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NAME

       table - Arranges widgets in a table

SYNOPSIS

       table container ?widget index option value?...

       table arrange container

       table cget container ?item? option

       table configure container ?item?... ?option value?...

       table extents container item

       table forget widget ?widget?...

       table info container item

       table locate container x y

       table containers ?switch? ?arg?

       table save container

       table search container ?switch arg?...
_________________________________________________________________

DESCRIPTION

       The  table  command  arranges widgets in a table.  The alignment of widgets is detemined by their row and
       column positions and the number of rows or columns that they span.

INTRODUCTION

       Probably the most painstaking aspect of building a graphical application is  getting  the  placement  and
       size  of  the  widgets  just  right.   It usually takes many iterations to align widgets and adjust their
       spacing.  That's because managing the geometry of widgets is simply  not  a  packing  problem,  but  also
       graphical  design  problem.   Attributes such as alignment, symmetry, and balance are more important than
       minimizing the amount of space used for packing.

       The table geometry manager arranges widgets in a table.  It's easy to  align  widgets  (horizontally  and
       vertically)  or  to create empty space to balance the arrangement of the widgets.  Widgets (called slaves
       in the Tk parlance) are arranged inside a containing widget (called the master).  Widgets are  positioned
       at  row,column  locations  and may span any number of rows or columns.  More than one widget can occupy a
       single location.

       The placement of widget windows determines both the size and arrangement of the table.  The table queries
       the  requested  size  of  each  widget.  The requested size of a widget is the natural size of the widget
       (before the widget is shrunk or expanded).  The height of each row and the width of each  column  is  the
       largest  widget  spanning  that  row  or column.  The size of the table is in turn the sum of the row and
       column sizes.  This is the table's normal size.

       The total number of rows and columns in a table is determined from  the  indices  specified.   The  table
       grows dynamically as windows are added at larger indices.

EXAMPLE

       The table geometry manager is created by invoking the table command.

              # Create a table in the root window
              table .

       The  window  . is now the container of the table.  Widgets are packed into the table and displayed within
       the confines of the container.

       You add widgets to the table by row and column location.  Row and column indices start from zero.

              label .title -text "This is a title"

              # Add a label to the table
              table . .title 0,0

       The label .title is added to the table.  We can add more widgets in the same way.

              button .ok -text "Ok"
              button .cancel -text "Cancel"

              # Add two buttons
              table . .ok 1,0
              table . .cancel 1,1

       Two buttons .ok and .cancel are now packed into the second row of the table.  They each occupy  one  cell
       of the table.  By default, widgets span only a single row and column.

       The  first  column  contains two widgets, .title and .ok.  By default, the widest of the two widgets will
       define the width of the column.  However, we want .title to be centered horizontally along the top of the
       table.  We can make .title span two columns using the configure operation.

              # Make the label span both columns
              table configure . .title -cspan 2

       The label .title will now be centered along the top row of the table.

       In  the  above  example,  we've  create  and arranged the layout for the table invoking the table command
       several times.  Alternately, we could have used a single table command.

              label .title -text "This is a title"
              button .ok -text "Ok"
              button .cancel -text "Cancel"

              # Create and pack the table
              table . \
                  .title  0,0 -cspan 2 \
                  .ok     1,0 \
                  .cancel 1,1

       The table will override the requested width and height of the container so that the window fits the table
       exactly.   This  also  means  that  any  change to the size of table will be propagated up through the Tk
       window hierarchy.  This feature can be turned off using the configure operation again.

              table configure . -propagate no

       You can also set the width of height of the table to a specific value.  This  supersedes  the  calculated
       table size.

              # Make the container 4 inches wide, 3 inches high
              table configure . -reqwidth 4i -reqheight 3i

       If  a  widget  is smaller than the cell(s) it occupies, the widget will float within the extra space.  By
       default, the widget will be centered within the space, but you can anchor the widget to any side of  cell
       using the -anchor configuration option.

              table configure . .ok -anchor w

       The -fill option expands the widget to fill the extra space either vertically or horizontally (or both).

              # Make the title label fill the entire top row
              table configure . .title -cspan 2 -fill x

              # Each button will be as height of the 2nd row.
              table configure . .ok .cancel -fill y

       The  width  of  .title  will be the combined widths of both columns.  Both .ok and .cancel will become as
       tall as the second row.

       The -padx and -pady options control the amount of padding around the widget.  Both options take a list of
       one or two values.

              # Pad the title by two pixels above and below.
              table configure . .title -pady 2

              # Pad each button 2 pixels on the left, and 4 on the right.
              table configure . .ok .cancel -padx { 2 4 }

       If the list has only one value, then both exterior sides (top and bottom or left and right) of the widget
       are padded by that amount.  If the list has two elements, the first specifies padding for the top or left
       side and the second for the bottom or right side.

       Like the container, you can also override the requested widths and heights of widgets using the -reqwidth
       and -reqheight options.  This is especially useful with character-based widgets (such as buttons, labels,
       text,  listbox,  etc)  that  let you specify their size only in units of characters and lines, instead of
       pixels.

              # Make all buttons one inch wide
              table configure . .ok .cancel -reqwidth 1i

       Each row and column of the table can be configured, again using the configure operation.   Rows  are  and
       columns are designated by Ri and Ci respectively, where i is the index of the row or column.

       For example, you can set the size of a row or column.

              # Make the 1st column 2 inches wide
              table configure . c0 -width 2.0i

              # Make the 2nd row 1/2 inch high.
              table configure . r1 -height 0.5i

       The  new size for the row or column overrides its calculated size.  If no widgets span the row or column,
       its height or width is zero.  So you can use the -width and -height options to create empty spaces in the
       table.

              # Create an empty row and column
              table configure . r2 c2 -width 1i

       The -pady option lets you add padding to the top and bottom sides of rows.  The -padx option adds padding
       to the left and right sides of columns.  Both options take a list of one or two values.

              # Pad above the title by two pixels
              table configure . r0 -pady { 2 0 }

              # Pad each column 4 pixels on the left, and 2 on the right.
              table configure . c* -padx { 2 4 }

       Notice that you can configure all the rows and columns using either R* or C*.

       When the container is resized, the rows and columns of the table are also  resized.   Only  the  rows  or
       columns  that  contain  widgets  (a  widget  spans the row or column) grow or shrink.  The -resize option
       indicates whether the row or column can be shrunk or stretched.  If the  value  is  shrink,  the  row  or
       column  can  only  be  resized  smaller.   If expand, it can only be resized larger.  If none, the row or
       column is frozen at its requested size.

              # Let the 1st column get smaller, but not bigger
              table configure . c0 -resize shrink

              # Let the 2nd column get bigger, not smaller
              table configure . c1 -resize expand

              # Don't resize the first row
              table configure . r0 -resize none

       The following example packs a canvas, two scrollbars, and a title.  The rows and columns  containing  the
       scrollbars  are frozen at their requested size, so that even if the frame is resized, the scrollbars will
       remain the same width.

              table . \
                  .title   0,0 -cspan 3 \
                  .canvas  1,1 -fill both \
                  .vscroll 1,2 -fill y \
                  .hscroll 2,1 -fill x

              # Don't let the scrollbars resize
              table configure . c2 r2 -resize none

              # Create an empty space to balance the scrollbar
              table configure . c0 -width .vscroll

       Note that the value of the -width option is the name of a widget window.  This indicates that  the  width
       of the column should be the same as the requested width of .vscroll.

       Finally, the forget operation removes widgets from the table.

              # Remove the windows from the table
              table forget .quit .frame

       It's  not necessary to specify the container.  The table command determines the container from the widget
       name.

OPERATIONS

       The following operations are available for the table:

       table container ?widget index option value?...
              Adds the widget widget to the table at index.  Index is a row,column position in  the  table.   It
              must  be  in  the  form row,column where row and column are the respective row and column numbers,
              starting from zero (0,0 is the upper leftmost position).  Row  and  column  may  also  be  numeric
              expressions  that  are  recursively  evaluated.   If  a  table doesn't exist for container, one is
              created.  Widget is the path name of the window, that must already exist, to be arranged inside of
              container. Option and value are described in the WIDGET OPTIONS section.

       table arrange container
              Forces  the  table  to  compute its layout immediately.  Normally, the table geometry manager will
              wait until the next idle point, before calculating the size of its  rows  and  columns.   This  is
              useful  for  collecting  the  normal  sizes of rows and columns, that are based upon the requested
              widget sizes.

       table cget container ?item? option
              Returns the current value of the configuration option specific to item given by option.   Item  is
              either  a  row or column index, or the path name of a widget.  Item can be in any form describe in
              the configure operation below. If no item argument is provided, then the configuration  option  is
              for  the  table  itself.  Option may be any one of the options described in the appropiate section
              for item.

       table configure container item... ?option value?...
              Queries or modifies the configuration options specific to item.  If no option is  specified,  this
              command  returns  a  list describing all of the available options for item If the argument item is
              omitted, then the specified configuration options are for the table itself.  Otherwise  item  must
              be  either  a row or column specification, or the path name of a widget.  The following item types
              are available.

              Ci     Specifies the column of container to be configured.  Item must be in the form Cn,  where  i
                     is the index of the column.  See the COLUMN OPTIONS section.

              Ri     Specifies  the  row  of container to be configured. Item must be in the form Ri, where i is
                     the index of the row.  See the ROW OPTIONS section.

              widget Specifies a widget of container to be queried.  Widget is the path name of a widget  packed
                     in container.  See the WIDGET OPTIONS section.

              No argument
                     Specifies  that  the  table  itself  is to be queried.  See the TABLE OPTIONS section for a
                     description of the option-value pairs for the table.

              The option and value pairs are specific to item.  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 this case the command returns the empty string.

       table extents container index
              Queries the location and dimensions of row and columns in the table.  Index can be either a row or
              column  index  or  a  table  index.   Returns a list of the x,y coordinates (upperleft corner) and
              dimensions (width and height) of the cell, row, or column.

       table forget widget ?widget?...
              Requests that widget no longer have its geometry managed.  Widget is the pathname  of  the  window
              currently  managed  by some table. The window will be unmapped so that it no longer appears on the
              screen.  If widget is not currently managed by any table, an error message is returned,  otherwise
              the empty string.

       table info container item
              Returns a list of the current configuration options for item.  The list returned is exactly in the
              form that might be specified to the table command.  It  can  be  used  to  save  and  reset  table
              configurations. Item must be one of the following.

              Ci     Specifies  the  column of container to be queried.  Item must be in the form Cn, where n is
                     the index of the column.

              Ri     Specifies the row of container to be queried. Item must be in the form Ri, where i  is  the
                     index of the row.

              widget Specifies  a widget of container to be queried.  Widget is the path name of a widget packed
                     in container.

              No argument
                     Specifies that the table itself is to be queried.

       table locate container x y
              Returns the table index (row,column) of the cell containing the given screen coordinates.   The  x
              and y arguments represent the x and y coordinates of the sample point to be tested.

       table containers ?switch arg?
              Returns  a  list of all container windows matching a given criteria (using switch and arg).  If no
              switch and arg arguments are given, the names of all container windows (only those using the table
              command) are returned.  The following are valid switches:

              -pattern pattern
                     Returns a list of pathnames of all container windows matching pattern.

              -slave window
                     Returns the name of the container window of table managing window.  Window must be the path
                     name of widget.  If window is not managed by any table, the empty string is returned.

       table search container ?switch arg?...
              Returns the names of all the widgets in container matching the criteria given by switch  and  arg.
              Container  is  name of the container window associated with the table to be searched.  The name of
              the widget is returned if any one switch-arg criteria matches.  If  no  switch-arg  arguments  are
              given, the names of all widgets managed by container are returned.  The following are switches are
              available:

              -pattern pattern
                     Returns the names of any names of the widgets matching pattern.

              -span index
                     Returns the names of widgets that span index. A widget does not need to start at  index  to
                     be  included.  Index must be in the form row,column, where row and column are valid row and
                     column numbers.

              -start index
                     Returns the names of widgets that start at index.  Index must be in  the  form  row,column,
                     where row and column are valid row and column numbers.

TABLE OPTIONS

       To configure the table itself, you omit the item argument when invoking the configure operation.

              table configure container ?option value?...

       The following options are available for the table:

              -padx pad
                     Sets  how  much  padding to add to the left and right exteriors of the table.  Pad can be a
                     list of one or two numbers.  If pad has two elements, the left side of the table is  padded
                     by the first value and the right side by the second value.  If pad has just one value, both
                     the left and right sides are padded evenly by the value.  The default is 0.

              -pady pad
                     Sets how much padding to add to the top and bottom exteriors of the table.  Pad  can  be  a
                     list of one or two numbers.  If pad has two elements, the area above the table is padded by
                     the first value and the area below by the second value.  If pad is just  one  number,  both
                     the top and bottom areas are padded by the value.  The default is 0.

              -propagate boolean
                     Indicates  if  the  table  should  override the requested width and height of the container
                     window.  If boolean is false, container  will  not  be  resized.   Container  will  be  its
                     requested size.  The default is 1.

WIDGET OPTIONS

       widgets are configured by specifying the name of the widget when invoking the configure operation.  table
       configure container widget ?option value?...  Widget must be the path name of a window already packed  in
       the table associated with container.  The following options are available for widgets:

              -anchor anchor
                     Anchors widget to a particular edge of the cell(s) it resides.  This option has effect only
                     if the space of the spans surrounding widget is larger than widget.  Anchor  specifies  how
                     widget  will  be positioned in the space.  For example, if anchor is center then the window
                     is centered in the rows and columns it spans; if anchor  is  w  then  the  window  will  be
                     aligned with the leftmost edge of the span. The default is center.

              -columnspan number
                     Sets the number of columns widget will span.  The default is 1.

              -columncontrol control
                     Specifies how the width of widget should control the width of the columns it spans. Control
                     is either normal, none, or full.  The default is normal.

                     none      The width of widget is not considered.

                     full      Only the width of widget will be considered when  computing  the  widths  of  the
                               columns.

                     normal    Indicates  that the widest widget spanning the column will determine the width of
                               the span.

              -fill fill
                     Specifies if widget should be stretched to fill any free  space  in  the  span  surrounding
                     widget. Fill is either none, x, y, both.  The default is none.

                     x         The widget can grow horizontally.

                     y         The widget can grow vertically.

                     both      The widget can grow both vertically and horizontally.

                     none      The widget does not grow along with the span.

              -ipadx pixels
                     Sets  how  much horizontal padding to add internally on the left and right sides of widget.
                     Pixels must be a valid screen distance like 2 or 0.3i.  The default is 0.

              -ipady pixels
                     Sets how much vertical padding to add internally on the top and bottom of  widget.   Pixels
                     must be a valid screen distance like 2 or 0.3i.  The default is 0.

              -padx pad
                     Sets  how much padding to add to the left and right exteriors of widget.  Pad can be a list
                     of one or two numbers.  If pad has two elements, the left side of widget is padded  by  the
                     first  value  and  the right side by the second value.  If pad has just one value, both the
                     left and right sides are padded evenly by the value.  The default is 0.

              -pady pad
                     Sets how much padding to add to the top and bottom exteriors of widget.  Pad can be a  list
                     of  one  or  two  numbers.  If pad has two elements, the area above widget is padded by the
                     first value and the area below by the second value.  If pad is just one  number,  both  the
                     top and bottom areas are padded by the value.  The default is 0.

              -reqheight height
                     Specifies  the  limits  of  the  requested height for widget.  Height is a list of bounding
                     values.  See the BOUNDING SIZES section for a description of this list.   By  default,  the
                     height of widget is its requested height with its internal padding (see the -ipady option).
                     The bounds specified by height either override the height completely, or bound  the  height
                     between two sizes.  The default is "".

              -reqwidth width
                     Specifies  the  limits  of  the  requested  width  for widget.  Width is a list of bounding
                     values.  See the BOUNDING SIZES section for a description of this list.   By  default,  the
                     width  of  widget is its requested width with its internal padding (set the -ipadx option).
                     The bounds specified by width either override the width completely,  or  bound  the  height
                     between two sizes.  The default is "".

              -rowspan number
                     Sets the number of rows widget will span. The default is 1.

              -rowcontrol control
                     Specifies  how the height of widget should control the height of the rows it spans. Control
                     is either normal, none, or full.  The default is normal.

                     none      The height of widget is not considered.

                     full      Only the height of widget will be considered when computing the  heights  of  the
                               rows.

                     normal    Indicates  that  the tallest widget spanning the row will determine the height of
                               the span.

COLUMN OPTIONS

       To configure a column in the table, specify the column index as Ci, where i is the index of the column to
       be configured.  table configure container Ci ?option value?...  If the index is specified as C*, then all
       columns of the table will be configured.  The following options are available for table columns.

              -padx pad
                     Sets the padding to the left and right of the column.  Pad can be a  list  of  one  or  two
                     numbers.  If pad has two elements, the left side of the column is padded by the first value
                     and the right side by the second value.  If pad has just one value, both the left and right
                     sides are padded evenly by the value.  The default is 0.

              -resize mode
                     Indicates  that  the column can expand or shrink from its requested width when the table is
                     resized.  Mode must be one of the following: none, expand, shrink, or  both.   If  mode  is
                     expand the width of the column is expanded if there is extra space in the container window.
                     If mode is shrink its width may be reduced beyond its  requested  width  if  there  is  not
                     enough space in the container.  The default is none.

              -width width
                     Specifies  the limits within that the width of the column may expand or shrink.  Width is a
                     list of bounding values.  See the section BOUNDING SIZES for a description  of  this  list.
                     By default there are no constraints.

ROW OPTIONS

       To  configure  a  row  in  the  table, specify the row index as Ri, where i is the index of the row to be
       configured.  table configure container Ri ?option value?...  If the index is specified as  R*,  then  all
       rows of the table will be configured.  The following options are available for table rows.

              -height height
                     Specifies  the limits of the height that the row may expand or shrink to.  Height is a list
                     of bounding values.  See the section BOUNDING SIZES for a description  of  this  list.   By
                     default there are no constraints.

              -pady pad
                     Sets the padding above and below the row.  Pad can be a list of one or two numbers.  If pad
                     has two elements, the area above the row is padded by the first value and the area below by
                     the  second  value.  If pad is just one number, both the top and bottom areas are padded by
                     the value.  The default is 0.

              -resize mode
                     Indicates that the row can expand or shrink from its requested height  when  the  table  is
                     resized.   Mode  must  be  one of the following: none, expand, shrink, or both.  If mode is
                     expand the height of the row is expanded if there is extra space in the container. If  mode
                     is  shrink  its  height  may  be reduced beyond its requested height if there is not enough
                     space in the container. The default is none.

BOUNDING SIZES

       Sometimes it's more useful to limit resizes to an acceptable range, than to fix the size to a  particular
       value  or disallow resizing altogether.  Similar to the way the wm command lets you specify a minsize and
       maxsize for a toplevel window, you can bound the sizes the container, a widget, row, or column may  take.
       The -width, -height, -reqwidth, and -reqheight options, take a list of one, two, or three values.  We can
       take a previous example and instead preventing resizing, bound the size of  the  scrollbars  between  two
       values.

              table . \
                  .title   0,0 -cspan 3 \
                  .canvas  1,1 -fill both \
                  .vscroll 1,2 -fill y \
                  .hscroll 2,1 -fill x

              # Bound the scrollbars between 1/8 and 1/2 inch
              table configure . c2 -width { 0.125 0.5 }
              table configure . r2 -height { 0.125 0.5 }
              table configure . vscroll .hscroll -fill both

       The  scrollbars  will get no smaller than 1/8 of an inch, or bigger than 1/2 inch.  The initial size will
       be their requested size, so long as it is within the specified bounds.

       How the elements of the list are interpreted is dependent upon the number of elements in the list.

              {}        Empty list. No bounds are set. The default sizing is performed.

              { x }     Fixes the size to x.  The window or partition cannot grow or shrink.

              { min max }
                        Sets up minimum and maximum limits for the size of the window or partition.  The  window
                        or partition can be reduced less than min, nor can it be stretched beyond max.

              { min max nom }
                        Specifies  minimum and maximum size limits, but also specifies a nominal size nom.  This
                        overrides the calculated size of the window or partition.

MISCELLANEOUS

       Another feature is that you can put two widgets in the same cell of the table.  This is useful  when  you
       want to add decorations around a widget.

              frame .frame -bd 1 -relief sunken
              button .quit -text "Quit"

              # Put both the frame and the button in the same cell.
              table . \
                  .quit  1,0 -padx 2 -pady 2 \
                  .frame 1,0 -fill both

LIMITATIONS

       A long standing bug in Tk (circa 1993), there is no way to detect if a window is already a container of a
       different geometry manager. This is usually done by accident, such  as  the  following  where  all  three
       widgets are arranged in the same container ".", but using different geometry managers.

                  table .f1
                ...
                  pack .f2
                ...
                  grid .f3

       This leads to bizarre window resizing, as each geometry manager applies its own brand of layout policies.
       When the container is a top level window (such as "."), your window  manager  may  become  locked  as  it
       responds to the never-ending stream of resize requests.

KEYWORDS

       frame, geometry manager, location, table, size