DOC HOME SITE MAP MAN PAGES GNU INFO SEARCH PRINT BOOK
 

entry(n)




______________________________________________________________________________


NAME

       entry - Create and manipulate entry widgets


SYNOPSIS

       entry pathName ?options?


STANDARD OPTIONS

       -background           -highlightthickness  -selectbackground
       -borderwidth          -insertbackground    -selectborderwidth
       -cursor               -insertborderwidth   -selectforeground
       -exportselection      -insertofftime       -takefocus
       -font                 -insertontime        -textvariable
       -foreground           -insertwidth         -xscrollcommand
       -highlightbackground  -justify
       -highlightcolor       -relief

       See the options manual entry for details on the standard options.


WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS

       Command-Line Name:-disabledbackground                                   |
       Database Name:  disabledBackground                                      |
       Database Class: DisabledBackground                                      |

              Specifies  the  background  color  to use when the entry is dis- |
              abled.  If this option is the empty  string,  the  normal  back- |
              ground color is used.                                            |

       Command-Line Name:-disabledforeground                                   |
       Database Name:  disabledForeground                                      |
       Database Class: DisabledForeground                                      |

              Specifies  the  foreground  color  to use when the entry is dis- |
              abled.  If this option is the empty  string,  the  normal  fore- |
              ground color is used.                                            |

       Command-Line Name:-invalidcommand or -invcmd                            |
       Database Name:  invalidCommand                                          |
       Database Class: InvalidCommand                                          |

              Specifies a script to eval when validateCommand returns 0.  Set- |
              ting it to {} disables this feature (the default).  The best use |
              of  this  option is to set it to bell.  See Validation below for |
              more information.                                                |

       Command-Line Name:-readonlybackground                                   |
       Database Name:  readonlyBackground                                      |
       Database Class: ReadonlyBackground                                      |

              Specifies the background color to use when the  entry  is  read- |
              only.  If this option is the empty string, the normal background |
              color is used.

       Command-Line Name:-show
       Database Name:  show
       Database Class: Show

              If this option is specified, then the true contents of the entry
              are not displayed in the window.  Instead, each character in the
              entry's value will be displayed as the first  character  in  the
              value  of this option, such as ``*''.  This is useful, for exam-
              ple, if the entry is to be used to enter a password.  If charac-
              ters  in the entry are selected and copied elsewhere, the infor-
              mation copied will be what is displayed, not the  true  contents
              of the entry.                                                    |

       Command-Line Name:-state                                                |
       Database Name:  state                                                   |
       Database Class: State                                                   |

              Specifies  one of three states for the entry:  normal, disabled, |
              or readonly.  If the entry is readonly, 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;  the  con- |
              tents of the widget may still be selected.  If the entry is dis- |
              abled, the value may not be changed, no insertion cursor will be |
              displayed,  the  contents  will not be selectable, and the entry |
              may be displayed in a different color, depending on  the  values |
              of the -disabledforeground and -disabledbackground options.      |

       Command-Line Name:-validate                                             |
       Database Name:  validate                                                |
       Database Class: Validate                                                |

              Specifies  the  mode  in  which validation should operate: none, |
              focus, focusin, focusout, key, or all.   It  defaults  to  none. |
              When  you  want validation, you must explicitly state which mode |
              you wish to use.  See Validation below for more.                 |

       Command-Line Name:-validatecommand or -vcmd                             |
       Database Name:  validateCommand                                         |
       Database Class: ValidateCommand                                         |

              Specifies a script to eval when you want to validate  the  input |
              into  the  entry widget.  Setting it to {} disables this feature |
              (the default).  This command must return  a  valid  Tcl  boolean |
              value.   If  it  returns 0 (or the valid Tcl boolean equivalent) |
              then it means you reject the new edition and it will  not  occur |
              and  the  invalidCommand  will  be evaluated if it is set. If it |
              returns 1, then the new edition occurs.   See  Validation  below |
              for more information.

       Command-Line Name:-width
       Database Name:  width
       Database Class: Width

              Specifies  an  integer value indicating the desired width of the
              entry window, in average-size characters of the  widget's  font.
              If  the  value is less than or equal to zero, the widget picks a
              size just large enough to hold its current text.
_________________________________________________________________


DESCRIPTION

       The entry command creates a new window (given by the pathName argument)
       and  makes  it  into  an  entry  widget.  Additional options, described
       above, may be specified on the command line or in the  option  database
       to configure aspects of the entry such as its colors, font, and relief.
       The entry command returns its pathName argument.  At the time this com-
       mand  is  invoked,  there  must  not exist a window named pathName, but
       pathName's parent must exist.

       An entry is a widget that displays a one-line text  string  and  allows
       that  string  to be edited using widget commands described below, which
       are typically bound to keystrokes and mouse actions.  When  first  cre-
       ated,  an  entry's  string  is  empty.   A  portion of the entry may be
       selected as described below.  If an entry is  exporting  its  selection
       (see the exportSelection option), then it will observe the standard X11
       protocols for handling the selection;  entry selections  are  available
       as type STRING.  Entries also observe the standard Tk rules for dealing
       with the input focus.  When an entry has the input focus it displays an
       insertion cursor to indicate where new characters will be inserted.

       Entries  are  capable  of  displaying  strings that are too long to fit
       entirely within the widget's window.  In this case, only a  portion  of
       the  string will be displayed;  commands described below may be used to
       change the view in the window.  Entries use the standard xScrollCommand
       mechanism  for  interacting with scrollbars (see the description of the
       xScrollCommand option for details).  They  also  support  scanning,  as
       described below.


VALIDATION

       Validation  works  by  setting  the  validateCommand option to a script |
       which will be evaluated according to the validate option as follows:    |

       none                                                                    ||
                 Default.  This means no validation will occur.                |

       focus                                                                   ||
                 validateCommand will be called when  the  entry  receives  or |
                 loses focus.                                                  |

       focusin                                                                 ||
                 validateCommand will be called when the entry receives focus. |

       focu-                                                                   |
       sout                                                                |   |
                 validateCommand will be called when the entry loses focus.    |

       key                                                                     ||
                 validateCommand will be called when the entry is edited.      |

       all                                                                     ||
                 validateCommand will be called for all above conditions.      |

       It is possible to perform percent substitutions on the  validateCommand |
       and  invalidCommand, just as you would in a bind script.  The following |
       substitutions are recognized:                                           |

       %d                                                                      ||
            Type  of  action:  1  for  insert,  0 for delete, or -1 for focus, |
            forced or textvariable validation.                                 |

       %i                                                                      ||
            Index of char string to be inserted/deleted, if any, otherwise -1. |

       %P                                                                      ||
            The value of the entry if the edit is allowed.  If you are config- |
            uring the entry widget to have a new textvariable,  this  will  be |
            the value of that textvariable.                                    |

       %s                                                                      ||
            The current value of entry prior to editing.                       |

       %S                                                                      ||
            The text string being inserted/deleted, if any, {} otherwise.      |

       %v                                                                      ||
            The type of validation currently set.                              |

       %V                                                                      ||
            The  type of validation that triggered the callback (key, focusin, |
            focusout, forced).                                                 |

       %W                                                                      ||
            The name of the entry widget.                                      |

       In  general,  the  textVariable and validateCommand can be dangerous to |
       mix.  Any problems have been overcome so that using the validateCommand |
       will  not  interfere with the traditional behavior of the entry widget. |
       Using the textVariable for read-only purposes will  never  cause  prob- |
       lems.   The danger comes when you try set the textVariable to something |
       that the validateCommand would not accept,  which  causes  validate  to |
       become  none (the invalidCommand will not be triggered).  The same hap- |
       pens when an error occurs evaluating the validateCommand.               |

       Primarily, an error will occur when the validateCommand or  invalidCom- |
       mand encounters an error in its script while evaluating or validateCom- |
       mand does not return a valid Tcl boolean value.   The  validate  option |
       will also set itself to none when you edit the entry widget from within |
       either the validateCommand or the invalidCommand.  Such  editions  will |
       override  the  one  that  was being validated.  If you wish to edit the |
       entry widget (for example set it to {})  during  validation  and  still |
       have the validate option set, you should include the command            |
              after idle {%W config -validate %v}                              |
       in  the validateCommand or invalidCommand (whichever one you were edit- |
       ing the entry widget from).  It is also recommended to not set an asso- |
       ciated textVariable during validation, as that can cause the entry wid- |
       get to become out of sync with the textVariable.


WIDGET COMMAND

       The entry command creates a new Tcl command  whose  name  is  pathName.
       This  command  may  be used to invoke various operations on the widget.
       It has the following general form:
              pathName option ?arg arg ...?
       Option and the args determine the exact behavior of the command.

       Many of the widget commands for entries take one  or  more  indices  as
       arguments.   An  index  specifies a particular character in the entry's
       string, in any of the following ways:

       number      Specifies the character as a numerical index, where 0  cor-
                   responds to the first character in the string.

       anchor      Indicates  the anchor point for the selection, which is set
                   with the select from and select adjust widget commands.

       end         Indicates the character just after  the  last  one  in  the
                   entry's string.  This is equivalent to specifying a numeri-
                   cal index equal to the length of the entry's string.

       insert      Indicates the character adjacent to and immediately follow-
                   ing the insertion cursor.

       sel.first   Indicates  the  first character in the selection.  It is an
                   error to use this form if the selection isn't in the  entry
                   window.

       sel.last    Indicates  the  character  just  after  the last one in the
                   selection.  It is an error to use this form if  the  selec-
                   tion isn't in the entry window.

       @number     In  this  form, number is treated as an x-coordinate in the
                   entry's window;  the character spanning  that  x-coordinate
                   is used.  For example, ``@0'' indicates the left-most char-
                   acter in the window.

       Abbreviations may be used for any of the forms  above,  e.g.  ``e''  or
       ``sel.f''.   In general, out-of-range indices are automatically rounded
       to the nearest legal value.

       The following commands are possible for entry widgets:

       pathName bbox index
              Returns a list of four numbers describing the  bounding  box  of
              the  character  given  by  index.  The first two elements of the
              list give the x and y coordinates of the  upper-left  corner  of
              the  screen area covered by the character (in pixels relative to
              the widget) and the last two elements give the width and  height
              of  the  character,  in pixels.  The bounding box may refer to a
              region outside the visible area of the window.

       pathName cget option
              Returns the current value of the configuration option  given  by
              option.  Option may have any of the values accepted by the entry
              command.

       pathName 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 avail-
              able 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 entry command.

       pathName delete first ?last?
              Delete one or more elements of the entry.  First is the index of
              the  first  character  to  delete,  and last is the index of the
              character just after the last one  to  delete.   If  last  isn't
              specified  it  defaults  to  first+1, i.e. a single character is
              deleted.  This command returns an empty string.

       pathName get
              Returns the entry's string.

       pathName icursor index
              Arrange for the insertion cursor to be displayed just before the
              character given by index.  Returns an empty string.

       pathName index index
              Returns the numerical index corresponding to index.

       pathName insert index string
              Insert  the characters of string just before the character indi-
              cated by index.  Returns an empty string.

       pathName scan option args
              This command is used to implement scanning on entries.   It  has
              two forms, depending on option:

              pathName scan mark x
                     Records x and the current view in the entry window;  used
                     in conjunction with later scan  dragto  commands.   Typi-
                     cally  this  command  is  associated  with a mouse button
                     press in the widget.  It returns an empty string.

              pathName scan dragto x
                     This command computes the difference between its x  argu-
                     ment and the x argument to the last scan mark command for
                     the widget.  It then adjusts the view left or right by 10
                     times  the  difference in x-coordinates.  This command is
                     typically associated with mouse motion events in the wid-
                     get,  to produce the effect of dragging the entry at high
                     speed through the window.  The return value is  an  empty
                     string.

       pathName selection option arg
              This  command  is  used to adjust the selection within an entry.
              It has several forms, depending on option:

              pathName selection adjust index
                     Locate the end of the selection nearest to the  character
                     given  by  index, and adjust that end of the selection to
                     be at index (i.e. including but not going beyond  index).
                     The  other  end of the selection is made the anchor point
                     for future select to commands.  If  the  selection  isn't
                     currently  in  the entry, then a new selection is created
                     to include the characters  between  index  and  the  most
                     recent  selection  anchor  point,  inclusive.  Returns an
                     empty string.

              pathName selection clear
                     Clear the selection if it is currently  in  this  widget.
                     If  the  selection  isn't in this widget then the command
                     has no effect.  Returns an empty string.

              pathName selection from index
                     Set the selection anchor point to just before the charac-
                     ter  given  by  index.   Doesn't  change  the  selection.
                     Returns an empty string.

              pathName selection present
                     Returns 1 if there is  are  characters  selected  in  the
                     entry, 0 if nothing is selected.

              pathName selection range start end
                     Sets  the  selection  to  include the characters starting
                     with the one indexed by start and  ending  with  the  one
                     just  before end.  If end refers to the same character as
                     start or an earlier one, then the  entry's  selection  is
                     cleared.

              pathName selection to index
                     If index is before the anchor point, set the selection to
                     the characters from index up to  but  not  including  the
                     anchor  point.  If index is the same as the anchor point,
                     do nothing.  If index is after the anchor point, set  the
                     selection  to  the characters from the anchor point up to
                     but not including index.  The anchor point is  determined
                     by  the  most recent select from or select adjust command
                     in this widget.  If the selection isn't  in  this  widget
                     then  a  new  selection  is created using the most recent
                     anchor point specified for the widget.  Returns an  empty
                     string.

       pathName vali-                                                          |
       date                                                       |            |
              This command is used to force an evaluation of the  validateCom- |
              mand  independent  of  the  conditions specified by the validate |
              option.  This is done by temporarily setting the validate option |
              to all.  It returns 0 or 1.

       pathName xview args
              This command is used to query and change the horizontal position
              of the text in the widget's window.  It can take any of the fol-
              lowing forms:

              pathName 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  ele-
                     ment  is .6, 20% of the entry'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.

              pathName xview index
                     Adjusts  the  view  in  the  window so that the character
                     given by index is displayed at the left edge of the  win-
                     dow.

              pathName xview moveto fraction
                     Adjusts  the  view  in  the  window so that the character
                     fraction of the way through the text appears at the  left
                     edge  of the window.  Fraction must be a fraction between
                     0 and 1.

              pathName xview scroll 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 average-width characters on the  display;
                     if  it  is  pages then the view adjusts by number screen-
                     fuls.  If number is negative then characters  farther  to
                     the  left become visible;  if it is positive then charac-
                     ters farther to the right become visible.


DEFAULT BINDINGS

       Tk automatically creates class bindings for entries that give them  the
       following default behavior.  In the descriptions below, ``word'' refers
       to a contiguous group of letters, digits, or ``_'' characters,  or  any
       single character other than these.

       [1]    Clicking  mouse  button  1  positions  the insertion cursor just
              before the character underneath the mouse cursor, sets the input
              focus  to  this  widget, and clears any selection in the widget.
              Dragging with mouse button 1 strokes out a selection between the
              insertion cursor and the character under the mouse.

       [2]    Double-clicking  with  mouse button 1 selects the word under the
              mouse and positions the insertion cursor at the end of the word.
              Dragging  after  a double click will stroke out a selection con-
              sisting of whole words.

       [3]    Triple-clicking with mouse button 1 selects all of the  text  in
              the  entry  and positions the insertion cursor at the end of the
              line.

       [4]    The ends of the selection can be adjusted by dragging with mouse
              button  1 while the Shift key is down;  this will adjust the end
              of the selection that was nearest to the mouse cursor when  but-
              ton 1 was pressed.  If the button is double-clicked before drag-
              ging then the selection will  be  adjusted  in  units  of  whole
              words.

       [5]    Clicking  mouse button 1 with the Control key down will position
              the insertion cursor in the entry without affecting  the  selec-
              tion.

       [6]    If  any  normal  printing characters are typed in an entry, they
              are inserted at the point of the insertion cursor.

       [7]    The view in the entry can be adjusted  by  dragging  with  mouse
              button  2.   If  mouse  button  2  is clicked without moving the
              mouse, the selection is copied into the entry at the position of
              the mouse cursor.

       [8]    If  the  mouse  is dragged out of the entry on the left or right
              sides while button 1 is pressed, the  entry  will  automatically
              scroll  to  make  more  text visible (if there is more text off-
              screen on the side where the mouse left the window).

       [9]    The Left and Right keys move the insertion cursor one  character
              to  the  left  or  right;   they also clear any selection in the
              entry and set the selection anchor.  If Left or Right  is  typed
              with the Shift key down, then the insertion cursor moves and the
              selection is extended to include the  new  character.   Control-
              Left  and  Control-Right move the insertion cursor by words, and
              Control-Shift-Left and Control-Shift-Right  move  the  insertion
              cursor  by  words  and also extend the selection.  Control-b and
              Control-f behave the  same  as  Left  and  Right,  respectively.
              Meta-b  and  Meta-f behave the same as Control-Left and Control-
              Right, respectively.

       [10]   The Home key, or Control-a, will move the  insertion  cursor  to
              the beginning of the entry and clear any selection in the entry.
              Shift-Home moves the insertion cursor to the  beginning  of  the
              entry and also extends the selection to that point.

       [11]   The End key, or Control-e, will move the insertion cursor to the
              end of the entry and clear any selection in the  entry.   Shift-
              End  moves  the  cursor  to the end and extends the selection to
              that point.

       [12]   The Select key and Control-Space set the selection anchor to the
              position of the insertion cursor.  They don't affect the current
              selection.   Shift-Select  and  Control-Shift-Space  adjust  the
              selection  to  the  current  position  of  the insertion cursor,
              selecting from the anchor to the insertion cursor if  there  was
              not any selection previously.

       [13]   Control-/ selects all the text in the entry.

       [14]   Control-\ clears any selection in the entry.

       [15]   The  F16  key (labelled Copy on many Sun workstations) or Meta-w
              copies the selection in the widget to the clipboard, if there is
              a selection.

       [16]   The F20 key (labelled Cut on many Sun workstations) or Control-w
              copies the selection in the widget to the clipboard and  deletes
              the  selection.   If  there  is  no selection in the widget then
              these keys have no effect.

       [17]   The F18 key (labelled Paste on many Sun  workstations)  or  Con-
              trol-y  inserts the contents of the clipboard at the position of
              the insertion cursor.

       [18]   The Delete key deletes the selection, if there  is  one  in  the
              entry.   If  there  is no selection, it deletes the character to
              the right of the insertion cursor.

       [19]   The BackSpace key and Control-h delete the selection,  if  there
              is  one  in the entry.  If there is no selection, it deletes the
              character to the left of the insertion cursor.

       [20]   Control-d deletes the character to the right  of  the  insertion
              cursor.

       [21]   Meta-d deletes the word to the right of the insertion cursor.

       [22]   Control-k  deletes all the characters to the right of the inser-
              tion cursor.

       [23]   Control-t reverses the order of the two characters to the  right
              of the insertion cursor.

       If the entry is disabled using the -state option, then the entry's view
       can still be adjusted and text in the entry can still be selected,  but
       no  insertion  cursor  will be displayed and no text modifications will
       take place except if the entry  is  linked  to  a  variable  using  the |
       -textvariable  option,  in  which  case any changes to the variable are |
       reflected by the entry whatever the value of its -state option.

       The behavior of entries can be changed by  defining  new  bindings  for
       individual widgets or by redefining the class bindings.


KEYWORDS

       entry, widget

Tk                                    8.3                             entry(n)

Man(1) output converted with man2html