itk(n) [incr Tk] itk(n)______________________________________________________________________________NAMEitk - framework for building mega-widgets in Tcl/Tk
_________________________________________________________________DESCRIPTION
Mega-widgets are high-level widgets that are constructed using Tk wid‐
gets as component parts, usually without any C code. A fileselection‐
box, for example, may have a few listboxes, some entry widgets and some
control buttons. These individual widgets are put together in a way
that makes them act like one big widget. A fileselectionbox mega-wid‐
get can be created with a command like:
fileselectionbox .fsb -background blue -foreground white
Once it has been created, it can be reconfigured with a command like:
.fsb configure -background green -foreground black
and all of its internal components will change color. Each mega-widget
has a set of methods that can be used to manipulate it. For example,
the current selection can be queried from a fileselectionbox like this:
set fileName [.fsb get]
In effect, a mega-widget looks and acts exactly like a Tk widget, but
is considerably easier to implement.
[incr Tk] is a framework for building mega-widgets. It uses [incr Tcl]
to support the object paradigm, and adds base classes which provide
default widget behaviors.
All [incr Tk] widgets are derived from the Archetype base class. This
class manages internal component widgets, and provides methods like
"configure" and "cget" to access configuration options.
The Widget base class inherits everything from Archetype, and adds a Tk
frame which acts as a container for the mega-widget. It is used to
build mega-widgets that sit inside of other frames and toplevels.
Derived classes create other internal components and pack them into the
"hull" frame created by the Widget base class.
The Toplevel base class inherits everything from Archetype, but adds a
Tk toplevel which acts as a container for the mega-widget. It is used
to build mega-widgets, such as dialog boxes, that have their own
toplevel window. Derived classes create other internal components and
pack them into the "hull" toplevel created by the Toplevel base class.
[incr Widgets] LIBRARY
[incr Widgets] is a mega-widget library built using [incr Tk]. It can
be used right out of the box, and contains more than 30 different wid‐
get classes, including:
- fileselectiondialog
- tabnotebook
- panedwindow
- combobox
- optionmenu
- scrolledlistbox
- scrolledframe
- messagedialog
- and many others...
The catalog demo in the "iwidgets/demos" directory shows all of the
available widgets in action. Each widget class has its own man page
describing the features available.
KEYWORDS
class, object, object-oriented, mega-widget
itk 3.0 itk(n)
