table(n) Tk Table Extension table(n)
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NAME
table - Create and manipulate tables
SYNOPSIS
table pathName ?options?
STANDARD OPTIONS
-anchor -background -cursor
-exportselection -font -foreground
-highlightbackground -highlightcolor -highlightthickness
-insertbackground -insertborderwidth-insertofftime
-insertontime -insertwidth -invertselected
-relief -takefocus -xscrollcommand
-yscrollcommand
See the options manual entry for details on the standard options.
WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
Command-Line Name:-autoclear
Database Name: autoClear
Database Class: AutoClear
A boolean value which specifies whether the first keypress in a cell will delete whatever text
was previously there. Defaults to 0.
Command-Line Name:-bordercursor
Database Name: borderCursor
Database Class: Cursor
Specifies the name of the cursor to show when over borders, a visual indication that interac-tive interactive
tive resizing is allowed (it is thus affect by the value of -resizeborders). Defaults to
crosshair.
Command-Line Name:-borderwidth or -bd
Database Name: borderWidth
Database Class: BorderWidth
Specifies a non-negative pixel value or list of values indicating the width of the 3-D border
to draw on interior table cells (if such a border is being drawn; the relief option typically
determines this). If one value is specified, a rectangle of this width will be drawn. If two
values are specified, then only the left and right edges of the cell will have borders. If
four values are specified, then the values correspond to the {left right top bottom} edges.
This can be overridden by the a tag's borderwidth option. It can also be affected by the
defined -drawmode for the table. Each value in the list must have one of the forms acceptable
to Tk_GetPixels.
Command-Line Name:-browsecommand or -browsecmd
Database Name: browseCommand
Database Class: BrowseCommand
Specifies a command which will be evaluated anytime the active cell changes. It uses the
%-substition model described in COMMAND SUBSTITUTION below.
Command-Line Name:-cache
Database Name: cache
Database Class: Cache
A boolean value that specifies whether an internal cache of the table contents should be kept.
This greatly enhances speed performance when used with -command but uses extra memory. Can
maintain state when both -command and -variable are empty. The cache is automatically flushed
whenever the value of -cache or -variable changes, otherwise you have to explicitly call clear
on it. Defaults to off.
Command-Line Name:-colorigin
Database Name: colOrigin
Database Class: Origin
Specifies what column index to interpret as the leftmost column in the table. This value is
used for user indices in the table. Defaults to 0.
Command-Line Name:-cols
Database Name: cols
Database Class: Cols
Number of cols in the table. Defaults to 10.
Command-Line Name:-colseparator
Database Name: colSeparator
Database Class: Separator
Specifies a separator character that will be interpreted as the column separator when cutting
or pasting data in a table. By default, columns are separated as elements of a tcl list.
Command-Line Name:-colstretchmode
Database Name: colStretchMode
Database Class: StretchMode
Specifies one of the following stretch modes for columns to fill extra allocated window space:
none Columns will not stretch to fill the assigned window space. If the columns are too
narrow, there will be a blank space at the right of the table. This is the default.
unset Only columns that do not have a specific width set will be stretched.
all All columns will be stretched by the same number of pixels to fill the window space
allocated to the table. This mode can interfere with interactive border resizing which
tries to force column width.
last The last column will be stretched to fill the window space allocated to the table.
fill (only valid for -rowstretch currently)
The table will get more or less columns according to the window space allocated to the
table. This mode has numerous quirks and may disappear in the future.
Command-Line Name:-coltagcommand
Database Name: colTagCommand
Database Class: TagCommand
Provides the name of a procedure that will be evaluated by the widget to determine the tag to
be used for a given column. When displaying a cell, the table widget will first check to see
if a tag has been defined using the tag col widget method. If no tag is found, it will evalu-ate evaluate
ate the named procedure passing the column number in question as the sole argument. The pro-cedure procedure
cedure is expected to return the name of a tag to use, or a null string. Errors occuring dur-ing during
ing the evaluation of the procedure, or the return of an invalid tag name are silently
ignored.
Command-Line Name:-colwidth
Database Name: colWidth
Database Class: ColWidth
Default column width, interpreted as characters in the default font when the number is posi-tive, positive,
tive, or pixels if it is negative. Defaults to 10.
Command-Line Name:-command
Database Name: command
Database Class: Command
Specified a command to use as a procedural interface to cell values. If -usecommand is true,
this command will be used instead of any reference to the -variable array. When retrieving
cell values, the return value of the command is used as the value for the cell. It uses the
%-substition model described in COMMAND SUBSTITUTION below.
Command-Line Name:-drawmode
Database Name: drawMode
Database Class: DrawMode
Sets the table drawing mode to one of the following options:
slow The table is drawn to an offscreen pixmap using the Tk bordering functions (double-buffering). (doublebuffering).
buffering). This means there will be no flashing, but this mode is slow for larger
tables.
compatible
The table is drawn directly to the screen using the Tk border functions. It is faster,
but the screen may flash on update. This is the default.
fast The table is drawn directly to the screen and the borders are done with fast X calls,
so they are always one pixel wide only. As a side effect, it restricts -borderwidth to
a range of 0 or 1. This mode provides best performance for large tables, but can flash
on redraw and is not 100% Tk compatible on the border mode.
single The table is drawn to the screen as in fast mode, but only single pixel lines are drawn
(not square borders).
Command-Line Name:-ellipsis
Database Name: ellipsis
Database Class: Ellipsis
This specifies a string to display at the end of a line that would be clipped by its cell,
like ``...''. An ellipsis will be displayed only on non-wrapping, non-multiline cells that
would be clipped. The ellipsis will display on the left for east anchored cells, otherwise it
displays on the right. Defaults to "" (no ellipsis).
Command-Line Name:-flashmode
Database Name: flashMode
Database Class: FlashMode
A boolean value which specifies whether cells should flash when their value changes. The ta-ble table
ble tag flash will be applied to these cells for the duration specified by -flashtime.
Defaults to 0.
Command-Line Name:-flashtime
Database Name: flashTime
Database Class: FlashTime
The amount of time, in 1/4 second increments, for which a cell should flash when its value has
changed. -flashmode must be on. Defaults to 2.
Command-Line Name:-height
Database Name: height
Database Class: Height
Specifies the desired height for the window, in rows. If zero or less, then the desired
height for the window is made just large enough to hold all the rows in the table. The height
can be further limited by -maxheight.
Command-Line Name:-invertselected
Database Name: invertSelected
Database Class: InvertSelected
Specifies whether the foreground and background of an item should simply have their values
swapped instead of merging the sel tag options when the cell is selected. Defaults to 0
(merge sel tag).
Command-Line Name:-ipadx
Database Name: ipadX
Database Class: Pad
A pixel value specifying the internal offset X padding for text in a cell. This value does
not grow the size of the cell, it just causes the text to be drawn further from the cell bor-der. border.
der. It only affects one side (depending on anchor). Defaults to 0. See -padx for an alter-nate alternate
nate padding style.
Command-Line Name:-ipady
Database Name: ipadY
Database Class: Pad
A pixel value specifying the internal offset Y padding for text in a cell. This value does
not grow the size of the cell, it just causes the text to be drawn further from the cell bor-der. border.
der. It only affects one side (depending on anchor). Defaults to 0. See -pady for an alter-nate alternate
nate padding style.
Command-Line Name:-justify
Database Name: justify
Database Class: Justify
How to justify multi-line text in a cell. It must be one of left, right, or center. Defaults
to left.
Command-Line Name:-maxheight
Database Name: maxHeight
Database Class: MaxHeight
The max height in pixels that the window will request. Defaults to 600.
Command-Line Name:-maxwidth
Database Name: maxWidth
Database Class: MaxWidth
The max width in pixels that the window will request. Defaults to 800.
Command-Line Name:-multiline
Database Name: multiline
Database Class: Multiline
Specifies the default setting for the multiline tag option. Defaults to 1.
Command-Line Name:-padx
Database Name: padX
Database Class: Pad
A pixel value specifying the offset X padding for a cell. This value causes the default size
of the cell to increase by two times the value (one for each side), unless a specific pixel
size is chosen for the cell with the width command. This will force an empty area on the left
and right of each cell edge. This padding affects all types of data in the cell. Defaults to
0. See -ipadx for an alternate padding style.
Command-Line Name:-pady
Database Name: padY
Database Class: Pad
A pixel value specifying the offset Y padding for a cell. This value causes the default size
of the cell to increase by two times the value (one for each side), unless a specific pixel
size is chosen for the cell with the height command. This will force an empty area on the top
and bottom of each cell edge. This padding affects all types of data in the cell. Defaults
to 0. See -ipadx for an alternate padding style.
Command-Line Name:-resizeborders
Database Name: resizeBorders
Database Class: ResizeBorders
Specifies what kind of interactive border resizing to allow, must be one of row, col, both
(default) or none.
Command-Line Name:-rowheight
Database Name: rowHeight
Database Class: RowHeight
Default row height, interpreted as lines in the default font when the number is positive, or
pixels if it is negative. Defaults to 1.
Command-Line Name:-roworigin
Database Name: rowOrigin
Database Class: Origin
Specifies what row index to interpret as the topmost row in the table. This value is used for
user indices in the table. Defaults to 0.
Command-Line Name:-rows
Database Name: rows
Database Class: Rows
Number of rows in the table. Defaults to 10.
Command-Line Name:-rowseparator
Database Name: rowSeparator
Database Class: Separator
Specifies a separator character that will be interpreted as the row separator when cutting or
pasting data in a table. By default, rows are separated as tcl lists.
Command-Line Name:-rowstretchmode
Database Name: rowStretchMode
Database Class: StretchMode
Specifies the stretch modes for rows to fill extra allocated window space. See -colstretch-mode -colstretchmode
mode for valid options.
Command-Line Name:-rowtagcommand
Database Name: rowTagCommand
Database Class: TagCommand
Provides the name of a procedure that can evaluated by the widget to determine the tag to be
used for a given row. The procedure must be defined by the user to accept a single argument
(the row number), and return a tag name or null string. This operates in a similar manner as
-coltagcommand, except that it applies to row tags.
Command-Line Name:-selectioncommand or -selcmd
Database Name: selectionCommand
Database Class: SelectionCommand
Specifies a command to evaluate when the selection is retrieved from a table via the selection
mechanism (ie: evaluating "selection get"). The return value from this command will become
the string passed on by the selection mechanism. It uses the %-substition model described in
COMMAND SUBSTITUTION below. If an error occurs, a Tcl background error is generated and noth-ing nothing
ing is returned.
Command-Line Name:-selectmode
Database Name: selectMode
Database Class: SelectMode
Specifies one of several styles for manipulating the selection. The value of the option may
be arbitrary, but the default bindings expect it to be either single, browse, multiple, or
extended; the default value is browse. These styles are like those for the Tk listbox, except
expanded for 2 dimensions.
Command-Line Name:-selecttitle
Database Name: selectTitles
Database Class: SelectTitles
Specifies whether title cells should be allowed in the selection. Defaults to 0 (disallowed).
Command-Line Name:-selecttype
Database Name: selectType
Database Class: SelectType
Specifies one of several types of selection for the table. The value of the option may be one
of row, col, cell, or both (meaning row && col); the default value is cell. These types
define whether an entire row/col is affected when a cell's selection is changed (set or
clear).
Command-Line Name:-sparsearray
Database Name: sparseArray
Database Class: SparseArray
A boolean value that specifies whether an associated Tcl array should be kept as a sparse
array (1, the default) or as a full array (0). If true, then cell values that are empty will
be deleted from the array (taking less memory). If false, then all values in the array will
be maintained.
Command-Line Name:-state
Database Name: state
Database Class: State
Specifies one of two states for the entry: normal or disabled. If the table is disabled 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. Also, all insert or delete methods will be ignored.
Defaults to normal.
Command-Line Name:-titlecols
Database Name: titleCols
Database Class: TitleCols
Number of columns to use as a title area. Defaults to 0.
Command-Line Name:-titlerows
Database Name: titleRows
Database Class: TitleRows
Number of rows to use as a title area. Defaults to 0.
Command-Line Name:-usecommand
Database Name: useCommand
Database Class: UseCommand
A boolean value which specifies whether to use the command option. This value sets itself to
zero if command is used and returns an error. Defaults to 1 (will use command if specified).
Command-Line Name:-validate
Database Name: validate
Database Class: Validate
A boolean specifying whether validation should occur for the active buffer. Defaults to 0.
Command-Line Name:-validatecommand or -vcmd
Database Name: validateCommand
Database Class: ValidateCommand
Specifies a command to execute when the active cell is edited. This command is expected to
return a Tcl boolean. If it returns true, then it is assumed the new value is OK, otherwise
the new value is rejected (the edition will not take place). Errors in this command are han-dled handled
dled in the background. It uses the %-substition model described in COMMAND SUBSTITUTION
below.
Command-Line Name:-variable
Database Name: variable
Database Class: Variable
Global Tcl array variable to attach to the table's C array. It will be created if it doesn't
already exist or is a simple variable. Keys used by the table in the array are of the form
row,col for cells and the special key active which contains the value of the active cell
buffer. The Tcl array is managed as a sparse array (the table doesn't require all valid
indices have values). No stored value for an index is equivalent to the empty string, and
clearing a cell will remove that index from the Tcl array, unless the -sparsearray options is
set to 0.
Command-Line Name:-width
Database Name: width
Database Class: Width
Specifies the desired width for the window, in columns. If zero or less, then the desired
width for the window is made just large enough to hold all the columns in the table. The
width can be further limited by -maxwidth.
Command-Line Name:-wrap
Database Name: wrap
Database Class: Wrap
Specifies the default wrap value for tags. Defaults to 0.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DESCRIPTION
The table command creates a 2-dimensional grid of cells. The table can use a Tcl array variable or
Tcl command for data storage and retrieval, as well as optionally cache data in memory for speed.
One of these data sources must be configured before any data is retained by the table. The widget
has an active cell, the contents of which can be edited (when the state is normal). The widget sup-ports supports
ports a default style for the cells and also multiple tags, which can be used to change the style of
a row, column or cell (see TAGS for details). A cell flash can be set up so that changed cells will
change color for a specified amount of time ("blink"). Cells can have embedded images or windows, as
described in TAGS and "EMBEDDED WINDOWS" respectively.
One or more cells may be selected as described below. If a table is exporting its selection (see
-exportselection option), then it will observe the standard X11 protocols for handling the selection.
See THE SELECTION for details.
It is not necessary for all the cells to be displayed in the table window at once; commands described
below may be used to change the view in the window. Tables allow scrolling in both directions using
the standard -xscrollcommand and -yscrollcommand options. They also support scanning, as described
below.
In order to obtain good performance, the table widget supports multiple drawing modes, two of which
are fully Tk compatible.
INITIALIZATION
When the table command is loaded into an interpreter, a built-in Tcl command, tkTableInit, is evalu-ated. evaluated.
ated. This will search for the appropriate table binding init file to load. The directories
searched are those in $tcl_pkgPath, both with Tktable(version) appended and without, $tk_library and
[pwd] (the current directory). You can also define an $env(TK_TABLE_LIBRARY) to head this search
list. By default, the file searched for is called tkTable.tcl, but this can be overridden by setting
$env(TK_TABLE_LIBRARY_FILE).
This entire init script can be overridden by providing your own tkTableInit procedure before the
library is loaded. Otherwise, the aforementioned env(TK_TABLE_LIBRARY) variable will be set with the
directory in which $env(TK_TABLE_LIBRARY_FILE) was found.
INDICES
Many of the widget commands for tables take one or more indices as arguments. An index specifies a
particular cell of the table, in any of the following ways:
number,number
Specifies the cell as a numerical index of row,col which corresponds to the index of the
associated Tcl array, where -roworigin,-colorigin corresponds to the first cell in the
table (0,0 by default). The values for row and column will be constrained to actual val-ues values
ues in the table, which means a valid cell is always found.
active Indicates the cell that has the location cursor. It is specified with the activate wid-get widget
get command.
anchor Indicates the anchor point for the selection, which is set with the selection anchor wid-get widget
get command.
bottomright Indicates the bottom-rightmost cell visible in the table.
end Indicates the bottom right cell of the table.
origin Indicates the top-leftmost editable cell of the table, not necessarily in the display.
This takes into account the user specified origin and title area.
topleft Indicates the top-leftmost editable cell visible in the table (this excludes title
cells).
@x,y Indicates the cell that covers the point in the table window specified by x and y (in
pixel coordinates). If no cell covers that point, then the closest cell to that point is
used.
In the widget command descriptions below, arguments named index, first, and last always contain text
indices in one of the above forms.
TAGS
A tag is a textual string that is associated with zero or more rows, columns or cells in a table.
Tags may contain arbitrary characters, but it is probably best to avoid using names which look like
indices to reduce coding confusion. A tag can apply to an entire row or column, or just a single
cell. There are several permanent tags in each table that can be configured by the user and will
determine the attributes for special cells:
active This tag is given to the active cell
flash If flash mode is on, this tag is given to any recently edited cells.
sel This tag is given to any selected cells.
title This tag is given to any cells in the title rows and columns. This tag has -state
disabled by default.
Tags control the way cells are displayed on the screen. Where appropriate, the default for display-ing displaying
ing cells is determined by the options for the table widget. However, display options may be associ-ated associated
ated with individual tags using the ``pathName tag configure'' widget command. If a cell, row or
column has been tagged, then the display options associated with the tag override the default display
style. The following options are currently supported for tags:
-anchor anchor
Anchor for item in the cell space.
-background or -bg color
Background color of the cell.
-borderwidth or -bd pixelList
Borderwidth of the cell, of the same format for the table, but may also be empty to
inherit the default table borderwidth value (the default).
-ellipsis string
String to display at the end of a line that would be clipped by its cell, like ``...''.
An ellipsis will be displayed only on non-wrapping, non-multiline cells that would be
clipped. The ellipsis will display on the left for east anchored cells, otherwise it
displays on the right.
-font fontName
Font for text in the cell.
-foreground or -fg color
Foreground color of the cell.
-justify justify
How to justify multi-line text in a cell. It must be one of left, right, or center.
-image imageName
An image to display in the cell instead of text.
-multiline boolean
Whether to display text with newlines on multiple lines.
-relief relief
The relief for the cell. May be the empty string to cause this tag to not disturb the
value.
-showtext boolean
Whether to show the text over an image.
-state state
The state of the cell, to allow for certain cells to be disabled. This prevents the
cell from being edited by the insert or delete methods, but a direct set will not be
prevented.
-wrap boolean
Whether characters should wrap in a cell that is not wide enough.
A priority order is defined among tags based on creation order (first created tag has highest default
priority), and this order is used in implementing some of the tag-related functions described below.
When a cell is displayed, its properties are determined by the tags which are assigned to it. The
priority of a tag can be modified by the ``pathName tag lower'' and ``pathName tag raise'' widget
commands.
If a cell has several tags associated with it that define the same display options (eg - a title cell
with specific row and cell tags), then the options of the highest priority tag are used. If a par-ticular particular
ticular display option hasn't been specified for a particular tag, or if it is specified as an empty
string, then that option will not be used; the next-highest-priority tag's option will be used
instead. If no tag specifies a particular display option, then the default style for the widget will
be used.
Images are used for display purposes only. Editing in that cell will still be enabled and any query-ing querying
ing of the cell will show the text value of the cell, regardless of the value of -showtext.
EMBEDDED WINDOWS
There may be any number of embedded windows in a table widget (one per cell), and any widget may be
used as an embedded window (subject to the usual rules for geometry management, which require the ta-ble table
ble window to be the parent of the embedded window or a descendant of its parent). The embedded win-dow's window's
dow's position on the screen will be updated as the table is modified or scrolled, and it will be
mapped and unmapped as it moves into and out of the visible area of the table widget. Each embedded
window occupies one cell's worth of space in the table widget, and it is referred to by the index of
the cell in the table. Windows associated with the table widget are destroyed when the table widget
is destroyed.
Windows are used for display purposes only. A value still exists for that cell, but will not be
shown unless the window is deleted in some way. If the window is destroyed or lost by the table wid-get widget
get to another geometry manager, then any data associated with it is lost (the cell it occupied will
no longer appear in window names).
When an embedded window is added to a table widget with the window configure widget command, several
configuration options may be associated with it. These options may be modified with later calls to
the window configure widget command. The following options are currently supported:
-create script
NOT CURRENTLY SUPPORTED. Specifies a Tcl script that may be evaluated to create the
window for the annotation. If no -window option has been specified for this cell then
this script will be evaluated when the cell is about to be displayed on the screen.
Script must create a window for the cell and return the name of that window as its
result. If the cell's window should ever be deleted, the script will be evaluated
again the next time the cell is displayed.
-background or -bg color
Background color of the cell. If not specified, it uses the table's default back-ground. background.
ground.
-borderwidth or -bd pixelList
Borderwidth of the cell, of the same format for the table, but may also be empty to
inherit the default table borderwidth value (the default).
-padx pixels
As defined in the Tk options man page.
-pady pixels
As defined in the Tk options man page.
-relief relief
The relief to use for the cell in which the window lies. If not specified, it uses the
table's default relief.
-sticky sticky
Stickiness of the window inside the cell, as defined by the grid command.
-window pathName
Specifies the name of a window (widget) to display in the annotation. It must exist
before being specified here. When an empty string is specified, if a window was dis-played displayed
played it will cease to be managed by the table widget.
THE SELECTION
Table selections are available as type STRING. By default, the value of the selection will be the
values of the selected cells in nested Tcl list form where each row is a list and each column is an
element of a row list. You can change the way this value is interpreted by setting the -rowseparator
and -colseparator options. For example, default Excel format would be to set -rowseparator to "\n"
and -colseparator to "\t". Changing these values affects both how the table sends out the selection
and reads in pasted data, ensuring that the table should always be able to cut and paste to itself.
It is possible to change how pastes are handled by editing the table library procedure tk_tablePaste-Handler. tk_tablePasteHandler.
Handler. This might be necessary if -selectioncommand is set.
ROW/COL SPANNING
Individual cells can span multiple rows and/or columns. This is done via the spans command (see
below for exact arguments). Cells in the title area that span are not permitted to span beyond the
title area, and will be constrained accordingly. If the title area shrinks during a configure, san-ity sanity
ity checking will occur to ensure the above. You may set spans on regular cells that extend beyond
the defined row/col area. These spans will not be constrained, so that when the defined row/col area
expands, the span will expand with it.
When setting a span, checks are made as to whether the span would overlap an already spanning or hid-den hidden
den cell. This is an error and it not allowed. Spans can affect the overall speed of table drawing,
although not significantly. If spans are not used, then there is no performance loss.
Cells hidden by spanning cells still have valid data. This will be seen during cut and paste opera-tions operations
tions that involve hidden cells, or through direct access by a command like get or set.
The drawing properties of spanning cells apply to only the visual area of the cell. For example, if
a cell is center justified over 5 columns, then when viewing any portion of those columns, it will
appear centered in the visible area. The non-visible column area will not be considered in the cen-tering centering
tering calculations.
COMMAND SUBSTITUTION
The various option based commands that the table supports all support the familiar Tk %-substitution
model (see bind for more details). The following %-sequences are recognized and substituted by the
table widget:
%c For SelectionCommand, it is the maximum number of columns in any row in the selection. Other-wise Otherwise
wise it is the column of the triggered cell.
%C A convenience substitution for %r,%c.
%i For SelectionCommand, it is the total number of cells in the selection. For Command, it is 0
for a read (get) and 1 for a write (set). Otherwise it is the current cursor position in the
cell.
%r For SelectionCommand, it is the number of rows in the selection. Otherwise it is the row of the
triggered cell.
%s For ValidateCommand, it is the current value of the cell being validated. For SelectionCommand,
it is the default value of the selection. For BrowseCommand, it is the index of the last active
cell. For Command, it is empty for reads (get) and the current value of the cell for writes
(set).
%S For ValidateCommand, it is the potential new value of the cell being validated. For BrowseCom-mand, BrowseCommand,
mand, it is the index of the new active cell.
%W The pathname to the window for which the command was generated.
WIDGET COMMAND
The table 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.
The following commands are possible for table widgets:
pathName activate index
Sets the active cell to the one indicated by index.
pathName bbox first ?last?
It returns the bounding box for the specified cell (range) as a 4-tuple of x, y, width and
height in pixels. It clips the box to the visible portion, if any, otherwise an empty string
is returned.
pathName border option args
This command is a voodoo hack to implement border sizing for tables. This is normally called
through bindings, with the following as valid options:
pathName border mark x y ?row|col?
Records x and y and the row and/or column border under that point in the table window,
if any; used in conjunction with later border dragto commands. Typically this command
is associated with a mouse button press in the widget. If row or col is not specified,
it returns a tuple of both border indices (an empty item means no border). Otherwise,
just the specified item is returned.
pathName border dragto x y
This command computes the difference between its x and y arguments and the x and y
arguments to the last border mark command for the widget. It then adjusts the previ-ously previously
ously marked border by the difference. This command is typically associated with mouse
motion events in the widget, to produce the effect of interactive border resizing.
pathName cget option
Returns the current value of the configuration option given by option. Option may have any of
the values accepted by the table command.
pathName clear option ?first? ?last?
This command is a convenience routine to clear certain state information managed by the table.
first and last represent valid table indices. If neither are specified, then the command
operates on the whole table. The following options are recognized:
pathName clear cache ?first? ?last?
Clears the specified section of the cache, if the table has been keeping one.
pathName clear sizes ?first? ?last?
Clears the specified row and column areas of specific height/width dimensions. When
just one index is specified, for example 2,0, that is interpreted as row 2 and column
0.
pathName clear tags ?first? ?last?
Clears the specified area of tags (all row, column and cell tags).
pathName clear all ?first? ?last?
Performs all of the above clear functions on the specified area.
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 table command.
pathName curselection ?value?
With no arguments, it returns the sorted indices of the currently selected cells. Otherwise
it sets all the selected cells to the given value. The set has no effect if there is no asso-ciated associated
ciated Tcl array or the state is disabled.
pathName curvalue ?value?
If no value is given, the value of the cell being edited (indexed by active) is returned, else
it is set to the given value.
pathName delete option arg ?arg?
This command is used to delete various things in a table. It has several forms, depending on
the option:
pathName delete active index ?index?
Deletes text from the active cell. If only one index is given, it deletes the charac-ter character
ter after that index, otherwise it deletes from the first index to the second. index
can be a number, insert or end.
pathName delete cols ?switches? index ?count?
Deletes count cols starting at (and including) col index. The index will be con-strained constrained
strained to the limits of the tables. If count is negative, it deletes cols to the
left. Otherwise it deletes cols to the right. count defaults to 1 (meaning just the
column specified). At the moment, spans are not adjusted with this action. Optional
switches are:
-holddimensions
Causes the table cols to be unaffected by the deletion (empty cols may appear).
By default the dimensions are adjusted by count.
-holdselection
Causes the selection to be maintained on the absolute cells values. Otherwise,
the selection will be cleared..
-holdtags
Causes the tags specified by the tag method to not move along with the data.
Also prevents specific widths set by the width method from being adjusted. By
default, these tags are properly adjusted.
-holdwindows
Causes the embedded windows created with the window method to not move along
with the data. By default, these windows are properly adjusted.
-keeptitles
Prevents title area cells from being changed. Otherwise they are treated just
like regular cells and will move as specified.
-- Signifies the end of the switches.
pathName delete rows ?switches? index ?count?
Deletes count rows starting at (and including) row index. If count is negative, it
deletes rows going up. Otherwise it deletes rows going down. The selection will be
cleared. The switches are the same as those for column deletion.
pathName get first ?last?
Returns the value of the cells specified by the table indices first and (optionally) last in a
list.
pathName height ?row? ?value row value ...?
If no row is specified, returns a list describing all rows for which a height has been set.
If row is specified with no value, it prints out the height of that row in characters (posi-tive (positive
tive number) or pixels (negative number). If one or more row-value pairs are specified, then
it sets each row to be that height in lines (positive number) or pixels (negative number). If
value is default, then the row uses the default height, specified by -rowheight.
pathName hidden ?index? ?index ...?
When called without args, it returns all the hidden cells (those cells covered by a spanning
cell). If one index is specified, it returns the spanning cell covering that index, if any.
If multiple indices are specified, it returns 1 if all indices are hidden cells, 0 otherwise.
pathName icursor ?arg?
With no arguments, prints out the location of the insertion cursor in the active cell. With
one argument, sets the cursor to that point in the string. 0 is before the first character,
you can also use insert or end for the current insertion point or the end of the text. If
there is no active cell, or the cell or table is disabled, this will return -1.
pathName index index ?row|col?
Returns the integer cell coordinate that corresponds to index in the form row,col. If row or
col is specified, then only the row or column index is returned.
pathName insert option arg arg
This command is used to into various things into a table. It has several forms, depending on
the option:
pathName insert active index value
The value is a text string which is inserted at the index postion of the active cell.
The cursor is then positioned after the new text. index can be a number, insert or end.
pathName insert cols ?switches? index ?count?
Inserts count cols starting at col index. If count is negative, it inserts before the
specified col. Otherwise it inserts after the specified col. The selection will be
cleared. The switches are the same as those for column deletion.
pathName insert rows ?switches? index ?count?
Inserts count rows starting at row index. If count is negative, it inserts before the
specified row. Otherwise it inserts after the specified row. The selection will be
cleared. The switches are the same as those for column deletion.
pathName reread
Rereads the old contents of the cell back into the editing buffer. Useful for a key binding
when <Escape> is pressed to abort the edit (a default binding).
pathName scan option args
This command is used to implement scanning on tables. It has two forms, depending on option:
pathName scan mark x y
Records x and y and the current view in the table 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 y.
This command computes the difference between its x and y arguments and the x and y
arguments to the last scan mark command for the widget. It then adjusts the view by 5
times the difference in coordinates. This command is typically associated with mouse
motion events in the widget, to produce the effect of dragging the list at high speed
through the window. The return value is an empty string.
pathName see index
Adjust the view in the table so that the cell given by index is positioned as the cell one off
from top left (excluding title rows and columns) if the cell is not currently visible on the
screen. The actual cell may be different to keep the screen full.
pathName selection option arg
This command is used to adjust the selection within a table. It has several forms, depending
on option:
pathName selection anchor index
Sets the selection anchor to the cell given by index. The selection anchor is the end
of the selection that is fixed while dragging out a selection with the mouse. The
index anchor may be used to refer to the anchor cell.
pathName selection clear first ?last?
If any of the cells between first and last (inclusive) are selected, they are dese-lected. deselected.
lected. The selection state is not changed for cells outside this range. first may be
specified as all to remove the selection from all cells.
pathName selection includes index
Returns 1 if the cell indicated by index is currently selected, 0 if it isn't.
pathName selection set first ?last?
Selects all of the cells in the range between first and last, inclusive, without
affecting the selection state of cells outside that range.
pathName set ?row|col? index ?value? ?index value ...?
Sets the specified index to the associated value. Table validation will not be triggered via
this method. If row or col precedes the list of index/value pairs, then the value is assumed
to be a Tcl list whose values will be split and set into the subsequent columns (if row is
specified) or rows (for col). For example, set row 2,3 {2,3 2,4 2,5} will set 3 cells, from
2,3 to 2,5. The setting of cells is silently bounded by the known table dimensions.
pathName spans ?index? ?rows,cols index rows,cols ...?
This command is used to manipulate row/col spans. When called with no arguments, all known
spans are returned as a list of tuples of the form {index span}. When called with only the
index, the span for that index only is returned, if any. Otherwise an even number of index
rows,cols pairs are used to set spans. A span starts at the index and continues for the spec-ified specified
ified number of rows and cols. Negative spans are not supported. A span of 0,0 unsets any
span on that cell. See EXAMPLES for more info.
pathName tag option ?arg arg ...?
This command is used to manipulate tags. The exact behavior of the command depends on the
option argument that follows the tag argument. cget, cell, and row|col complain about unknown
tag names. The following forms of the command are currently supported:
pathName tag cell tagName ?index ...?
With no arguments, prints out the list of cells that use the tag. Otherwise it sets
the specified cells to use the named tag, replacing any tag that may have been set
using this method before. If tagName is {}, the cells are reset to the default tag.
Tags added during -*tagcommand evaluation do not register here. If tagName does not
exist, it will be created with the default options.
pathName tag cget tagName option
This command returns the current value of the option named option associated with the
tag given by tagName. Option may have any of the values accepted by the tag configure
widget command.
pathName tag col tagName ?col ...?
With no arguments, prints out the list of cols that use the tag. Otherwise it sets the
specified columns to use the named tag, replacing any tag that may have been set using
this method before. If tagName is {}, the cols are reset to the default tag. Tags
added during -coltagcommand evaluation do not register here. If tagName does not
exist, it will be created with the default options.
pathName tag configure tagName ?option? ?value? ?option value ...?
This command is similar to the configure widget command except that it modifies options
associated with the tag given by tagName instead of modifying options for the overall
table widget. If no option is specified, the command returns a list describing all of
the available options for tagName (see Tk_ConfigureInfo for information 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 corresponding sub-list sublist
list of the value returned if no option is specified). If one or more option-value
pairs are specified, then the command modifies the given option(s) to have the given
value(s) in tagName; in this case the command returns an empty string. See TAGS above
for details on the options available for tags.
pathName tag delete tagName
Deletes a tag. No error if the tag does not exist.
pathName tag exists tagName
Returns 1 if the named tag exists, 0 otherwise.
pathName tag includes tagName index
Returns 1 if the specified index has the named tag, 0 otherwise.
pathName tag lower tagName ?belowThis?
Lower the priority of the named tag. If belowThis is not specified, then the tag's
priority is lowered to the bottom, otherwise it is lowered to one below belowThis.
pathName tag names ?pattern?
If no pattern is specified, shows the names of all defined tags. Otherwise the pattern
is used as a glob pattern to show only tags matching that pattern. Tag names are
returned in priority order (highest priority tag first).
pathName tag raise tagName ?aboveThis?
Raise the priority of the named tag. If aboveThis is not specified, then the tag's
priority is raised to the top, otherwise it is raised to one above aboveThis.
pathName tag row tagName ?row ...?
With no arguments, prints out the list of rows that use the tag. Otherwise it sets the
specified columns to use the named tag, replacing any tag that may have been set using
this method before. If tagName is {}, the rows are reset to use the default tag. Tags
added during -rowtagcommand evaluation do not register here. If tagName does not
exist, it will be created with the default options.
pathName validate index
Explicitly validates the specified index based on the current -validatecommand and returns 0
or 1 based on whether the cell was validated.
pathName width ?col? ?value col value ...?
If no col is specified, returns a list describing all cols for which a width has been set. If
col is specified with no value, it prints out the width of that col in characters (positive
number) or pixels (negative number). If one or more col-value pairs are specified, then it
sets each col to be that width in characters (positive number) or pixels (negative number).
If value is default, then the col uses the default width, specified by -colwidth.
pathName window option ?arg arg ...?
This command is used to manipulate embedded windows. The exact behavior of the command
depends on the option argument that follows the window argument. The following forms of the
command are currently supported:
pathName window cget index option
This command returns the current value of the option named option associated with the
window given by index. Option may have any of the values accepted by the window con-figure configure
figure widget command.
pathName window configure index ?option? ?value? ?option value ...?
This command is similar to the configure widget command except that it modifies options
associated with the embedded window given by index instead of modifying options for the
overall table widget. If no option is specified, the command returns a list describing
all of the available options for index (see Tk_ConfigureInfo for information 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 corresponding
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 option(s) to have the given
value(s) in index; in this case the command returns an empty string. See EMBEDDED WIN-DOWS WINDOWS
DOWS above for details on the options available for windows.
pathName window delete index ?index ...?
Deletes an embedded window from the table. The associated window will also be deleted.
pathName window move indexFrom indexTo
Moves an embedded window from one cell to another. If a window already exists in the
target cell, it will be deleted.
pathName window names ?pattern?
If no pattern is specified, shows the cells of all embedded windows. Otherwise the
pattern is used as a glob pattern to show only cells matching that pattern.
pathName xview args
This command is used to query and change the horizontal position of the information 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 table'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 column given by index is displayed at the
left edge of the window.
pathName xview moveto fraction
Adjusts the view in the window so that fraction of the total width of the table text is
off-screen to the left. 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 cells on the
display; if it is pages then the view adjusts by number screenfuls. If number is nega-tive negative
tive then cells farther to the left become visible; if it is positive then cells far-ther farther
ther to the right become visible.
pathName yview ?args?
This command is used to query and change the vertical position of the text in the widget's
window. It can take any of the following forms:
pathName yview
Returns a list containing two elements, both of which are real fractions between 0 and
1. The first element gives the position of the table element at the top of the window,
relative to the table as a whole (0.5 means it is halfway through the table, for exam-ple). example).
ple). The second element gives the position of the table element just after the last
one in the window, relative to the table as a whole. These are the same values passed
to scrollbars via the -yscrollcommand option.
pathName yview index
Adjusts the view in the window so that the row given by index is displayed at the top
of the window.
pathName yview moveto fraction
Adjusts the view in the window so that the element given by fraction appears at the top
of the window. Fraction is a fraction between 0 and 1; 0 indicates the first element
in the table, 0.33 indicates the element one-third the way through the table, and so
on.
pathName yview scroll number what
This command adjusts the view in the window up or down according to number and what.
Number must be an integer. What must be either units or pages. If what is units, the
view adjusts up or down by number cells; if it is pages then the view adjusts by number
screenfuls. If number is negative then earlier elements become visible; if it is posi-tive positive
tive then later elements become visible.
DEFAULT BINDINGS
The initialization creates class bindings that give the following default behaviour:
[1] Clicking Button-1 in a cell activates that cell. Clicking into an already active cell moves
the insertion cursor to the character nearest the mouse.
[2] Moving the mouse while Button-1 is pressed will stroke out a selection area. Exiting while
Button-1 is pressed causing scanning to occur on the table along with selection.
[3] Moving the mouse while Button-2 is pressed causes scanning to occur without any selection.
[4] Home moves the table to have the origin in view.
[5] End moves the table to have the end cell in view.
[6] Control-Home moves the table to the origin and activates that cell.
[7] Control-End moves the table to the end and activates that cell.
[8] Shift-Control-Home extends the selection to the origin.
[9] Shift-Control-End extends the selection to the end.
[10] The left, right, up and down arrows move the active cell.
[11] Shift-<arrow> extends the selection in that direction.
[12] Control-leftarrow and Control-rightarrow move the insertion cursor within the cell.
[13] Control-slash selects all the cells.
[14] Control-backslash clears selection from all the cells.
[15] Backspace deletes the character before the insertion cursor in the active cell.
[16] Delete deletes the character after the insertion cursor in the active cell.
[17] Escape rereads the value of the active cell from the specified data source, discarding any
edits that have may been performed on the cell.
[18] Control-a moves the insertion cursor to the beginning of the active cell.
[19] Control-e moves the insertion cursor to the end of the active cell.
[20] Control-minus and Control-equals decrease and increase the width of the column with the active
cell in it.
[21] Moving the mouse while Button-3 (the right button on Windows) is pressed while you are over a
border will cause interactive resizing of that row and/or column to occur, based on the value
of -resizeborders.
Some bindings may have slightly different behavior dependent on the -selectionmode of the widget.
If the widget is disabled using the -state option, then its view can still be adjusted and cells can
still be selected, but no insertion cursor will be displayed and no cell modifications will take
place.
The behavior of tables can be changed by defining new bindings for individual widgets or by redefin-ing redefining
ing the class bindings. The default bindings are either compiled in or read from a file expected to
correspond to: "[lindex $tcl_pkgPath 0]/Tktable<version>/tkTable.tcl".
PERFORMANCE ISSUES
The number of rows and columns or a table widget should not significantly affect the speed of redraw.
Recalculation and redraw of table parameters and cells is restricted as much as possible.
The display cell with the insert cursor is redrawn each time the cursor blinks, which causes a steady
stream of graphics traffic. Set the -insertofftime option to 0 avoid this. The use of a -command
with the table without a cache can cause significant slow-down, as the command is called once for
each request of a cell value.
EXAMPLES
Set the topleft title area to be one spanning cell. This overestimates both row and column span by
one, but the command does all the constraining for us.
$table span [$table cget -roworigin],[$table cget -colorigin] [$table cget -titlerows],[$table cget -titlecols]
Force a table window refresh (useful for the slight chance that a bug in the table is not causing
proper refresh):
$table configure -padx [$table cget -padx]
KEYWORDS
table, widget, extension
Tk 2.8 table(n)
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