NAME

       Tk::getOpenFile, Tk::getSaveFile - pop up a dialog box for the user to select a file to open or save.

SYNOPSIS

           $widget->getOpenFile(?-option=>value, ...>?)

           $widget->getSaveFile(?-option=>value, ...>?)

DESCRIPTION

       The methods getOpenFile and getSaveFile pop up a dialog box for the user to select a file to open or
       save.

       The getOpenFile method is usually associated with the Open command in the File menu.  Its purpose is for
       the user to select an existing file only.  If the user enters an non-existent file, the dialog box gives
       the user an error prompt and requires the user to give an alternative selection. If an application allows
       the user to create new files, it should do so by providing a separate New menu command.

       The getSaveFile method is usually associated with the Save as command in the File menu. If the user
       enters a file that already exists, the dialog box prompts the user for confirmation whether the existing
       file should be overwritten or not.

       If the user selects a file, both getOpenFile and getSaveFile return the full pathname of this file. If
       the user cancels the operation, both commands return an undefined value.

       The following option-value pairs are possible as command line arguments to these two commands:

       -defaultextension => extension
           Specifies  a  string  that  will be appended to the filename if the user enters a filename without an
           extension. The default value is the empty string, which means no extension will be  appended  to  the
           filename  in  any  case.  This  option  is  ignored on the Macintosh platform, which does not require
           extensions to filenames, and the UNIX implementation guesses reasonable values  for   this  from  the
           -filetypes option when this is not supplied.

       -filetypes => [filePattern ?, ...?]
           If  a  File types listbox exists in the file dialog on the particular platform, this option gives the
           filetypes in this listbox. When the user choose a filetype in the listbox, only  the  files  of  that
           type  are  listed.  If  this option is unspecified, or if it is set to the empty list, or if the File
           types listbox is not supported by the particular platform then all files  are  listed  regardless  of
           their types. See "SPECIFYING FILE PATTERNS" below for a discussion on the contents of filePatterns.

       -initialdir => directory
           Specifies  that the files in directory should be displayed when the dialog pops up. If this parameter
           is not specified, then the files in the current working directory are displayed.  This option may not
           always work on the Macintosh.  This is not a bug.  Rather, the General Controls control panel on  the
           Mac allows the end user to override the application default directory.

       -initialfile => filename
           Specifies  a  filename  to  be displayed in the dialog when it pops up. This option is ignored by the
           getOpenFile method.

       -multiple
           Allows the user to choose multiple files from the Open  dialog.   On  the  Macintosh,  this  is  only
           available when Navigation Services are installed.

       -message => string
           Specifies  a  message  to  include  in  the  client area of the dialog. This is only available on the
           Macintosh, and only when Navigation Services are installed.

       -title => titleString
           Specifies a string to display as the title of the dialog box. If this option is not specified, then a
           default title is displayed. This option is ignored on the Macintosh platform.

SPECIFYING FILE PATTERNS

       The filePatterns given by the -filetypes option are a list of file patterns. Each file pattern is a  list
       of the form

        typeName [extension ?extension ...?] ?[macType ?macType ...?]?

       typeName  is the name of the file type described by this file pattern and is the text string that appears
       in the File types listbox. extension is a file extension for this  file  pattern.   macType  is  a  four-
       character  Macintosh file type. The list of macTypes is optional and may be omitted for applications that
       do not need to execute on the Macintosh platform.

       Several file patterns may have the same typeName, in which case they refer to  the  same  file  type  and
       share  the  same  entry in the listbox. When the user selects an entry in the listbox, all the files that
       match at least one of the file patterns corresponding to  that  entry  are  listed.  Usually,  each  file
       pattern  corresponds  to  a distinct type of file. The use of more than one file patterns for one type of
       file is necessary on the Macintosh platform only.

       On the Macintosh platform, a file matches a file pattern  if  its  name  matches  at  least  one  of  the
       extension(s)  AND  it  belongs  to at least one of the macType(s) of the file pattern. For example, the C
       Source Files file pattern in the sample code matches with files that have a \.c extension AND  belong  to
       the macType TEXT. To use the OR rule instead, you can use two file patterns, one with the extensions only
       and the other with the macType only. The GIF Files file type in the sample code matches files that EITHER
       have a \.gif extension OR belong to the macType GIFF.

       On  the  Unix and Windows platforms, a file matches a file pattern if its name matches at at least one of
       the extension(s) of the file pattern. The macTypes are ignored.

SPECIFYING EXTENSIONS

       On the Unix and Macintosh platforms, extensions are matched using glob-style  pattern  matching.  On  the
       Windows  platforms,  extensions  are  matched  by  the underlying operating system. The types of possible
       extensions are: (1) the special extension * matches any file; (2) the special extension  ""  matches  any
       files  that  do  not  have  an  extension  (i.e.,  the filename contains no full stop character); (3) any
       character string that does not contain any wild card characters (* and ?).

       Due to the different pattern matching rules on the various platforms, to ensure  portability,  wild  card
       characters  are not allowed in the extensions, except as in the special extension *. Extensions without a
       full stop character (e.g, ~) are allowed but may not work on all platforms.

CAVEATS

       See "CAVEATS" in Tk::chooseDirectory.

EXAMPLE

        my $types = [
            ['Text Files',       ['.txt', '.text']],
            ['TCL Scripts',      '.tcl'           ],
            ['C Source Files',   '.c',      'TEXT'],
            ['GIF Files',        '.gif',          ],
            ['GIF Files',        '',        'GIFF'],
            ['All Files',        '*',             ],
        ];
        my $filename = $widget->getOpenFile(-filetypes=>$types);

        if ($filename ne "") {
            # Open the file ...
        }

SEE ALSO

       Tk::FBox, Tk::FileSelect

KEYWORDS

       file selection dialog

perl v5.30.0                                       2019-10-18                                   getOpenFile(3pm)