Provided by: tk8.6-doc_8.6.13-2_all 
NAME
Tk_CreateItemType, Tk_GetItemTypes - define new kind of canvas item
SYNOPSIS
#include <tk.h>
Tk_CreateItemType(typePtr)
Tk_ItemType *
Tk_GetItemTypes()
ARGUMENTS
Tk_ItemType *typePtr (in) Structure that defines the new type of canvas item.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
INTRODUCTION
Tk_CreateItemType is invoked to define a new kind of canvas item described by the typePtr
argument. An item type corresponds to a particular value of the type argument to the
create widget command for canvases, and the code that implements a canvas item type is
called a type manager. Tk defines several built-in item types, such as rectangle and text
and image, but Tk_CreateItemType allows additional item types to be defined. Once
Tk_CreateItemType returns, the new item type may be used in new or existing canvas widgets
just like the built-in item types.
Tk_GetItemTypes returns a pointer to the first in the list of all item types currently
defined for canvases. The entries in the list are linked together through their nextPtr
fields, with the end of the list marked by a NULL nextPtr.
You may find it easier to understand the rest of this manual entry by looking at the code
for an existing canvas item type such as bitmap (in the file tkCanvBmap.c) or text
(tkCanvText.c). The easiest way to create a new type manager is to copy the code for an
existing type and modify it for the new type.
Tk provides a number of utility procedures for the use of canvas type managers, such as
Tk_CanvasCoords and Tk_CanvasPsColor; these are described in separate manual entries.
DATA STRUCTURES
A type manager consists of a collection of procedures that provide a standard set of
operations on items of that type. The type manager deals with three kinds of data
structures. The first data structure is a Tk_ItemType; it contains information such as
the name of the type and pointers to the standard procedures implemented by the type
manager:
typedef struct Tk_ItemType {
const char *name;
int itemSize;
Tk_ItemCreateProc *createProc;
const Tk_ConfigSpec *configSpecs;
Tk_ItemConfigureProc *configProc;
Tk_ItemCoordProc *coordProc;
Tk_ItemDeleteProc *deleteProc;
Tk_ItemDisplayProc *displayProc;
int alwaysRedraw;
Tk_ItemPointProc *pointProc;
Tk_ItemAreaProc *areaProc;
Tk_ItemPostscriptProc *postscriptProc;
Tk_ItemScaleProc *scaleProc;
Tk_ItemTranslateProc *translateProc;
Tk_ItemIndexProc *indexProc;
Tk_ItemCursorProc *icursorProc;
Tk_ItemSelectionProc *selectionProc;
Tk_ItemInsertProc *insertProc;
Tk_ItemDCharsProc *dCharsProc;
Tk_ItemType *nextPtr;
} Tk_ItemType;
The fields of a Tk_ItemType structure are described in more detail later in this manual
entry. When Tk_CreateItemType is called, its typePtr argument must point to a structure
with all of the fields initialized except nextPtr, which Tk sets to link all the types
together into a list. The structure must be in permanent memory (either statically
allocated or dynamically allocated but never freed); Tk retains a pointer to this
structure.
The second data structure manipulated by a type manager is an item record. For each item
in a canvas there exists one item record. All of the items of a given type generally have
item records with the same structure, but different types usually have different formats
for their item records. The first part of each item record is a header with a standard
structure defined by Tk via the type Tk_Item; the rest of the item record is defined by
the type manager. A type manager must define its item records with a Tk_Item as the first
field. For example, the item record for bitmap items is defined as follows:
typedef struct BitmapItem {
Tk_Item header;
double x, y;
Tk_Anchor anchor;
Pixmap bitmap;
XColor *fgColor;
XColor *bgColor;
GC gc;
} BitmapItem;
The header substructure contains information used by Tk to manage the item, such as its
identifier, its tags, its type, and its bounding box. The fields starting with x belong
to the type manager: Tk will never read or write them. The type manager should not need
to read or write any of the fields in the header except for four fields whose names are
x1, y1, x2, and y2. These fields give a bounding box for the items using integer canvas
coordinates: the item should not cover any pixels with x-coordinate lower than x1 or y-
coordinate lower than y1, nor should it cover any pixels with x-coordinate greater than or
equal to x2 or y-coordinate greater than or equal to y2. It is up to the type manager to
keep the bounding box up to date as the item is moved and reconfigured.
Whenever Tk calls a procedure in a type manager it passes in a pointer to an item record.
The argument is always passed as a pointer to a Tk_Item; the type manager will typically
cast this into a pointer to its own specific type, such as BitmapItem.
The third data structure used by type managers has type Tk_Canvas; it serves as an opaque
handle for the canvas widget as a whole. Type managers need not know anything about the
contents of this structure. A Tk_Canvas handle is typically passed in to the procedures
of a type manager, and the type manager can pass the handle back to library procedures
such as Tk_CanvasTkwin to fetch information about the canvas.
TK_ITEMTYPE FIELDS
NAME
This section and the ones that follow describe each of the fields in a Tk_ItemType
structure in detail. The name field provides a string name for the item type. Once
Tk_CreateImageType returns, this name may be used in create widget commands to create
items of the new type. If there already existed an item type by this name then the new
item type replaces the old one.
FLAGS (IN ALWAYSREDRAW)
The typePtr->alwaysRedraw field (so named for historic reasons) contains a collection of
flag bits that modify how the canvas core interacts with the item. The following bits are
defined:
1 Indicates that the item should always be redrawn when any part of the canvas is
redrawn, rather than only when the bounding box of the item overlaps the area being
redrawn. This is used by window items, for example, which need to unmap subwindows
that are not on the screen.
TK_CONFIG_OBJS
Indicates that operations which would otherwise take a string (or array of strings)
actually take a Tcl_Obj reference (or an array of such references). The operations
to which this applies are the configProc, the coordProc, the createProc, the
indexProc and the insertProc.
TK_MOVABLE_POINTS
Indicates that the item supports the dCharsProc, indexProc and insertProc with the │
same semantics as Tk's built-in line and polygon types, and that hence individual │
coordinate points can be moved. Must not be set if any of the above methods is │
NULL.
ITEMSIZE
typePtr->itemSize gives the size in bytes of item records of this type, including the
Tk_Item header. Tk uses this size to allocate memory space for items of the type. All of
the item records for a given type must have the same size. If variable length fields are
needed for an item (such as a list of points for a polygon), the type manager can allocate
a separate object of variable length and keep a pointer to it in the item record.
CREATEPROC
typePtr->createProc points to a procedure for Tk to call whenever a new item of this type
is created. typePtr->createProc must match the following prototype:
typedef int Tk_ItemCreateProc(
Tcl_Interp *interp,
Tk_Canvas canvas,
Tk_Item *itemPtr,
int objc,
Tcl_Obj *const objv[]);
The interp argument is the interpreter in which the canvas's create widget command was
invoked, and canvas is a handle for the canvas widget. itemPtr is a pointer to a newly-
allocated item of size typePtr->itemSize. Tk has already initialized the item's header
(the first sizeof(Tk_ItemType) bytes). The objc and objv arguments describe all of the
arguments to the create command after the type argument. Note that if TK_CONFIG_OBJS is
not set in the typePtr->alwaysRedraw field, the objv parameter will actually contain a
pointer to an array of constant strings. For example, in the widget command:
.c create rectangle 10 20 50 50 -fill black
objc will be 6 and objv[0] will contain the integer object 10.
createProc should use objc and objv to initialize the type-specific parts of the item
record and set an initial value for the bounding box in the item's header. It should
return a standard Tcl completion code and leave an error message in the interpreter result
if an error occurs. If an error occurs Tk will free the item record, so createProc must
be sure to leave the item record in a clean state if it returns an error (e.g., it must
free any additional memory that it allocated for the item).
CONFIGSPECS
Each type manager must provide a standard table describing its configuration options, in a
form suitable for use with Tk_ConfigureWidget. This table will normally be used by
typePtr->createProc and typePtr->configProc, but Tk also uses it directly to retrieve
option information in the itemcget and itemconfigure widget commands.
typePtr->configSpecs must point to the configuration table for this type. Note: Tk
provides a custom option type tk_CanvasTagsOption for implementing the -tags option; see
an existing type manager for an example of how to use it in configSpecs.
CONFIGPROC
typePtr->configProc is called by Tk whenever the itemconfigure widget command is invoked
to change the configuration options for a canvas item. This procedure must match the
following prototype:
typedef int Tk_ItemConfigureProc(
Tcl_Interp *interp,
Tk_Canvas canvas,
Tk_Item *itemPtr,
int objc,
Tcl_Obj *const objv[],
int flags);
The interp argument identifies the interpreter in which the widget command was invoked,
canvas is a handle for the canvas widget, and itemPtr is a pointer to the item being
configured. objc and objv contain the configuration options. Note that if TK_CONFIG_OBJS
is not set in the typePtr->alwaysRedraw field, the objv parameter will actually contain a
pointer to an array of constant strings. For example, if the following command is
invoked:
.c itemconfigure 2 -fill red -outline black
objc is 4 and objv contains the string objects -fill through black. objc will always be
an even value. The flags argument contains flags to pass to Tk_ConfigureWidget; currently
this value is always TK_CONFIG_ARGV_ONLY when Tk invokes typePtr->configProc, but the type
manager's createProc procedure will usually invoke configProc with different flag values.
typePtr->configProc returns a standard Tcl completion code and leaves an error message in
the interpreter result if an error occurs. It must update the item's bounding box to
reflect the new configuration options.
COORDPROC
typePtr->coordProc is invoked by Tk to implement the coords widget command for an item.
It must match the following prototype:
typedef int Tk_ItemCoordProc(
Tcl_Interp *interp,
Tk_Canvas canvas,
Tk_Item *itemPtr,
int objc,
Tcl_Obj *const objv[]);
The arguments interp, canvas, and itemPtr all have the standard meanings, and objc and
objv describe the coordinate arguments. Note that if TK_CONFIG_OBJS is not set in the
typePtr->alwaysRedraw field, the objv parameter will actually contain a pointer to an
array of constant strings. For example, if the following widget command is invoked:
.c coords 2 30 90
objc will be 2 and objv will contain the integer objects 30 and 90.
The coordProc procedure should process the new coordinates, update the item appropriately
(e.g., it must reset the bounding box in the item's header), and return a standard Tcl
completion code. If an error occurs, coordProc must leave an error message in the
interpreter result.
DELETEPROC
typePtr->deleteProc is invoked by Tk to delete an item and free any resources allocated to
it. It must match the following prototype:
typedef void Tk_ItemDeleteProc(
Tk_Canvas canvas,
Tk_Item *itemPtr,
Display *display);
The canvas and itemPtr arguments have the usual interpretations, and display identifies
the X display containing the canvas. deleteProc must free up any resources allocated for
the item, so that Tk can free the item record. deleteProc should not actually free the
item record; this will be done by Tk when deleteProc returns.
DISPLAYPROC
typePtr->displayProc is invoked by Tk to redraw an item on the screen. It must match the
following prototype:
typedef void Tk_ItemDisplayProc(
Tk_Canvas canvas,
Tk_Item *itemPtr,
Display *display,
Drawable dst,
int x,
int y,
int width,
int height);
The canvas and itemPtr arguments have the usual meaning. display identifies the display
containing the canvas, and dst specifies a drawable in which the item should be rendered;
typically this is an off-screen pixmap, which Tk will copy into the canvas's window once
all relevant items have been drawn. x, y, width, and height specify a rectangular region
in canvas coordinates, which is the area to be redrawn; only information that overlaps
this area needs to be redrawn. Tk will not call displayProc unless the item's bounding
box overlaps the redraw area, but the type manager may wish to use the redraw area to
optimize the redisplay of the item.
Because of scrolling and the use of off-screen pixmaps for double-buffered redisplay, the
item's coordinates in dst will not necessarily be the same as those in the canvas.
displayProc should call Tk_CanvasDrawableCoords to transform coordinates from those of the
canvas to those of dst.
Normally an item's displayProc is only invoked if the item overlaps the area being
displayed. However, if bit zero of typePtr->alwaysRedraw is 1, (i.e.
“typePtr->alwaysRedraw & 1 == 1”) then displayProc is invoked during every redisplay
operation, even if the item does not overlap the area of redisplay; this is useful for
cases such as window items, where the subwindow needs to be unmapped when it is off the
screen.
POINTPROC
typePtr->pointProc is invoked by Tk to find out how close a given point is to a canvas
item. Tk uses this procedure for purposes such as locating the item under the mouse or
finding the closest item to a given point. The procedure must match the following
prototype:
typedef double Tk_ItemPointProc(
Tk_Canvas canvas,
Tk_Item *itemPtr,
double *pointPtr);
canvas and itemPtr have the usual meaning. pointPtr points to an array of two numbers
giving the x and y coordinates of a point. pointProc must return a real value giving the
distance from the point to the item, or 0 if the point lies inside the item.
AREAPROC
typePtr->areaProc is invoked by Tk to find out the relationship between an item and a
rectangular area. It must match the following prototype:
typedef int Tk_ItemAreaProc(
Tk_Canvas canvas,
Tk_Item *itemPtr,
double *rectPtr);
canvas and itemPtr have the usual meaning. rectPtr points to an array of four real
numbers; the first two give the x and y coordinates of the upper left corner of a
rectangle, and the second two give the x and y coordinates of the lower right corner.
areaProc must return -1 if the item lies entirely outside the given area, 0 if it lies
partially inside and partially outside the area, and 1 if it lies entirely inside the
area.
POSTSCRIPTPROC
typePtr->postscriptProc is invoked by Tk to generate Postscript for an item during the
postscript widget command. If the type manager is not capable of generating Postscript
then typePtr->postscriptProc should be NULL. The procedure must match the following
prototype:
typedef int Tk_ItemPostscriptProc(
Tcl_Interp *interp,
Tk_Canvas canvas,
Tk_Item *itemPtr,
int prepass);
The interp, canvas, and itemPtr arguments all have standard meanings; prepass will be
described below. If postscriptProc completes successfully, it should append Postscript
for the item to the information in the interpreter result (e.g. by calling
Tcl_AppendResult, not Tcl_SetResult) and return TCL_OK. If an error occurs,
postscriptProc should clear the result and replace its contents with an error message;
then it should return TCL_ERROR.
Tk provides a collection of utility procedures to simplify postscriptProc. For example,
Tk_CanvasPsColor will generate Postscript to set the current color to a given Tk color and
Tk_CanvasPsFont will set up font information. When generating Postscript, the type
manager is free to change the graphics state of the Postscript interpreter, since Tk
places gsave and grestore commands around the Postscript for the item. The type manager
can use canvas x coordinates directly in its Postscript, but it must call Tk_CanvasPsY to
convert y coordinates from the space of the canvas (where the origin is at the upper left)
to the space of Postscript (where the origin is at the lower left).
In order to generate Postscript that complies with the Adobe Document Structuring
Conventions, Tk actually generates Postscript in two passes. It calls each item's
postscriptProc in each pass. The only purpose of the first pass is to collect font
information (which is done by Tk_CanvasPsFont); the actual Postscript is discarded. Tk
sets the prepass argument to postscriptProc to 1 during the first pass; the type manager
can use prepass to skip all Postscript generation except for calls to Tk_CanvasPsFont.
During the second pass prepass will be 0, so the type manager must generate complete
Postscript.
SCALEPROC
typePtr->scaleProc is invoked by Tk to rescale a canvas item during the scale widget
command. The procedure must match the following prototype:
typedef void Tk_ItemScaleProc(
Tk_Canvas canvas,
Tk_Item *itemPtr,
double originX,
double originY,
double scaleX,
double scaleY);
The canvas and itemPtr arguments have the usual meaning. originX and originY specify an
origin relative to which the item is to be scaled, and scaleX and scaleY give the x and y
scale factors. The item should adjust its coordinates so that a point in the item that
used to have coordinates x and y will have new coordinates x′ and y′, where
x′ = originX + scaleX × (x − originX)
y′ = originY + scaleY × (y − originY)
scaleProc must also update the bounding box in the item's header.
TRANSLATEPROC
typePtr->translateProc is invoked by Tk to translate a canvas item during the move widget
command. The procedure must match the following prototype:
typedef void Tk_ItemTranslateProc(
Tk_Canvas canvas,
Tk_Item *itemPtr,
double deltaX,
double deltaY);
The canvas and itemPtr arguments have the usual meaning, and deltaX and deltaY give the
amounts that should be added to each x and y coordinate within the item. The type manager
should adjust the item's coordinates and update the bounding box in the item's header.
INDEXPROC
typePtr->indexProc is invoked by Tk to translate a string index specification into a
numerical index, for example during the index widget command. It is only relevant for
item types that support indexable text or coordinates; typePtr->indexProc may be specified
as NULL for non-textual item types if they do not support detailed coordinate addressing.
The procedure must match the following prototype:
typedef int Tk_ItemIndexProc(
Tcl_Interp *interp,
Tk_Canvas canvas,
Tk_Item *itemPtr,
Tcl_Obj *indexObj,
int *indexPtr);
The interp, canvas, and itemPtr arguments all have the usual meaning. indexObj contains a
textual description of an index, and indexPtr points to an integer value that should be
filled in with a numerical index. Note that if TK_CONFIG_OBJS is not set in the
typePtr->alwaysRedraw field, the indexObj parameter will actually contain a pointer to a
constant string. It is up to the type manager to decide what forms of index are supported
(e.g., numbers, insert, sel.first, end, etc.). indexProc should return a Tcl completion
code and set the interpreter result in the event of an error.
ICURSORPROC
typePtr->icursorProc is invoked by Tk during the icursor widget command to set the
position of the insertion cursor in a textual item. It is only relevant for item types
that support an insertion cursor; typePtr->icursorProc may be specified as NULL for item
types that do not support an insertion cursor. The procedure must match the following
prototype:
typedef void Tk_ItemCursorProc(
Tk_Canvas canvas,
Tk_Item *itemPtr,
int index);
canvas and itemPtr have the usual meanings, and index is an index into the item's text, as
returned by a previous call to typePtr->insertProc. The type manager should position the
insertion cursor in the item just before the character given by index. Whether or not to
actually display the insertion cursor is determined by other information provided by
Tk_CanvasGetTextInfo.
SELECTIONPROC
typePtr->selectionProc is invoked by Tk during selection retrievals; it must return part
or all of the selected text in the item (if any). It is only relevant for item types that
support text; typePtr->selectionProc may be specified as NULL for non-textual item types.
The procedure must match the following prototype:
typedef int Tk_ItemSelectionProc(
Tk_Canvas canvas,
Tk_Item *itemPtr,
int offset,
char *buffer,
int maxBytes);
canvas and itemPtr have the usual meanings. offset is an offset in bytes into the
selection where 0 refers to the first byte of the selection; it identifies the first
character that is to be returned in this call. buffer points to an area of memory in
which to store the requested bytes, and maxBytes specifies the maximum number of bytes to
return. selectionProc should extract up to maxBytes characters from the selection and
copy them to maxBytes; it should return a count of the number of bytes actually copied,
which may be less than maxBytes if there are not offset+maxBytes bytes in the selection.
INSERTPROC
typePtr->insertProc is invoked by Tk during the insert widget command to insert new text
or coordinates into a canvas item. It is only relevant for item types that support the
insert method; typePtr->insertProc may be specified as NULL for other item types. The
procedure must match the following prototype:
typedef void Tk_ItemInsertProc(
Tk_Canvas canvas,
Tk_Item *itemPtr,
int index,
Tcl_Obj *obj);
canvas and itemPtr have the usual meanings. index is an index into the item's text, as
returned by a previous call to typePtr->insertProc, and obj contains new text to insert
just before the character given by index. Note that if TK_CONFIG_OBJS is not set in the
typePtr->alwaysRedraw field, the obj parameter will actually contain a pointer to a
constant string to be inserted. If the item supports modification of the coordinates list
by this
The type manager should insert the text and recompute the bounding box in the item's
header.
DCHARSPROC
typePtr->dCharsProc is invoked by Tk during the dchars widget command to delete a range of
text from a canvas item or a range of coordinates from a pathed item. It is only relevant
for item types that support text; typePtr->dCharsProc may be specified as NULL for non-
textual item types that do not want to support coordinate deletion. The procedure must
match the following prototype:
typedef void Tk_ItemDCharsProc(
Tk_Canvas canvas,
Tk_Item *itemPtr,
int first,
int last);
canvas and itemPtr have the usual meanings. first and last give the indices of the first
and last bytes to be deleted, as returned by previous calls to typePtr->indexProc. The
type manager should delete the specified characters and update the bounding box in the
item's header.
SEE ALSO
Tk_CanvasPsY, Tk_CanvasTextInfo, Tk_CanvasTkwin
KEYWORDS
canvas, focus, item type, selection, type manager