Provided by: tk8.6-doc_8.6.14-1build1_all bug

NAME

       entry - Create and manipulate 'entry' one-line text 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  window.  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 different  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.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

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 window.  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 interacting 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 (validateCommand)
       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.

       focusout  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 value of the  -validatecommand  and
       -invalidcommand  options, 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  if the edit is allowed.  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 prior to editing.

       %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 options 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 -validatecommand 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 -validate 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 subcommand ?arg arg ...?
       Subcommand and the args determine the exact behavior of the command.

   INDICES
       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 equivalent 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 is not 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 is not 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 character in the window.

       Abbreviations may be used for any of the forms above, e.g.  “e” or “sel.f”.   In  general,
       out-of-range indices are automatically rounded to the nearest legal value.

   SUBCOMMANDS
       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  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 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 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  is  not  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 is not  currently  in
                     the entry, then a new selection is created to include the characters between
                     index and the most recent selection anchor  point,  inclusive.   Returns  an
                     empty string.

              pathName selection clear
                     Clear  the selection if it is currently in this widget.  If the selection is
                     not 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.
                     Does not 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 is not in
                     this widget then a new selection is created using  the  most  recent  anchor
                     point specified for the widget.  Returns an empty string.

       pathName validate
              This  command is used to force an evaluation of the -validatecommand independent of
              the conditions 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 “_” characters, 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  insertion  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  the  middle  mouse  button
              (button  2,  or  button 3 in TkAqua). If the middle mouse button 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 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,
              respectively.  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 do not 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  modifications 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 redefining the class bindings.

SEE ALSO

       ttk::entry(3tk)

KEYWORDS

       entry, widget