with  no
              value,  then the command returns a list describing the one named
              option (this list will be identical to the corresponding sublist
              of  the  value  returned  if no option is specified).  If one or
              more option-value pairs are specified, then the command modifies
              the  given widget option(s) to have the given value(s);  in this
              case the command returns an empty string.  Option may  have  any
              of the values accepted by the menu command.

       pathName delete index1 ?index2?
              Delete  all of the menu entries between index1 and index2 inclu-
              sive.   If  index2  is  omitted  then  it  defaults  to  index1.
              Attempts  to  delete a tear-off menu entry are ignored (instead,
              you should change the -tearoff option  to  remove  the  tear-off
              entry).

       pathName entrycget index option
              Returns  the  current  value  of  a configuration option for the
              entry given  by  index.   Option  may  have  any  of  the  names
              described in the MENU ENTRY OPTIONS section below.

       pathName entryconfigure index ?options...?
              This command is similar to the configure command, except that it
              applies to the options for an individual entry, whereas  config-
              ure applies to the options for the menu as a whole.  Options may
              have any of the values described in the MENU ENTRY OPTIONS  sec-
              tion  below.   If options are specified, options are modified as
              indicated in the  command  and  the  command  returns  an  empty
              string.   If no options are specified, returns a list describing
              the current options for entry index  (see  Tk_ConfigureInfo  for
              information on the format of this list).

       pathName index index
              Returns  the  numerical index corresponding to index, or none if
              index was specified as none.

       pathName insert index type ?option value option value ...?
              Same as the add widget command except that it  inserts  the  new
              entry just before the entry given by index, instead of appending
              to the end of the menu.  The type, option, and  value  arguments
              have  the same interpretation as for the add widget command.  It
              is not possible to insert new menu entries before  the  tear-off
              entry, if the menu has one.

       pathName invoke index
              Invoke  the  action  of the menu entry.  See the sections on the
              individual entries above for details on what  happens.   If  the
              menu entry is disabled then nothing happens.  If the entry has a
              command associated with it then the result of  that  command  is
              returned  as the result of the invoke widget command.  Otherwise
              the result is an empty string.  Note:   invoking  a  menu  entry
              does  not  automatically  unpost the menu;  the default bindings
              normally take care of this before  invoking  the  invoke  widget
              command.

       pathName post x y
              Arrange  for the menu to be displayed on the screen at the root-
              window coordinates given by x  and  y.   These  coordinates  are
              adjusted if necessary to guarantee that the entire menu is visi-
              ble on the screen.   This  command  normally  returns  an  empty
              string.  If the -postcommand option has been specified, then its
              value is executed as a Tcl script before posting  the  menu  and
              the  result of that script is returned as the result of the post
              widget command.  If an error returns while  executing  the  com-
              mand, then the error is returned without posting the menu.

       pathName postcascade index
              Posts  the  submenu  associated  with the cascade entry given by
              index, and unposts any previously posted submenu.  If index does
              not correspond to a cascade entry, or if pathName is not posted,
              the command has no effect except to unpost any currently  posted
              submenu.

       pathName type index
              Returns  the type of the menu entry given by index.  This is the
              type argument passed to the add or insert  widget  command  when
              the  entry was created, such as command or separator, or tearoff
              for a tear-off entry.

       pathName unpost
              Unmap the window so that it is no longer displayed.  If a lower-
              level  cascaded  menu  is  posted, unpost that menu.  Returns an
              empty string. This subcommand does not work on Windows  and  the
              Macintosh,  as  those  platforms have their own way of unposting
              menus.

       pathName xposition index
              Returns a decimal string giving the x-coordinate within the menu
              window of the leftmost pixel in the entry specified by index.

       pathName yposition index
              Returns a decimal string giving the y-coordinate within the menu
              window of the topmost pixel in the entry specified by index.

MENU ENTRY OPTIONS
       The following options are allowed on menu entries. Most options are not
       supported by all entry types.

       -activebackground value
              Specifies  a  background  color to use for displaying this entry
              when it is active.  If this option  is  specified  as  an  empty
              string  (the default), then the -activebackground option for the
              overall menu is used.  If the tk_strictMotif variable  has  been
              set  to  request  strict  Motif  compliance, then this option is
              ignored and the -background option is used in its  place.   This
              option is not available for separator or tear-off entries.

       -activeforeground value
              Specifies  a  foreground  color to use for displaying this entry
              when it is active.  If this option  is  specified  as  an  empty
              string  (the default), then the -activeforeground option for the
              overall menu is used.  This option is not available for  separa-
              tor or tear-off entries.

       -accelerator value
              Specifies  a  string  to  display  at the right side of the menu
              entry.  Normally describes  an  accelerator  keystroke  sequence
              that  may be used to invoke the same function as the menu entry.
              This is a display option, it does not actually  set  the  corre-
              sponding binding (which can be achieved using the bind command).
              This option is not available for separator or tear-off entries.

       -background value
              Specifies a background color to use for  displaying  this  entry
              when  it  is  in the normal state (neither active nor disabled).
              If this option is specified as an empty  string  (the  default),
              then  the -background option for the overall menu is used.  This
              option is not available for separator or tear-off entries.

       -bitmap value
              Specifies a bitmap to display in the menu instead of  a  textual
              label,  in  any  of  the  forms  accepted by Tk_GetBitmap.  This
              option overrides the -label option (as controlled by  the  -com-
              pound  option)  but  may be reset to an empty string to enable a
              textual label to be displayed.  If  a  -image  option  has  been
              specified,  it  overrides -bitmap.  This option is not available
              for separator or tear-off entries.

       -columnbreak value
              When this option is zero, the entry appears below  the  previous
              entry.  When this option is one, the entry appears at the top of
              a new column in the menu.  This option is ignored on Aqua/Mac OS
              X, where menus are always a single column.

       -command value
              Specifies  a  Tcl  command  to  execute  when  the menu entry is
              invoked.  Not available for separator or tear-off entries.

       -compound value
              Specifies whether the menu entry should display  both  an  image
              and  text,  and if so, where the image should be placed relative
              to the text.  Valid values for this option are  bottom,  center,
              left,  none,  right and top.  The default value is none, meaning
              that the button will display either an image or text,  depending
              on the values of the -image and -bitmap options.

       -font value
              Specifies  the font to use when drawing the label or accelerator
              string in this entry.  If this option is specified as  an  empty
              string  (the default) then the -font option for the overall menu
              is used.  This option is not available for separator or tear-off
              entries.

       -foreground value
              Specifies  a  foreground  color to use for displaying this entry
              when it is in the normal state (neither  active  nor  disabled).
              If  this  option  is specified as an empty string (the default),
              then the -foreground option for the overall menu is used.   This
              option is not available for separator or tear-off entries.

       -hidemargin value
              Specifies  whether the standard margins should be drawn for this
              menu entry. This is useful when creating palette with images  in
              them,  i.e.,  color palettes, pattern palettes, etc. 1 indicates
              that the margin for the entry is hidden; 0 means that the margin
              is used.

       -image value
              Specifies  an  image  to  display  in the menu instead of a text
              string or bitmap.  The image must have been created by some pre-
              vious  invocation  of  image  create.  This option overrides the
              -label and -bitmap  options  (as  controlled  by  the  -compound
              option)  but may be reset to an empty string to enable a textual
              or bitmap label to be displayed.  This option is  not  available
              for separator or tear-off entries.

       -indicatoron value
              Available  only  for checkbutton and radiobutton entries.  Value
              is a boolean that determines whether or not the indicator should
              be displayed.

       -label value
              Specifies  a  string  to  display as an identifying label in the
              menu entry.  Not available for separator or tear-off entries.

       -menu value
              Available only for cascade entries.  Specifies the path name  of
              the  submenu  associated with this entry.  The submenu must be a
              child of the menu.

       -offvalue value
              Available only for checkbutton entries.  Specifies the value  to
              store in the entry's associated variable when the entry is dese-
              lected.

       -onvalue value
              Available only for checkbutton entries.  Specifies the value  to
              store  in  the  entry's  associated  variable  when the entry is
              selected.

       -selectcolor value
              Available only for checkbutton and radiobutton entries.   Speci-
              fies  the  color  to  display in the indicator when the entry is
              selected.  If the value is an empty string  (the  default)  then
              the  -selectcolor  option  for the menu determines the indicator
              color.

       -selectimage value
              Available only for checkbutton and radiobutton entries.   Speci-
              fies  an  image  to display in the entry (in place of the -image
              option) when it is selected.  Value is the  name  of  an  image,
              which  must  have  been  created  by some previous invocation of
              image create.  This option is ignored unless the  -image  option
              has been specified.

       -state value
              Specifies one of three states for the entry:  normal, active, or
              disabled.  In normal state the  entry  is  displayed  using  the
              -foreground  option for the menu and the -background option from
              the entry or the menu.  The active state is typically used  when
              the  pointer  is  over  the entry.  In active state the entry is
              displayed using the -activeforeground option for the menu  along
              with  the  -activebackground  option  from  the entry.  Disabled
              state means that the entry should be insensitive:   the  default
              bindings  will  refuse to activate or invoke the entry.  In this
              state the entry is displayed  according  to  the  -disabledfore-
              ground  option  for the menu and the -background option from the
              entry.  This option is not available for separator entries.

       -underline value
              Specifies the integer index of a character to underline  in  the
              entry.   This option is also queried by the default bindings and
              used to implement keyboard  traversal.   0  corresponds  to  the
              first  character  of  the  text displayed in the entry, 1 to the
              next character, and so on.  If a bitmap or image is displayed in
              the  entry  then  this  option  is  ignored.  This option is not
              available for separator or tear-off entries.

       -value value
              Available only for radiobutton entries.  Specifies the value  to
              store  in  the  entry's  associated  variable  when the entry is
              selected.  If an empty string  is  specified,  then  the  -label
              option for the entry as the value to store in the variable.

       -variable value
              Available  only for checkbutton and radiobutton entries.  Speci-
              fies the name of a global variable to  set  when  the  entry  is
              selected.  For checkbutton entries the variable is also set when
              the entry is deselected.  For radiobutton entries, changing  the
              variable causes the currently-selected entry to deselect itself.

              For  checkbutton  entries,  the  default value of this option is
              taken from the -label option, and for radiobutton entries a sin-
              gle  fixed  value is used. It is recommended that you always set
              the -variable option when creating either  a  checkbutton  or  a
              radiobutton.

MENU CONFIGURATIONS
       The default bindings support four different ways of using menus:

       Pulldown Menus in Menubar
              This is the most common case. You create a menu widget that will
              become the menu bar. You then add cascade entries to this  menu,
              specifying the pull down menus you wish to use in your menu bar.
              You then create all of the pulldowns. Once you have  done  this,
              specify the menu using the -menu option of the toplevel's widget
              command. See the toplevel manual entry for details.

       Pulldown Menus in Menu Buttons
              This is the compatible way to do  menu  bars.   You  create  one
              menubutton  widget  for  each  top-level menu, and typically you
              arrange a series of menubuttons in a row in  a  menubar  window.
              You  also  create the top-level menus and any cascaded submenus,
              and tie them together with -menu options in menubuttons and cas-
              cade  menu  entries.   The top-level menu must be a child of the
              menubutton, and each submenu must be a child of  the  menu  that
              refers  to  it.   Once  you have done this, the default bindings
              will allow users to traverse and invoke the tree  of  menus  via
              its menubutton;  see the menubutton manual entry for details.

       Popup Menus
              Popup  menus  typically post in response to a mouse button press
              or keystroke.  You create the popup menus and any cascaded  sub-
              menus,  then  you call the tk_popup procedure at the appropriate
              time to post the top-level menu.

       Option Menus
              An option menu consists of a menubutton with an associated  menu
              that  allows  you  to select one of several values.  The current
              value is displayed in the menubutton and is  also  stored  in  a
              global  variable.   Use  the  tk_optionMenu  procedure to create
              option menubuttons and their menus.

       Torn-off Menus
              You create a torn-off menu by invoking the tear-off entry at the
              top of an existing menu.  The default bindings will create a new
              menu that is a copy of the original menu  and  leave  it  perma-
              nently  posted as a top-level window.  The torn-off menu behaves
              just the same as the original menu.

DEFAULT BINDINGS
       Tk automatically creates class bindings for menus that  give  them  the
       following default behavior:

       [1]    When  the  mouse  enters  a menu, the entry underneath the mouse
              cursor activates;  as the  mouse  moves  around  the  menu,  the
              active entry changes to track the mouse.

       [2]    When  the  mouse  leaves  a  menu all of the entries in the menu
              deactivate, except in the special case  where  the  mouse  moves
              from a menu to a cascaded submenu.

       [3]    When a button is released over a menu, the active entry (if any)
              is invoked.  The menu also unposts unless it is a torn-off menu.

       [4]    The Space and Return keys invoke the active entry and unpost the
              menu.

       [5]    If any of the entries in a menu have letters underlined with the
              -underline option, then pressing one of the  underlined  letters
              (or  its upper-case or lower-case equivalent) invokes that entry
              and unposts the menu.

       [6]    The Escape key aborts  a  menu  selection  in  progress  without
              invoking  any  entry.   It  also unposts the menu unless it is a
              torn-off menu.

       [7]    The Up and Down keys activate the next higher or lower entry  in
              the menu.  When one end of the menu is reached, the active entry
              wraps around to the other end.

       [8]    The Left key moves to the next menu to the left.  If the current
              menu is a cascaded submenu, then the submenu is unposted and the
              current menu entry becomes the cascade entry in the parent.   If
              the  current  menu is a top-level menu posted from a menubutton,
              then the current menubutton is unposted and the next  menubutton
              to  the  left  is posted.  Otherwise the key has no effect.  The
              left-right order of menubuttons is determined by their  stacking
              order:   Tk assumes that the lowest menubutton (which by default
              is the first one created) is on the left.

       [9]    The Right key moves to the next menu to the right.  If the  cur-
              rent  entry  is  a cascade entry, then the submenu is posted and
              the  current menu entry becomes the first entry in the  submenu.
              Otherwise,  if  the  current  menu was posted from a menubutton,
              then the current menubutton is unposted and the next  menubutton
              to the right is posted.

       Disabled  menu  entries  are  non-responsive:  they do not activate and
       they ignore mouse button presses and releases.

       Several of the bindings make use of the  command  tk_menuSetFocus.   It
       saves  the  current  focus and sets the focus to its pathName argument,
       which is a menu widget.

       The behavior of menus can be changed by defining new bindings for indi-
       vidual widgets or by redefining the class bindings.

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


ATTRIBUTES
       See attributes(7) for descriptions of the following attributes:


       +---------------+------------------+
       |ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE  |
       +---------------+------------------+
       |Availability   | runtime/tk-8     |
       +---------------+------------------+
       |Stability      | Uncommitted      |
       +---------------+------------------+

SEE ALSO
       bind(n), menubutton(n), ttk::menubutton(n), toplevel(n)

KEYWORDS
       menu, widget



NOTES
       Source code for open source software components in Oracle  Solaris  can
       be found at https://www.oracle.com/downloads/opensource/solaris-source-
       code-downloads.html.

       This    software    was    built    from    source     available     at
       https://github.com/oracle/solaris-userland.    The  original  community
       source        was        downloaded        from         https://source-
       forge.net/projects/tcl/files/Tcl/8.6.7/tk8.6.7-src.tar.gz/download.

       Further information about this software can be found on the open source
       community website at https://www.tcl.tk/.



Tk                                    4.1                             menu(1t)