Menubutton(3pm) User Contributed Perl Documentation Menubutton(3pm)
NAME
Tk::Menubutton - Create and manipulate Menubutton widgets
SYNOPSIS
$menubutton = $parent->Menubutton(?options?);
STANDARD OPTIONS
-activebackground -cursor -highlightthickness -takefocus
-activeforeground -disabledforeground -image -text
-anchor -font -justify -textvariable
-background -foreground -padx -underline
-bitmap -highlightbackground -pady -wraplength
-borderwidth -highlightcolor -relief
See Tk::options for details of the standard options.
WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
Command-Line Name: -compound
Database Name: compound
Database Class: Compound
Specifies whether the button should display both an image and text,
and if so, where the image should be placed relative to the text.
Valid values for this option are bottom, center, left, none, right
and top. The default value is none, meaning that the button will
display either an image or text, depending on the values of the
-image and -bitmap options.
Name: direction
Class: Height
Switch: -direction
Specifies where the menu is going to be popup up. above tries to pop
the menu above the menubutton. below tries to pop the menu below the
menubutton. left tries to pop the menu to the left of the
menubutton. right tries to pop the menu to the right of the menu
button. flush pops the menu directly over the menubutton.
Name: height
Class: Height
Switch: -height
Specifies a desired height for the menubutton. If an image or
bitmap is being displayed in the menubutton 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
menubutton's desired height is computed from the size of the image
or bitmap or text being displayed in it.
Name: indicatorOn
Class: IndicatorOn
Switch: -indicatoron
The value must be a proper boolean value. If it is true then a
small indicator rectangle will be displayed on the right side of the
menubutton and the default menu bindings will treat this as an
option menubutton. If false then no indicator will be displayed.
Name: menu
Class: MenuName
Switch: -menu
Specifies the path name of the menu associated with this menubutton.
The menu must be a child of the menubutton.
Name: state
Class: State
Switch: -state
Specifies one of three states for the menubutton: normal, active,
or disabled. In normal state the menubutton is displayed using the
foreground and background options. The active state is typically
used when the pointer is over the menubutton. In active state the
menubutton is displayed using the activeForeground and
activeBackground options. Disabled state means that the menubutton
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
Switch: -width
Specifies a desired width for the menubutton. If an image or bitmap
is being displayed in the menubutton 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
menubutton's desired width is computed from the size of the image or
bitmap or text being displayed in it.
DESCRIPTION
The Menubutton method creates a new window (given by the $widget
argument) and makes it into a menubutton widget. Additional options,
described above, may be specified on the command line or in the option
database to configure aspects of the menubutton such as its colors,
font, text, and initial relief. The menubutton command returns its
$widget argument. At the time this command is invoked, there must not
exist a window named $widget, but $widget's parent must exist.
A menubutton is a widget that displays a textual string, bitmap, or
image and is associated with a menu widget. 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. In normal usage, pressing mouse
button 1 over the menubutton causes the associated menu to be posted
just underneath the menubutton. If the mouse is moved over the menu
before releasing the mouse button, the button release causes the
underlying menu entry to be invoked. When the button is released, the
menu is unposted.
Menubuttons are typically organized into groups called menu bars that
allow scanning: if the mouse button is pressed over one menubutton
(causing it to post its menu) and the mouse is moved over another
menubutton in the same menu bar without releasing the mouse button, then
the menu of the first menubutton is unposted and the menu of the new
menubutton is posted instead.
There are several interactions between menubuttons and menus; see the
menu manual entry for information on various menu configurations, such
as pulldown menus and option menus.
WIDGET METHODS
The Menubutton method creates a widget object. This object supports the
configure and cget methods described in Tk::options which can be used to
enquire and modify the options described above. The menu method returns
the menu associated with the widget. The widget also inherits all the
methods provided by the generic Tk::Widget class.
DEFAULT BINDINGS
Tk automatically creates class bindings for menubuttons that give them
the following default behavior:
[1] A menubutton activates whenever the mouse passes over it and
deactivates whenever the mouse leaves it.
[2] Pressing mouse button 1 over a menubutton posts the menubutton: its
relief changes to raised and its associated menu is posted under the
menubutton. If the mouse is dragged down into the menu with the
button still down, and if the mouse button is then released over an
entry in the menu, the menubutton is unposted and the menu entry is
invoked.
[3] If button 1 is pressed over a menubutton and then released over that
menubutton, the menubutton stays posted: you can still move the
mouse over the menu and click button 1 on an entry to invoke it.
Once a menu entry has been invoked, the menubutton unposts itself.
[4] If button 1 is pressed over a menubutton and then dragged over some
other menubutton, the original menubutton unposts itself and the new
menubutton posts.
[5] If button 1 is pressed over a menubutton and released outside any
menubutton or menu, the menubutton unposts without invoking any menu
entry.
[6] When a menubutton is posted, its associated menu claims the input
focus to allow keyboard traversal of the menu and its submenus. See
the menu documentation for details on these bindings.
[7] If the underline option has been specified for a menubutton then
keyboard traversal may be used to post the menubutton: Alt+x, where
x is the underlined character (or its lower-case or upper-case
equivalent), may be typed in any window under the menubutton's
toplevel to post the menubutton.
[8] The F10 key may be typed in any window to post the first menubutton
under its toplevel window that isn't disabled.
[9] If a menubutton has the input focus, the space and return keys post
the menubutton.
If the menubutton's state is disabled then none of the above actions
occur: the menubutton is completely non-responsive.
The behavior of menubuttons can be changed by defining new bindings
for individual widgets or by redefining the class bindings.
KEYWORDS
menubutton, widget
perl v5.40.1 2025-04-13 Menubutton(3pm)
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