button(3Tk)

button - Create and manipulate button widgets

As shipped in IRIX 6.5.22. Unchanged since IRIX 6.5.

NAME
     button - Create and manipulate button widgets

SYNOPSIS
     button pathName ?options?

STANDARD OPTIONS
     activeBackground               cursor          highlightThicknesstakeFocus|
     activeForeground               disabledForegroundimagetext               |
     anchor          font           justify         textVariable              |
     background      foreground     padX            underline                 |
     bitmap          highlightColor padY            wrapLength                |
     borderWidth     highlightBackground            relief

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

WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
     Name:           command
     Class:          Command
     Command-Line Switch:-command

          Specifies a Tcl command to associate with the button.  This command
          is typically invoked when mouse button 1 is released over the button
          window.

     Name:           height
     Class:          Height
     Command-Line Switch:-height

          Specifies a desired height for the button.  If an image or bitmap is
          being displayed in the button then the value is in screen units
          (i.e. any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels); for text it is
          in lines of text.  If this option isn't specified, the button's
          desired height is computed from the size of the image or bitmap or
          text being displayed in it.

     Name:           state
     Class:          State
     Command-Line Switch:-state

          Specifies one of three states for the button:  normal, active, or
          disabled.  In normal state the button is displayed using the
          foreground and background options.  The active state is typically
          used when the pointer is over the button.  In active state the
          button is displayed using the activeForeground and activeBackground
          options.  Disabled state means that the button should be            |
          insensitive:  the default bindings will refuse to activate the      |
          widget and will ignore mouse button presses.  In this state the
          disabledForeground and background options determine how the button
          is displayed.

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

          Specifies a desired width for the button.  If an image or bitmap is
          being displayed in the button then the value is in screen units
          (i.e. any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels); for text it is
          in characters.  If this option isn't specified, the button's desired
          width is computed from the size of the image or bitmap or text being
          displayed in it.


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

     A button is a widget that displays a textual string, bitmap or image.  If|
     text is displayed, it must all be in a single font, but it can occupy    |
     multiple lines on the screen (if it contains newlines or if wrapping     |
     occurs because of the wrapLength option) and one of the characters may   |
     optionally be underlined using the underline option.  It can display
     itself in either of three different ways, according to the state option;
     it can be made to appear raised, sunken, or flat; and it can be made to
     flash.  When a user invokes the button (by pressing mouse button 1 with
     the cursor over the button), then the Tcl command specified in the
     -command option is invoked.


WIDGET COMMAND
     The button 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.  The
     following commands are possible for button widgets:

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

     pathName flash
          Flash the button.  This is accomplished by redisplaying the button
          several times, alternating between active and normal colors.  At the
          end of the flash the button is left in the same normal/active state
          as when the command was invoked.  This command is ignored if the
          button's state is disabled.

     pathName invoke
          Invoke the Tcl command associated with the button, if there is one.
          The return value is the return value from the Tcl command, or an
          empty string if there is no command associated with the button.
          This command is ignored if the button's state is disabled.


DEFAULT BINDINGS
     Tk automatically creates class bindings for buttons that give them the
     following default behavior:

     [1]  A button activates whenever the mouse passes over it and deactivates
          whenever the mouse leaves the button.

     [2]  A button's relief is changed to sunken whenever mouse button 1 is
          pressed over the button, and the relief is restored to its original
          value when button 1 is later released.

     [3]  If mouse button 1 is pressed over a button and later released over
          the button, the button is invoked.  However, if the mouse is not
          over the button when button 1 is released, then no invocation
          occurs.

     [4]  When a button has the input focus, the space key causes the button  |
          to be invoked.

     If the button's state is disabled then none of the above actions occur:
     the button is completely non-responsive.

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

KEYWORDS
     button, widget