Creating an SCO Visual Tcl program -- an overview

Creating the main form (VtFormDialog)

The next step is to create the main form using the VtFormDialog command:

      VtFormDialog $app.form -title Kill

VtFormDialog(VTCL) typifies an SCO Visual Tcl command:

The command name begins with Vt.
The command is followed by a widget name.
The command ends with any desired options. Options are preceded by dashes, and may or may not be followed by parameters.

The only option specified in this example is the title (``Kill'') that appears at the top of the form.

Widget naming guidelines

All widgets are uniquely identified by name. To establish this uniqueness, use a simple naming scheme. To name a widget, specify the following, in this order:

the handle of the parent (in this case, specified by $app)
a period (.)
a name that you specify

In this case, the parent will be whatever is returned by VtOpen in the previous line of code. Notice the the dollar sign ($) is used to access the variable.

Returning handle references

The next line of code creates a form with the VtFormDialog command. VtFormDialog(VTCL) returns a handle to refer to that form in the widget tree.

The form's handle is stored in the variable mainform, and the widget's parent is the app variable.

The empty form

The form created by VtFormDialog is simply a box in which to place widgets. Because it is a dialog form, it contains a window manager border which allows you to maximize or minimize the form.

Notice the string, ``Kill,'' specified by using the -title option to VtFormDialog, appears in the title bar of the form.