options - Standard options supported by widgets
Please see following description for synopsis
options(1t) Tk Built-In Commands options(1t)
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NAME
options - Standard options supported by widgets
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DESCRIPTION
This manual entry describes the common configuration options supported
by widgets in the Tk toolkit. Every widget does not necessarily sup-
port every option (see the manual entries for individual widgets for a
list of the standard options supported by that widget), but if a widget
does support an option with one of the names listed below, then the
option has exactly the effect described below.
In the descriptions below, "Command-Line Name" refers to the switch
used in class commands and configure widget commands to set this value.
For example, if an option's command-line switch is -foreground and
there exists a widget .a.b.c, then the command
.a.b.c configure -foreground black
may be used to specify the value black for the option in the widget
.a.b.c. Command-line switches may be abbreviated, as long as the
abbreviation is unambiguous. "Database Name" refers to the option's
name in the option database (e.g. in .Xdefaults files). "Database
Class" refers to the option's class value in the option database.
Command-Line Name:-activebackground
Database Name: activeBackground
Database Class: Foreground
Specifies background color to use when drawing active elements.
An element (a widget or portion of a widget) is active if the
mouse cursor is positioned over the element and pressing a mouse
button will cause some action to occur. If strict Motif compli-
ance has been requested by setting the tk_strictMotif variable,
this option will normally be ignored; the normal background
color will be used instead. For some elements on Windows and
Macintosh systems, the active color will only be used while
mouse button 1 is pressed over the element.
Command-Line Name:-activeborderwidth
Database Name: activeBorderWidth
Database Class: BorderWidth
Specifies a non-negative value indicating the width of the 3-D
border drawn around active elements. See above for definition
of active elements. The value may have any of the forms accept-
able to Tk_GetPixels. This option is typically only available
in widgets displaying more than one element at a time (e.g.
menus but not buttons).
Command-Line Name:-activeforeground
Database Name: activeForeground
Database Class: Background
Specifies foreground color to use when drawing active elements.
See above for definition of active elements.
Command-Line Name:-anchor
Database Name: anchor
Database Class: Anchor
Specifies how the information in a widget (e.g. text or a bit-
map) is to be displayed in the widget. Must be one of the val-
ues n, ne, e, se, s, sw, w, nw, or center. For example, nw
means display the information such that its top-left corner is
at the top-left corner of the widget.
Command-Line Name:-background or -bg
Database Name: background
Database Class: Background
Specifies the normal background color to use when displaying the
widget.
Command-Line Name:-bitmap
Database Name: bitmap
Database Class: Bitmap
Specifies a bitmap to display in the widget, in any of the forms
acceptable to Tk_GetBitmap. The exact way in which the bitmap
is displayed may be affected by other options such as -anchor or
-justify. Typically, if this option is specified then it over-
rides other options that specify a textual value to display in
the widget but this is controlled by the -compound option; the
-bitmap option may be reset to an empty string to re-enable a
text display. In widgets that support both -bitmap and -image
options, -image will usually override -bitmap.
Command-Line Name:-borderwidth or -bd
Database Name: borderWidth
Database Class: BorderWidth
Specifies a non-negative value indicating the width of the 3-D
border to draw around the outside of the widget (if such a bor-
der is being drawn; the -relief option typically determines
this). The value may also be used when drawing 3-D effects in
the interior of the widget. The value may have any of the forms
acceptable to Tk_GetPixels.
Command-Line Name:-cursor
Database Name: cursor
Database Class: Cursor
Specifies the mouse cursor to be used for the widget. The value
may have any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetCursor. In addi-
tion, if an empty string is specified, it indicates that the
widget should defer to its parent for cursor specification.
Command-Line Name:-compound
Database Name: compound
Database Class: Compound
Specifies if the widget should display text and bitmaps/images
at the same time, and if so, where the bitmap/image should be
placed relative to the text. Must be one of the values none,
bottom, top, left, right, or center. For example, the (default)
value none specifies that the bitmap or image should (if
defined) be displayed instead of the text, the value left speci-
fies that the bitmap or image should be displayed to the left of
the text, and the value center specifies that the bitmap or
image should be displayed on top of the text.
Command-Line Name:-disabledforeground
Database Name: disabledForeground
Database Class: DisabledForeground
Specifies foreground color to use when drawing a disabled ele-
ment. If the option is specified as an empty string (which is
typically the case on monochrome displays), disabled elements
are drawn with the normal foreground color but they are dimmed
by drawing them with a stippled fill pattern.
Command-Line Name:-exportselection
Database Name: exportSelection
Database Class: ExportSelection
Specifies whether or not a selection in the widget should also
be the X selection. The value may have any of the forms
accepted by Tcl_GetBoolean, such as true, false, 0, 1, yes, or
no. If the selection is exported, then selecting in the widget
deselects the current X selection, selecting outside the widget
deselects any widget selection, and the widget will respond to
selection retrieval requests when it has a selection. The
default is usually for widgets to export selections.
Command-Line Name:-font
Database Name: font
Database Class: Font
Specifies the font to use when drawing text inside the widget.
The value may have any of the forms described in the font manual
page under FONT DESCRIPTION.
Command-Line Name:-foreground or -fg
Database Name: foreground
Database Class: Foreground
Specifies the normal foreground color to use when displaying the
widget.
Command-Line Name:-highlightbackground
Database Name: highlightBackground
Database Class: HighlightBackground
Specifies the color to display in the traversal highlight region
when the widget does not have the input focus.
Command-Line Name:-highlightcolor
Database Name: highlightColor
Database Class: HighlightColor
Specifies the color to use for the traversal highlight rectangle
that is drawn around the widget when it has the input focus.
Command-Line Name:-highlightthickness
Database Name: highlightThickness
Database Class: HighlightThickness
Specifies a non-negative value indicating the width of the high-
light rectangle to draw around the outside of the widget when it
has the input focus. The value may have any of the forms
acceptable to Tk_GetPixels. If the value is zero, no focus
highlight is drawn around the widget.
Command-Line Name:-image
Database Name: image
Database Class: Image
Specifies an image to display in the widget, which must have
been created with the image create command. Typically, if the
-image option is specified then it overrides other options that
specify a bitmap or textual value to display in the widget,
though this is controlled by the -compound option; the -image
option may be reset to an empty string to re-enable a bitmap or
text display.
Command-Line Name:-insertbackground
Database Name: insertBackground
Database Class: Foreground
Specifies the color to use as background in the area covered by
the insertion cursor. This color will normally override either
the normal background for the widget (or the selection back-
ground if the insertion cursor happens to fall in the selec-
tion).
Command-Line Name:-insertborderwidth
Database Name: insertBorderWidth
Database Class: BorderWidth
Specifies a non-negative value indicating the width of the 3-D
border to draw around the insertion cursor. The value may have
any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels.
Command-Line Name:-insertofftime
Database Name: insertOffTime
Database Class: OffTime
Specifies a non-negative integer value indicating the number of
milliseconds the insertion cursor should remain "off" in each
blink cycle. If this option is zero then the cursor does not
blink: it is on all the time.
Command-Line Name:-insertontime
Database Name: insertOnTime
Database Class: OnTime
Specifies a non-negative integer value indicating the number of
milliseconds the insertion cursor should remain "on" in each
blink cycle.
Command-Line Name:-insertwidth
Database Name: insertWidth
Database Class: InsertWidth
Specifies a value indicating the total width of the insertion
cursor. The value may have any of the forms acceptable to
Tk_GetPixels. If a border has been specified for the insertion
cursor (using the -insertborderwidth option), the border will be
drawn inside the width specified by the -insertwidth option.
Command-Line Name:-jump
Database Name: jump
Database Class: Jump
For widgets with a slider that can be dragged to adjust a value,
such as scrollbars, this option determines when notifications
are made about changes in the value. The option's value must be
a boolean of the form accepted by Tcl_GetBoolean. If the value
is false, updates are made continuously as the slider is
dragged. If the value is true, updates are delayed until the
mouse button is released to end the drag; at that point a sin-
gle notification is made (the value "jumps" rather than changing
smoothly).
Command-Line Name:-justify
Database Name: justify
Database Class: Justify
When there are multiple lines of text displayed in a widget,
this option determines how the lines line up with each other.
Must be one of left, center, or right. Left means that the
lines' left edges all line up, center means that the lines' cen-
ters are aligned, and right means that the lines' right edges
line up.
Command-Line Name:-orient
Database Name: orient
Database Class: Orient
For widgets that can lay themselves out with either a horizontal
or vertical orientation, such as scrollbars, this option speci-
fies which orientation should be used. Must be either horizon-
tal or vertical or an abbreviation of one of these.
Command-Line Name:-padx
Database Name: padX
Database Class: Pad
Specifies a non-negative value indicating how much extra space
to request for the widget in the X-direction. The value may
have any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels. When comput-
ing how large a window it needs, the widget will add this amount
to the width it would normally need (as determined by the width
of the things displayed in the widget); if the geometry manager
can satisfy this request, the widget will end up with extra
internal space to the left and/or right of what it displays
inside. Most widgets only use this option for padding text: if
they are displaying a bitmap or image, then they usually ignore
padding options.
Command-Line Name:-pady
Database Name: padY
Database Class: Pad
Specifies a non-negative value indicating how much extra space
to request for the widget in the Y-direction. The value may
have any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels. When comput-
ing how large a window it needs, the widget will add this amount
to the height it would normally need (as determined by the
height of the things displayed in the widget); if the geometry
manager can satisfy this request, the widget will end up with
extra internal space above and/or below what it displays inside.
Most widgets only use this option for padding text: if they are
displaying a bitmap or image, then they usually ignore padding
options.
Command-Line Name:-relief
Database Name: relief
Database Class: Relief
Specifies the 3-D effect desired for the widget. Acceptable
values are raised, sunken, flat, ridge, solid, and groove. The
value indicates how the interior of the widget should appear
relative to its exterior; for example, raised means the inte-
rior of the widget should appear to protrude from the screen,
relative to the exterior of the widget.
Command-Line Name:-repeatdelay
Database Name: repeatDelay
Database Class: RepeatDelay
Specifies the number of milliseconds a button or key must be
held down before it begins to auto-repeat. Used, for example,
on the up- and down-arrows in scrollbars.
Command-Line Name:-repeatinterval
Database Name: repeatInterval
Database Class: RepeatInterval
Used in conjunction with -repeatdelay: once auto-repeat begins,
this option determines the number of milliseconds between auto-
repeats.
Command-Line Name:-selectbackground
Database Name: selectBackground
Database Class: Foreground
Specifies the background color to use when displaying selected
items.
Command-Line Name:-selectborderwidth
Database Name: selectBorderWidth
Database Class: BorderWidth
Specifies a non-negative value indicating the width of the 3-D
border to draw around selected items. The value may have any of
the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels.
Command-Line Name:-selectforeground
Database Name: selectForeground
Database Class: Background
Specifies the foreground color to use when displaying selected
items.
Command-Line Name:-setgrid
Database Name: setGrid
Database Class: SetGrid
Specifies a boolean value that determines whether this widget
controls the resizing grid for its top-level window. This
option is typically used in text widgets, where the information
in the widget has a natural size (the size of a character) and
it makes sense for the window's dimensions to be integral num-
bers of these units. These natural window sizes form a grid.
If the -setgrid option is set to true then the widget will com-
municate with the window manager so that when the user interac-
tively resizes the top-level window that contains the widget,
the dimensions of the window will be displayed to the user in
grid units and the window size will be constrained to integral
numbers of grid units. See the section GRIDDED GEOMETRY MANAGE-
MENT in the wm manual entry for more details.
Command-Line Name:-takefocus
Database Name: takeFocus
Database Class: TakeFocus
Determines whether the window accepts the focus during keyboard
traversal (e.g., Tab and Shift-Tab). Before setting the focus
to a window, the traversal scripts consult the value of the
-takefocus option. A value of 0 means that the window should be
skipped entirely during keyboard traversal. 1 means that the
window should receive the input focus as long as it is viewable
(it and all of its ancestors are mapped). An empty value for
the option means that the traversal scripts make the decision
about whether or not to focus on the window: the current algo-
rithm is to skip the window if it is disabled, if it has no key
bindings, or if it is not viewable. If the value has any other
form, then the traversal scripts take the value, append the name
of the window to it (with a separator space), and evaluate the
resulting string as a Tcl script. The script must return 0, 1,
or an empty string: a 0 or 1 value specifies whether the window
will receive the input focus, and an empty string results in the
default decision described above. Note: this interpretation of
the option is defined entirely by the Tcl scripts that implement
traversal: the widget implementations ignore the option
entirely, so you can change its meaning if you redefine the key-
board traversal scripts.
Command-Line Name:-text
Database Name: text
Database Class: Text
Specifies a string to be displayed inside the widget. The way
in which the string is displayed depends on the particular wid-
get and may be determined by other options, such as -anchor or
-justify.
Command-Line Name:-textvariable
Database Name: textVariable
Database Class: Variable
Specifies the name of a global variable. The value of the vari-
able is a text string to be displayed inside the widget; if the
variable value changes then the widget will automatically update
itself to reflect the new value. The way in which the string is
displayed in the widget depends on the particular widget and may
be determined by other options, such as -anchor or -justify.
Command-Line Name:-troughcolor
Database Name: troughColor
Database Class: Background
Specifies the color to use for the rectangular trough areas in
widgets such as scrollbars and scales. This option is ignored
for scrollbars on Windows (native widget does not recognize this
option).
Command-Line Name:-underline
Database Name: underline
Database Class: Underline
Specifies the integer index of a character to underline in the
widget. This option is used by the default bindings to imple-
ment keyboard traversal for menu buttons and menu entries. 0
corresponds to the first character of the text displayed in the
widget, 1 to the next character, and so on.
Command-Line Name:-wraplength
Database Name: wrapLength
Database Class: WrapLength
For widgets that can perform word-wrapping, this option speci-
fies the maximum line length. Lines that would exceed this
length are wrapped onto the next line, so that no line is longer
than the specified length. The value may be specified in any of
the standard forms for screen distances. If this value is less
than or equal to 0 then no wrapping is done: lines will break
only at newline characters in the text.
Command-Line Name:-xscrollcommand
Database Name: xScrollCommand
Database Class: ScrollCommand
Specifies the prefix for a command used to communicate with hor-
izontal scrollbars. When the view in the widget's window
changes (or whenever anything else occurs that could change the
display in a scrollbar, such as a change in the total size of
the widget's contents), the widget will generate a Tcl command
by concatenating the scroll command and two numbers. Each of
the numbers is a fraction between 0 and 1, which indicates a
position in the document. 0 indicates the beginning of the doc-
ument, 1 indicates the end, .333 indicates a position one third
the way through the document, and so on. The first fraction
indicates the first information in the document that is visible
in the window, and the second fraction indicates the information
just after the last portion that is visible. The command is
then passed to the Tcl interpreter for execution. Typically the
-xscrollcommand option consists of the path name of a scrollbar
widget followed by "set", e.g. ".x.scrollbar set": this will
cause the scrollbar to be updated whenever the view in the win-
dow changes. If this option is not specified, then no command
will be executed.
Command-Line Name:-yscrollcommand
Database Name: yScrollCommand
Database Class: ScrollCommand
Specifies the prefix for a command used to communicate with ver-
tical scrollbars. This option is treated in the same way as the
-xscrollcommand option, except that it is used for vertical
scrollbars and is provided by widgets that support vertical
scrolling. See the description of -xscrollcommand for details
on how this option is used.
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(7) for descriptions of the following attributes:
+---------------+------------------+
|ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+---------------+------------------+
|Availability | runtime/tk-8 |
+---------------+------------------+
|Stability | Uncommitted |
+---------------+------------------+
SEE ALSO
colors, cursors, font
KEYWORDS
class, name, standard option, switch
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 4.4 options(1t)