entry(n) Tk Built-In Commands entry(n)
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NAME
entry - Create and manipulate entry widgets
SYNOPSIS
entry pathName ?options?
STANDARD OPTIONS
-background -highlightthickness -selectbackground
-borderwidth -insertbackground -selectborderwidth
-cursor -insertborderwidth -selectforeground
-exportselection -insertofftime -takefocus
-font -insertontime -textvariable
-foreground -insertwidth -xscrollcommand
-highlightbackground -justify
-highlightcolor -relief
See the options manual entry for details on the standard options.
WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
Command-Line Name:-disabledbackground |
Database Name: disabledBackground |
Database Class: DisabledBackground |
Specifies the background color to use when the entry is disabled. If this option is the empty |
string, the normal background color is used. |
Command-Line Name:-disabledforeground |
Database Name: disabledForeground |
Database Class: DisabledForeground |
Specifies the foreground color to use when the entry is disabled. If this option is the empty |
string, the normal foreground color is used. |
Command-Line Name:-invalidcommand or -invcmd |
Database Name: invalidCommand |
Database Class: InvalidCommand |
Specifies a script to eval when validateCommand returns 0. Setting it to {} disables this |
feature (the default). The best use of this option is to set it to bell. See Validation |
below for more information. |
Command-Line Name:-readonlybackground |
Database Name: readonlyBackground |
Database Class: ReadonlyBackground |
Specifies the background color to use when the entry is readonly. If this option is the empty |
string, the normal background color is used.
Command-Line Name:-show
Database Name: show
Database Class: Show
If this option is specified, then the true contents of the entry are not displayed in the win-dow. window.
dow. Instead, each character in the entry's value will be displayed as the first character in
the value of this option, such as ``*''. This is useful, for example, if the entry is to be
used to enter a password. If characters in the entry are selected and copied elsewhere, the
information copied will be what is displayed, not the true contents of the entry. |
Command-Line Name:-state |
Database Name: state |
Database Class: State |
Specifies one of three states for the entry: normal, disabled, or readonly. If the entry is |
readonly, then the value may not be changed using widget commands and no insertion cursor will |
be displayed, even if the input focus is in the widget; the contents of the widget may still |
be selected. If the entry is disabled, the value may not be changed, no insertion cursor will |
be displayed, the contents will not be selectable, and the entry may be displayed in a differ- |
ent color, depending on the values of the -disabledforeground and -disabledbackground options. |
Command-Line Name:-validate |
Database Name: validate |
Database Class: Validate |
Specifies the mode in which validation should operate: none, focus, focusin, focusout, key, or |
all. It defaults to none. When you want validation, you must explicitly state which mode you |
wish to use. See Validation below for more. |
Command-Line Name:-validatecommand or -vcmd |
Database Name: validateCommand |
Database Class: ValidateCommand |
Specifies a script to eval when you want to validate the input into the entry widget. Setting |
it to {} disables this feature (the default). This command must return a valid tcl boolean |
value. If it returns 0 (or the valid tcl boolean equivalent) then it means you reject the new |
edition and it will not occur and the invalidCommand will be evaluated if it is set. If it |
returns 1, then the new edition occurs. See Validation below for more information.
Command-Line Name:-width
Database Name: width
Database Class: Width
Specifies an integer value indicating the desired width of the entry window, in average-size
characters of the widget's font. If the value is less than or equal to zero, the widget picks
a size just large enough to hold its current text.
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DESCRIPTION
The entry command creates a new window (given by the pathName argument) and makes it into an entry
widget. Additional options, described above, may be specified on the command line or in the option
database to configure aspects of the entry such as its colors, font, and relief. The entry 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.
An entry is a widget that displays a one-line text string and allows that string to be edited using
widget commands described below, which are typically bound to keystrokes and mouse actions. When
first created, an entry's string is empty. A portion of the entry may be selected as described
below. If an entry is exporting its selection (see the exportSelection option), then it will observe
the standard X11 protocols for handling the selection; entry selections are available as type
STRING. Entries also observe the standard Tk rules for dealing with the input focus. When an entry
has the input focus it displays an insertion cursor to indicate where new characters will be
inserted.
Entries are capable of displaying strings that are too long to fit entirely within the widget's win-dow. window.
dow. In this case, only a portion of the string will be displayed; commands described below may be
used to change the view in the window. Entries use the standard xScrollCommand mechanism for inter-acting interacting
acting with scrollbars (see the description of the xScrollCommand option for details). They also
support scanning, as described below.
VALIDATION |
Validation works by setting the validateCommand option to a script which will be evaluated according |
to the validate option as follows: |
none ||
Default. This means no validation will occur. |
focus ||
validateCommand will be called when the entry receives or loses focus. |
focusin ||
validateCommand will be called when the entry receives focus. |
focu- |
sout | |
validateCommand will be called when the entry loses focus. |
key ||
validateCommand will be called when the entry is edited. |
all ||
validateCommand will be called for all above conditions. |
It is possible to perform percent substitutions on the validateCommand and invalidCommand, just as |
you would in a bind script. The following substitutions are recognized: |
%d ||
Type of action: 1 for insert, 0 for delete, or -1 for focus, forced or textvariable validation. |
%i ||
Index of char string to be inserted/deleted, if any, otherwise -1. |
%P ||
The value of the entry should edition occur. If you are configuring the entry widget to have a |
new textvariable, this will be the value of that textvariable. |
%s ||
The current value of entry before edition. |
%S ||
The text string being inserted/deleted, if any, {} otherwise. |
%v ||
The type of validation currently set. |
%V ||
The type of validation that triggered the callback (key, focusin, focusout, forced). |
%W ||
The name of the entry widget. |
In general, the textVariable and validateCommand can be dangerous to mix. Any problems have been |
overcome so that using the validateCommand will not interfere with the traditional behavior of the |
entry widget. Using the textVariable for read-only purposes will never cause problems. The danger |
comes when you try set the textVariable to something that the validateCommand would not accept, which |
causes validate to become none (the invalidCommand will not be triggered). The same happens when an |
error occurs evaluating the validateCommand. |
Primarily, an error will occur when the validateCommand or invalidCommand encounters an error in its |
script while evaluating or validateCommand does not return a valid tcl boolean value. The validate |
option will also set itself to none when you edit the entry widget from within either the validate- |
Command or the invalidCommand. Such editions will override the one that was being validated. If you |
wish to edit the entry widget (for example set it to {}) during validation and still have the vali- |
date option set, you should include the command |
after idle {%W config -validate %v} |
in the validateCommand or invalidCommand (whichever one you were editing the entry widget from). It |
is also recommended to not set an associated textVariable during validation, as that can cause the |
entry widget to become out of sync with the textVariable.
WIDGET COMMAND
The entry 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.
Many of the widget commands for entries take one or more indices as arguments. An index specifies a
particular character in the entry's string, in any of the following ways:
number Specifies the character as a numerical index, where 0 corresponds to the first character
in the string.
anchor Indicates the anchor point for the selection, which is set with the select from and
select adjust widget commands.
end Indicates the character just after the last one in the entry's string. This is equiva-lent equivalent
lent to specifying a numerical index equal to the length of the entry's string.
insert Indicates the character adjacent to and immediately following the insertion cursor.
sel.first Indicates the first character in the selection. It is an error to use this form if the
selection isn't in the entry window.
sel.last Indicates the character just after the last one in the selection. It is an error to use
this form if the selection isn't in the entry window.
@number In this form, number is treated as an x-coordinate in the entry's window; the character
spanning that x-coordinate is used. For example, ``@0'' indicates the left-most charac-ter character
ter in the window.
Abbreviations may be used for any of the forms above, e.g. ``e'' or ``sel.f''. In general, out-of-range out-ofrange
range indices are automatically rounded to the nearest legal value.
The following commands are possible for entry widgets:
pathName bbox index
Returns a list of four numbers describing the bounding box of the character given by index.
The first two elements of the list give the x and y coordinates of the upper-left corner of
the screen area covered by the character (in pixels relative to the widget) and the last two
elements give the width and height of the character, in pixels. The bounding box may refer to
a region outside the visible area of the window.
pathName cget option
Returns the current value of the configuration option given by option. Option may have any of
the values accepted by the entry command.
pathName configure ?option? ?value option value ...?
Query or modify the configuration options of the widget. If no option is specified, returns a
list describing all of the available options for pathName (see Tk_ConfigureInfo for informa-tion information
tion 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 correspond-ing corresponding
ing 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. Option may have any of the val-ues values
ues accepted by the entry command.
pathName delete first ?last?
Delete one or more elements of the entry. First is the index of the first character to
delete, and last is the index of the character just after the last one to delete. If last
isn't specified it defaults to first+1, i.e. a single character is deleted. This command
returns an empty string.
pathName get
Returns the entry's string.
pathName icursor index
Arrange for the insertion cursor to be displayed just before the character given by index.
Returns an empty string.
pathName index index
Returns the numerical index corresponding to index.
pathName insert index string
Insert the characters of string just before the character indicated by index. Returns an
empty string.
pathName scan option args
This command is used to implement scanning on entries. It has two forms, depending on option:
pathName scan mark x
Records x and the current view in the entry window; used in conjunction with later
scan dragto commands. Typically this command is associated with a mouse button press
in the widget. It returns an empty string.
pathName scan dragto x
This command computes the difference between its x argument and the x argument to the
last scan mark command for the widget. It then adjusts the view left or right by 10
times the difference in x-coordinates. This command is typically associated with mouse
motion events in the widget, to produce the effect of dragging the entry at high speed
through the window. The return value is an empty string.
pathName selection option arg
This command is used to adjust the selection within an entry. It has several forms, depending
on option:
pathName selection adjust index
Locate the end of the selection nearest to the character given by index, and adjust
that end of the selection to be at index (i.e including but not going beyond index).
The other end of the selection is made the anchor point for future select to commands.
If the selection isn't currently in the entry, then a new selection is created to
include the characters between index and the most recent selection anchor point, inclu-sive. inclusive.
sive. Returns an empty string.
pathName selection clear
Clear the selection if it is currently in this widget. If the selection isn't in this
widget then the command has no effect. Returns an empty string.
pathName selection from index
Set the selection anchor point to just before the character given by index. Doesn't
change the selection. Returns an empty string.
pathName selection present
Returns 1 if there is are characters selected in the entry, 0 if nothing is selected.
pathName selection range start end
Sets the selection to include the characters starting with the one indexed by start and
ending with the one just before end. If end refers to the same character as start or
an earlier one, then the entry's selection is cleared.
pathName selection to index
If index is before the anchor point, set the selection to the characters from index up
to but not including the anchor point. If index is the same as the anchor point, do
nothing. If index is after the anchor point, set the selection to the characters from
the anchor point up to but not including index. The anchor point is determined by the
most recent select from or select adjust command in this widget. If the selection
isn't in this widget then a new selection is created using the most recent anchor point
specified for the widget. Returns an empty string.
pathName vali- |
date | |
This command is used to force an evaluation of the validateCommand independent of the condi- |
tions specified by the validate option. This is done by temporarily setting the validate |
option to all. It returns 0 or 1.
pathName xview args
This command is used to query and change the horizontal position of the text in the widget's
window. It can take any of the following forms:
pathName xview
Returns a list containing two elements. Each element is a real fraction between 0 and
1; together they describe the horizontal span that is visible in the window. For
example, if the first element is .2 and the second element is .6, 20% of the entry's
text is off-screen to the left, the middle 40% is visible in the window, and 40% of the
text is off-screen to the right. These are the same values passed to scrollbars via
the -xscrollcommand option.
pathName xview index
Adjusts the view in the window so that the character given by index is displayed at the
left edge of the window.
pathName xview moveto fraction
Adjusts the view in the window so that the character fraction of the way through the
text appears at the left edge of the window. Fraction must be a fraction between 0 and
1.
pathName xview scroll number what
This command shifts the view in the window left or right according to number and what.
Number must be an integer. What must be either units or pages or an abbreviation of
one of these. If what is units, the view adjusts left or right by number average-width
characters on the display; if it is pages then the view adjusts by number screenfuls.
If number is negative then characters farther to the left become visible; if it is
positive then characters farther to the right become visible.
DEFAULT BINDINGS
Tk automatically creates class bindings for entries that give them the following default behavior.
In the descriptions below, ``word'' refers to a contiguous group of letters, digits, or ``_'' charac-ters, characters,
ters, or any single character other than these.
[1] Clicking mouse button 1 positions the insertion cursor just before the character underneath
the mouse cursor, sets the input focus to this widget, and clears any selection in the widget.
Dragging with mouse button 1 strokes out a selection between the insertion cursor and the
character under the mouse.
[2] Double-clicking with mouse button 1 selects the word under the mouse and positions the inser-tion insertion
tion cursor at the end of the word. Dragging after a double click will stroke out a selection
consisting of whole words.
[3] Triple-clicking with mouse button 1 selects all of the text in the entry and positions the
insertion cursor at the end of the line.
[4] The ends of the selection can be adjusted by dragging with mouse button 1 while the Shift key
is down; this will adjust the end of the selection that was nearest to the mouse cursor when
button 1 was pressed. If the button is double-clicked before dragging then the selection will
be adjusted in units of whole words.
[5] Clicking mouse button 1 with the Control key down will position the insertion cursor in the
entry without affecting the selection.
[6] If any normal printing characters are typed in an entry, they are inserted at the point of the
insertion cursor.
[7] The view in the entry can be adjusted by dragging with mouse button 2. If mouse button 2 is
clicked without moving the mouse, the selection is copied into the entry at the position of
the mouse cursor.
[8] If the mouse is dragged out of the entry on the left or right sides while button 1 is pressed,
the entry will automatically scroll to make more text visible (if there is more text off-screen offscreen
screen on the side where the mouse left the window).
[9] The Left and Right keys move the insertion cursor one character to the left or right; they
also clear any selection in the entry and set the selection anchor. If Left or Right is typed
with the Shift key down, then the insertion cursor moves and the selection is extended to
include the new character. Control-Left and Control-Right move the insertion cursor by words,
and Control-Shift-Left and Control-Shift-Right move the insertion cursor by words and also
extend the selection. Control-b and Control-f behave the same as Left and Right, respec-tively. respectively.
tively. Meta-b and Meta-f behave the same as Control-Left and Control-Right, respectively.
[10] The Home key, or Control-a, will move the insertion cursor to the beginning of the entry and
clear any selection in the entry. Shift-Home moves the insertion cursor to the beginning of
the entry and also extends the selection to that point.
[11] The End key, or Control-e, will move the insertion cursor to the end of the entry and clear
any selection in the entry. Shift-End moves the cursor to the end and extends the selection
to that point.
[12] The Select key and Control-Space set the selection anchor to the position of the insertion
cursor. They don't affect the current selection. Shift-Select and Control-Shift-Space adjust
the selection to the current position of the insertion cursor, selecting from the anchor to
the insertion cursor if there was not any selection previously.
[13] Control-/ selects all the text in the entry.
[14] Control-\ clears any selection in the entry.
[15] The F16 key (labelled Copy on many Sun workstations) or Meta-w copies the selection in the
widget to the clipboard, if there is a selection.
[16] The F20 key (labelled Cut on many Sun workstations) or Control-w copies the selection in the
widget to the clipboard and deletes the selection. If there is no selection in the widget
then these keys have no effect.
[17] The F18 key (labelled Paste on many Sun workstations) or Control-y inserts the contents of the
clipboard at the position of the insertion cursor.
[18] The Delete key deletes the selection, if there is one in the entry. If there is no selection,
it deletes the character to the right of the insertion cursor.
[19] The BackSpace key and Control-h delete the selection, if there is one in the entry. If there
is no selection, it deletes the character to the left of the insertion cursor.
[20] Control-d deletes the character to the right of the insertion cursor.
[21] Meta-d deletes the word to the right of the insertion cursor.
[22] Control-k deletes all the characters to the right of the insertion cursor.
[23] Control-t reverses the order of the two characters to the right of the insertion cursor.
If the entry is disabled using the -state option, then the entry's view can still be adjusted and
text in the entry can still be selected, but no insertion cursor will be displayed and no text modi-fications modifications
fications will take place except if the entry is linked to a variable using the -textvariable option, |
in which case any changes to the variable are reflected by the entry whatever the value of its -state |
option.
The behavior of entries can be changed by defining new bindings for individual widgets or by redefin-ing redefining
ing the class bindings.
KEYWORDS
entry, widget
Tk 8.3 entry(n)
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