menubar
menubar(1) [incr Widgets] menubar(1)
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NAME
menubar - Create and manipulate menubar menu widgets
SYNOPSIS
menubar pathName ?options?
INHERITANCE
itk::Widget <- menubar
STANDARD OPTIONS
activeBackground borderWidth highlightBackgroundpadY
activeBorderWidth cursor highligthThicknessrelief
activeForeground disabledForegroundhighlightColorwrapLength
anchor font justify
background foreground padX
See the "options" manual entry for details on the standard options.
WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
Name: helpVariable
Class: HelpVariable
Command-Line Switch: -helpvariable
Specifies the global variable to update whenever the mouse is in
motion over a menu entry. This global variable is updated with
the current value of the active menu entry's helpStr. Other wid-
gets can "watch" this variable with the trace command, or as is
the case with entry or label widgets, they can set their
textVariable to the same global variable. This allows for a sim-
ple implementation of a help status bar. Whenever the mouse
leaves a menu entry, the helpVariable is set to the empty string
{}. The mainwindow(1) associates its helpstatus and its menubar
in this fashion.
Name: menuButtons
Class: MenuButtons
Command-Line Switch: -menubuttons
The menuButton option is a string which specifies the arrange-
ment of menubuttons on the menubar frame. Each menubutton entry
is delimited by the newline character.
menubar .mb -menubuttons {
menubutton file -text File
menubutton edit -text Edit
menubutton options -text Options
}
specifies that three menubuttons will be added to the menubar
(file, edit, options). Each entry is translated into an add com-
mand call.
The menuButtons option can accept embedded variables, commands,
and backslash quoting. Embedded variables and commands must be
enclosed in curly braces ({}) to ensure proper parsing of the
substituted values.
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DESCRIPTION
The menubar command creates a new window (given by the pathName argu-
ment) and makes it into a menubar menu widget. Additional options,
described above may be specified on the command line or in the option
database to configure aspects of the menubar such as its colors and
font. The menubar 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 menubar is a widget that simplifies the task of creating menu hierar-
chies. It encapsulates a frame widget, as well as menubuttons, menus,
and menu entries. The menubar allows menus to be specified and refer-
enced in a more consistent manner than using Tk to build menus
directly.
Menubar allows a menu tree to be expressed in a hierachical "language".
The menubar accepts a menuButtons option that allows a list of menubut-
tons to be added to the menubar. In turn, each menubutton accepts a
menu option that specifies a list of menu entries to be added to the
menubutton's menu. Cascade entries also accept the menu option for
specifying a list of menu entries to be added to the cascade's menu.
Additionally, the menubar allows each component of the menubar system
to be referenced by a simple menuPathName syntax. The menubar also
extends the set of options for menu entries to include a helpStr
option.
MENU PATH NAMES
A menuPathName is a series of component names separated by the `.'
character. Each menubar component can be referenced via these menuPath-
Names. menuPathNames are similar to widget pathNames in Tk. Some corre-
spond directly to a widget pathName (components of type menu or
menubutton), others correspond to a menu entry type. Every widget and
entry in a menubar can be referenced with the menuPathName naming con-
vention. A menubar can have four types of components:
frame. A menubar holds exactly one frame which manages menubut-
tons. The frame is always signified by the `.' character as the
path name.
menubutton. A menubutton corresponds directly to a Tk menubut-
ton. See menubutton(n).
menu. A menu is attached to a menubutton and corresponds
directly to Tk's menu widget. A menu is always signified by the
menuPathName ending with the keyword menu. See menu(n).
entry. An entry corresponds directly to Tk's menu widget
entries. Menus consist of a column of one line entries. Entries
may be of type: command, checkbutton, radiobutton, separator, or
cascade. For a complete description of these types see the dis-
cussion on ENTRIES in menu(n).
The suffix of a menuPathName may have the form of:
tkWidgetName Specifies the name of the component, either a frame,
menubutton, menu, or an entry. This is the normal naming
of widgets. For example, .file references a menubutton
named file.
The menuPathName is a series of segment names, each separated by the
'.' character. Segment names may be one of the following forms:
number Specifies the index of the the component. For menubut-
tons, 0 corresponds to the left-most menubutton of the
menu bar frame. As an example, .1 would correspond to the
second menubutton on the menu bar frame.
For entries, 0 corresponds to the top-most entry of the
menu. For example, .file.0 would correspond to the first
entry on the menu attached to the menubutton named file.
end Specifes the last component. For menubuttons, it speci-
fies the right-most entry of the menu bar frame. For menu
entries, it specifies the bottom-most entry of the menu.
last Same as end.
Finally, menu components always end with the menu keyword. These compo-
nents are automatically created via the -menu option on menubuttons and
cascades or via the add or insert commands.
menu Specifes the menu pane that is associated with the given
menubutton prefix. For example, .file.menu specifies the
menu pane attached to the .file menubutton.
For example, the path .file.new specifies the entry named new on the
menu associated with the file menubutton located on the menu bar. The
path .file.menu specifies the menu pane associated with the menubutton
.file. The path .last specifies the last menu on the menu bar. The path
.0.last would specify the first menu (file) and the last entry on that
menu (quit), yielding .file.quit.
As a restriction, the last name segment of menuPathName cannot be one
of the keywords last, menu, end, nor may it be a numeric value (inte-
ger).
WIDGET-SPECIFIC METHODS
The menubar 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.
In addition, many of the widget commands for menubar take as one argu-
ment a path name to a menu component. These path names are called menu-
PathNames. See the discussion on MENUBAR PATH NAMES above.
The following commands are possible for menubar widgets:
pathName add type menuPathName ?option value option value?
Adds either a menu to the menu bar or a menu entry to a menu
pane.
If additional arguments are present, they specify options avail-
able to component type entry. See the man pages for menu(1) in
the section on ENTRIES.
If type is one of cascade, checkbutton, command, radiobutton, or
separator it adds a new entry to the bottom of the menu denoted
by the prefix of menuPathName. If additonal arguments are
present, they specify options available to menu entry widgets.
In addition, the helpStr option is added by the menubar widget
to all components of type entry.
-helpstr value
Specifes the string to associate with the entry. When the
mouse moves over the associated entry, the variable
denoted by helpVariable is set. Another widget can bind
to the helpVariable and thus display status help.
If the type of the component added is menubutton or cascade, a
menubutton or cascade is added to the menubar. If additional
arguments are present, they specify options available to
menubutton or cascade widgets. In addition, the menu option is
added by the menubar widget to all menubutton and cascade wid-
gets.
-menu menuSpec
This is only valid for menuPathNames of type menubutton
or cascade. Specifes an option set and/or a set of
entries to place on a menu and associate with the
menubutton or cascade. The option keyword allows the menu
widget to be configured. Each item in the menuSpec is
treated as add commands (each with the possibility of
having other -menu options). In this way a menu can be
recursively built.
The last segment of menuPathName cannot be one of the
keywords last, menu, end. Additionally, it may not be a
number. However the menuPathName may be referenced in
this manner (see discussion of COMPONENT PATH NAMES).
Note that the same curly brace quoting rules apply to
-menu option strings as did to -menubuttons option
strings. See the earlier discussion on umenubuttons in
the "WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS" section.
pathName cget option
Returns the current value of the configuration option given by
option.
pathName configure ?options 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.
pathName delete menuPathName ?menuPathName2?
If menuPathName is of component type Menubutton or Menu, delete
operates on menus. If menuPathName is of component type Entry,
delete operates on menu entries.
This command deletes all components between menuPathName and
menuPathName2 inclusive. If menuPathName2 is omitted then it
defaults to menuPathName. Returns an empty string.
If menuPathName is of type menubar, then all menus and the menu
bar frame will be destroyed. In this case menuPathName2 is
ignored.
pathName index menuPathName
If menuPathName is of type menubutton or menu, it returns the
position of the menu/menubutton on the menubar frame.
If menuPathName is of type command, separator, radiobutton,
checkbutton, or cascade, it returns the menu widget's numerical
index for the entry corresponding to menuPathName. If path is
not found or the path is equal to ".", a value of -1 is
returned.
pathName insert menuPathName type name ?option value?
Insert a new component named name before the component specified
by menuPathName.
If menuPathName is of type Menubutton or Menu, the new component
inserted is of type Menu and given the name name. In this case
valid option value pairs are those accepted by menubuttons.
If menuPathName is of type Entry, the new component inserted is
of type entry and given the name name. In this case, valid
option value pairs are those accepted by menu entries. Name
cannot be one of the keywords last, menu, end. Additionally, it
may not be a number. However the menuPathName may be referenced
in this manner (see discussion of COMPONENT PATH NAMES).
pathName invoke menuPathName
Invoke the action of the menu entry denoted by menuPathName. See
the sections on the individual entries in the menu(1) man pages.
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. Other-
wise the result is an empty string.
If menuPathName is not a menu entry, an error is issued.
pathName menucget menuPathName option
Returns the current value of the configuration option given by
option. The component type of menuPathName determines the valid
available options.
pathName menuconfigure menuPathName ?option value?
Query or modify the configuration options of the componet of the
menubar specified by menuPathName. If no option is specified,
returns a list describing all of the available options for menu-
PathName (see Tk_ConfigureInfo for information on the format of
this list). If option is specified with no value, then the com-
mand 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. The component type of menuPathName
determines the valid available options.
pathName path ?mode? pattern
Returns a fully formed menuPathName that matches pattern. If no
match is found it returns -1. The mode argument indicates how
the search is to be matched against pattern and it must have one
of the following values:
-glob Pattern is a glob-style pattern which is matched against
each component path using the same rules as the string
match command.
-regexp
Pattern is treated as a regular expression and matched
against each component of the menuPathName using the same
rules as the regexp command. The default mode is -glob.
pathName type menuPathName
Returns the type of the component specified by menuPathName. For
menu entries, this is the type argument passed to the add/insert
widget command when the entry was created, such as command or
separator. Othewise it is either a menubutton or a menu.
pathName yposition menuPathName
Returns a decimal string giving the y-coordinate within the menu
window of the topmost pixel in the entry specified by menuPath-
Name. If the menuPathName is not an entry, an error is issued.
EXAMPLE ONE: USING GRAMMAR
The following example creates a menubar with "File", "Edit", "Options"
menubuttons. Each of these menubuttons has an associated menu. In turn
the File menu has menu entries, as well as the Edit menu and the
Options menu. The Options menu is a tearoff menu with selectColor (for
radiobuttons) set to blue. In addition, the Options menu has a cascade
titled More, with several menu entries attached to it as well. An entry
widget is provided to display help status.
menubar .mb -helpvariable helpVar -menubuttons {
menubutton file -text File -menu {
options -tearoff false
command new -label New \
-helpstr "Open new document" \
-command {puts NEW}
command close -label Close \
-helpstr "Close current document" \
-command {puts CLOSE}
separator sep1
command exit -label Exit -command {exit} \
-helpstr "Exit application"
}
menubutton edit -text Edit -menu {
options -tearoff false
command undo -label Undo -underline 0 \
-helpstr "Undo last command" \
-command {puts UNDO}
separator sep2
command cut -label Cut -underline 1 \
-helpstr "Cut selection to clipboard" \
-command {puts CUT}
command copy -label Copy -underline 1 \
-helpstr "Copy selection to clipboard" \
-command {puts COPY}
command paste -label Paste -underline 0 \
-helpstr "Paste clipboard contents" \
-command {puts PASTE}
}
menubutton options -text Options -menu {
options -tearoff false -selectcolor blue
radiobutton byName -variable viewMode \
-value NAME -label "by Name" \
-helpstr "View files by name order" \
-command {puts NAME}
radiobutton byDate -variable viewMode \
-value DATE -label "by Date" \
-helpstr "View files by date order" \
-command {puts DATE}
cascade prefs -label Preferences -menu {
command colors -label Colors... \
-helpstr "Change text colors" \
-command {puts COLORS}
command fonts -label Fonts... \
-helpstr "Change text font" \
-command {puts FONT}
}
}
} frame .fr -width 300 -height 300 entry .ef -textvariable helpVar pack
.mb -anchor nw -fill x -expand yes pack .fr -fill both -expand yes pack
.ef -anchor sw -fill x -expand yes Alternatively the same menu could be
created by using the add and configure methods:
menubar .mb
.mb configure -menubuttons {
menubutton file -text File -menu {
command new -label New
command close -label Close
separator sep1
command quit -label Quit
}
menubutton edit -text Edit
}
.mb add command .edit.undo -label Undo -underline 0
.mb add separator .edit.sep2
.mb add command .edit.cut -label Cut -underline 1
.mb add command .edit.copy -label Copy -underline 1
.mb add command .edit.paste -label Paste -underline 0
.mb add menubutton .options -text Options -menu {
radiobutton byName -variable viewMode \
-value NAME -label "by Name"
radiobutton byDate -variable viewMode \
-value DATE -label "by Date"
}
.mb add cascade .options.prefs -label Preferences -menu {
command colors -label Colors...
command fonts -label Fonts...
}
pack .mb -side left -anchor nw -fill x -expand yes
CAVEATS
The -menubuttons option as well as the -menu option is evaluated by
menubar with the subst command. The positive side of this is that the
option string may contain variables, commands, and/or backslash substi-
tutions. However, substitutions might expand into more than a single
word. These expansions can be protected by enclosing candidate substi-
tutions in curly braces ({}). This ensures, for example, a value for an
option will still be treated as a single value and not multiple values.
The following example illustrates this case:
set fileMenuName "File Menu"
set var {}
menubar .mb -menubuttons {
menubutton file -text {$fileMenuName}
menubutton edit -text Edit -menu {
checkbutton check \
-label Check \
-variable {[scope var]} \
-onvalue 1 \
-offvalue 0
}
menubutton options -text Options
}
The variable fileMenuName will expand to "File Menu" when the
subst command is used on the menubutton specification. In addi-
tion, the [scope...] command will expand to @scope :: var. By
enclosing these inside {} they stay as a single value. Note that
only {} work for this. [list...], "" etc. will not protect these
from the subst command.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Bret Schumaker
1994 - Early work on a menubar widget.
Mark Ulferts, Mark Harrison, John Sigler
Invaluable feedback on grammar and usability of the menubar wid-
get
AUTHOR
Bill W. Scott
KEYWORDS
frame, menu, menubutton, entries, help
Tk menubar(1)
