oracular (3) Tk::TableMatrix.3pm.gz
NAME
TableMatrix - Create and manipulate tables
Synopsis
$table = $parent->TableMatrix(?options?);
STANDARD OPTIONS
-anchor -background -cursor
-exportselection -font -foreground -highlightbackground -highlightcolor
-highlightthickness -insertbackground -insertborderwidth -insertofftime
-insertontime -insertwidth -invertselected -relief -takefocus
-xscrollcommand -yscrollcommand
Widget-specific Options
Switch: -autoclear
Name: autoClear
Class: AutoClear
A boolean value which specifies whether the first keypress in a cell will delete whatever text was
previously there. Defaults to 0.
Switch: -bordercursor
Name: borderCursor
Class: Cursor
Specifies the name of the cursor to show when over borders, a visual indication that interactive
resizing is allowed (it is thus affect by the value of -resizeborders). Defaults to crosshair.
Switch: -borderwidth or -bd
Name: borderWidth
Class: BorderWidth
Specifies a non-negative pixel value or list of values indicating the width of the 3-D border to draw on
interior table cells (if such a border is being drawn; the <Brelief> option typically determines this).
If one value is specified, a rectangle of this width will be drawn. If two values are specified, then
only the left and right edges of the cell will have borders. If four values are specified, then the
values correspond to the {left right top bottom} edges. This can be overridden by the a tag's
borderwidth option. It can also be affected by the defined -drawmode for the table. Each value in the
list must have one of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels.
Switch: -browsecommand or -browsecmd
Name: browseCommand
Class: BrowseCommand
Specifies a command (callback) which will be evaluated anytime the active cell changes. The Previous
Index and the Current index is passed to this command as arguments.
Switch: -cache
Name: cache
Class: Cache
A boolean value that specifies whether an internal cache of the table contents should be kept. This
greatly enhances speed performance when used with -command but uses extra memory. Can maintain state
when both -command and -variable are empty. The cache is automatically flushed whenever the value of
-cache or -variable changes, otherwise you have to explicitly call clear on it. Defaults to off.
Switch: -colorigin
Name: colOrigin
Class: Origin
Specifies what column index to interpret as the leftmost column in the table. This value is used for
user indices in the table. Defaults to 0.
Switch: -cols
Name: cols
Class: Cols
Number of cols in the table. Defaults to 10.
Switch: -colseparator
Name: colSeparator
Class: Separator
Specifies a separator character that will be interpreted as the column separator when cutting or pasting
data in a table. By default, columns are separated as elements of a tcl list.
Switch: -colstretchmode
Name: colStretchMode
Class: StretchMode
Specifies one of the following stretch modes for columns to fill extra allocated window space:
none
Columns will not stretch to fill the assigned window space. If the columns are too narrow, there will
be a blank space at the right of the table. This is the default.
unset
Only columns that do not have a specific width set will be stretched.
all
All columns will be stretched by the same number of pixels to fill the window space allocated to the
table. This mode can interfere with interactive border resizing which tries to force column width.
last
The last column will be stretched to fill the window space allocated to the table.
fill
(only valid for -rowstretch currently)
The table will get more or less columns according to the window space allocated to the table. This
mode has numerous quirks and may disappear in the future.
Switch: -coltagcommand
Name: colTagCommand
Class: TagCommand
Provides the name of a procedure that will be evaluated by the widget to determine the tag to be used
for a given column. When displaying a cell, the table widget will first check to see if a tag has been
defined using the tag col widget method. If no tag is found, it will evaluate the named procedure
passing the column number in question as the sole argument. The procedure is expected to return the
name of a tag to use, or a null string. Errors occurring during the evaluation of the procedure, or the
return of an invalid tag name are silently ignored.
The Current column number is passed as an argument to the col command.
Switch: -colwidth
Name: colWidth
Class: ColWidth
Default column width, interpreted as characters in the default font when the number is positive, or
pixels if it is negative. Defaults to 10.
Switch: -command
Name: command
Class: Command
Specified a command to use as a procedural interface to cell values. If -usecommand is true, this
command will be used instead of any reference to the -variable array. When retrieving cell values, the
return value of the command is used as the value for the cell.
Args passed to this callback: The Set Flag (=1 if setting, else retrieving), the current row, the
current col, the cell value (if setting).
Switch: -drawmode
Name: drawMode
Class: DrawMode
Sets the table drawing mode to one of the following options:
slow
The table is drawn to an offscreen pixmap using the Tk bordering functions (double-buffering). This
means there will be no flashing, but this mode is slow for larger tables.
compatible
The table is drawn directly to the screen using the Tk border functions. It is faster, but the screen
may flash on update. This is the default.
fast
The table is drawn directly to the screen and the borders are done with fast X calls, so they are
always one pixel wide only. As a side effect, it restricts -borderwidth to a range of 0 or 1. This
mode provides best performance for large tables, but can flash on redraw and is not 100% Tk compatible
on the border mode.
single
The table is drawn to the screen as in fast mode, but only single pixel lines are drawn (not square
borders).
Switch: -flashmode
Name: flashMode
Class: FlashMode
A boolean value which specifies whether cells should flash when their value changes. The table tag
flash will be applied to these cells for the duration specified by -flashtime. Defaults to 0.
Switch: -flashtime
Name: flashTime
Class: FlashTime
The amount of time, in 1/4 second increments, for which a cell should flash when its value has changed.
-flashmode must be on. Defaults to 2.
Switch: -height
Name: height
Class: Height
Specifies the desired height for the window, in rows. If zero or less, then the desired height for the
window is made just large enough to hold all the rows in the table. The height can be further limited
by -maxheight .
Switch: -invertselected
Name: invertSelected
Class: InvertSelected
Specifies whether the foreground and background of an item should simply have their values swapped
instead of merging the sel tag options when the cell is selected. Defaults to 0 (merge sel tag).
Switch: -ipadx
Name: ipadX
Class: Pad
A pixel value specifying the internal offset X padding for text in a cell. This value does not grow the
size of the cell, it just causes the text to be drawn further from the cell border. It only affects one
side (depending on anchor). Defaults to 0. See -padx for an alternate padding style.
Switch: -ipady
Name: ipadY
Class: Pad
A pixel value specifying the internal offset Y padding for text in a cell. This value does not grow the
size of the cell, it just causes the text to be drawn further from the cell border. It only affects one
side (depending on anchor). Defaults to 0. See -pady for an alternate padding style.
Switch: -justify
Name: justify
Class: Justify
How to justify multi-line text in a cell. It must be one of left, right, or center. Defaults to left.
Switch: -maxheight
Name: maxHeight
Class: MaxHeight
The max height in pixels that the window will request. Defaults to 600.
Switch: -maxwidth
Name: maxWidth
Class: MaxWidth
The max width in pixels that the window will request. Defaults to 800.
Switch: -multiline
Name: multiline
Class: Multiline
Specifies the default setting for the multiline tag option. Defaults to 1.
Switch: -pady
Name: padX
Class: Pad
A pixel value specifying the offset X padding for a cell. This value causes the default size of the
cell to increase by two times the value (one for each side), unless a specific pixel size is chosen for
the cell with the width command. This will force an empty area on the left and right of each cell edge.
This padding affects all types of data in the cell. Defaults to 0. See -ipadx for an alternate padding
style.
Switch: -pady
Name: padY
Class: Pad
A pixel value specifying the offset Y padding for a cell. This value causes the default size of the
cell to increase by two times the value (one for each side), unless a specific pixel size is chosen for
the cell with the height command. This will force an empty area on the top and bottom of each cell
edge. This padding affects all types of data in the cell. Defaults to 0. See -ipadx for an alternate
padding style.
Switch: -resizeborders
Name: resizeBorders
Class: ResizeBorders
Specifies what kind of interactive border resizing to allow, must be one of row, col, both (default) or
none.
Switch: -rowheight
Name: rowHeight
Class:
RowHeight Default row height, interpreted as lines in the default font when the number is positive, or
pixels if it is negative. Defaults to 1.
Switch: -roworigin
Name: rowOrigin
Class: Origin
Specifies what row index to interpret as the topmost row in the table. This value is used for user
indices in the table. Defaults to 0.
Switch: -rows
Name: rows
Class: Rows
Number of rows in the table. Defaults to 10.
Switch: -rowseparator
Name: rowSeparator
Class: Separator
Specifies a separator character that will be interpreted as the row separator when cutting or pasting
data in a table. By default, rows are separated as tcl lists.
Switch: -rowstretchmode
Name: rowStretchMode
Class: StretchMode
Specifies the stretch modes for rows to fill extra allocated window space. See -colstretchmode for
valid options.
Switch: -rowtagcommand
Name: rowTagCommand
Class: TagCommand
Provides the name of a procedure that can evaluated by the widget to determine the tag to be used for a
given row. The procedure must be defined by the user to accept a single argument (the row number), and
return a tag name or null string. This operates in a similar manner as -coltagcommand, except that it
applies to row tags.
The Current row number is passed as an argument to the row command.
Switch: -selectioncommand or -selcmd
Name: selectionCommand
Class: SelectionCommand
Specifies a command (callback) to evaluate when the selection is retrieved from a table via the
selection mechanism (ie: evaluating "selection get"). The return value from this command will become the
string passed on by the selection mechanism. The following arguments are passed to this callback: The
number of rows in the selection, number of columns in the selection, the selection string, the number of
cell in the selection.
Switch: -selectmode
Name: selectMode
Class: SelectMode
Specifies one of several styles for manipulating the selection. The value of the option may be
arbitrary, but the default bindings expect it to be either single, browse, multiple, or extended; the
default value is browse. These styles are like those for the Tk listbox, except expanded for 2
dimensions.
Switch: -selecttitle
Name: selectTitles
Class: SelectTitles
Specifies whether title cells should be allowed in the selection. Defaults to 0 (disallowed).
Switch: -selecttype
Name: selectType
Class: SelectType
Specifies one of several types of selection for the table. The value of the option may be one of row,
col, cell, or both (meaning row && col); the default value is cell. These types define whether an
entire row/col is affected when a cell's selection is changed (set or clear).
Switch: -sparsearray
Name: sparseArray
Class: SparseArray
A boolean value that specifies whether an associated Tcl array should be kept as a sparse array (1, the
default) or as a full array (0). If true, then cell values that are empty will be deleted from the
array (taking less memory). If false, then all values in the array will be maintained.
Switch: -state
Name: state
Class: State
Specifies one of two states for the entry: normal or disabled. If the table is disabled then the value
may not be changed using widget commands and no insertion cursor will be displayed, even if the input
focus is in the widget. Also, all insert or delete methods will be ignored. Defaults to normal.
Switch: -titlecols
Name: titleCols
Class: TitleCols
Number of columns to use as a title area. Defaults to 0.
Switch: -titlerows
Name: titleRows
Class: TitleRows
Number of rows to use as a title area. Defaults to 0.
Switch: -usecommand
Name: useCommand
Class: UseCommand
A boolean value which specifies whether to use the command option. This value sets itself to zero if
command is used and returns an error. Defaults to 1 (will use command if specified).
Switch: -validate
Name: validate
Class: Validate
A boolean specifying whether validation should occur for the active buffer. Defaults to 0.
Switch: -validatecommand or -vcmd
Name: validateCommand
Class: ValidateCommand
Specifies a command (callback) to execute when the active cell is edited. This command is expected to
return a 1 or 0. If it returns 1, then it is assumed the new value is OK, otherwise the new value is
rejected (the edition will not take place). Errors in this command are handled in the background. The
following arguments are supplied to the callback: row, col, oldContents of cell, potential new contents
of cell, Current Index in the cell.
Switch: -variable
Name: variable
Class: Variable
Global Tcl array variable to attach to the table's C array. It will be created if it doesn't already
exist or is a simple variable. Keys used by the table in the array are of the form row,col for cells
and the special key active which contains the value of the active cell buffer. The Tcl array is managed
as a sparse array (the table doesn't require all valid indices have values). No stored value for an
index is equivalent to the empty string, and clearing a cell will remove that index from the Tcl array,
unless the -sparsearray options is set to 0.
Switch: -width
Name: width
Class: Width
Specifies the desired width for the window, in columns. If zero or less, then the desired width for the
window is made just large enough to hold all the columns in the table. The width can be further limited
by -maxwidth.
Switch: -wrap
Name: wrap
Class: Wrap
Specifies the default wrap value for tags. Defaults to 0.
DESCRIPTION
The TableMatrix command creates a 2-dimensional grid of cells. The table can use a Tcl array variable or
Tcl command for data storage and retrieval. The widget has an active cell, the contents of which can be
edited (when the state is normal). The widget supports a default style for the cells and also multiple
tags, which can be used to change the style of a row, column or cell (see TAGS for details). A cell
flash can be set up so that changed cells will change color for a specified amount of time ("blink").
Cells can have embedded images or windows, as described in Tags and "Embedded Windows" respectively.
One or more cells may be selected as described below.
If a table is exporting its selection (see -exportselection option), then it will observe the standard
X11 protocols for handling the selection.
See "the Selection" for details. It is not necessary for all the cells to be displayed in the table
window at once; commands described below may be used to change the view in the window. Tables allow
scrolling in both directions using the standard -xscrollcommand and -yscrollcommand options.
They also support scanning, as described below.
In order to obtain good performance, the table widget supports multiple drawing modes, two of which are
fully Tk compatible.
Indices
Many of the widget commands for tables take one or more indices as arguments. An index specifies a
particular cell of the table, in any of the following ways:
number,number
Specifies the cell as a numerical index of row,col which corresponds to the index of the associated Perl
Hash, where -roworigin,-colorigin corresponds to the first cell in the table (0,0 by default). The
values for row and column will be constrained to actual values in the table, which means a valid cell is
always found.
active
Indicates the cell that has the location cursor. It is specified with the activate widget command.
anchor
Indicates the anchor point for the selection, which is set with the selection anchor widget command.
bottomright
Indicates the bottom-rightmost cell visible in the table.
end
Indicates the bottom right cell of the table.
origin
Indicates the top-leftmost editable cell of the table, not necessarily in the display. This takes into
account the user specified origin and title area.
topleft
Indicates the top-leftmost editable cell visible in the table (this excludes title cells).
@x,y
Indicates the cell that covers the point in the table window specified by x and y (in pixel
coordinates). If no cell covers that point, then the closest cell to that point is used. In the widget
command descriptions below, arguments named index, first, and last always contain text indices in one of
the above forms.
Tags
A tag is a textual string that is associated with zero or more rows, columns or cells in a table. Tags
may contain arbitrary characters, but it is probably best to avoid using names which look like indices to
reduce coding confusion. There may be any number of tags in a table, but each row, column or cell can
only have one tag associated with it at a time. There are several permanent tags in each table that can
be configured by the user and will determine the attributes for special cells:
active
This tag is given to the active cell
flash
If flash mode is on, this tag is given to any recently edited cells.
sel
This tag is given to any selected cells.
title
This tag is given to any cells in the title rows and columns. This tag has -state disabled by default.
Tags control the way cells are displayed on the screen. Where appropriate, the default for displaying
cells is determined by the options for the table widget. However, display options may be associated with
individual tags using the tagConfigure method. If a cell, row or column has been tagged, then the
display options associated with the tag override the default display style. The following options are
currently supported for tags:
-anchor anchor
Anchor for item in the cell space.
-background or -bg color
Background color of the cell.
-borderwidth or -bd pixel
Borderwidth of the cell, of the same format for the table, but may also be empty to inherit the default
table borderwidth value (the default).
-font fontName
Font for text in the cell.
-foreground or -fg color
Foreground color of the cell.
-justify justify
How to justify multi-line text in a cell. It must be one of left, right, or center.
-image imageName
An image to display in the cell instead of text.
-multiline boolean
Whether to display text with newlines on multiple lines.
-relief
The relief for the cell. May be the empty string to cause this tag to not disturb the value.
-showtext boolean
Whether to show the text over an image.
-state state
The state of the cell, to allow for certain cells to be disabled. This prevents the cell from being
edited by the insert or delete methods, but a direct set will not be prevented.
-wrap boolean
Whether characters should wrap in a cell that is not wide enough.
A priority order is defined among tags based on creation order (first created tag has highest default
priority), and this order is used in implementing some of the tag-related functions described below.
When a cell is displayed, its properties are determined by the tags which are assigned to it. The
priority of a tag can be modified by the tagLower and the tagRaise methods.
If a cell has several tags associated with it that define the same display options (eg - a title cell
with specific row and cell tags), then the options of the highest priority tag are used. If a particular
display option hasn't been specified for a particular tag, or if it is specified as an empty string, then
that option will not be used; the next-highest-priority tag's option will be used instead. If no tag
specifies a particular display option, then the default style for the widget will be used.
Images are used for display purposes only. Editing in that cell will still be enabled and any querying
of the cell will show the text value of the cell, regardless of the value of -showtext.
Note: There can be only one tag for a given tag type. ( Tag types = flash, active, sel, title, celltag
rowtag, coltag.) For example, you can't apply two cell tags to a single cell (or two row tags to a single
row, etc) and expect the tag's properties to be merged. The last tag-type applied will be the one that is
used.
Embedded Windows
There may be any number of embedded windows in a table widget (one per cell), and any widget may be used
as an embedded window (subject to the usual rules for geometry management, which require the table window
to be the parent of the embedded window or a descendant of its parent). The embedded window's position
on the screen will be updated as the table is modified or scrolled, and it will be mapped and unmapped as
it moves into and out of the visible area of the table widget. Each embedded window occupies one cell's
worth of space in the table widget, and it is referred to by the index of the cell in the table. Windows
associated with the table widget are destroyed when the table widget is destroyed.
Windows are used for display purposes only. A value still exists for that cell, but will not be shown
unless the window is deleted in some way. If the window is destroyed or lost by the table widget to
another geometry manager, then any data associated with it is lost (the cell it occupied will no longer
appear in window names).
When an embedded window is added to a table widget with the window configure widget command, several
configuration options may be associated with it. These options may be modified with later calls to the
window configure widget command. The following options are currently supported:
-create callback
NOT CURRENTLY SUPPORTED. Specifies a Tcl script that may be evaluated to create the window for the
annotation.
If no -window option has been specified for this cell then this script will be evaluated when the cell
is about to be displayed on the screen.
Script must create a window for the cell and return the name of that window as its result. If the
cell's window should ever be deleted, the script will be evaluated again the next time the cell is
displayed.
-background or -bg color
Background color of the cell. If not specified, it uses the table's default background.
-borderwidth or -bd pixelList
Borderwidth of the cell, of the same format for the table, but may also be empty to inherit the default
table borderwidth value (the default).
-padx pixels
As defined in the Tk options man page.
-pady pixels
As defined in the Tk options man page.
-relief relief
The relief to use for the cell in which the window lies. If not specified, it uses the table's default
relief.
-sticky sticky
Stickiness of the window inside the cell, as defined by the grid command.
-window $widget
Specifies the a window to display in the annotation. It must exist before being specified here.
the Selection
Table selections are available as type STRING. By default, the value of the selection will be the values
of the selected cells in nested Tcl list form where each row is a list and each column is an element of a
row list. You can change the way this value is interpreted by setting the -rowseparator and -colseparator
options.
For example, default Excel format would be to set -rowseparator to "\n" and -colseparator to "\t".
Changing these values affects both how the table sends out the selection and reads in pasted data,
ensuring that the table should always be able to cut and paste to itself. It is possible to change how
pastes are handled by editing the table library procedure tk_tablePasteHandler . This might be necessary
if -selectioncommand is set.
Row/Col Spanning
Individual cells can span multiple rows and/or columns. This is done via the spans command (see below
for exact arguments). Cells in the title area that span are not permitted to span beyond the title area,
and will be constrained accordingly. If the title area shrinks during a configure, sanity checking will
occur to ensure the above. You may set spans on regular cells that extend beyond the defined row/col
area. These spans will not be constrained, so that when the defined row/col area expands, the span will
expand with it.
When setting a span, checks are made as to whether the span would overlap an already spanning or hidden
cell. This is an error and it not allowed. Spans can affect the overall speed of table drawing, although
not significantly. If spans are not used, then there is no performance loss.
Cells hidden by spanning cells still have valid data. This will be seen during cut and paste operations
that involve hidden cells, or through direct access by a command like get or set.
The drawing properties of spanning cells apply to only the visual area of the cell. For example, if a
cell is center justified over 5 columns, then when viewing any portion of those columns, it will appear
centered in the visible area. The non-visible column area will not be considered in the centering
calculations.
Command Substitution
The various option based commands that the table supports all support the familiar Tk %-substitution
model (see Tk::bind for more details). The following %-sequences are recognized and substituted by the
table widget:
%c
For SelectionCommand, it is the maximum number of columns in any row in the selection. Otherwise it is
the column of the triggered cell.
%C
A convenience substitution for %r,%c.
%i
For SelectionCommand, it is the total number of cells in the selection. For Command, it is 0 for a read
(get) and 1 for a write (set). Otherwise it is the current cursor position in the cell.
%r
For SelectionCommand, it is the number of rows in the selection. Otherwise it is the row of the
triggered cell.
%s
For ValidateCommand, it is the current value of the cell being validated. For SelectionCommand, it is
the default value of the selection. For BrowseCommand , it is the index of the last active cell. For
Command, it is empty for reads (get) and the current value of the cell for writes (set).
%S
For ValidateCommand, it is the potential new value of the cell being validated. For BrowseCommand, it
is the index of the new active cell.
%W
The pathname to the window for which the command was generated.
Widget Methods
The $window->TableMatrix method creates a widget object. This object supports the configure and cget
methods described in Tk::options which can be used to enquire and modify the options described above.
The widget also inherits all the methods provided by the generic Tk::Widget class.
The following additional methods are available for scale widgets:
$table->activate(index)
Sets the active cell to the one indicated by index.
$table->bbox(first, ?last?)
It returns the bounding box for the specified cell (range) as a 4-tuple of x, y, width and height in
pixels. It clips the box to the visible portion, if any, otherwise an empty string is returned.
$table->border(option, args)
This command is a voodoo hack to implement border sizing for tables. This is normally called through
bindings, with the following as valid options:
$table->borderMark(x, y, ?row|col?)
Records x and y and the row and/or column border under that point in the table window, if any; used in
conjunction with later border dragto commands. Typically this command is associated with a mouse
button press in the widget. If row or col is not specified, it returns a tuple of both border indices
(an empty item means no border). Otherwise, just the specified item is returned.
$table->borderDragto(x, y)
This command computes the difference between its x and y arguments and the x and y arguments to the
last border mark command for the widget. It then adjusts the previously marked border by the
difference. This command is typically associated with mouse motion events in the widget, to produce
the effect of interactive border resizing.
$table->cget(option)
Returns the current value of the configuration option given by option. Option may have any of the
values accepted by the table command.
$table->clear(option, ?first?, ?last?)
This command is a convenience routine to clear certain state information managed by the table. first
and last represent valid table indices. If neither are specified, then the command operates on the
whole table. The following options are recognized:
$table->clearCache(?first?, ?last?)
Clears the specified section of the cache, if the table has been keeping one.
$table->clearSizes(?first?, ?last?)
Clears the specified row and column areas of specific height/width dimensions. When just one index is
specified, for example 2,0, that is interpreted as row 2 and column 0.
$table->clearTags(?first?, ?last?)
Clears the specified area of tags (all row, column and cell tags).
$table->clearAll(?first?, ?last?)
Performs all of the above clear functions on the specified area.
$table->colWidth(?col?, ?value, col, value, ...?)
If no col is specified, returns a list describing all cols for which a width has been set. If col is
specified with no value, it prints out the width of that col in characters (positive number) or pixels
(negative number). If one or more col-value pairs are specified, then it sets each col to be that width
in characters (positive number) or pixels (negative number). If value is default, then the col uses the
default width, specified by -colwidth.
$table->configure(?option?, ?value, option, value, ...?)
Query or modify the configuration options of the widget. If no option is specified, returns a list
describing all of the available options for pathName (see Tk_ConfigureInfo for information on the
format of this list). 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 widget option(s) to have the given value(s); in this case the command returns an empty
string. Option may have any of the values accepted by the table command.
$table->curselection(?value?)
With no arguments, it returns the sorted indices of the currently selected cells. Otherwise it sets
all the selected cells to the given value. The set has no effect if there is no associated Tcl array
or the state is disabled.
$table->curvalue(?value?)
If no value is given, the value of the cell being edited (indexed by active) is returned, else it is
set to the given value.
$table->delete(option, arg, ?arg?)
This command is used to delete various things in a table. It has several forms, depending on the
option:
$table->deleteActive(index, ?index?)
Deletes text from the active cell. If only one index is given, it deletes the character after that
index, otherwise it deletes from the first index to the second. index can be a number, insert or end.
$table->deleteCols(?switches?, index, ?count?)
Deletes count cols starting at (and including) col index. The index will be constrained to the limits
of the tables. If count is negative, it deletes cols to the left. Otherwise it deletes cols to the
right. count defaults to 1 (meaning just the column specified). The selection will be cleared. At
the moment, spans are not adjusted with this action. Optional switches are:
-holddimensions
Causes the table cols to be unaffected by the deletion (empty cols may appear).
By default the dimensions are adjusted by count.
-holdtags
Causes the tags specified by the tag method to not move along with the data. Also prevents specific
widths set by the width method from being adjusted.
By default, these tags are properly adjusted.
-holdwindows
Causes the embedded windows created with the window method to not move along with the data. By
default, these windows are properly adjusted.
-keeptitles
Prevents title area cells from being changed. Otherwise they are treated just like regular cells and
will move as specified.
$table->deleteRows(?switches?, index, ?count?)
Deletes count rows starting at (and including) row index. If count is negative, it deletes rows going
up. Otherwise it deletes rows going down. The selection will be cleared. The switches are the same
as those for column deletion.
$table->get(first, ?last?)
Returns the value of the cells specified by the table indices first and (optionally) last in a list.
$table->hidden(?index?, ?index, ...?)
When called without args, it returns all the hidden cells (those cells covered by a spanning cell). If
one index is specified, it returns the spanning cell covering that index, if any. If multiple indices
are specified, it returns 1 if all indices are hidden cells, 0 otherwise.
$table->icursor(?arg?)
With no arguments, prints out the location of the insertion cursor in the active cell. With one
argument, sets the cursor to that point in the string. 0 is before the first character, you can also
use insert or end for the current insertion point or the end of the text. If there is no active cell,
or the cell or table is disabled, this will return -1.
$table->index(index, ?row|col?)
Returns the integer cell coordinate that corresponds to index in the form row,col. If row or col is
specified, then only the row or column index is returned.
$table->insert(option, arg, arg)
This command is used to into various things into a table. It has several forms, depending on the
option:
$table->insertActive(index, value)
The value is a text string which is inserted at the index position of the active cell. The cursor is
then positioned after the new text. index can be a number, insert or end.
$table->insertCols(?switches?, index, ?count?)
Inserts count cols starting at col index. If count is negative, it inserts before the specified col.
Otherwise it inserts after the specified col. The selection will be cleared. The switches are the
same as those for column deletion.
$table->insertRows(?switches?, index, ?count?)
Inserts count rows starting at row index. If count is negative, it inserts before the specified row.
Otherwise it inserts after the specified row. The selection will be cleared. The switches are the
same as those for column deletion.
$table->reread()
Rereads the old contents of the cell back into the editing buffer. Useful for a key binding when
<Escape> is pressed to abort the edit (a default binding).
$table->rowHeight(?row?, ?value, row, value, ...?)
If no row is specified, returns a list describing all rows for which a height has been set. If row is
specified with no value, it prints out the height of that row in characters (positive number) or pixels
(negative number). If one or more row-value pairs are specified, then it sets each row to be that
height in lines (positive number) or pixels (negative number). If value is default, then the row uses
the default height, specified by -rowheight.
$table->scan(option, args)
This command is used to implement scanning on tables. It has two forms, depending on option:
$table->scanMark(x, y)
Records x and y and the current view in the table window;
used in conjunction with later scan dragto commands. Typically this command is associated with a
mouse button press in the widget. It returns an empty string.
$table->scanDragto(x, y.)
This command computes the difference between its x and y arguments and the x and y arguments to the
last scan mark command for the widget. It then adjusts the view by 5 times the difference in
coordinates. This command is typically associated with mouse motion events in the widget, to produce
the effect of dragging the list at high speed through the window. The return value is an empty
string.
$table->see(index)
Adjust the view in the table so that the cell given by index is positioned as the cell one off from top
left (excluding title rows and columns) if the cell is not currently visible on the screen. The actual
cell may be different to keep the screen full.
$table->selection(option, arg)
This command is used to adjust the selection within a table.
It has several forms, depending on option:
$table->selectionAnchor(index)
Sets the selection anchor to the cell given by index. The selection anchor is the end of the
selection that is fixed while dragging out a selection with the mouse. The index anchor may be used
to refer to the anchor cell.
$table->selectionClear(first?last?)
If any of the cells between first and last (inclusive) are selected, they are deselected.
The selection state is not changed for cells outside this range. first may be specified as all to
remove the selection from all cells.
$table->selectionIncludes(index)
Returns 1 if the cell indicated by index is currently selected, 0 if it isn't.
$table->selectionSet(first, ?last?)
Selects all of the cells in the range between first and last, inclusive, without affecting the
selection state of cells outside that range.
perltk note this needs to be perlized
$table->set(?row|col?, index, ?value?, ?index, value, ...?)
Sets the specified index to the associated value. Table validation will not be triggered via this
method. If row or col precedes the list of index/value pairs, then the value is assumed to be a Tcl
list whose values will be split and set into the subsequent columns (if row is specified) or rows (for
col). For example, set row 2,3 {2,3 2,4 2,5} will set 3 cells, from 2,3 to 2,5. The setting of cells
is silently bounded by the known table dimensions.
$table->spans(?index?, ?rows,cols, index, rows,cols, ...?)
This command is used to manipulate row/col spans. When called with no arguments, all known spans are
returned as a list of tuples of the form {index span}. When called with only the index, the span for
that index only is returned, if any. Otherwise an even number of index rows,cols pairs are used to set
spans. A span starts at the index and continues for the specified number of rows and cols. Negative
spans are not supported. A span of 0,0 unsets any span on that cell. See EXAMPLES for more info.
$table->tag(option, ?arg, arg, ...?)
This command is used to manipulate tags. The exact behavior of the command depends on the option
argument that follows the tag argument. cget, cell, and row|col complain about unknown tag names. The
following forms of the command are currently supported:
$table->tagCell(tagName, ?index, ...?)
With no arguments, prints out the list of cells that use the tag. Otherwise it sets the specified
cells to use the named tag, replacing any tag that may have been set using this method before. If
tagName is '', the cells are reset to the default tag. Tags added during -*tagcommand evaluation do
not register here. If tagName does not exist, it will be created with the default options.
$table->tagCget(tagName, option)
This command returns the current value of the option named option associated with the tag given by
tagName. Option may have any of the values accepted by the tag configure widget command.
$table->tagCol(tagName, ?col, ...?)
With no arguments, prints out the list of cols that use the tag. Otherwise it sets the specified
columns to use the named tag, replacing any tag that may have been set using this method before. If
<tagName> is '', the cols are reset to the default tag. Tags added during -coltagcommand evaluation
do not register here. If tagName does not exist, it will be created with the default options.
$table->tagConfigure(tagName, ?option?, ?value?, ?option, value, ...?)
This command is similar to the configure widget command except that it modifies options associated
with the tag given by tagName instead of modifying options for the overall table widget. If no option
is specified, the command returns a list describing all of the available options for tagName (see
Tk_ConfigureInfo for information on the format of this list). 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
tagName; in this case the command returns an empty string. See TAGS above for details on the options
available for tags.
$table->tagDelete(tagName)
Deletes a tag. No error if the tag does not exist.
$table->tagExists(tagName)
Returns 1 if the named tag exists, 0 otherwise.
$table->tagIncludes(tagName, index)
Returns 1 if the specified index has the named tag, 0 otherwise.
$table->tagLower(tagName, ?belowThis?)
Lower the priority of the named tag. If belowThis is not specified, then the tag's priority is
lowered to the bottom, otherwise it is lowered to one below belowThis.
$table->tagNames(?pattern?)
If no pattern is specified, shows the names of all defined tags. Otherwise the pattern is used as a
glob pattern to show only tags matching that pattern. Tag names are returned in priority order
(highest priority tag first).
$table->tagRaise(tagName, ?aboveThis?)
Raise the priority of the named tag. If aboveThis is not specified, then the tag's priority is raised
to the top, otherwise it is raised to one above aboveThis.
$table->tagRow(tagName, ?row, ...?)
With no arguments, prints out the list of rows that use the tag. Otherwise it sets the specified
columns to use the named tag, replacing any tag that may have been set using this method before. If
tagName is '', the rows are reset to use the default tag. Tags added during -rowtagcommand evaluation
do not register here. If tagName does not exist, it will be created with the default options.
$table->validate(index)
Explicitly validates the specified index based on the current -validatecommand and returns 0 or 1 based
on whether the cell was validated.
$table->window(option, ?arg, arg, ...?)
This command is used to manipulate embedded windows. The exact behavior of the command depends on the
option argument that follows the window argument. The following forms of the command are currently
supported:
$table->windowCget(index, option)
This command returns the current value of the option named option associated with the window given by
index. Option may have any of the values accepted by the window configure widget command.
$table->windowConfigure(index, ?option?, ?value?, ?option, value, ...?)
This command is similar to the configure widget command except that it modifies options associated
with the embedded window given by index instead of modifying options for the overall table widget. If
no option is specified, the command returns a list describing all of the available options for index
(see Tk_ConfigureInfo for information on the format of this list). 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
index; in this case the command returns an empty string. See EMBEDDED WINDOWS above for details on the
options available for windows.
$table->windowDelete(index, ?index, ...?)
Deletes an embedded window from the table. The associated window will also be deleted.
$table->windowMove(indexFrom, indexTo)
Moves an embedded window from one cell to another. If a window already exists in the target cell, it
will be deleted.
$table->windowNames(?pattern?)
If no pattern is specified, shows the cells of all embedded windows. Otherwise the pattern is used as
a glob pattern to show only cells matching that pattern.
$table->xview(args)
This command is used to query and change the horizontal position of the information in the widget's
window. It can take any of the following forms:
$table->xview()
Returns a list containing two elements. Each element is a real fraction between 0 and 1; together they
describe the horizontal span that is visible in the window. For example, if the first element is .2 and
the second element is .6, 20% of the table's text is off-screen to the left, the middle 40% is visible
in the window, and 40% of the text is off-screen to the right. These are the same values passed to
scrollbars via the -xscrollcommand option.
$table->xview(index)
Adjusts the view in the window so that the column given by index is displayed at the left edge of the
window.
$table->xviewMoveto(fraction)
Adjusts the view in the window so that fraction of the total width of the table text is off-screen to
the left. fraction must be a fraction between 0 and 1.
$table->xviewScroll(number, what)
This command shifts the view in the window left or right according to number and what. Number must be
an integer. What must be either units or pages or an abbreviation of one of these. If what is units,
the view adjusts left or right by number cells on the display; if it is pages then the view adjusts by
number screenfuls. If number is negative then cells farther to the left become visible; if it is
positive then cells farther to the right become visible.
$table->yview(?args?)
This command is used to query and change the vertical position of the text in the widget's window. It
can take any of the following forms:
$table->yview()
Returns a list containing two elements, both of which are real fractions between 0 and 1. The first
element gives the position of the table element at the top of the window, relative to the table as a
whole (0.5 means it is halfway through the table, for example). The second element gives the position
of the table element just after the last one in the window, relative to the table as a whole. These
are the same values passed to scrollbars via the -yscrollcommand option.
$table->yview(index)
Adjusts the view in the window so that the row given by index is displayed at the top of the window.
$table->yviewMoveto(fraction)
Adjusts the view in the window so that the element given by fraction appears at the top of the window.
Fraction is a fraction between 0 and 1; 0 indicates the first element in the table, 0.33 indicates
the element one-third the way through the table, and so on.
$table->yviewscroll(number, what)
This command adjusts the view in the window up or down according to number and what. Number must be
an integer. What must be either units or pages. If what is units, the view adjusts up or down by
number cells; if it is pages then the view adjusts by number screenfuls. If number is negative then
earlier elements become visible; if it is positive then later elements become visible.
Default Bindings
The initialization creates class bindings that give the following default behaviour:
[1]
Clicking Button-1 in a cell activates that cell. Clicking into an already active cell moves the
insertion cursor to the character nearest the mouse.
[2]
Moving the mouse while Button-1 is pressed will stroke out a selection area. Exiting while Button-1 is
pressed causing scanning to occur on the table along with selection.
[3]
Moving the mouse while Button-2 is pressed causes scanning to occur without any selection.
[4]
Home moves the table to have the origin in view.
[5]
End moves the table to have the end cell in view.
[6]
Control-Home moves the table to the origin and activates that cell.
[7]
Control-End moves the table to the end and activates that cell.
[8]
Shift-Control-Home extends the selection to the origin.
[9]
Shift-Control-End extends the selection to the end.
[10]
The left, right, up and down arrows move the active cell.
[11]
Shift-<arrow> extends the selection in that direction.
[12]
Control-leftarrow and Control-rightarrow move the insertion cursor within the cell.
[13]
Control-slash selects all the cells.
[14]
Control-backslash clears selection from all the cells.
[15]
Backspace deletes the character before the insertion cursor in the active cell.
[16]
Delete deletes the character after the insertion cursor in the active cell.
[17]
Escape rereads the value of the active cell from the specified data source, discarding any edits that
have may been performed on the cell.
[18]
Control-a moves the insertion cursor to the beginning of the active cell.
[19]
Control-e moves the insertion cursor to the end of the active cell.
[20]
Control-minus and Control-equals decrease and increase the width of the column with the active cell in
it.
[21]
Moving the mouse while Button-3 (the right button on Windows) is pressed while you are over a border
will cause interactive resizing of that row and/or column to occur, based on the value of
-resizeborders. Some bindings may have slightly different behavior dependent on the -selectionmode of
the widget. If the widget is disabled using the -state option, then its view can still be adjusted and
cells can still be selected, but no insertion cursor will be displayed and no cell modifications will
take place. The behavior of tables can be changed by defining new bindings for individual widgets or by
redefining the class bindings. The default bindings are either compiled in the TableMatrix.pm file
Performance Issues
The number of rows and columns or a table widget should not significantly affect the speed of redraw.
Recalculation and redraw of table parameters and cells is restricted as much as possible. The display
cell with the insert cursor is redrawn each time the cursor blinks, which causes a steady stream of
graphics traffic. Set the -insertofftime option to 0 avoid this. The use of a -command with the table
without a cache can cause significant slow-down, as the command is called once for each request of a cell
value.
Examples
Set the topleft title area to be one spanning cell. This overestimates both row and column span by one,
but the command does all the constraining for us. $table span [$table cget -roworigin],[$table cget
-colorigin] [$table cget -titlerows],[$table cget -titlecols] Force a table window refresh (useful for
the slight chance that a bug in the table is not causing proper refresh): $table configure -padx [$table
cget -padx]
Keywords
table, widget, extension