'\" '\" Copyright (c) 1996 Sun Microsystems, Inc. '\" '\" See the file "license.terms" for information on usage and redistribution '\" of this file, and for a DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES. '\" '\" RCS: @(#) $Id: getOpenFile.n,v 1.14 2005/04/06 21:11:54 dkf Exp $ '\" .so man.macros .TH tk_getOpenFile n 4.2 Tk "Tk Built-In Commands" .BS '\" Note: do not modify the .SH NAME line immediately below! .SH NAME tk_getOpenFile, tk_getSaveFile \- pop up a dialog box for the user to select a file to open or save. .SH SYNOPSIS \fBtk_getOpenFile \fR?\fIoption value ...\fR? .br \fBtk_getSaveFile \fR?\fIoption value ...\fR? .BE .SH DESCRIPTION .PP The procedures \fBtk_getOpenFile\fR and \fBtk_getSaveFile\fR pop up a dialog box for the user to select a file to open or save. The \fBtk_getOpenFile\fR command is usually associated with the \fBOpen\fR command in the \fBFile\fR menu. Its purpose is for the user to select an existing file \fIonly\fR. If the user enters a non-existent file, the dialog box gives the user an error prompt and requires the user to give an alternative selection. If an application allows the user to create new files, it should do so by providing a separate \fBNew\fR menu command. .PP The \fBtk_getSaveFile\fR command is usually associated with the \fBSave as\fR command in the \fBFile\fR menu. If the user enters a file that already exists, the dialog box prompts the user for confirmation whether the existing file should be overwritten or not. .PP The following \fIoption\-value\fR pairs are possible as command line arguments to these two commands: .TP \fB\-defaultextension\fR \fIextension\fR Specifies a string that will be appended to the filename if the user enters a filename without an extension. The default value is the empty string, which means no extension will be appended to the filename in any case. This option is ignored on the Macintosh platform, which does not require extensions to filenames, and the UNIX implementation guesses reasonable values for this from the \fB\-filetypes\fR option when this is not supplied. .TP \fB\-filetypes\fR \fIfilePatternList\fR If a \fBFile types\fR listbox exists in the file dialog on the particular platform, this option gives the \fIfiletype\fRs in this listbox. When the user choose a filetype in the listbox, only the files of that type are listed. If this option is unspecified, or if it is set to the empty list, or if the \fBFile types\fR listbox is not supported by the particular platform then all files are listed regardless of their types. See the section \fBSPECIFYING FILE PATTERNS\fR below for a discussion on the contents of \fIfilePatternList\fR. .TP \fB\-initialdir\fR \fIdirectory\fR Specifies that the files in \fIdirectory\fR should be displayed when the dialog pops up. If this parameter is not specified, then the files in the current working directory are displayed. If the parameter specifies a relative path, the return value will convert the relative path to an absolute path. This option may not always work on the Macintosh. This is not a bug. Rather, the \fIGeneral Controls\fR control panel on the Mac allows the end user to override the application default directory. .TP \fB\-initialfile\fR \fIfilename\fR Specifies a filename to be displayed in the dialog when it pops up. This option is ignored on the Macintosh platform. .TP \fB\-multiple\fR Allows the user to choose multiple files from the Open dialog. On the Macintosh, this is only available when Navigation Services are installed. .TP \fB\-message\fR \fIstring\fR Specifies a message to include in the client area of the dialog. This is only available on the Macintosh, and only when Navigation Services are installed. .TP \fB\-parent\fR \fIwindow\fR Makes \fIwindow\fR the logical parent of the file dialog. The file dialog is displayed on top of its parent window. .TP \fB\-title\fR \fItitleString\fR Specifies a string to display as the title of the dialog box. If this option is not specified, then a default title is displayed. .TP \fB\-typevariable\fR \fIvariableName\fR The variable \fIvariableName\fR is used to preselect which filter is used from \fIfilterList\fR when the dialog box is opened and is updated when the dialog box is closed, to the last selected filter. The variable is read once at the beginning to select the appropriate filter. If the variable does not exist, or it's value does not match any filter typename, or is empty (\fB{}\fR), the dialog box will revert to the default behavior of selecting the first filter in the list. If the dialog is canceled, the variable is not modified. .PP If the user selects a file, both \fBtk_getOpenFile\fR and \fBtk_getSaveFile\fR return the full pathname of this file. If the user cancels the operation, both commands return the empty string. .SH "SPECIFYING FILE PATTERNS" The \fIfilePatternList\fR value given by the \fB\-filetypes\fR option is a list of file patterns. Each file pattern is a list of the form .CS \fItypeName\fR {\fIextension\fR ?\fIextension ...\fR?} ?{\fImacType\fR ?\fImacType ...\fR?}? .CE \fItypeName\fR is the name of the file type described by this file pattern and is the text string that appears in the \fBFile types\fR listbox. \fIextension\fR is a file extension for this file pattern. \fImacType\fR is a four-character Macintosh file type. The list of \fImacType\fRs is optional and may be omitted for applications that do not need to execute on the Macintosh platform. .PP Several file patterns may have the same \fItypeName,\fR in which case they refer to the same file type and share the same entry in the listbox. When the user selects an entry in the listbox, all the files that match at least one of the file patterns corresponding to that entry are listed. Usually, each file pattern corresponds to a distinct type of file. The use of more than one file patterns for one type of file is necessary on the Macintosh platform only. .PP On the Macintosh platform, a file matches a file pattern if its name matches at least one of the \fIextension\fR(s) AND it belongs to at least one of the \fImacType\fR(s) of the file pattern. For example, the \fBC Source Files\fR file pattern in the sample code matches with files that have a \fB\.c\fR extension AND belong to the \fImacType\fR \fBTEXT\fR. To use the OR rule instead, you can use two file patterns, one with the \fIextensions\fR only and the other with the \fImacType\fR only. The \fBGIF Files\fR file type in the sample code matches files that EITHER have a \fB\.gif\fR extension OR belong to the \fImacType\fR \fBGIFF\fR. .PP On the Unix and Windows platforms, a file matches a file pattern if its name matches at least one of the \fIextension\fR(s) of the file pattern. The \fImacType\fRs are ignored. .SH "SPECIFYING EXTENSIONS" .PP On the Unix and Macintosh platforms, extensions are matched using glob-style pattern matching. On the Windows platforms, extensions are matched by the underlying operating system. The types of possible extensions are: (1) the special extension * matches any file; (2) the special extension "" matches any files that do not have an extension (i.e., the filename contains no full stop character); (3) any character string that does not contain any wild card characters (* and ?). .PP Due to the different pattern matching rules on the various platforms, to ensure portability, wild card characters are not allowed in the extensions, except as in the special extension *. Extensions without a full stop character (e.g. ~) are allowed but may not work on all platforms. .SH EXAMPLE .CS set types { {{Text Files} {.txt} } {{TCL Scripts} {.tcl} } {{C Source Files} {.c} TEXT} {{GIF Files} {.gif} } {{GIF Files} {} GIFF} {{All Files} * } } set filename [tk_getOpenFile -filetypes $types] if {$filename != ""} { # Open the file ... } .CE .SH "SEE ALSO" tk_chooseDirectory .SH KEYWORDS file selection dialog