Provided by: libgtk2-ex-formfactory-perl_0.67-0ubuntu1_all 
NAME
Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory - Makes building complex GUI's easy
SYNOPSIS
#-- Refer to http://www.exit1.org/ for
#-- a comprehensive online documentation.
#-- Read Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory::Intro
use Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory;
my $context = Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory::Context->new;
$context->add_object (
name => "worksheet",
object => My::Worksheet->new,
);
# derived from Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory::Layout
my $layouter = My::Layout->new;
# derived from Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory::Rules
my $rule_checker = My::Rules->new;
my $ff = Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory->new (
context => $context,
layouter => $layouter,
rule_checker => $rule_checker,
content => [
Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory::Window->new (
title => "Worksheet Editor",
content => [
Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory::Form->new (
title => "Main data",
content => [
Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory::Entry->new (
label => "Worksheet title",
attr => "worksheet.title",
tip => "Title of this worksheet",
),
#-- More widgets...
],
),
Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory->DialogButtons->new,
],
),
],
);
$ff->open;
$ff->update;
Gtk2->main;
ABSTRACT
With Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory you can build a GUI which consistently represents the data of your
application.
DESCRIPTION
This is a framework which tries to make building complex GUI's easy, by offering these two main features:
* Consistent looking GUI without the need to code resp. tune
each widget by hand. Instead you declare the structure of your
GUI, connect it to the data of your program (which should be
a well defined set of objects) and control how this structure
is transformed into a specific layout in a very generic way.
* Automatically keep widget and object states in sync (in both
directions), even with complex data structures with a lot of
internal dependencies, object nesting etc.
This manpage describes the facilities of Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory objects which are only a small part of the
whole framework. To get a full introduction and overview of how this framework works refer to
Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory::Intro.
OBJECT HIERARCHY
Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory::Widget
+--- Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory::Container
+--- Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory
ATTRIBUTES
Attributes are handled through the common get_ATTR(), set_ATTR() style accessors, but they are mostly
passed once to the object constructor and must not be altered after the associated FormFactory was built.
context = Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory::Context [optional]
This is the Context of this FormFactory. The Context connects your application objects and their
attributes with the GUI build through the FormFactory. Refer to Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory::Context for
details.
If you omit this option in the new() object constructor an empty Context is created which can be
accessed with get_context.
layouter = Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory::Layout [optional]
This is the Layout module of this FormFactory. The Layout module actually builds the GUI and thus
controls all details of appearance. Refer to Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory::Layout for details, if you're
interested in writing your own Layout module.
If you omit this option in the new() object constructor a default Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory::Layout
object is created which can be accessed with get_layouter.
rule_checker = Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory::Rules [optional]
This is the rule checker module of this FormFactory. It's responsible to check user input against a
set of rules which may be associated with a widget.
Refer to Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory::Rules for details, if you're interested in writing your own rule
checker module.
If you omit this option in the new() object constructor a default Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory::Rules object
is created which can be accessed with get_rule_checker.
sync = BOOL [optional]
By default all changes on the GUI trigger corresopndent updates on your application objects
immediately. If you want to build dialogs with local changes on the GUI only, e.g. to be able to
implement a Cancel button in a simple fashion (refer to Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory::DialogButtons), you
may switch this synchronisation off by setting sync to FALSE.
But note that asynchronous dialogs are static. Dependencies between objects and attributes, which are
defined in the associated Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory::Context, don't work on widget/GUI level. That's why
automatic dependency resolution / widget updating only works for FormFactory's with sync set to TRUE.
parent_ff = Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory object [optional]
You may specify a parent Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory object. The Gtk Window of this FormFactory will be set
transient to the Gtk Window of the parent FormFactory.
METHODS
$form_factory->open ( [ hide => BOOL ])
This actually builds and displays the GUI, if you set the hide parameter to a true value. Until this
method is called you can add new or modify existent Widgets of this FormFactory.
If you set hide you need to call $form_factory->show later, otherwise all widgets will keep
invisible.
No object data will be transfered to the GUI, so it will be more or less empty. Call update to put
data into the GUI.
$form_factory->update ()
After building the GUI you should call update to transfer your application data to the GUI.
$form_factory->ok ()
This method applies all changes of a asynchronous FormFactory and closes it afterwards.
$form_factory->apply ()
All changes to Widgets inside this FormFactory are applied to the associated application object
attributes.
Useful only in a FormFactory with sync=FALSE.
$form_factory->close ()
When you exit the program you must call close on all FormFactories which are actually open. Otherwise
you will get error messages like this from Perl's garbage collector:
Attempt to free unreferenced scalar: SV 0x85d7374
during global destruction.
That's because circular references are necessary between Gtk2 and Gtk2::Ex::FormFactory widgets.
These references need first to be deleted until Perl can exit the program cleanly.
$form_factory->cancel
Currently this simply calls $form_factory->close.
$form_factory->open_confirm_window ( parameters )
This is a convenience method to open a confirmation window which is set modal and transient to the
window of this FormFactory. The following parameters are known:
message The message resp. question, HTML markup allowed
position Position of the dialog. Defaults to 'center-on-parent'.
Other known values are: 'none', 'center', 'mouse'
and 'center-always'
yes_callback Code reference to be called if the user
answered your question with "Yes"
no_callback Code reference to be called if the user
answered your question with "No"
yes_label (Stock-)Label for the yes button. Default 'gtk-yes'
no_label (Stock-)Label for the no button. Default 'gtk-no'
$form_factory->open_message_window ( parameters )
This is a convenience method to open a message window which is set modal and transient to the window
of this FormFactory. The following parameters are known:
type Type of the dialog. Defaults to 'info'.
Other known values are: 'warning', 'question' and 'error'
message The message, HTML markup allowed
position Position of the dialog. Defaults to 'center-on-parent'.
Other known values are: 'none', 'center', 'mouse'
and 'center-always'
$filename = $form_factory->get_image_path
This is a convenience method to find a filename inside Perl's @INC path. You will need this if you
ship images or icons inside your module namespace and want to retreive the actual filenames of them.
$form_factory->change_mouse_cursor ( $type [, $gtk_widget] )
This convenience method changes the mouse cursor of the window of this FormFactory, or of an
arbitrary widget passed as $gtk_widget. $type is the cursor type, e.g. "watch" for a typical busy /
sandglass cursor. Refer to the Gtk documentation for a complete list of possible mouse cursors.
AUTHORS
Joern Reder <joern at zyn dot de>
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
Copyright 2004-2006 by Joern Reder.
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU
Library General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the
License, or (at your option) any later version.
This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even
the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Library General
Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU Library General Public License along with this library; if
not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307
USA.