tixBalloon(n) Tix (4.0) tixBalloon(n)
_________________________________________________________________
NAME
tixBalloon - Create and manipulate tixBalloon widgets
SYNOPSIS
tixBalloon pathName ?options?
SUPER-CLASS
The tixBalloon class is derived from the TixShell class and
inherits all the commands, options and subwidgets of its
super-class.
STANDARD OPTIONS
The Balloon widget supports all the standard options of a
frame widget. See the options(n) manual entry for details
on the standard options.
WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
Name: initWait
Class: InitWait
Switch: -initwait
In milliseconds. Specifies how long the balloon should
wait before popping up in a widget.
Name: state
Class: State
Switch: -state
Specifies the which help message to display when the
mouse pointer enters a widget associated with this
balloon. Valid options are both: display both the
balloon message and the status bar message, balloon:
display only the balloon message, status: display only
the status bar message and none: display no messages.
Name: statusBar
Class: statusBar
Switch: -statusbar
Specifies the widget to use as the status bar of this
balloon. This widget must have a "-text" option.
Usually a label widget is used.
SUBWIDGETS
Name: label
Class: Label
The label widget that shows the little arrow bitmap in
the pop-up balloon window.
Page 1 (printed 12/22/98)
tixBalloon(n) Tix (4.0) tixBalloon(n)
Name: message
Class: Label
The message widget that shows the descriptive message
in the the pop-up balloon window.
_________________________________________________________________
DESCRIPTION
The tixBalloon command creates a new window (given by the
pathName argument) and makes it into a Balloon widget.
Additional options, described above, may be specified on the
command line or in the option database to configure aspects
of the Balloon widget such as its cursor and relief.
The Balloon widget can be used to show popped-up messages
that describe the functions of the widgets in an
application. A Balloon widget can be bound to a number of
widgets. When the user moves the cursor inside a widget to
which a Balloon widget has been bound, a small pop-up window
with a descriptive message will be shown on the screen.
WIDGET COMMANDS
The tixBalloon command creates a new Tcl command whose name
is the same as the path name of the Balloon widget's window.
This command may be used to invoke various operations on the
widget. It has the following general form:
pathName option ?arg arg ...?
PathName is the name of the command, which is the same as
the Balloon widget's path name. Option and the args
determine the exact behavior of the command. The following
commands are possible for Balloon widgets:
pathName bind widget ?option value ... ?
Binds the Balloon widget to the widget. The messages to
be shown can be passed as extra arguments to this
command in option value pairs. Possible options:
-balloonmsg specifies the string to show on the pop-up
balloon window; -statusmsg specifies the string to show
on the status bar; -msg specifies a string to show on
both the balloon window and the stats bar window. When
used together, the -msg option has a lower precedence
than the -balloonmsg and -statusmsg options.
The bind command can also be used to change the
messages after the initial bindings were set. Example:
button .b
tixBalloon .bal
# Add balloon binding
Page 2 (printed 12/22/98)
tixBalloon(n) Tix (4.0) tixBalloon(n)
.bal bind .b -msg "This is a button"
...
# Change the balloon binding
.bal bind .b -msg "This is a useful button"
pathName cget option
Returns the current value of the configuration option
given by option. Option may have any of the values
accepted by the tixBalloon 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 tixBalloon
command.
pathName unbind widget
Cancels the Balloon widget's binding with widget.
pathName subwidget name ?args?
When no options are given, this command returns the
pathname of the subwidget of the specified name.
When options are given, the widget command of the
specified subwidget will be called with these options.
BINDINGS
After a widget has be bound to a Balloon widget, when the
user moves the cursor into this widget, the Balloon widget
is activated: if the -balloonmsg option of this widget is
set, the balloon window pops up; if the -statusmsg option of
this widget is set, the message will be displayed in the
status bar widget.
When the user moves the cursor out of the widget, the
Balloon widget is de-activated: the balloon window is
withdrawn and the status-bar message removed.
KEYWORDS
Tix(n)
Page 3 (printed 12/22/98)