options(n) Tk Built-In Commands options(n)
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NAME
options - Standard options supported by widgets
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DESCRIPTION
This manual entry describes the common configuration options supported by widgets in the Tk toolkit.
Every widget does not necessarily support every option (see the manual entries for individual widgets
for a list of the standard options supported by that widget), but if a widget does support an option
with one of the names listed below, then the option has exactly the effect described below.
In the descriptions below, ``Command-Line Name'' refers to the switch used in class commands and con-figure configure
figure widget commands to set this value. For example, if an option's command-line switch is -fore-ground -foreground
ground and there exists a widget .a.b.c, then the command
.a.b.c configure -foreground black
may be used to specify the value black for the option in the the widget .a.b.c. Command-line
switches may be abbreviated, as long as the abbreviation is unambiguous. ``Database Name'' refers to
the option's name in the option database (e.g. in .Xdefaults files). ``Database Class'' refers to
the option's class value in the option database.
Command-Line Name:-activebackground
Database Name: activeBackground
Database Class: Foreground
Specifies background color to use when drawing active elements. An element (a widget or por-tion portion
tion of a widget) is active if the mouse cursor is positioned over the element and pressing a
mouse button will cause some action to occur. If strict Motif compliance has been requested
by setting the tk_strictMotif variable, this option will normally be ignored; the normal
background color will be used instead. For some elements on Windows and Macintosh systems, |
the active color will only be used while mouse button 1 is pressed over the element.
Command-Line Name:-activeborderwidth
Database Name: activeBorderWidth
Database Class: BorderWidth
Specifies a non-negative value indicating the width of the 3-D border drawn around active ele-ments. elements.
ments. See above for definition of active elements. The value may have any of the forms
acceptable to Tk_GetPixels. This option is typically only available in widgets displaying
more than one element at a time (e.g. menus but not buttons).
Command-Line Name:-activeforeground
Database Name: activeForeground
Database Class: Background
Specifies foreground color to use when drawing active elements. See above for definition of
active elements.
Command-Line Name:-anchor
Database Name: anchor
Database Class: Anchor
Specifies how the information in a widget (e.g. text or a bitmap) is to be displayed in the
widget. Must be one of the values n, ne, e, se, s, sw, w, nw, or center. For example, nw
means display the information such that its top-left corner is at the top-left corner of the
widget.
Command-Line Name:-background or -bg
Database Name: background
Database Class: Background
Specifies the normal background color to use when displaying the widget.
Command-Line Name:-bitmap
Database Name: bitmap
Database Class: Bitmap
Specifies a bitmap to display in the widget, in any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetBitmap.
The exact way in which the bitmap is displayed may be affected by other options such as anchor
or justify. Typically, if this option is specified then it overrides other options that spec-ify specify
ify a textual value to display in the widget; the bitmap option may be reset to an empty
string to re-enable a text display. In widgets that support both bitmap and image options,
image will usually override bitmap.
Command-Line Name:-borderwidth or -bd
Database Name: borderWidth
Database Class: BorderWidth
Specifies a non-negative value indicating the width of the 3-D border to draw around the out-side outside
side of the widget (if such a border is being drawn; the relief option typically determines
this). The value may also be used when drawing 3-D effects in the interior of the widget.
The value may have any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels.
Command-Line Name:-cursor
Database Name: cursor
Database Class: Cursor
Specifies the mouse cursor to be used for the widget. The value may have any of the forms
acceptable to Tk_GetCursor.
Command-Line Name:-disabledforeground
Database Name: disabledForeground
Database Class: DisabledForeground
Specifies foreground color to use when drawing a disabled element. If the option is specified
as an empty string (which is typically the case on monochrome displays), disabled elements are
drawn with the normal foreground color but they are dimmed by drawing them with a stippled
fill pattern.
Command-Line Name:-exportselection
Database Name: exportSelection
Database Class: ExportSelection
Specifies whether or not a selection in the widget should also be the X selection. The value
may have any of the forms accepted by Tcl_GetBoolean, such as true, false, 0, 1, yes, or no.
If the selection is exported, then selecting in the widget deselects the current X selection,
selecting outside the widget deselects any widget selection, and the widget will respond to
selection retrieval requests when it has a selection. The default is usually for widgets to
export selections.
Command-Line Name:-font
Database Name: font
Database Class: Font
Specifies the font to use when drawing text inside the widget. The value may have any of the
forms accepted by Tk_GetFont.
Command-Line Name:-foreground or -fg
Database Name: foreground
Database Class: Foreground
Specifies the normal foreground color to use when displaying the widget.
Command-Line Name:-highlightbackground
Database Name: highlightBackground
Database Class: HighlightBackground
Specifies the color to display in the traversal highlight region when the widget does not have
the input focus.
Command-Line Name:-highlightcolor
Database Name: highlightColor
Database Class: HighlightColor
Specifies the color to use for the traversal highlight rectangle that is drawn around the wid-get widget
get when it has the input focus.
Command-Line Name:-highlightthickness
Database Name: highlightThickness
Database Class: HighlightThickness
Specifies a non-negative value indicating the width of the highlight rectangle to draw around
the outside of the widget when it has the input focus. The value may have any of the forms
acceptable to Tk_GetPixels. If the value is zero, no focus highlight is drawn around the wid-get. widget.
get.
Command-Line Name:-image
Database Name: image
Database Class: Image
Specifies an image to display in the widget, which must have been created with the image cre-ate create
ate command. Typically, if the image option is specified then it overrides other options that
specify a bitmap or textual value to display in the widget; the image option may be reset to
an empty string to re-enable a bitmap or text display.
Command-Line Name:-insertbackground
Database Name: insertBackground
Database Class: Foreground
Specifies the color to use as background in the area covered by the insertion cursor. This
color will normally override either the normal background for the widget (or the selection
background if the insertion cursor happens to fall in the selection).
Command-Line Name:-insertborderwidth
Database Name: insertBorderWidth
Database Class: BorderWidth
Specifies a non-negative value indicating the width of the 3-D border to draw around the
insertion cursor. The value may have any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels.
Command-Line Name:-insertofftime
Database Name: insertOffTime
Database Class: OffTime
Specifies a non-negative integer value indicating the number of milliseconds the insertion
cursor should remain ``off'' in each blink cycle. If this option is zero then the cursor
doesn't blink: it is on all the time.
Command-Line Name:-insertontime
Database Name: insertOnTime
Database Class: OnTime
Specifies a non-negative integer value indicating the number of milliseconds the insertion
cursor should remain ``on'' in each blink cycle.
Command-Line Name:-insertwidth
Database Name: insertWidth
Database Class: InsertWidth
Specifies a value indicating the total width of the insertion cursor. The value may have any
of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels. If a border has been specified for the insertion
cursor (using the insertBorderWidth option), the border will be drawn inside the width speci-fied specified
fied by the insertWidth option.
Command-Line Name:-jump
Database Name: jump
Database Class: Jump
For widgets with a slider that can be dragged to adjust a value, such as scrollbars, this
option determines when notifications are made about changes in the value. The option's value
must be a boolean of the form accepted by Tcl_GetBoolean. If the value is false, updates are
made continuously as the slider is dragged. If the value is true, updates are delayed until
the mouse button is released to end the drag; at that point a single notification is made
(the value ``jumps'' rather than changing smoothly).
Command-Line Name:-justify
Database Name: justify
Database Class: Justify
When there are multiple lines of text displayed in a widget, this option determines how the
lines line up with each other. Must be one of left, center, or right. Left means that the
lines' left edges all line up, center means that the lines' centers are aligned, and right
means that the lines' right edges line up.
Command-Line Name:-orient
Database Name: orient
Database Class: Orient
For widgets that can lay themselves out with either a horizontal or vertical orientation, such
as scrollbars, this option specifies which orientation should be used. Must be either hori-zontal horizontal
zontal or vertical or an abbreviation of one of these.
Command-Line Name:-padx
Database Name: padX
Database Class: Pad
Specifies a non-negative value indicating how much extra space to request for the widget in
the X-direction. The value may have any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels. When com-puting computing
puting how large a window it needs, the widget will add this amount to the width it would nor-mally normally
mally need (as determined by the width of the things displayed in the widget); if the geome-try geometry
try manager can satisfy this request, the widget will end up with extra internal space to the
left and/or right of what it displays inside. Most widgets only use this option for padding
text: if they are displaying a bitmap or image, then they usually ignore padding options.
Command-Line Name:-pady
Database Name: padY
Database Class: Pad
Specifies a non-negative value indicating how much extra space to request for the widget in
the Y-direction. The value may have any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels. When com-puting computing
puting how large a window it needs, the widget will add this amount to the height it would
normally need (as determined by the height of the things displayed in the widget); if the
geometry manager can satisfy this request, the widget will end up with extra internal space
above and/or below what it displays inside. Most widgets only use this option for padding
text: if they are displaying a bitmap or image, then they usually ignore padding options.
Command-Line Name:-relief
Database Name: relief
Database Class: Relief
Specifies the 3-D effect desired for the widget. Acceptable values are raised, sunken, flat,
ridge, solid, and groove. The value indicates how the interior of the widget should appear
relative to its exterior; for example, raised means the interior of the widget should appear
to protrude from the screen, relative to the exterior of the widget.
Command-Line Name:-repeatdelay
Database Name: repeatDelay
Database Class: RepeatDelay
Specifies the number of milliseconds a button or key must be held down before it begins to
auto-repeat. Used, for example, on the up- and down-arrows in scrollbars.
Command-Line Name:-repeatinterval
Database Name: repeatInterval
Database Class: RepeatInterval
Used in conjunction with repeatDelay: once auto-repeat begins, this option determines the
number of milliseconds between auto-repeats.
Command-Line Name:-selectbackground
Database Name: selectBackground
Database Class: Foreground
Specifies the background color to use when displaying selected items.
Command-Line Name:-selectborderwidth
Database Name: selectBorderWidth
Database Class: BorderWidth
Specifies a non-negative value indicating the width of the 3-D border to draw around selected
items. The value may have any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels.
Command-Line Name:-selectforeground
Database Name: selectForeground
Database Class: Background
Specifies the foreground color to use when displaying selected items.
Command-Line Name:-setgrid
Database Name: setGrid
Database Class: SetGrid
Specifies a boolean value that determines whether this widget controls the resizing grid for
its top-level window. This option is typically used in text widgets, where the information in
the widget has a natural size (the size of a character) and it makes sense for the window's
dimensions to be integral numbers of these units. These natural window sizes form a grid. If
the setGrid option is set to true then the widget will communicate with the window manager so
that when the user interactively resizes the top-level window that contains the widget, the
dimensions of the window will be displayed to the user in grid units and the window size will
be constrained to integral numbers of grid units. See the section GRIDDED GEOMETRY MANAGEMENT
in the wm manual entry for more details.
Command-Line Name:-takefocus
Database Name: takeFocus
Database Class: TakeFocus
Determines whether the window accepts the focus during keyboard traversal (e.g., Tab and
Shift-Tab). Before setting the focus to a window, the traversal scripts consult the value of
the takeFocus option. A value of 0 means that the window should be skipped entirely during
keyboard traversal. 1 means that the window should receive the input focus as long as it is
viewable (it and all of its ancestors are mapped). An empty value for the option means that
the traversal scripts make the decision about whether or not to focus on the window: the cur-rent current
rent algorithm is to skip the window if it is disabled, if it has no key bindings, or if it is
not viewable. If the value has any other form, then the traversal scripts take the value,
append the name of the window to it (with a separator space), and evaluate the resulting
string as a Tcl script. The script must return 0, 1, or an empty string: a 0 or 1 value
specifies whether the window will receive the input focus, and an empty string results in the
default decision described above. Note: this interpretation of the option is defined entirely
by the Tcl scripts that implement traversal: the widget implementations ignore the option
entirely, so you can change its meaning if you redefine the keyboard traversal scripts.
Command-Line Name:-text
Database Name: text
Database Class: Text
Specifies a string to be displayed inside the widget. The way in which the string is dis-played displayed
played depends on the particular widget and may be determined by other options, such as anchor
or justify.
Command-Line Name:-textvariable
Database Name: textVariable
Database Class: Variable
Specifies the name of a variable. The value of the variable is a text string to be displayed
inside the widget; if the variable value changes then the widget will automatically update
itself to reflect the new value. The way in which the string is displayed in the widget
depends on the particular widget and may be determined by other options, such as anchor or
justify.
Command-Line Name:-troughcolor
Database Name: troughColor
Database Class: Background
Specifies the color to use for the rectangular trough areas in widgets such as scrollbars and
scales. This option is ignored for scrollbars on Windows (native widget doesn't recognize
this option).
Command-Line Name:-underline
Database Name: underline
Database Class: Underline
Specifies the integer index of a character to underline in the widget. This option is used by
the default bindings to implement keyboard traversal for menu buttons and menu entries. 0
corresponds to the first character of the text displayed in the widget, 1 to the next charac-ter, character,
ter, and so on.
Command-Line Name:-wraplength
Database Name: wrapLength
Database Class: WrapLength
For widgets that can perform word-wrapping, this option specifies the maximum line length.
Lines that would exceed this length are wrapped onto the next line, so that no line is longer
than the specified length. The value may be specified in any of the standard forms for screen
distances. If this value is less than or equal to 0 then no wrapping is done: lines will
break only at newline characters in the text.
Command-Line Name:-xscrollcommand
Database Name: xScrollCommand
Database Class: ScrollCommand
Specifies the prefix for a command used to communicate with horizontal scrollbars. When the
view in the widget's window changes (or whenever anything else occurs that could change the
display in a scrollbar, such as a change in the total size of the widget's contents), the wid-get widget
get will generate a Tcl command by concatenating the scroll command and two numbers. Each of
the numbers is a fraction between 0 and 1, which indicates a position in the document. 0
indicates the beginning of the document, 1 indicates the end, .333 indicates a position one
third the way through the document, and so on. The first fraction indicates the first infor-mation information
mation in the document that is visible in the window, and the second fraction indicates the
information just after the last portion that is visible. The command is then passed to the
Tcl interpreter for execution. Typically the xScrollCommand option consists of the path name
of a scrollbar widget followed by ``set'', e.g. ``.x.scrollbar set'': this will cause the
scrollbar to be updated whenever the view in the window changes. If this option is not speci-fied, specified,
fied, then no command will be executed.
Command-Line Name:-yscrollcommand
Database Name: yScrollCommand
Database Class: ScrollCommand
Specifies the prefix for a command used to communicate with vertical scrollbars. This option
is treated in the same way as the xScrollCommand option, except that it is used for vertical
scrollbars and is provided by widgets that support vertical scrolling. See the description of
xScrollCommand for details on how this option is used.
SEE ALSO
colors, cursors, font
KEYWORDS
class, name, standard option, switch
Tk 4.4 options(n)
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