NAME
Tk::ToolBar - A toolbar widget for Perl/Tk
SYNOPSIS
use Tk;
use Tk::ToolBar;
my $mw = MainWindow->new;
my $tb = $mw->ToolBar(qw/-movable 1 -side top
-indicatorcolor blue/);
$tb->ToolButton (-text => 'Button',
-tip => 'tool tip',
-command => sub { print "hi\n" });
$tb->ToolLabel (-text => 'A Label');
$tb->Label (-text => 'Another Label');
$tb->ToolLabEntry(-label => 'A LabEntry',
-labelPack => [-side => "left",
-anchor => "w"]);
my $tb2 = $mw->ToolBar;
$tb2->ToolButton(-image => 'navback22',
-tip => 'back',
-command => \&back);
$tb2->ToolButton(-image => 'navforward22',
-tip => 'forward',
-command => \&forward);
$tb2->separator;
$tb2->ToolButton(-image => 'navhome22',
-tip => 'home',
-command => \&home);
$tb2->ToolButton(-image => 'actreload22',
-tip => 'reload',
-command => \&reload);
MainLoop;
DESCRIPTION
This module implements a dockable toolbar. It is in the same spirit as the "short-cut" toolbars found in most major applications, such as most web browsers and text editors (where you find the "back" or "save" and other shortcut buttons).
Buttons of any type (regular, menu, check, radio) can be created inside this widget. You can also create Label, Entry and LabEntry widgets. Moreover, the ToolBar itself can be made dockable, such that it can be dragged to any edge of your window. Dragging is done in "real-time" so that you can see the contents of your ToolBar as you are dragging it. Furthermore, if you are close to a stickable edge, a visual indicator will show up along that edge to guide you. ToolBars can be made "floatable" such that if they are dragged beyond their associated window, they will detach and float on the desktop. Also, multiple ToolBars are embeddable inside each other.
If you drag a ToolBar to within 15 pixels of an edge, it will stick to that edge. If the ToolBar is further than 15 pixels away from an edge and still inside the window, but you release it over another ToolBar widget, then it will be embedded inside the second ToolBar. You can "un-embed" an embedded ToolBar simply by dragging it out. You can change the 15 pixel limit using the -close option.
Various icons are built into the Tk::ToolBar widget. Those icons can be used as images for ToolButtons (see the SYNOPSIS entry elsewhere in this document). A demo program is bundled with the module that should be available under the 'User Contributed Demonstrations' when you run the widget program. Run it to see a list of the available images.
Tk::ToolBar attempts to use Tk::CursorControl if it's already installed on the system. You can further control this using the -cursorcontrol option. See the PREREQUISITES entry elsewhere in this document.
The ToolBar is supposed to be created as a child of a Toplevel (MainWindow is a Toplevel widget) or a Frame. You are free to experiment otherwise, but expect the unexpected :-)
WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
The ToolBar widget takes the following arguments:
-side
This option tells the ToolBar what edge to initially stick to. Can
be one of 'top', 'bottom', 'left' or 'right'. Defaults to 'top'.
This option can be set only during object creation. Default is
'top'.
-movable
This option specifies whether the ToolBar is dockable or not. A
dockable ToolBar can be dragged around with the mouse to any edge of
the window, subject to the sticky constraints defined by -sticky.
Default is 1.
-close
This option specifies, in pixels, how close we have to drag the
ToolBar an edge for the ToolBar to stick to it. Default is 15.
-sticky
This option specifies which sides the toolbar is allowed to stick
to. The value must be a string of the following characters 'nsew'. A
string of 'ns' means that the ToolBar can only stick to the north
(top) or south (bottom) sides. Defaults to 'nsew'. This option can
be set only during object creation.
-in This option allows the toolbar to be embedded within another already
instantiated Tk::ToolBar object. The value must be a Tk::ToolBar
object. This option can be set only during object creation.
-float
This option specifies whether the toolbar should "float" on the
desktop if dragged outside of the window. It defaults to 1. Note
that this value is ignored if -cursorcontrol is set to 1.
-cursorcontrol
This option specifies whether to use Tk::CursorControl to confine
the cursor during dragging. The value must be either 1 or 0. The
default is 1 which checks for Tk::CursorControl and uses it if
present.
-mystyle
This option indicates that you want to control how the ToolBar looks
like and not rely on Tk::ToolBar's own judgement. The value must be
either 1 or 0. For now, the only thing this controls is the relief
of ToolButtons and the borderwidth. Defaults to 0.
-indicatorcolor
This option controls the color of the visual indicator that tells
you whether you are close enough to an edge when dragging the
ToolBar. Defaults to some shade of blue and green (I like it :P).
-indicatorrelief
This option controls the relief of the visual indicator that tells
you whether you are close enough to an edge when dragging the
ToolBar. Defaults to flat.
WIDGET METHODS
The following methods are used to create widgets that are placed inside the ToolBar. Widgets are ordered in the same order they are created, left to right.
For all widgets, except Labels, a tooltip can be specified via the -tip option. An image can be specified using the -image option for Buttonand Label-based widgets.
$ToolBar->ToolButton(?-type => buttonType,? options) $ToolBar->Button(?-type => buttonType,? options)
This method creates a new Button inside the ToolBar. The -type
option can be used to specify what kind of button to create. Can be
one of 'Button', 'Checkbutton', 'Menubutton', or 'Radiobutton'. A
tooltip message can be specified via the -tip option. An accelerator
binding can be specified using the -accelerator option. The value of
this option is any legal binding sequence as defined in the bind
manpage. For example, "-accelerator => '<f>'" will invoke the button
when the 'f' key is pressed. Any other options will be passed
directly to the constructor of the button. The Button object is
returned.
$ToolBar->ToolLabel(options)
$ToolBar->Label(options)
This method creates a new Label inside the ToolBar. Any options will
be passed directly to the constructor of the label. The Label object
is returned.
$ToolBar->ToolEntry(options)
$ToolBar->Entry(options)
This method creates a new Entry inside the ToolBar. A tooltip
message can be specified via the -tip option. Any other options will
be passed directly to the constructor of the entry. The Entry object
is returned.
$ToolBar->ToolLabEntry(options) $ToolBar->LabEntry(options)
This method creates a new LabEntry inside the ToolBar. A tooltip
message can be specified via the -tip option. Any other options will
be passed directly to the constructor of the labentry. The LabEntry
object is returned. In horizontal ToolBars, the label of the
LabEntry widget will be packed to the left of the entry. On vertical
ToolBars, the label will be packed on top of the entry.
$ToolBar->ToolOptionmenu(options) $ToolBar->Optionmenu(options)
This method creates a new Optionmenu inside the ToolBar. A tooltip
message can be specified via the -tip option. Any other options will
be passed directly to the constructor of the Optionmenu. The
Optionmenu object is returned.
$ToolBar->separator(?-movable => 0/1, -space => num?)
This method inserts a separator. Separators are movable by default.
To change that, set the -movable option to 0. If you want to add
some space to the left of a separator (or at the top if your ToolBar
is vertical), then you can specify the amount of space (in pixels)
via the -space option. This can be used to "right-justify" some
buttons.
IMAGES
Tk::ToolBar now comes with a set of useful images that can be used in your Tk programs. To view those images, run the widget program that is bundled with Tk, scroll down to the 'User Contributed Demonstrations', and click on the Tk::ToolBar entry.
Note that the images are created using the text method. Also, Tk::ToolBar, upon its creation, pre-loads all of the bundled images into memory. This means that those images are available for use in other widgets in your Tk program. This also means that unless those images are explicitly destroyed, they will use up a small amount of memory even if you are not using them explicitly.
As far as I know, all the bundled images are in the free domain. If that is not the case, then please let me know.
BUGS
Not really a bug, but a feature ;-) The ToolBar widget assumes that you use pack in its parent. Actually, it will pack() itself inside its parent. If you are using another geometry manager, then you MIGHT get some weird behaviour. I have tested it very quickly, and found no surprises, but let me know if you do.
Another thing I noticed is that on slower window managers dragging a ToolBar might not go very smoothly, and you can "drop" the ToolBar midway through dragging it. I noticed this on Solaris 7 and 8, running any of OpenLook, CDE or GNOME2 window managers. I would appreciate any reports on different platforms.
TODO
I have implemented everything I wanted, and then some. Here are things that were requested, but are not implemented yet. If you want more, send me requests.
Tk::ToolBar uses only core pTk modules. So you don't need any special prerequisites. But, if Tk::CursorControl is installed on your system, then Tk::ToolBar will use it to confine the cursor to your window when dragging ToolBars (unless you tell it not to).
Note also that Tk::CursorControl is defined as a prerequisite in Makefile.PL. So, during installation you might get a warning saying:
"Warning: prerequisite Tk::CursorControl failed to load ..."
if you don't have it installed. You can ignore this warning if you don't want to install Tk::CursorControl. Tk::ToolBar will continue to work properly.
INSTALLATION
Either the usual:
perl Makefile.PL
make
make install
or just stick it somewhere in @INC where perl can find it. It's in pure Perl.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The following people have given me helpful comments and bug reports to keep me busy: Chris Whiting, Jack Dunnigan, Robert Brooks, Peter Lipecka, Martin Thurn and Shahriar Mokhtarzad.
Also thanks to the various artists of the KDE team for creating those great icons, and to Adrian Davis for packaging them in a Tk-friendly format.
AUTHOR
Ala Qumsieh aqumsieh@cpan.org
COPYRIGHTS
This module is distributed under the same terms as Perl itself.