Provided by: perl-tk_804.031-1build1_amd64 
NAME
Tk::grid - Geometry manager that arranges widgets in a grid
SYNOPSIS
$widget->grid?(?widget ...,? ?arg ?...>?)?
$widget->gridOption?(arg ?,arg ...?)?
DESCRIPTION
The grid method is used to communicate with the grid geometry manager that arranges
widgets in rows and columns inside of another window, called the geometry master (or
master window). The grid method can have any of several forms, depending on the option
argument:
$slave->grid(?$slave, ...??, options?)
The arguments consist of the optional references to more slave windows followed by
pairs of arguments that specify how to manage the slaves. The characters -, x and ^,
can be specified instead of a window reference to alter the default location of a
$slave, as described in "RELATIVE PLACEMENT", below.
If any of the slaves are already managed by the geometry manager then any unspecified
options for them retain their previous values rather than receiving default values.
The following options are supported:
-column => n
Insert the $slave so that it occupies the nth column in the grid. Column
numbers start with 0. If this option is not supplied, then the $slave is
arranged just to the right of previous slave specified on this call to grid,
or column "0" if it is the first slave. For each x that immediately precedes
the $slave, the column position is incremented by one. Thus the x represents
a blank column for this row in the grid.
-columnspan => n
Insert the slave so that it occupies n columns in the grid. The default is
one column, unless the window name is followed by a -, in which case the
columnspan is incremented once for each immediately following -.
-in => $other
Insert the slave(s) in the master window given by $other. The default is the
first slave's parent window.
-ipadx => amount
The amount specifies how much horizontal internal padding to leave on each
side of the slave(s). This is space is added inside the slave(s) border. The
amount must be a valid screen distance, such as 2 or '.5c'. It defaults to 0.
-ipady => amount
The amount specifies how much vertical internal padding to leave on on the top
and bottom of the slave(s). This space is added inside the slave(s) border.
The amount defaults to 0.
-padx => amount
The amount specifies how much horizontal external padding to leave on each
side of the slave(s), in screen units. The amount defaults to 0. This space
is added outside the slave(s) border.
-pady => amount
The amount specifies how much vertical external padding to leave on the top
and bottom of the slave(s), in screen units. The amount defaults to 0. This
space is added outside the slave(s) border.
-row => n
Insert the slave so that it occupies the nth row in the grid. Row numbers
start with 0. If this option is not supplied, then the slave is arranged on
the same row as the previous slave specified on this call to grid, or the
first unoccupied row if this is the first slave.
-rowspan => n
Insert the slave so that it occupies n rows in the grid. The default is one
row. If the next grid method contains ^ characters instead of $slaves that
line up with the columns of this $slave, then the rowspan of this $slave is
extended by one.
-sticky => style
If a slave's cell is larger than its requested dimensions, this option may be
used to position (or stretch) the slave within its cell. Style is a string
that contains zero or more of the characters n, s, e or w. The string can
optionally contain spaces or commas, but they are ignored. Each letter refers
to a side (north, south, east, or west) that the slave will "stick" to. If
both n and s (or e and w) are specified, the slave will be stretched to fill
the entire height (or width) of its cavity. The sticky option subsumes the
combination of -anchor and -fill that is used by pack. The default is '',
which causes the slave to be centered in its cavity, at its requested size.
$master->gridBbox(?column, row,? ?column2, row2?)
With no arguments, the bounding box (in pixels) of the grid is returned. The return
value consists of 4 integers. The first two are the pixel offset from the master
window (x then y) of the top-left corner of the grid, and the second two integers are
the width and height of the grid, also in pixels. If a single column and row is
specified on the command line, then the bounding box for that cell is returned, where
the top left cell is numbered from zero. If both column and row arguments are
specified, then the bounding box spanning the rows and columns indicated is returned.
$master->gridColumnconfigure(index?, -option=>value, ...?)
Query or set the column properties of the index column of the geometry master,
$master. The valid options are -minsize, -weight and -pad. If one or more options
are provided, then index may be given as a list of column indices to which the
configuration options will operate on. The -minsize option sets the minimum size, in
screen units, that will be permitted for this column. The -weight option (an integer
value) sets the relative weight for apportioning any extra spaces among columns. A
weight of zero (0) indicates the column will not deviate from its requested size. A
column whose weight is two will grow at twice the rate as a column of weight one when
extra space is allocated to the layout. The -uniform option, when a non-empty
value is supplied, places the column in a uniform group with other columns that
have the same value for -uniform. The space for columns belonging to a uniform group
is allocated so that their sizes are always in strict proportion to their -weight
values. See THE GRID ALGORITHM below for further details. The -pad option
specifies the number of screen units that will be added to the largest window
contained completely in that column when the grid geometry manager requests a size
from the containing window. If only an option is specified, with no value, the
current value of that option is returned. If only the master window and index is
specified, all the current settings are returned in an list of "-option value" pairs.
$slave->gridConfigure(?$slave, ...?, options?)
The same as grid method.
$slave->gridForget?($slave, ...)?
Removes each of the $slaves from grid for its master and unmaps their windows. The
slaves will no longer be managed by the grid geometry manager. The configuration
options for that window are forgotten, so that if the slave is managed once more by
the grid geometry manager, the initial default settings are used.
$slave->gridInfo
Returns a list whose elements are the current configuration state of the slave given
by $slave in the same option-value form that might be specified to gridConfigure. The
first two elements of the list are ``-in=>$master'' where $master is the slave's
master.
$master->gridLocation(x, y)
Given x and y values in screen units relative to the master window, the column and
row number at that x and y location is returned. For locations that are above or to
the left of the grid, -1 is returned.
$master->gridPropagate?(boolean)?
If boolean has a true boolean value such as 1 or on then propagation is enabled for
$master, which must be a window name (see "GEOMETRY PROPAGATION" below). If boolean
has a false boolean value then propagation is disabled for $master. In either of
these cases an empty string is returned. If boolean is omitted then the method
returns 0 or 1 to indicate whether propagation is currently enabled for $master.
Propagation is enabled by default.
$master->gridRowconfigure(index?, -option=>value, ...?)
Query or set the row properties of the index row of the geometry master, $master. The
valid options are -minsize, -weight and -pad. If one or more options are provided,
then index may be given as a list of row indeces to which the configuration options
will operate on. The -minsize option sets the minimum size, in screen units, that
will be permitted for this row. The -weight option (an integer value) sets the
relative weight for apportioning any extra spaces among rows. A weight of zero (0)
indicates the row will not deviate from its requested size. A row whose weight is two
will grow at twice the rate as a row of weight one when extra space is allocated to
the layout. The -uniform option, when a non-empty value is supplied, places the row
in a uniform group with other rows that have the same value for -uniform. The space
for rows belonging to a uniform group is allocated so that their sizes are always in
strict proportion to their -weight values. See THE GRID ALGORITHM below for further
details. The -pad option specifies the number of screen units that will be added to
the largest window contained completely in that row when the grid geometry manager
requests a size from the containing window. If only an option is specified, with no
value, the current value of that option is returned. If only the master window and
index is specified, all the current settings are returned in an list of "option-value"
pairs.
$slave->gridRemove?($slave, ...)?
Removes each of the $slaves from grid for its master and unmaps their windows. The
slaves will no longer be managed by the grid geometry manager. However, the
configuration options for that window are remembered, so that if the slave is managed
once more by the grid geometry manager, the previous values are retained.
$master->gridSize
Returns the size of the grid (in columns then rows) for $master. The size is
determined either by the $slave occupying the largest row or column, or the largest
column or row with a -minsize, -weight, or -pad that is non-zero.
$master->gridSlaves?(-option=>value)?
If no options are supplied, a list of all of the slaves in $master are returned, most
recently manages first. -option can be either -row or -column which causes only the
slaves in the row (or column) specified by value to be returned.
RELATIVE PLACEMENT
The grid method contains a limited set of capabilities that permit layouts to be created
without specifying the row and column information for each slave. This permits slaves to
be rearranged, added, or removed without the need to explicitly specify row and column
information. When no column or row information is specified for a $slave, default values
are chosen for -column, -row, -columnspan and -rowspan at the time the $slave is managed.
The values are chosen based upon the current layout of the grid, the position of the
$slave relative to other $slaves in the same grid method, and the presence of the
characters -, ^, and ^ in grid method where $slave names are normally expected.
- This increases the columnspan of the $slave to the left. Several -'s in a row will
successively increase the columnspan. A - may not follow a ^ or a x.
x This leaves an empty column between the $slave on the left and the $slave on the
right.
^ This extends the -rowspan of the $slave above the ^'s in the grid. The number of ^'s
in a row must match the number of columns spanned by the $slave above it.
THE GRID ALGORITHM
The grid geometry manager lays out its slaves in three steps. In the first step, the
minimum size needed to fit all of the slaves is computed, then (if propagation is turned
on), a request is made of the master window to become that size. In the second step, the
requested size is compared against the actual size of the master. If the sizes are
different, then space is added to or taken away from the layout as needed. For the final
step, each slave is positioned in its row(s) and column(s) based on the setting of its
sticky flag.
To compute the minimum size of a layout, the grid geometry manager first looks at all
slaves whose columnspan and rowspan values are one, and computes the nominal size of each
row or column to be either the minsize for that row or column, or the sum of the padding
plus the size of the largest slave, whichever is greater. Then the slaves whose rowspans
or columnspans are greater than one are examined. If a group of rows or columns need to
be increased in size in order to accommodate these slaves, then extra space is added to
each row or column in the group according to its weight. For each group whose weights are
all zero, the additional space is apportioned equally.
When multiple rows or columns belong to a uniform group, the space allocated to them is
always in proportion to their weights. (A weight of zero is considered to be 1.) In other
words, a row or column configured with -weight 1 -uniform a will have exactly the same
size as any other row or column configured with -weight 1 -uniform a. A row or column
configured with -weight 2 -uniform b will be exactly twice as large as one that is
configured with -weight 1 -uniform b.
More technically, each row or column in the group will have a size equal to k*weight for
some constant k. The constant k is chosen so that no row or column becomes smaller than
its minimum size. For example, if all rows or columns in a group have the same weight,
then each row or column will have the same size as the largest row or column in the group.
For masters whose size is larger than the requested layout, the additional space is
apportioned according to the row and column weights. If all of the weights are zero, the
layout is centered within its master. For masters whose size is smaller than the
requested layout, space is taken away from columns and rows according to their weights.
However, once a column or row shrinks to its minsize, its weight is taken to be zero. If
more space needs to be removed from a layout than would be permitted, as when all the rows
or columns are at there minimum sizes, the layout is clipped on the bottom and right.
GEOMETRY PROPAGATION
The grid geometry manager normally computes how large a master must be to just exactly
meet the needs of its slaves, and it sets the requested width and height of the master to
these dimensions. This causes geometry information to propagate up through a window
hierarchy to a top-level window so that the entire sub-tree sizes itself to fit the needs
of the leaf windows. However, the gridPropagate method may be used to turn off
propagation for one or more masters. If propagation is disabled then grid will not set
the requested width and height of the master window. This may be useful if, for example,
you wish for a master window to have a fixed size that you specify.
RESTRICTIONS ON MASTER WINDOWS
The master for each slave must either be the slave's parent (the default) or a descendant
of the slave's parent. This restriction is necessary to guarantee that the slave can be
placed over any part of its master that is visible without danger of the slave being
clipped by its parent. In addition, all slaves in one call to grid must have the same
master.
STACKING ORDER
If the master for a slave is not its parent then you must make sure that the slave is
higher in the stacking order than the master. Otherwise the master will obscure the slave
and it will appear as if the slave hasn't been managed correctly. The easiest way to make
sure the slave is higher than the master is to create the master window first: the most
recently created window will be highest in the stacking order.
CREDITS
The grid method is based on ideas taken from the GridBag geometry manager written by Doug.
Stein, and the blt_table geometry manager, written by George Howlett.
SEE ALSO
Tk::form Tk::pack Tk::place
KEYWORDS
geometry manager, location, grid, cell, propagation, size, pack, master, slave