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     MENU(9)                                                   MENU(9)

     NAME
          menu - Create and manipulate menu widgets

     SYNOPSIS
          menu pathName ?options?

     STANDARD OPTIONS
          -activebackground  -background        -foreground
          -activeborderwidth -borderwidth       -relief
          -activeforeground  -font

     WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
          -postcommand command
               If this option is specified then it provides a Tk com-
               mand to execute each time the menu is posted.  The com-
               mand is invoked by the post widget command before post-
               ing the menu.

          -selectcolor colour
               For menu entries that are check buttons or radio but-
               tons, this option specifies the colour to display in
               the indicator when the check button or radio button is
               selected.

     INTRODUCTION
          The menu command creates a new top-level window (given by
          the pathName argument) and makes it into a menu widget.
          Additional options, described above, may be specified on the
          command line to configure aspects of the menu such as its
          colours and font.  The menu 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 menu is a widget that displays a collection of one-line
          entries arranged in a column.  There exist several different
          types of entries, each with different properties.  Entries
          of different types may be combined in a single menu.  Menu
          entries are not the same as entry widgets.  In fact, menu
          entries are not even distinct widgets; the entire menu is
          one widget.

          Menu entries are displayed with up to three separate fields.
          The main field is a label in the form of a text string, a
          bitmap, or an image, controlled by the -label, -bitmap, and
          -image options for the entry.  The third field is an indica-
          tor.  The indicator is present only for checkbutton or
          radiobutton entries.  It indicates whether the entry is
          selected or not, and is displayed to the left of the entry's
          string.

     MENU(9)                                                   MENU(9)

          In normal use, an entry becomes active (displays itself dif-
          ferently) whenever the mouse pointer is over the entry.  If
          a mouse button is released over the entry then the entry is
          invoked.  The effect of invocation is different for each
          type of entry; these effects are described below in the sec-
          tions on individual entries.

          Entries may be disabled, which causes their labels and
          accelerators to be displayed with dimmer colours.  The
          default menu bindings will not allow a disabled entry to be
          activated or invoked.  Disabled entries may be re-enabled,
          at which point it becomes possible to activate and invoke
          them again.

     COMMAND ENTRIES
          The most common kind of menu entry is a command entry, which
          behaves much like a button widget.  When a command entry is
          invoked, a Tk command is executed.  The Tk command is speci-
          fied with the -command option.

     SEPARATOR ENTRIES
          A separator is an entry that is displayed as a horizontal
          dividing line.  A separator may not be activated or invoked,
          and it has no behaviour other than its display appearance.

     CHECKBUTTON ENTRIES
          A checkbutton menu entry behaves much like a checkbutton
          widget.  When it is invoked it toggles back and forth
          between the selected and deselected states.  When the entry
          is selected, the value ``1'' is stored in a particular glo-
          bal variable (as determined by -variable option for the
          entry);  when the entry is deselected the value ``0'' is
          stored in the global variable.  An indicator box is dis-
          played to the left of the label in a checkbutton entry.  If
          the entry is selected then the indicator's center is dis-
          played in the colour given by the -selectcolor option for
          the entry; otherwise the indicator's center is displayed in
          the background colour for the menu.  If a -command option is
          specified for a checkbutton entry, then its value is evalu-
          ated as a Tk command each time the entry is invoked;  this
          happens after toggling the entry's selected state.

     RADIOBUTTON ENTRIES
          A radiobutton menu entry behaves much like a radiobutton
          widget.  Radiobutton entries are organized in groups of
          which only one entry may be selected at a time.  Whenever a
          particular entry becomes selected it stores a particular
          value into a particular global variable (as determined by

     MENU(9)                                                   MENU(9)

          the -value and -variable options for the entry).  This
          action causes any previously-selected entry in the same
          group to deselect itself.  Once an entry has become
          selected, any change to the entry's associated variable will
          cause the entry to deselect itself.  Grouping of radiobutton
          entries is determined by their associated variables:  if two
          entries have the same associated variable then they are in
          the same group.  An indicator diamond is displayed to the
          left of the label in each radiobutton entry.  If the entry
          is selected then the indicator's center is displayed in the
          colour given by the -selectcolor option for the entry; oth-
          erwise the indicator's center is displayed in the background
          colour for the menu.  If a -command option is specified for
          a radiobutton entry, then its value is evaluated as a Tk
          command each time the entry is invoked;  this happens after
          selecting the entry.

     CASCADE ENTRIES
          A cascade entry is one with an associated menu (determined
          by the -menu option).  Cascade entries allow the construc-
          tion of cascading menus.  The postcascade widget command can
          be used to post and unpost the associated menu just to the
          right of the cascade entry.  The associated menu must be a
          child of the menu containing the cascade entry (this is
          needed in order for menu traversal to work correctly).

          A cascade entry posts its associated menu by invoking a Tk
          command of the form
               menu post x y
          where menu is the path name of the associated menu, and x
          and y are the root-window coordinates of the upper-right
          corner of the cascade entry.  The lower-level menu is
          unposted by executing a Tk command with the form
               menu unpost
          where menu is the name of the associated menu.

          If a -command option is specified for a cascade entry then
          it is evaluated as a Tk command whenever the entry is
          invoked.

     WIDGET COMMAND
          The menu command creates a new Tk command whose name is
          pathName.  This command may be used to invoke various opera-
          tions on the widget.  It has the following general form:
               pathName option ?arg arg ...?
          Option and the args determine the exact behaviour of the
          command.

          Many of the widget commands for a menu take as one argument
          an indicator of which entry of the menu to operate on.

     MENU(9)                                                   MENU(9)

          These indicators are called indexes and may be specified in
          any of the following forms:

          number      Specifies the entry numerically, where 0 corre-
                      sponds to the top-most entry of the menu, 1 to
                      the entry below it, and so on.

          active      Indicates the entry that is currently active.
                      If no entry is active then this form is equiva-
                      lent to none.  This form may not be abbreviated.

          end         Indicates the bottommost entry in the menu.  If
                      there are no entries in the menu then this form
                      is equivalent to none.  This form may not be
                      abbreviated.

          none        Indicates ``no entry at all'';  this is used
                      most commonly with the activate option to deac-
                      tivate all the entries in the menu.  In most
                      cases the specification of none causes nothing
                      to happen in the widget command.  This form may
                      not be abbreviated.

          @number     In this form, number is treated as a y-
                      coordinate in the menu's window;  the entry
                      closest to that y-coordinate is used.  For exam-
                      ple, ``@0'' indicates the top-most entry in the
                      window.

          The following widget commands are possible for menu widgets:

          pathName activate index
               Change the state of the entry indicated by index to
               active and redisplay it using its active colours.  Any
               previously-active entry is deactivated.  If index is
               specified as none, or if the specified entry is dis-
               abled, then the menu ends up with no active entry.
               Returns an empty string.

          pathName add type ?option value option value ...?
               Add a new entry to the bottom of the menu.  The new
               entry's type is given by type and must be one of cas-
               cade, checkbutton, command, radiobutton, or separator.
               If additional arguments are present, they specify any
               of the following options:

               -activebackground value
                    Specifies a background colour to use for display-
                    ing this entry when it is active.  If this option
                    is specified as an empty string (the default),
                    then the activeBackground option for the overall
                    menu is used.  This option is not available for

     MENU(9)                                                   MENU(9)

                    separator entries.

               -activeforeground value
                    Specifies a foreground colour to use for display-
                    ing this entry when it is active.  If this option
                    is specified as an empty string (the default),
                    then the activeForeground option for the overall
                    menu is used.  This option is not available for
                    separator entries.

               -background value
                    Specifies a background colour to use for display-
                    ing this entry when it is in the normal state
                    (neither active nor disabled).  If this option is
                    specified as an empty string (the default), then
                    the background option for the overall menu is
                    used.  This option is not available for separator
                    entries.

               -bitmap bitmap
                    Specifies a bitmap to display in the menu instead
                    of a textual label.  This option overrides the
                    -label option but may be reset to an empty string
                    to enable a textual label to be displayed.  If a
                    -image option has been specified, it overrides
                    -bitmap.  This option is not available for separa-
                    tor entries.

               -command value
                    Specifies a Tk command to execute when the menu
                    entry is invoked.  Not available for separator
                    entries.

               -font value
                    Specifies the font to use when drawing the label
                    or accelerator string in this entry.  If this
                    option is specified as an empty string (the
                    default) then the font option for the overall menu
                    is used.  This option is not available for separa-
                    tor entries.

               -foreground value
                    Specifies a foreground colour to use for display-
                    ing this entry when it is in the normal state
                    (neither active nor disabled).  If this option is
                    specified as an empty string (the default), then
                    the foreground option for the overall menu is
                    used.  This option is not available for separator
                    entries.

               -image value
                    Specifies an image to display in the menu instead

     MENU(9)                                                   MENU(9)

                    of a text string or bitmap The image must have
                    been created by some previous invocation of image
                    create.  This option overrides the -label and
                    -bitmap options but may be reset to an empty
                    string to enable a textual or bitmap label to be
                    displayed.  This option is not available for sepa-
                    rator entries.

               -label value
                    Specifies a string to display as an identifying
                    label in the menu entry.  Not available for sepa-
                    rator entries.

               -menu value
                    Available only for cascade entries.  Specifies the
                    path name of the submenu associated with this
                    entry.  The submenu must be a child of the menu.

               -selectcolor value
                    Available only for checkbutton and radiobutton
                    entries.  Specifies the colour to display in the
                    indicator when the entry is selected.  If the
                    value is an empty string (the default) then the
                    selectColor option for the menu determines the
                    indicator colour.

               -selectimage value
                    Available only for checkbutton and radiobutton
                    entries.  Specifies an image to display in the
                    entry (in place of the -image option) when it is
                    selected.  Value is the name of an image, which
                    must have been created by some previous invocation
                    of image create.  This option is ignored unless
                    the -image option has been specified.

               -state value
                    Specifies one of three states for the entry:  nor-
                    mal, active, or disabled.  In normal state the
                    entry is displayed using the foreground option for
                    the menu and the background option from the entry
                    or the menu.  The active state is typically used
                    when the pointer is over the entry.  In active
                    state the entry is displayed using the activeFore-
                    ground option for the menu along with the active-
                    background option from the entry.  Disabled state
                    means that the entry should be insensitive:  the
                    default bindings will refuse to activate or invoke
                    the entry.  In this state the entry is displayed
                    according to the disabledForeground option for the
                    menu and the background option from the entry.
                    This option is not available for separator
                    entries.

     MENU(9)                                                   MENU(9)

               -underline value
                    Specifies the integer index of a character to
                    underline in the entry.  This option is also
                    queried by the default bindings and used to imple-
                    ment keyboard traversal.  0 corresponds to the
                    first character of the text displayed in the
                    entry, 1 to the next character, and so on.  If a
                    bitmap or image is displayed in the entry then
                    this option is ignored.  This option is not avail-
                    able for separator entries.

               -value value
                    Available only for radiobutton entries.  Specifies
                    the value to store in the entry's associated vari-
                    able when the entry is selected.  If an empty
                    string is specified, then the -label option for
                    the entry as the value to store in the variable.

               -variable value
                    Available only for checkbutton and radiobutton
                    entries.  Specifies the name of a global value to
                    set when the entry is selected.  For checkbutton
                    entries the variable is also set when the entry is
                    deselected.  For radiobutton entries, changing the
                    variable causes the currently-selected entry to
                    deselect itself.

               The add widget command returns an empty string.

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

          pathName configure ?option? ?value option value ...?
               Query or modify the configuration options of the wid-
               get.  If no option is specified, returns a list of all
               of the available options for pathName.  If one or more
               option-value pairs are specified, then the command mod-
               ifies 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 menu command.

          pathName delete index1 ?index2?
               Delete all of the menu entries between index1 and
               index2 inclusive.  If index2 is omitted then it
               defaults to index1.

          pathName entrycget index option
               Returns the current value of a configuration option for
               the entry given by index.  Option may have any of the

     MENU(9)                                                   MENU(9)

               values accepted by the add widget command.

          pathName entryconfigure index ?options?
               This command is similar to the configure command,
               except that it applies to the options for an individual
               entry, whereas configure applies to the options for the
               menu as a whole.  Options may have any of the values
               accepted by the add widget command.  If options are
               specified, options are modified as indicated in the
               command and the command returns an empty string.  If no
               options are specified, returns a list describing the
               current options for entry index (see Tk_ConfigureInfo
               for information on the format of this list).

          pathName index index
               Returns the numerical index corresponding to index, or
               none if index was specified as none.

          pathName insert index type ?option value option value ...?
               Same as the add widget command except that it inserts
               the new entry just before the entry given by index,
               instead of appending to the end of the menu.  The type,
               option, and value arguments have the same interpreta-
               tion as for the add widget command.

          pathName invoke index
               Invoke the action of the menu entry.  See the sections
               on the individual entries above for details on what
               happens.  If the menu entry is disabled then nothing
               happens.  If the entry has a command associated with it
               then the result of that command is returned as the
               result of the invoke widget command.  Otherwise the
               result is an empty string.  Note:  invoking a menu
               entry does not automatically unpost the menu;  the
               default bindings normally take care of this before
               invoking the invoke widget command.

          pathName post x y
               Arrange for the menu to be displayed on the screen at
               the root-window coordinates given by x and y.  These
               coordinates are adjusted if necessary to guarantee that
               the entire menu is visible on the screen.  This command
               normally returns an empty string.  If the postCommand
               option has been specified, then its value is executed
               as a Tk script before posting the menu and the result
               of that script is returned as the result of the post
               widget command.  If an error returns while executing
               the command, then the error is returned without posting
               the menu.

          pathName postcascade index
               Posts the submenu associated with the cascade entry

     MENU(9)                                                   MENU(9)

               given by index, and unposts any previously posted sub-
               menu.  If index doesn't correspond to a cascade entry,
               or if pathName isn't posted, the command has no effect
               except to unpost any currently posted submenu.

          pathName type index
               Returns the type of the menu entry given by index.
               This is the type argument passed to the add widget com-
               mand when the entry was created, such as command or
               separator.

          pathName unpost
               Unmap the window so that it is no longer displayed.  If
               a lower-level cascaded menu is posted, unpost that
               menu.  Returns an empty string.

          pathName yposition index
               Returns a decimal string giving the y-coordinate within
               the menu window of the topmost pixel in the entry spec-
               ified by index.

     DEFAULT BINDINGS
          Tk automatically bindings for menus that give them the fol-
          lowing default behaviour:

          [1]  When the mouse enters a menu, the entry underneath the
               mouse cursor activates;  as the mouse moves around the
               menu, the active entry changes to track the mouse.

          [2]  When the mouse leaves a menu all of the entries in the
               menu deactivate, except in the special case where the
               mouse moves from a menu to a cascaded submenu.

          [3]  When a button is released over a menu, the active entry
               (if any) is invoked.  The menu also unposts unless it
               is a torn-off menu.

          [4]  If any of the entries in a menu have letters underlined
               with with -underline option, then pressing one of the
               underlined letters (or its upper-case or lower-case
               equivalent) invokes that entry and unposts the menu.

          Disabled menu entries are non-responsive:  they don't acti-
          vate and they ignore mouse button presses and releases.

          The behaviour of menus can be changed by defining new bind-
          ings for individual widgets.

     SEE ALSO
          options(9), types(9)