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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