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NAME

menubar - Creates an instance of the menubar Class.

Table Of Contents

SYNOPSIS

package require Tcl 8.6
package require Tk 8.6
package require menubar ?0.5?

menubar new ?options?
mBarInst define body
mBarInst install pathName body
mBarInst menu.configure option tag-settings ?option tag-settings ...?
mBarInst menu.namespace tag namespace
mBarInst menu.hide tag
mBarInst menu.show tag
mBarInst tag.add tag value
mBarInst tag.configure pathName tag ?option value ...option value?
mBarInst tag.cget pathName tag ?option?
mBarInst group.add tag label ?cmd? ?accel? ?sequence? ?state?
mBarInst group.delete tag label
mBarInst group.move direction tag label
mBarInst group.configure tag label ?option value ...option value?
mBarInst group.serialize tag
mBarInst group.deserialize tag stream
mBarInst notebook.addTabStore pathname
mBarInst notebook.deleteTabStore pathname
mBarInst notebook.setTabValue pathname tag
mBarInst notebook.restoreTabValues pathname

DESCRIPTION

Create and return a new instance of the menubar class. The menubar class encapsulates the definition, installation and dynamic behavior of a menubar. The class doesn't depend on a widget framework and therefore can be used with or without a framework (e.g. Bwidget, IWidget, Snit, etc.). Unlike other Tk widget commands, the menubar command doesn't have a pathName argument because menubars are handled by the window manager (i.e. wm) and not the application.

Options

The following options can be passed to the menubar new command.

These options are inherited from the Tk menu command, their effect is platform specific.

Introduction

An instance of the menubar class provides methods for compiling a description of the menubar, configuring menu items and installing the menubar in toplevel windows.

A menubar can be thought of as a tree of cascading menus. Users define a menubar using a language that results in a human readable description of a menubar. The description of the menubar is then compiled by an instance of the menubar class after which it can be installed in one or more toplevel windows.

The menubar class provides many unique capabilities that are not found in other tcl/tk menubar implementation. Some of these are:

Terminology

Methods

Methods - menu.xxx

Methods - tag.xxx

Methods - group.xxx

Methods - notebook.xxx

Scope Control

By default a menubar instance looks the same in all installed toplevel windows. As changes are made to one instance of a menubar all the other instances are immediately updated. This means the internal state of all the menu entries for the instances are synchronized. This behavior is called global scope control of the menubar state.

The menubar class allows finer scope control on check and radio buttons. The scope of these entry types can be modified by adding a modifier character to their type character. Two modifier characters are supported as show in the table below.

''  ::= global scope (no character)
'@' ::= local scope modifier
'=' ::= notebook tab scope modifier

When the local scope character (@) is added to the definition of a button, the button is given a new variable for each installed toplevel window. This has the effect of making the button's state local to the window (i.e. local scope). An example use case for this behavior might be a status bar that can be toggled on an off by a checkbutton. The developer may want to allow the user to control the visibility of the status bar on a per window basis. In this case a local modifier would be added to the status bar selector so the callback code would receive an appropriate value based on the current toplevel window.

The notebook tab scope character (=) is similar in effect to the local scope character but it allows a notebook tab selection to also manage the state of of a button. Adding the notebook tab scope modifier enables notebook tab scope control but the developer must then make use of the notebook.xxxx sub-commands to actively manage state values as tabs are added, deleted and selected.

Example

package require Tcl
package require Tk
package require menubar

set tout [text .t -width 25 -height 12]
pack ${tout} -expand 1 -fill both
set mbar [menubar new \
    -borderwidth 4 \
    -relief groove  \
    -foreground black \
    -background tan \
    ]
${mbar} define {
    File M:file {
        Exit                 C      exit
    }
    Edit M:items+ {
    #   Label               Type    Tag Name(s)
    #   -----------------   ----    ---------
        "Cut"               C       cut
        "Copy"              C       copy
        "Paste"             C       paste
        --                  S       s2
        "Options" M:opts {
            "CheckList" M:chx+ {
                Coffee      X       coffee+
                Donut       X       donut
                Eggs        X       eggs
                }
            "RadioButtons" M:btn+ {
                "Red"       R       color
                "Green"     R       color+
                "Blue"      R       color
                }
        }
    }
    Help M:help {
        About               C       about
    }
}
${mbar} install . {
    ${mbar} tag.add tout ${tout}
    ${mbar} menu.configure -command {
        # file menu
        exit            {Exit}
        # Item menu
        cut             {CB Edit cut}
        copy            {CB Edit copy}
        paste           {CB Edit paste}
        # boolean menu
        coffee          {CB CheckButton}
        donut           {CB CheckButton}
        eggs            {CB CheckButton}
        # radio menu
        color           {CB RadioButton}
        # Help menu
        about           {CB About}
    } -bind {
        exit        {1 Cntl+Q  Control-Key-q}
        cut         {2 Cntl+X  Control-Key-x}
        copy        {0 Cntl+C  Control-Key-c}
        paste       {0 Cntl+V  Control-Key-v}
        coffee      {0 Cntl+A  Control-Key-a}
        donut       {0 Cntl+B  Control-Key-b}
        eggs        {0 Cntl+C  Control-Key-c}
        about       0
    } -background {
        exit red
    } -foreground {
        exit white
    }
}
proc pout { txt } {
    global mbar
    set tout [${mbar} tag.cget . tout]
    ${tout} insert end "${txt}\n"
}
proc Exit { args } {
    puts "Goodbye"
    exit
}
proc CB { args } {
    set alist [lassign ${args} cmd]
    pout "${cmd}: [join ${alist} {, }]"
}
wm minsize . 300 300
wm geometry . +4+4
wm protocol . WM_DELETE_WINDOW exit
wm title . "Example"
wm focusmodel . active
pout "Example started ..."

Caveats

This implementation uses TclOO so it requires 8.6. The code has been tested on Windows (Vista), Linux and OSX (10.4).

References

See also

  1. menu

  2. A command that creates menubar objects

Bugs, Ideas, Feedback

This document, and the package it describes, will undoubtedly contain bugs and other problems. Please report such in the category menubar of the Tklib Trackers. Please also report any ideas for enhancements you may have for either package and/or documentation.

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2009 Tom Krehbiel All rights reserved.