menubar(n) Create and manipulate menubars menubar(n) 







menubar - Creates an instance of the menubar Class.








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













  
  




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.








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.



  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  










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:










  
  
The visible rendering of a menubar in a toplevel window is a horizontally
      group of cascading Tk menus.

  
  
A menu is an ordered list of items that is rendered vertically. Menus are
      not visible until a user preforms some action (normally a
      <ButtonPress-1> event). A menu may contain any number of child menus
      that are rendered as cascading menus. Cascading menus are rendered next to
      the parent menu when they are activated.

  
MENU ENTRY

  
A menu contains an ordered list of items called entries. Menu entries have
      a type and the menubar class supports the following 6 entry types:
      Command, Checkbutton, Radiobutton, Separator,
      Group and Menu.

  

  
Each menu entry has a visible string that is called the entry label.

  

  
A tag is name that is normally used to referr to an item in a menu tree. A
      tag name is an alphanumeric character string that may include the
      underscore character. Menu tree tags are defined for all nodes and leafs
      in a menu tree. This provides a flat abstraction of the tree and
      simplifies item referencing in menubar methods. Without this abstraction
      it would be necessary to reference menu elements using a tree path which
      could change at run-time. The menubar class also has a method that can
      create a user defined tag. User defined tags store values that change
      based on the currently active toplevel window. User defined tags can be
      used to store widget pathnames use by callback code so that output can be
      routed to the appropriate toplevel window.











  

  
Compiles body into a tree of menu entries which define the visual
      layout of the menubar. The body argument describes the layout using
      the following syntax, where the elements of the syntax are described
      below.
    
body == definitions

    
definitions    ::= { <ignore> | <definition> | <definition> <definitions> }
ignore         ::= { <nl> | <white-space> <nl> | # <comment> <nl> }
definition     ::= { <command> | <checkbutton> | <radiobutton> | <separator> | <group> | <menu> }
command        ::= <label> C <tag> <nl>
checkbutton    ::= <label> X<scope> { <tag> | <tag>+ } <nl>
radiobutton    ::= <label> R<scope> { <tag> | <tag>+ } <nl>
separator      ::= <stext> S <tag> <nl>
group          ::= <dummy> G <tag> <nl>
menu           ::= <label> { M:<tag> | M:<tag>+ } <nl> <definitions>
stext          ::= '--' | <label>
scope          ::= '' | '@' | '='
    

     







  

  
The C type entry is the most common type of entry. This entry executes a
      command when it is invoked.

  

  
A X type entry behaves much like a Tk checkbutton widget. When it is
      invoked it toggles back and forth between a selected and deselected
      states. The value of a checkbutton is a boolean (i.e. 1 or 0). By default
      all checkbuttons are deselected. If you want the checkbutton to be
      initially selected then include a trailing plus (+) with the tag name. See
      SCOPE CONTROL below for a description of the scope indicator.

  

  
A R type menu entry behaves much like a Tk radiobutton widget. Each
      radiobutton entry is a member of a radiobutton group that controls the
      behavior of the radiobuttons in the group. All radiobuttons in a group are
      given the same tag name. In the example below Red, Green and Blue all have
      the same tag and are therefore all in the same radiobutton group. A
      trailing plus (+) on the tag name of a radiobutton entry will cause the
      entry to be the initially selected entry. See SCOPE CONTROL below for a
      description of the scope indicator.

  

  
A S type menu entry is an entry that is displayed either as a horizontal
      dividing line or a label. Separators are not active elements of a menu and
      have no associated behavior if they are invoked. If <stext> is two
      dashes (i.e. '--') then the separator will be displayed as a horizontal
      line otherwise <stext> will be displayed as a bold label surrounded
      by double dashes (e.g. "-- <stext> --") with a lightgray
      background.

  

  
The G type menu entry marks a location in the menu tree where entries can
      be dynamically added and removed. Menu extension can only occur at the end
      of a menu so G type entries must be the last item on a menu. A G	type
      entry is rendered as a separator line. The group.<xxx>
      sub-commands are used to manipulate command group entries.

  

  
An M type entry is used to define both menubar menus and cascading menus.
      Menu entries are the most complicated of the 6 menu types. A menu entry is
      composed of three list elements. The first element of the list is its
      label. The second element of the list is a composite string consisting of
      a type identifier (M) followed by an optional tag (beginning with a ':'
      separator) and finally an optional plus (+) which indicates that the menu
      is a tear-off menu. The final element of the list is a LIST VALUE.







  

  
The install method installs the menubar created with the
      define method into toplevel window pathName. The body
      argument of the command contains a tcl script which is used to initialize
      the installed menubar. Normally the tcl script will contain calls to
      various menubar methods to perform the initialization. The initialization
      code is only run once when the menubar is installed. The namespace in
      which the install method is executed becomes the default namespace
      for callback commands (see menu.namespace below for more
    details).











  

  
Configures the tags of a menubar and returns an empty string. This method
      provides a convenient way to configure a larger number of tags without the
      verbosity of using the tag.configure method.







  

  
Option may have any of the values accepted by the
      tag.configure method.

  

  
The tag-settings argument is a string that is converted to a list
      of tag-value pairs using the following syntax.
    
Syntax for tag-settings.

    
tag-settings ::= { <ignore> | <value> | <value> <tag-settings> }
ignore       ::= { <nl> | <white-space> <nl> | # <comment> <nl> }
value        ::= <tag> <option-value> <nl>
    

  







  

  
Change the namespace for a sub-tree of the menubar starting at entry
      tag. The new value will be namespace. Each entry in the
      menubar tree has an associated namespace which will be used for its
      callback procedure. The default namespace is the namespace where the
      install method was executed. The namespace method can be
      used to change the namespace that will be used for callbacks in a sub-tree
      of the menubar. This method can only be used in the context of an
      install script.

  

  
Remove (hide) a menubar entry. When a menubar tree is defined all entries
      are visible by default. This method can be used to hide a menubar entry.
      The hide methods can be used in the context of an install
      script so that a menu will be initially hidden at application start up.
      The tag argument is the tag name of the menu to be hidden.

  

  
Exposes (shows) a hidden menubar entry. When a menubar tree is defined all
      entries are visible by default. If a entry is hidden from the user (using
      the menu.hide method) then it can be exposed again using the show method.
      The tag argument is the tag name of the menu to be shown.











  

  
Add a user defined tag value. The tag.add method adds a new
      tag-value pair to the the tags defined for a menubar. User defined tags
      are different from the tags created by the define method. The
      tag.add method can only be used in an install script and its
      value is associated with the toplevel where the menubar is installed. This
      makes the tag context sensitive so callback code that queries the tag
      value will receive a value that is associated with the window that
      performed the callback.

  

  
Given the pathName of a toplevel window and a tag this
      method configures the menu entry associated with the tag and return an
      empty string.







  

  
These option are the same as those described for menu entries in the Tk
      menu documentation.







  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  





 


  

  







  

  
The value of the -bind option is three element list where the
      values are as follows.







  

  
An integer index of a character to underline in the entry. This value
      performs the same function as the Tk menu -underline option. If
      this value is an empty string then no underlining is performed.

  

  
A string to display at the right side of the menu entry. The string
      normally describes an accelerator keystroke sequence that may be typed to
      invoke the same function as the menu entry. This value performs the same
      function as the Tk menu -accelerator option. If this value is an
      empty string then no accelerator is displayed.

  

  
A bind sequence that will cause the entries associated command to
    fire.







  

  
The value of the -command option a command prefix that is evaluated
      when the menu entry is invoked. By default the callback is evaluate in the
      namespace where the install method was executed. Additional values
      are appended to the cmdprefix and are thus passed to the callback
      command as argument. These additional arguments are described in the list
      below.







  

  
1) The pathname of the toplevel window that invoked the callback.

  

  
1) The pathname of the toplevel window that invoked the callback.
    
2) The checkbutton's tag name

    
3) The new value for the checkbutton

  

  

  
1) The pathname of the toplevel window that invoked the callback.
    
2) The radiobutton's tag name

    
3) The label of the button that was selected

  

  

  
1) The pathname of the toplevel window that invoked the callback.











  

  
Returns the value of the configuration option given by option or
      the value of a user defined tag. The option argument may be any of the
      options accepted by the tag.configure method for the tag
      type. User defined tags are queried without an option value.











  

  
Add a command to the group with tag name tag. This method appends a
      new command entry to the end of a command group. The order of the
      arguments is fixed but arguments to the right can be ignored. Arguments to
      this method have the following meaning.







  

  
The tag name of the command group.

  

  
The displayed label for the menu entry.

  

  
A command prefix that will be used for callback command.

  
accel (string)

  
An accelerator string that will be displayed next to the entry label.

  
sequence (string)

  
A bind sequence that will be bound to the callback command.

  

  
Sets the active state of the command. One of: normal, disabled,
    active







  

  
Delete a command from a group with tag name tag. This method
      deletes command label from a command group.

  

  
Change the position of an entry in a group with tag name tag. The
      direction argument is the direction ('up' or 'down') the entry will
      be moved. The entry that is moved has the name label.

  

  
Configure the options of an entry in the command group with tag name
      tag. This method is similar to the tag.configure method
      except that it works on entries in a command group. Set documentation for
      the tag.configure method (above) for more details on command entry
      options.

  

  
Return a string serialization of the entries in a command group. The
      argument tag is the tag name for the group that is to be
      serialized. The resulting serialization is a list containing three element
      (1) the tag name of the group (2) a dictionary containing group level
      options (3) a list of zero or more similar three element lists that
      describe the entries in the group.

  

  
Replace the contents of group tag tag with the commands defined in
      the serialization stream. The original contents of the group are
      lost.











  

  
This method should be used in code that creates a new notebook tab.
      Execution of this method will cause state storage to be allocated for the
      new notebook tab. The pathname for the notebook tab is passed as an
      argument to the method.

  

  
This command deallocates the state store for a notebook tab. The pathname
      for the notebook tab is passed as an argument to the method.

  

  
This method should be used in the callback for menubar checkbuttons or
      radiobuttons that have notebook tab scope control. When this method is
      executed it will move the value associated with tag into the tab store for
      the tab identified by pathname.

  

  
This method should be place in a bind script that is triggered by a
      notebooks <<NotebookTabChanged>> event.










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.




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.








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 ..."









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








A command that creates menubar objects
    [http://wiki.tcl.tk/25231], menu
    [http://www.tcl.tk/man/tcl8.6/TkCmd/menu.htm]








Copyright (c) 2009 Tom Krehbiel <krehbiel.tom@gmail.com> All rights reserved.








  

    0.5
    menubar