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Updated: Wednesday, July 27, 2022
 
 

Tk::Widget (3)

Name

Tk::Widget - Base class of all widgets

Synopsis

package Tk::Whatever;
require Tk::Widget;
@ISA = qw(Tk::Widget);
Construct Tk::Widget 'Whatever';

sub Tk_cmd { \&Tk::whatever }

$widget->method(?arg, arg, ...?)

Description

User Contributed Perl Documentation                                  Widget(3)



NAME
       Tk::Widget - Base class of all widgets

SYNOPSIS
          package Tk::Whatever;
          require Tk::Widget;
          @ISA = qw(Tk::Widget);
          Construct Tk::Widget 'Whatever';

          sub Tk_cmd { \&Tk::whatever }

       $widget->method(?arg, arg, ...?)

DESCRIPTION
       The Tk::Widget is an abstract base class for all Tk widgets.

       Generic methods available to all widgets include the methods based on
       core "winfo" mechanism and are used to retrieve information about
       windows managed by Tk. They can take any of a number of different
       forms, depending on the method.  The legal forms are:

       $widget->appname?(newName)?
           If newName isn't specified, this method returns the name of the
           application (the name that may be used in send commands to
           communicate with the application).  If newName is specified, then
           the name of the application is changed to newName.  If the given
           name is already in use, then a suffix of the form `` #2'' or ``
           #3'' is appended in order to make the name unique.  The method's
           result is the name actually chosen.  newName should not start with
           a capital letter.  This will interfere with option processing,
           since names starting with capitals are assumed to be classes;  as a
           result, Tk may not be able to find some options for the
           application.  If sends have been disabled by deleting the send
           command, this command will reenable them and recreate the send
           command.

       $widget->atom(name)
           Returns a decimal string giving the integer identifier for the atom
           whose name is name.  If no atom exists with the name name then a
           new one is created.

       $widget->atomname(id)
           Returns the textual name for the atom whose integer identifier is
           id.  This command is the inverse of the $widget->atom command.  It
           generates an error if no such atom exists.

       $widget->bell( ?-nice? );
           This command rings the bell on the display for $widget and returns
           an empty string.  The command uses the current bell-related
           settings for the display, which may be modified with programs such
           as xset.

           If -nice  is  not specified, this command also resets the screen
           saver for the screen.  Some screen savers will ignore this, but
           others  will reset so that the screen becomes visible again.

       $widget->bindDump
           This command returns a list of strings suitable for printing
           detailing binding information for a widget.  It prints a widget's
           bindtags.  For each binding tag it prints all the bindings,
           comprised of the event descriptor and the callback.  Callback
           arguments are printed, and Tk::Ev objects are expanded.

       $widget->Busy?(?-recurse => 1?,-option => value?)?
           This method configures a -cursor option for $widget and (if
           -recurse = 1> is specified) all its descendants. The cursor to be
           set may be passed as -cursor= cursor> or defaults to 'watch'.
           Additional configure options are applied to $widget only.  It also
           adds a special tag 'Busy' to the bindtags of the widgets so
           configured so that  KeyPress, KeyRelease, ButtonPress and
           ButtonRelease events are ignored (with press events generating a
           call to bell). It then acquires a local grab for $widget.  The
           state of the widgets and the grab is restored by a call to
           $widget->Unbusy.

       $widget->caret( ?-x => x?, ?-y => y?, ?-height => height? );
           Sets and queries the caret location for the display of the
           specified Tk window window.  The caret is the per-display cursor
           location used for indicating global focus (e.g. to comply with
           Microsoft Accessibility guidelines), as well as for location of the
           over-the-spot XIM (X Input Methods) or Windows IME windows. If no
           options are specified, the last values used for setting the caret
           are return in option-value pair format.  -x and -y represent
           window-relative coordinates, and -height is the height of the
           current cursor location, or the height of the specified window if
           none is given.

       $widget->cells
           Returns a decimal string giving the number of cells in the color
           map for $widget.

       $widget->children
           $widget->children Returns a list containing all the children of
           $widget.  The list is in stacking order, with the lowest window
           first.  Top-level windows are returned as children of their logical
           parents.

       $widget->class
           Returns the class name for $widget.

       $widget->colormapfull
           Returns 1 if the colormap for $widget is known to be full, 0
           otherwise.  The colormap for a window is ``known'' to be full if
           the last attempt to allocate a new color on that window failed and
           this application hasn't freed any colors in the colormap since the
           failed allocation.

       $widget->ConfigSpecs
           Used to perform delegated option configuration for a mega-widget.
           Returns, in Tk::Derived::ConfigSpecs notation (see
           Tk::ConfigSpecs), all possible options for a widget. For example,

            $s = $self->Scale;
            $self->ConfigSpecs(
                $s->ConfigSpecs,
                .... more ConfigSpecs specifications
            );

           returns a hash of all Tk::Scale options, delegated to $s - e.g.
           some representative examples:

            -bigincrement => [$s, bigIncrement, BigIncrement, 0, 0]
            -digits       => [$s, digits, Digits, 0, 0]
            -sliderlength => [$s, sliderLength, SliderLength, 10m, 30]
            -troughcolor  => [$s, troughColor, Background, #c3c3c3, #c3c3c3]

           This provides an easy means of populating a mega-widget's
           ConfigSpecs with initializers.

       $widget->containing(rootX,rootY)
           Returns the window containing the point given by rootX and rootY.
           RootX and rootY are specified in screen units (i.e.  any form
           acceptable to Tk_GetPixels) in the coordinate system of the root
           window (if a virtual-root window manager is in use then the
           coordinate system of the virtual root window is used).  If no
           window in this application contains the point then an empty string
           is returned.  In selecting the containing window, children are
           given higher priority than parents and among siblings the highest
           one in the stacking order is chosen.

       $widget->depth
           Returns a decimal string giving the depth of $widget (number of
           bits per pixel).

       $widget->destroy
           This command deletes the window related to $widget, plus all its
           descendants.  If all the MainWindows are deleted then the entire
           application will be destroyed.

           The perl object $widget continues to exist while references to it
           still exist, e.g. until variable goes out of scope.  However any
           attempt to use Tk methods on the object will fail.  Exists($widget)
           will return false on such objects.

           Note however that while a window exists for $widget the perl object
           is maintained (due to "references" in perl/Tk internals) even
           though original variables may have gone out of scope.  (Normally
           this is intuitive.)

       Exists($widget)
           Returns 1 if there exists a window for $widget, 0 if no such window
           exists.

       $widget->font(option?, arg, arg, ...?)
           Create and inspect fonts. See Tk::Font for further details.

       $widget->fpixels(number)
           Returns a floating-point value giving the number of pixels in
           $widget corresponding to the distance given by number.  Number may
           be specified in any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetScreenMM, such
           as ``2.0c'' or ``1i''.  The return value may be fractional;  for an
           integer value, use $widget->pixels.

       $widget->Getimage(name)
           Given name, look for an image file with that base name and return a
           Tk::Image.  File extensions are tried in this order: xpm, gif, ppm,
           xbm until a valid iamge is found.  If no image is found, try a
           builtin image with that name.

       $widget->geometry
           Returns the geometry for $widget, in the form widthxheight+x+y.
           All dimensions are in pixels.

       $widget->height
           Returns a decimal string giving $widget's height in pixels.  When a
           window is first created its height will be 1 pixel;  the height
           will eventually be changed by a geometry manager to fulfill the
           window's needs.  If you need the true height immediately after
           creating a widget, invoke update to force the geometry manager to
           arrange it, or use $widget->reqheight to get the window's requested
           height instead of its actual height.

       $widget->id
           Returns a hexadecimal string giving a low-level platform-specific
           identifier for $widget.  On Unix platforms, this is the X window
           identifier.  Under Windows, this is the Windows HWND.  On the
           Macintosh the value has no meaning outside Tk.

       $widget->idletasks
           One of two methods which are used to bring the application ``up to
           date'' by entering the event loop repeated until all pending events
           (including idle callbacks) have been processed.

           If the idletasks method is specified, then no new events or errors
           are processed; only idle callbacks are invoked. This causes
           operations that are normally deferred, such as display updates and
           window layout calculations, to be performed immediately.

           The idletasks command is useful in scripts where changes have been
           made to the application's state and you want those changes to
           appear on the display immediately, rather than waiting for the
           script to complete. Most display updates are performed as idle
           callbacks, so idletasks will cause them to run. However, there are
           some kinds of updates that only happen in response to events, such
           as those triggered by window size changes; these updates will not
           occur in idletasks.

       $widget->interps
           Returns a list whose members are the names of all Tcl interpreters
           (e.g. all Tk-based applications) currently registered for a
           particular display.  The return value refers to the display of
           $widget.

       $widget->ismapped
           Returns 1 if $widget is currently mapped, 0 otherwise.

       $widget->lower(?belowThis?)
           If the belowThis argument is omitted then the command lowers
           $widget so that it is below all of its siblings in the stacking
           order (it will be obscured by any siblings that overlap it and will
           not obscure any siblings).  If belowThis is specified then it must
           be the path name of a window that is either a sibling of $widget or
           the descendant of a sibling of $widget.  In this case the lower
           command will insert $widget into the stacking order just below
           belowThis (or the ancestor of belowThis that is a sibling of
           $widget); this could end up either raising or lowering $widget.

       $widget->MapWindow
           Cause $widget to be "mapped" i.e. made visible on the display.  May
           confuse the geometry manager (pack, grid, place, ...)  that thinks
           it is managing the widget.

       $widget->manager
           Returns the name of the geometry manager currently responsible for
           $widget, or an empty string if $widget isn't managed by any
           geometry manager.  The name is usually the name of the method for
           the geometry manager, such as pack or place.  If the geometry
           manager is a widget, such as canvases or text, the name is the
           widget's class command, such as canvas.

       $widget->name
           Returns $widget's name (i.e. its name within its parent, as opposed
           to its full path name).  The command $mainwin->name will return the
           name of the application.

       $widget->OnDestroy(callback);
           OnDestroy accepts a standard perl/Tk callback.  When the window
           associated with $widget is destroyed then the callback is invoked.
           Unlike $widget->bind('<Destroy>',...)  the widgets methods are
           still available when callback is executed, so (for example) a Text
           widget can save its contents to a file.

           OnDestroy was required for new after mechanism.

       $widget->parent
           Returns $widget's parent, or an empty string if $widget is the main
           window of the application.

       $widget->PathName
           Returns the Tk path name of $widget. This is the inverse of the
           "Widget" method. (This is an import from the C interface.)

       $widget->pathname(id)
           Returns an object whose X identifier is id.  The identifier is
           looked up on the display of $widget.  Id must be a decimal,
           hexadecimal, or octal integer and must correspond to a window in
           the invoking application, or an error occurs which can be trapped
           with "eval { }" or "Tk::catch { }".  If the window belongs to the
           application, but is not an object (for example wrapper windows,
           HList header, etc.) then "undef" is returned.

       $widget->pixels(number)
           Returns the number of pixels in $widget corresponding to the
           distance given by number.  Number may be specified in any of the
           forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels, such as ``2.0c'' or ``1i''.  The
           result is rounded to the nearest integer value;  for a fractional
           result, use $widget->fpixels.

       $widget->pointerx
           If the mouse pointer is on the same screen as $widget, returns the
           pointer's x coordinate, measured in pixels in the screen's root
           window.  If a virtual root window is in use on the screen, the
           position is measured in the virtual root.  If the mouse pointer
           isn't on the same screen as $widget then -1 is returned.

       $widget->pointerxy
           If the mouse pointer is on the same screen as $widget, returns a
           list with two elements, which are the pointer's x and y coordinates
           measured in pixels in the screen's root window.  If a virtual root
           window is in use on the screen, the position is computed in the
           virtual root.  If the mouse pointer isn't on the same screen as
           $widget then both of the returned coordinates are -1.

       $widget->pointery
           If the mouse pointer is on the same screen as $widget, returns the
           pointer's y coordinate, measured in pixels in the screen's root
           window.  If a virtual root window is in use on the screen, the
           position is computed in the virtual root.  If the mouse pointer
           isn't on the same screen as $widget then -1 is returned.

       $widget->raise(?aboveThis?)
           If the aboveThis argument is omitted then the command raises
           $widget so that it is above all of its siblings in the stacking
           order (it will not be obscured by any siblings and will obscure any
           siblings that overlap it).  If aboveThis is specified then it must
           be the path name of a window that is either a sibling of $widget or
           the descendant of a sibling of $widget.  In this case the raise
           command will insert $widget into the stacking order just above
           aboveThis (or the ancestor of aboveThis that is a sibling of
           $widget); this could end up either raising or lowering $widget.

       $widget->reqheight
           Returns a decimal string giving $widget's requested height, in
           pixels.  This is the value used by $widget's geometry manager to
           compute its geometry.

       $widget->reqwidth
           Returns a decimal string giving $widget's requested width, in
           pixels.  This is the value used by $widget's geometry manager to
           compute its geometry.

       $widget->rgb(color)
           Returns a list containing three decimal values, which are the red,
           green, and blue intensities that correspond to color in the window
           given by $widget.  Color may be specified in any of the forms
           acceptable for a color option.

       $widget->rootx
           Returns a decimal string giving the x-coordinate, in the root
           window of the screen, of the upper-left corner of $widget's border
           (or $widget if it has no border).

       $widget->rooty
           Returns a decimal string giving the y-coordinate, in the root
           window of the screen, of the upper-left corner of $widget's border
           (or $widget if it has no border).

       $widget->scaling?(number)?
           Sets and queries the current scaling factor used by Tk to convert
           between physical units (for example, points, inches, or
           millimeters) and pixels.  The number argument is a floating point
           number that specifies the number of pixels per point on $widget's
           display. If the number argument is omitted, the current value of
           the scaling factor is returned.

           A ``point'' is a unit of measurement equal to 1/72 inch.  A scaling
           factor of 1.0 corresponds to 1 pixel per point, which is equivalent
           to a standard 72 dpi monitor.  A scaling factor of 1.25 would mean
           1.25 pixels per point, which is the setting for a 90 dpi monitor;
           setting the scaling factor to 1.25 on a 72 dpi monitor would cause
           everything in the application to be displayed 1.25 times as large
           as normal.  The initial value for the scaling factor is set when
           the application starts, based on properties of the installed
           monitor (as reported via the window system), but it can be changed
           at any time.  Measurements made after the scaling factor is changed
           will use the new scaling factor, but it is undefined whether
           existing widgets will resize themselves dynamically to accomodate
           the new scaling factor.

       $widget->screen
           Returns the name of the screen associated with $widget, in the form
           displayName.screenIndex.

       $widget->screencells
           Returns a decimal string giving the number of cells in the default
           color map for $widget's screen.

       $widget->screendepth
           Returns a decimal string giving the depth of the root window of
           $widget's screen (number of bits per pixel).

       $widget->screenheight
           Returns a decimal string giving the height of $widget's screen, in
           pixels.

       $widget->screenmmheight
           Returns a decimal string giving the height of $widget's screen, in
           millimeters.

       $widget->screenmmwidth
           Returns a decimal string giving the width of $widget's screen, in
           millimeters.

       $widget->screenvisual
           Returns one of the following strings to indicate the default visual
           class for $widget's screen: directcolor, grayscale, pseudocolor,
           staticcolor, staticgray, or truecolor.

       $widget->screenwidth
           Returns a decimal string giving the width of $widget's screen, in
           pixels.

       $widget->server
           Returns a string containing information about the server for
           $widget's display.  The exact format of this string may vary from
           platform to platform.  For X servers the string has the form
           ``XmajorRminor vendor vendorVersion'' where major and minor are the
           version and revision numbers provided by the server (e.g., X11R5),
           vendor is the name of the vendor for the server, and vendorRelease
           is an integer release number provided by the server.

       $widget->toplevel
           Returns the reference of the top-level window containing $widget.

       $widget->Unbusy
           Restores widget state after a call to  $widget->Busy.

       $widget->UnmapWindow
           Cause $widget to be "unmapped" i.e. removed from the display.  This
           does for any widget what $widget->withdraw does for toplevel
           widgets. May confuse the geometry manager (pack, grid, place, ...)
           that thinks it is managing the widget.

       $widget->update
           One of two methods which are used to bring the application ``up to
           date'' by entering the event loop repeated until all pending events
           (including idle callbacks) have been processed.

           The update method is useful in scripts where you are performing a
           long-running computation but you still want the application to
           respond to events such as user interactions; if you occasionally
           call update then user input will be processed during the next call
           to update.

       $widget->useinputmethods( ?boolean? )
           Sets and queries the state of whether Tk should use XIM (X Input
           Methods) for filtering events.  The resulting state is returned.
           XIM  is  used  in some locales (ie: Japanese, Korean), to handle
           special input devices.  This feature is only significant  on  X.
           If  XIM support is not available, this will always return 0.  If
           the  boolean  argument  is  omitted,  the  current  state is
           returned.  This is turned on by default for the main display.

       $widget->viewable
           Returns 1 if $widget and all of its ancestors up through the
           nearest toplevel window are mapped.  Returns 0 if any of these
           windows are not mapped.

       $widget->visual
           Returns one of the following strings to indicate the visual class
           for $widget: directcolor, grayscale, pseudocolor, staticcolor,
           staticgray, or truecolor.

       $widget->visualid
           Returns the X identifier for the visual for $widget.

       $widget->visualsavailable(?includeids?)
           Returns a list whose elements describe the visuals available for
           $widget's screen.  Each element consists of a visual class followed
           by an integer depth.  The class has the same form as returned by
           $widget->visual.  The depth gives the number of bits per pixel in
           the visual.  In addition, if the includeids argument is provided,
           then the depth is followed by the X identifier for the visual.

       $widget->vrootheight
           Returns the height of the virtual root window associated with
           $widget if there is one;  otherwise returns the height of $widget's
           screen.

       $widget->vrootwidth
           Returns the width of the virtual root window associated with
           $widget if there is one;  otherwise returns the width of $widget's
           screen.

       $widget->vrootx
           Returns the x-offset of the virtual root window associated with
           $widget, relative to the root window of its screen.  This is
           normally either zero or negative.  Returns 0 if there is no virtual
           root window for $widget.

       $widget->vrooty
           Returns the y-offset of the virtual root window associated with
           $widget, relative to the root window of its screen.  This is
           normally either zero or negative.  Returns 0 if there is no virtual
           root window for $widget.

       $widget->waitVariable(\$name)
       $widget->waitVisibility
       $widget->waitWindow
           The tk wait methods wait for one of several things to happen, then
           it returns without taking any other actions.  The return value is
           always an empty string.  waitVariable expects a reference to a perl
           variable and the command waits for that variable to be modified.
           This form is typically used to wait for a user to finish
           interacting with a dialog which sets the variable as part (possibly
           final) part of the interaction.  waitVisibility waits for a change
           in $widget's visibility state (as indicated by the arrival of a
           VisibilityNotify event).  This form is typically used to wait for a
           newly-created window to appear on the screen before taking some
           action.  waitWindow waits for $widget to be destroyed.  This form
           is typically used to wait for a user to finish interacting with a
           dialog box before using the result of that interaction.  Note that
           creating and destroying the window each time a dialog is required
           makes code modular but imposes overhead which can be avoided by
           withdrawing the window instead and using waitVisibility.

           While the tk wait methods are waiting they processes events in the
           normal fashion, so the application will continue to respond to user
           interactions.  If an event handler invokes tkwait again, the nested
           call to tkwait must complete before the outer call can complete.

       $widget->Walk(proc?, arg, ...?)
           Traverse a widget hierarchy starting at $widget while executing the
           subroutine proc to every visited widget. The arguments arg, ...
           are supplied to the subroutine.

       $widget->Widget(pathname)
           Returns the widget reference for the given Tk path name, or "undef"
           if the path name does not match a Tk widget. This is the inverse of
           the "PathName" method. (This is an import from the C interface.)

       $widget->width
           Returns a decimal string giving $widget's width in pixels.  When a
           window is first created its width will be 1 pixel;  the width will
           eventually be changed by a geometry manager to fulfill the window's
           needs.  If you need the true width immediately after creating a
           widget, invoke update to force the geometry manager to arrange it,
           or use $widget->reqwidth to get the window's requested width
           instead of its actual width.

       $widget->windowingsystem
           Returns the current Tk windowing system, one of x11 (X11-based),
           win32 (MS Windows), classic (Mac OS Classic), or aqua (Mac OS  X
           Aqua).

       $widget->x
           Returns a decimal string giving the x-coordinate, in $widget's
           parent, of the upper-left corner of $widget's border (or $widget if
           it has no border).

       $widget->y
           Returns a decimal string giving the y-coordinate, in $widget's
           parent, of the upper-left corner of $widget's border (or $widget if
           it has no border).

CAVEATS
       The above documentaion on generic methods is incomplete.

KEYWORDS
       atom, children, class, geometry, height, identifier, information,
       interpreters, mapped, parent, path name, screen, virtual root, width,
       window



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


       +---------------+----------------------------+
       |ATTRIBUTE TYPE |      ATTRIBUTE VALUE       |
       +---------------+----------------------------+
       |Availability   | library/perl-5/perl-tk-532 |
       +---------------+----------------------------+
       |Stability      | Volatile                   |
       +---------------+----------------------------+

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
       http://search.cpan.org/CPAN/authors/id/S/SR/SREZIC/Tk-804.036.tar.gz.

       Further information about this software can be found on the open source
       community website at http://search.cpan.org/~srezic/Tk.



perl v5.32.0                      2013-11-15                         Widget(3)