Provided by: libmotif-dev_2.3.8-3.1build1_amd64 
NAME
WML — The widget meta-language file format for creating uil compilers "widget meta-language" "WML"
DESCRIPTION
The widget meta-language facility (WML) is used to generate the components of the user interface language
(UIL) compiler that can change depending on the widget set. Using WML you can add support in UIL for new
widgets to the Motif widget set or for a totally new widget set.
File
WML files are ASCII files that you can modify with any standard text editor. They are accessed in the
tools/wml directory by WML. By convention WML files have the suffix .wml. The Motif widget set is
described in the motif.wml file. This is also the default WML file when using the WML facility.
When adding new widgets or changing widget characteristics, you should start with a copy of the motif.wml
file. If you are creating a new widget set for use with UIL, you should start from scratch. In either
case the motif.wml file is a good example of WML syntax, and you should familiarize yourself with it
before writing your own WML file.
WML files have a simple syntax, similar in structure to UIL. It is made up of the following elements:
• Comments
• Data Type Definitions
• Character Set Definitions
• Enumeration Set Definitions
• Control List Definitions
• Class Definitions
• Child Definitions
• Resource Definitions
You can use space, tabs, or newlines anywhere in the syntax, as long as you do not split up keywords or
strings, except that comments end at a newline. The order of elements is not important to the syntax.
This description uses the following additional conventions to describe the syntax of the widget meta-
language:
[ ] Indicates optional elements.
... Indicates where an element of syntax can be repeated.
| Indicates a choice among multiple items.
Comments
You can include comments in the WML file. Comments have the following syntax:
[any.element]!any.comment
Comments begin with an exclamation point and extend to the end of the line. A comment can begin on a line
by itself or follow any part of another element. A comment does not change the meaning of any other
element. For example:
!This is a comment
! that spans two lines.
DataType !This is a comment following code.
Data Type Definitions
Data type definitions register all the resource data types used in the file. You must register all the
data types used in your WML file. Data type definitions have the following syntax:
DataType
any.datatype [{ InternalLiteral = internal.name |
DocName = "string"; [...]}];
[...]
A data type definition begins with the keyword DataType. Following the DataType keyword is a list of data
types that can be further modified with
InternalLiteral
This forces the value of the internal symbol table literal definition of the data type name.
This modifier is only used to get around symbol table definitions hard coded into the UIL
compiler. It should rarely be used.
DocName This gives an arbitrary string for use in the documentation. This string is meant to supply a
different name for the data type for use in the documentation, or a single name for the data
type if the data type has aliases.
For example:
DataType OddNumber {DocName="OddNumber";};
NewString;
Character Set Definitions
Character set definitions register the Motif Toolkit name and other information for the character set
names used in UIL. Character set definitions have the following syntax:
CharacterSet
any.character.set
{ [ FontListElementTag | XmStringCharsetName ] = "string";
[ Alias = "string" ...; |
Direction = [ LeftToRight | RightToLeft ]; |
ParseDirection = [ LeftToRight | RightToLeft ]; |
CharacterSize = [ OneByte | TwoByte ]; ]
[ ... ] };
[ ... ]
A character set definition begins with the keyword CharacterSet. Following the CharacterSet keyword is a
list of character sets that can be further modified with
FontListElementTag | XmStringCharsetName
Specifies the name of the character set, which will become the character set component of a
compound string segment created using this character set. This modifier is required.
Alias Specifies one or more aliases for the character set name. Each alias can be used within UIL to
refer to the same character set.
Direction Specifies the direction of a compound string segment created using this character set. The
default is LeftToRight.
ParseDirection
Specifies the direction in which an input string is parsed when a compound string segment is
created using this character set. The default is whatever Direction is specified.
CharacterSize
Specifies the number of bytes in each character of a compound string segment created using this
character set. The default is OneByte.
For example:
CharacterSet
iso_latin1
{ XmStringCharsetName = "ISO8859-1";
Alias = "ISOLatin1"; };
iso_hebrew_lr
{ XmStringCharsetName = "ISO8859-8";
Alias = "iso_latin8_lr";
Direction = RightToLeft;
ParseDirection = LeftToRight; };
ksc_korean
{ XmStringCharsetName = "KSC5601.1987-0";
CharacterSize = TwoByte; };
Enumeration Set Definitions
Enumeration set definitions register the named constants used in the Motif Toolkit to specify some
resource values. Enumeration set definitions have the following syntax:
EnumerationSet
resource.name: resource.type
{ enum.value.name; [ ... ] };
An enumeration set definition begins with the keyword EnumerationSet. For each enumeration set defined,
the name and type of the resource are listed. The resource name is the Motif Toolkit resource name, with
the beginning XmN removed and with the initial letter capitalized. For example, the name of the Motif
Toolkit resource XmNrowColumnType is RowColumnType. The resource type is the data type for the resource;
for most resources, this is integer. Following the resource name and type is a list of names of
enumeration values that can be used as settings for the resource. These names are the same as those in
the Motif Toolkit.
For example:
EnumerationSet
RowColumnType: integer
{ XmWORK_AREA; XmMENU_BAR; XmMENU_POPUP;
XmMENU_PULLDOWN; XmMENU_OPTION; };
Enumeration sets also support Boolean values.
Control List Definitions
Control list definitions assign a name to groups of controls. You can use these control lists later in
class definitions to simplify the structure of your WML file. Control list definitions have the
following syntax:
ControlList
any.control.list [{ any.control; [...]}];
A control list definition starts with the ControlList keyword. Following the ControlList keyword are any
number of control list definitions. Control list definitions are made up of a control list name followed
by the set of controls it represents. For example:
ControlList
Buttons {PushButton;
RadioButton;
CascadeButton;
NewCascadebutton;};
Each control specified in the control list must be defined as a class in the file.
Class Definitions
Class definitions describe a particular widget class including its position in the class hierarchy,
toolkit convenience function, resources, and controls. There should be one class definition for each
widget or gadget in the widget set you want to support in UIL. Class definitions have the following
syntax:
Class class.name: MetaClass | Widget | Gadget
[{[
SuperClass = class.name; |
ParentClass = parent.class.name; |
InternalLiteral = internal.name; |
Alias = alias; |
ConvenienceFunction = convenience.function; |
WidgetClass = widget.class; |
DocName = "string"; |
DialogClass = True | False; |
Resources { any.resource.name [{
Default = new.default.value; |
Exclude = True |
False;
[...]} ];
[...]}; |
Controls { any.control.name; [...]};
Children { any.child.name; [...] };
[...]
]}];
Class definitions start with the Class keyword. For each class defined, the name of the class and
whether the class is a metaclass, widget, or gadget is listed. Each class definition can be further
modified with the keywords described in the following list.
SuperClass
This indicates the name of the parent class. Only the root of the hierarchy does not specify a
SuperClass.
ParentClass
This indicates the name of the widget's automatically created parent class if one exists. This
allows resources for that automatically created class to be used in instances of this class.
For example, XmBulletinBoardDialog creates both an XmBulletinBoard and an XmDialogShell. To
access the resources of the XmDialogShell parent class it must be specified here.
InternalLiteral
This forces the value of the internal symbol table literal definition of the class name. This
modifier is only used to get around symbol table definitions hard coded into the UIL compiler.
It should rarely be used.
Alias This indicates alternate names for the class for use in a UIL specification.
ConvenienceFunction
This indicates the name of the creation convenience function for this class. All widget and
gadget classes must have a ConvenienceFunction.
WidgetClass
This indicates the associated widget class of gadget type classes. Presently, nothing is done
with this value.
DocName This defines an arbitrary string for use in the documentation. Presently, nothing is done with
this value.
DialogClass
This indicates whether the class is a dialog class. Presently, nothing is done with this
value.
Resources This lists the resources of the widget class. This keyword can be further modified with
Default This specifies a new default value for this resource. Resource default values are
usually set in the resource definition. If an inherited resource's default value is
changed by the class, the new default value should be noted here.
Exclude This specifies whether an inherited resource should be excluded from the resource
list of the class. Exclude is False by default.
Children This lists the names of the automatically created children of this class, so that those
children can be accessed in the UIL file.
Controls This lists the controls that the widget class allows. The controls can be other classes or a
control list from the control list definition.
The following example uses the examples from the data type definitions and control list definitions
above.
Class
TopLevelWidget: MetaClass
{
Resources
{
XtbNfirstResource;
XtbNsecondResource;
};
};
NewWidget: Widget
{
SuperClass = TopLevelWidget;
ConvenienceFunction =
XtbCreateNewWidget;
Resources
{
XtbNnewResource;
XtbNfirstResource
{Default="XtbNEW_VALUE";};
XtbNsecondResource
{Exclude=True;};
};
Controls
{
NewWidget;
Buttons;
};
};
Child Definitions
Child definitions register the classes of automatically created children. Automatically created children
are referenced elsewhere in a uil file using the Children keyword within a class definition. Child
definitions have the following syntax:
Child child.name : class.name; [...]
Where child.name is the name of the automatically created child and class.name is the name of the class
of that child.
Resource Definitions
Resource definitions describe a particular resource including its type, and default value. There should
be a resource definition for each new resource referenced in the class definitions. Resource definitions
have the following syntax:
Resource
resource.name: Argument | Reason | Constraint | SubResource
[{[
Type = type;
[ResourceLiteral = resource.literal; ]
[InternalLiteral = internal.name; ]
[Alias = alias; ]
[Related = related; ]
[Default = default; ]
[DocName = doc.name; ]
[...]}]
[...]
Resource definitions start with the Resource keyword. For each resource definition, the name of the
resource and whether the resource is an argument, reason, constraint or subresource is listed.
Argument Indicates a standard resource
Reason Indicates a callback resource
Constraint
Indicates a constraint resource
SubResource
Presently, nothing is done with this value
The resource definition can be further modified with the following keywords:
Type This indicates the data type of the resource. It must be listed in the data type definition.
ResourceLiteral
This indicates the keyword used in the UIL file to reference the resource. In Motif, the
resource name is the same as the ResourceLiteral.
InternalLiteral
This forces the value of the internal symbol table literal definition of the resource name.
This modifier is only used to get around symbol table definitions hard coded into the UIL
compiler. It should rarely be used.
Alias This indicates alternate names for the resource for use in a UIL specification.
Related This is a special purpose field that allows resources that act as a counter for the current
resources to be related to the resource. UIL automatically sets the value of this related
resource to the number of items in the compiled instance of type resource.name.
Default This indicates the default value of the resource.
DocName This defines an arbitrary string for use in the documentation. Presently, nothing is done with
this value.
The following example uses the examples from the data type definitions, control list definitions and
class definitions above.
Resource
XtbNfirstResource: Argument
{ Type = OddNumber;
Default = "XtbOLD_VALUE";};
XtbNsecondResource: Argument
{ Type = NewString;
Default = "XtbNEW_STRING"; };
XtbNnewResource: Argument
{ Type = OddNumber;
Default = "XtbODD_NUMBER"; };
WML(5)