Ubuntu Manpage: tixForm - Geometry manager based on attachment rules

NAME

       tixForm - Geometry manager based on attachment rules

SYNOPSIS

       tixForm option arg ?arg ...?

DESCRIPTION

The tixForm command is used to communicate with the tixForm Geometry Manager, a geometry manager that
arranges the geometry of the children in a parent window according to attachment rules. The tixForm
geometry manager is very flexible and powerful; it can be used to emulate all the existing features of
the Tk packer and placer geometry managers (see pack(n), place(n)). The tixForm command can have any of
several forms, depending on the option argument:

tixForm slave ?options?
If the first argument to tixForm is a window name (any value starting with ``.''), then the
command is processed in the same way as tixForm configure.

tixForm check master
This command checks whether there is circular dependency in the attachments of the master's slaves
(see the section CIRCULAR DEPENDENCY below). It returns the Boolean value TRUE if it discover
circular dependency and FALSE otherwise.

tixForm configure slave ?-option value ...?
Sets or adjusts the attachment values of the slave window according to the -option value argument
pairs.

-b attachment
Abbreviation for the -bottom option.

-bottom attachment
Specifies an attachment for the bottom edge of the slave window. The attachment must
specied according to the section SPECIFYING ATTACHMENTS below.

-bottomspring weight
Specifies the weight of the spring at the bottom edge of the slave window. See the section
USING SPRINGS below.

-bp value
Abbreviation for the -padbottom option.

-bs weight
Abbreviation for the -bottomspring option.

-fill master
Specifies the fillings when springs are used for this widget. The value must be x, y, both
or none.

-in master
Places the slave window into the specified master window. If the slave was originally in
another master window, all attachment values with respect to the original master window are
discarded. Even if the attachment values are the same as in the original master window,
they need to be specified again. The -in flag, when needed, must appear as the first flag
after the name of the slave. Otherwise an error is generated.

-l attachment
Abbreviation for the -left option.

-left attachment
Specifies an attachment for the left edge of the slave window. The attachment must specied
according to the section SPECIFYING ATTACHMENTS below.

-leftspring weight
Specifies the weight of the spring at the left edge of the slave window. See the section
USING SPRINGS below.

-lp value
Abbreviation for the -padleft option.

-ls weight
Abbreviation for the -leftspring option.

-padbottom value
Specifies the amount of external padding to leave on the bottom side of the slave. The
value may have any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels(3).

-padleft value
Specifies the amount of external padding to leave on the left side of the slave.

-padright value
Specifies the amount of external padding to leave on the right side of the slave.

-padtop value
Specifies the amount of external padding to leave on the top side of the slave.

-padx value
Specifies the amount of external padding to leave on both the left and the right sides of
the slave.

-pady value
Specifies the amount of external padding to leave on both the top and the bottom sides of
the slave.

-r attachment
Abbreviation for the -right option.

-right attachment
Specifies an attachment for the right edge of the slave window. The attachment must specied
according to the section SPECIFYING ATTACHMENTS below.

-rightspring weight
Specifies the weight of the spring at the right edge of the slave window. See the section
USING SPRINGS below.

-rp value
Abbreviation for the -padright option.

-rs weight
Abbreviation for the -rightspring option.

-t attachment
Abbreviation for the -top option.

-top attachment
Specifies an attachment for the top edge of the slave window. The attachment must specied
according to the section SPECIFYING ATTACHMENTS below.

-topspring weight
Specifies the weight of the spring at the top edge of the slave window. See the section
USING SPRINGS below.

-tp value
Abbreviation for the -padtop option.

-ts weight
Abbreviation for the -topspring option.

tixForm forget slave ?slave ...?
Removes each of the slaves from its master and unmaps their windows. The slaves will no longer be
managed by tixForm. All attachment values with respect to their master windows are discarded. If
another slave is attached to this slave, then the attachment of the other slave will be changed to
grid attachment based on its geometry.

tixForm grid master ?x_size y_size?
When x_size and y_size are given, this command returns the number of grids of the master window in
a pair of integers of the form {x_size y_size}. When both x_size and y_size are given, this
command changes the number of horizontal and vertical grids on the master window.

tixForm info slave ?option?
Queries the attachment options of a slave window. option can be any of the options accepted by the
tixForm configure command. If option is given, only the value of that option is returned.
Otherwise, this command returns a list whose elements are the current configuration state of the
slave given in the same option-value form that might be specified to tixForm configure. The first
two elements in this list list are "-in master" where master is the slave's master window.

tixForm slaves master
Returns a list of all of the slaves for the master window. The order of the slaves in the list is
the same as their order in the packing order. If master has no slaves then an empty string is
returned.

SPECIFYING ATTACHMENTS

One can specify an attachment for each side of a slave window managed by tixForm. An attachment is
specified in the the form "-side {anchor_point offset}". -side can be one of -top, -bottom, -left or
-right.

Offset is given in screen units (i.e. any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels). A positive offset
indicates shifting to a position to the right or bottom of an anchor point. A negative offset indicates
shifting to a position to the left or top of an anchor point.

Anchor_point can be given in one of the following forms:

Grid Attachment
The master window is divided into a number of horizontal and vertical grids. By default the
master window is divided into 100x100 grids; the number of grids can be adjusted by the
tixForm grid command. A grid attachment anchor point is given by a % sign followed by an
integer value. For example, %0 spceifies the first grid line (the top or left edge of the
master window). %100 spceifies the last grid line (the bottom or right edge of the master
window).

Opposite Side Attachment
Opposite attachment specifies an anchor point located on the opposite side of another slave
widget, which must be managed by tixForm in the same master window. An opposite attachment
anchor point is given by the name of another widget. For example, "tixForm .b -top {.a 0}"
attaches the top side of the widget .b to the bottom of the widget .a.

Parallel Side Attachment
Opposite attachment specifies an anchor point located on the same side of another slave
widget, which must be managed by tixForm in the same master window. An parallel attachment
anchor point is given by the sign & follwed by the name of another widget. For example,
"tixForm .b -top {&.a 0}" attaches the top side of the widget .b to the top of the widget
.a, making the top sides of these two widgets at the same vertical position in their parent
window.

No Attachment
Specifies a side of the slave to be attached to nothing, indicated by the keyword none.
When the none anchor point is given, the offser must be zero.

When a side of a slave is attached to {none 0}, the position of this side is calculated by
the position of the other side and the natural size of the slave. For example, if a the
left side of a widget is attached to {%0 100}, its right side attached to {none 0}, and the
natural size of the widget is 50 pixels, the right side of the widget will be positioned at
pixel {%0 149}.

When both -top and -bottom are attached to none, then by default -top will be attached to
{%0 0}. When both -left and -right are attached to none, then by default -left will be
attached to {%0 0}.

Shifting effects can be achieved by specifying a non-zero offset with an anchor point. In the following
example, the top side of widget .b is attached to the bottom of .a; hence .b always appears below .a.
Also, the left edge of .b is attached to the left side of .a with a 10 pixel offest. Therefore, the left
edge of .b is always shifted 10 pixels to the right of .a's left edge:

tixForm .b -left {.a 10} -top {.a 0}

ABBREVIATIONS: Certain abbreviations can be made on the attachment specifications: First an offset of
zero can be omitted. Thus, the following two lines are equivalent:

tixForm .b -top {.a 0} -right {%100 0} tixForm .b -top {.a} -right {%100}

Also, because of the way TCL handles lists, when you omit the offset, you can also leave out the braces.
So you can further simplify the above to:

tixForm .b -top .a -right %100

In the second case, when the anchor point is omitted, the offset must be given. A default anchor point is
chosen according to the value of the offset. If the anchor point is 0 or positive, the default anchor
point %0 is used; thus, "tixForm .b -top 15" attaches the top edge of .b to a position 15 pixels below
the top edge of the master window. If the anchor point is "-0" or negative, the default anchor point %100
is used; thus, "tixForm .a -right -2" attaches the right edge of .a to a position 2 pixels to the left of
the master window's right edge. An further example below shows a command with its equivalent
abbreviation. tixForm .b -top {%0 10} -bottom {%100 0} tixForm .b -top 10 -bottom -0

USING SPRINGS

       To be written.

ALGORITHM OF TIXFORM

       TixForm  starts with any slave in the list of slaves of the master window. Then it tries to determine the
       position of each side of the slave.

       If the attachment of a side of the slave is  grid  attachment,  the  position  of  the  side  is  readily
       determined.

       If the attachment of this side is none, then tixForm tries to determine the position of the opposite side
       first,  and then use the position of the opposite side and the natural size of the slave to determine the
       position of this side.

       If the attachment is opposite or parallel  widget  attachments,  then  tixForm  tries  to  determine  the
       positions  of the other widget first, and then use the positions of the other widget and the natural size
       of the slave determine the position of this  side.  This  recursive  algorithmis  carried  on  until  the
       positions of all slaves are determined.

CIRCULAR DEPENDENCY

       The  algorithm of tixForm will fail if a circular dependency exists in the attachments of the slaves. For
       example:

       tixForm .c -left .b tixForm .b -right .c

       In this example, the position of the left side of .b depends on the right  side  of  .c,  which  in  turn
       depends on the left side of .b.

       When  a  circular  dependency  is  discovered during the execution of the tixForm algorithm, tixForm will
       generate a background error and the geometry of the slaves are undefined (and will be arbitrary).  Notice
       that  tixForm  only executes the algorithm when the specification of the slaves' attachments is complete.
       Therefore, it allows intermediate states of circular dependency during the specification of  the  slaves'
       attachments.   Also,  unlike  the  Motif  Form  manager  widget,  tixForm  defines circular dependency as
       "dependency in the same dimension". Therefore, the following code fragment will does  not  have  circular
       dependency  because  the  two widgets do not depend on each other in the same dimension (.b depends .c in
       the horizontal dimension and .c depends on .b in the vertical dimension):

       tixForm .b -left .c tixForm .c -top .b

BUGS

       Springs have not been fully implemented yet.

KEYWORDS

       Tix(n), Form, Geometry Management

Tix                                                    4.0                                                TIX(3)