NAME
menubutton - Create and manipulate menubutton widgets
SYNOPSIS
menubutton pathName ?options?
STANDARD OPTIONS
-activebackground -cursor -highlightthickness-takefocus
-activeforeground -disabledforeground-image-text
-anchor -font -justify -textvariable
-background -foreground -padx -underline
-bitmap -highlightbackground -pady-wraplength
-borderwidth -highlightcolor -relief
See the options manual entry for details on the standard
options.
WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
Command-Line Name:-height
Database Name: height
Database Class: Height
Specifies a desired height for the menubutton. If
an image or bitmap is being displayed in the
menubutton then the value is in screen units (i.e.
any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels); for
text it is in lines of text. If this option isn't
specified, the menubutton's desired height is com-
puted from the size of the image or bitmap or text
being displayed in it.
Command-Line Name:-indicatoron
Database Name: indicatorOn
Database Class: IndicatorOn
The value must be a proper boolean value. If it is
true then a small indicator rectangle will be dis-
played on the right side of the menubutton and the
default menu bindings will treat this as an option
menubutton. If false then no indicator will be
displayed.
Command-Line Name:-menu
Database Name: menu
Database Class: MenuName
Specifies the path name of the menu associated with
this menubutton. The menu must be a child of the
menubutton.
Command-Line Name:-state
Specifies one of three states for the menubutton:
normal, active, or disabled. In normal state the
menubutton is displayed using the foreground and
background options. The active state is typically
used when the pointer is over the menubutton. In
active state the menubutton is displayed using the
activeForeground and activeBackground options.
Disabled state means that the menubutton should be
insensitive: the default bindings will refuse to
activate the widget and will ignore mouse button
presses. In this state the disabledForeground and
background options determine how the button is dis-
played.
Command-Line Name:-width
Database Name: width
Database Class: Width
Specifies a desired width for the menubutton. If
an image or bitmap is being displayed in the
menubutton then the value is in screen units (i.e.
any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels); for
text it is in characters. If this option isn't
specified, the menubutton's desired width is com-
puted from the size of the image or bitmap or text
being displayed in it.
_________________________________________________________________
INTRODUCTION
The menubutton command creates a new window (given by the
pathName argument) and makes it into a menubutton widget.
Additional options, described above, may be specified on
the command line or in the option database to configure
aspects of the menubutton such as its colors, font, text,
and initial relief. The menubutton command returns its
pathName argument. At the time this command is invoked,
there must not exist a window named pathName, but path-
Name's parent must exist.
A menubutton is a widget that displays a textual string,
bitmap, or image and is associated with a menu widget. If
text is displayed, it must all be in a single font, but it
can occupy multiple lines on the screen (if it contains
newlines or if wrapping occurs because of the wrapLength
option) and one of the characters may optionally be under-
lined using the underline option. In normal usage, press-
ing mouse button 1 over the menubutton causes the associ-
ated menu to be posted just underneath the menubutton. If
the mouse is moved over the menu before releasing the
mouse button, the button release causes the underlying
Menubuttons are typically organized into groups called
menu bars that allow scanning: if the mouse button is
pressed over one menubutton (causing it to post its menu)
and the mouse is moved over another menubutton in the same
menu bar without releasing the mouse button, then the menu
of the first menubutton is unposted and the menu of the
new menubutton is posted instead.
There are several interactions between menubuttons and
menus; see the menu manual entry for information on vari-
ous menu configurations, such as pulldown menus and option
menus.
WIDGET COMMAND
The menubutton command creates a new Tcl command whose
name is pathName. This command may be used to invoke var-
ious operations on the widget. It has the following gen-
eral form:
pathName option ?arg arg ...?
Option and the args determine the exact behavior of the
command. The following commands are possible for menubut-
ton widgets:
pathName cget option
Returns the current value of the configuration
option given by option. Option may have any of the
values accepted by the menubutton 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 path-
Name (see Tk_ConfigureInfo for information on the
format of this list). If option is specified with
no value, then the command returns a list describ-
ing the one named option (this list will be identi-
cal 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 widget option(s) to have
the given value(s); in this case the command
returns an empty string. Option may have any of
the values accepted by the menubutton command.
DEFAULT BINDINGS
Tk automatically creates class bindings for menubuttons
that give them the following default behavior:
[1] A menubutton activates whenever the mouse passes
[2] Pressing mouse button 1 over a menubutton posts the
menubutton: its relief changes to raised and its
associated menu is posted under the menubutton. If
the mouse is dragged down into the menu with the
button still down, and if the mouse button is then
released over an entry in the menu, the menubutton
is unposted and the menu entry is invoked.
[3] If button 1 is pressed over a menubutton and then
released over that menubutton, the menubutton stays
posted: you can still move the mouse over the menu
and click button 1 on an entry to invoke it. Once
a menu entry has been invoked, the menubutton
unposts itself.
[4] If button 1 is pressed over a menubutton and then
dragged over some other menubutton, the original
menubutton unposts itself and the new menubutton
posts.
[5] If button 1 is pressed over a menubutton and
released outside any menubutton or menu, the
menubutton unposts without invoking any menu entry.
[6] When a menubutton is posted, its associated menu
claims the input focus to allow keyboard traversal
of the menu and its submenus. See the menu manual
entry for details on these bindings.
[7] If the underline option has been specified for a
menubutton then keyboard traversal may be used to
post the menubutton: Alt+x, where x is the under-
lined character (or its lower-case or upper-case
equivalent), may be typed in any window under the
menubutton's toplevel to post the menubutton.
[8] The F10 key may be typed in any window to post the
first menubutton under its toplevel window that
isn't disabled.
[9] If a menubutton has the input focus, the space and
return keys post the menubutton.
If the menubutton's state is disabled then none of the
above actions occur: the menubutton is completely non-
responsive.
The behavior of menubuttons can be changed by defining new
bindings for individual widgets or by redefining the class
bindings.
menubutton, widget