Tk Built-In Commands - scale manual page

scale

Create and manipulate scale widgets

STANDARD OPTIONS

:activebackground                      :background 
:borderwidth                           :cursor 
:font                                  :foreground 
:highlightbackground                   :highlightcolor 
:highlightthickness                    :orient 
:relief                                :repeatdelay 
:repeatinterval                        :takefocus 
:troughcolor

WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS

Name: bigIncrement

Class: BigIncrement

Option keyword: :bigincrement

STklos slot name: big-increment

Some interactions with the scale cause its value to change by ``large'' increments; this option specifies the size of the large increments. If specified as 0, the large increments default to 1/10 the range of the scale.

Name: command

Class: Command

Option keyword: :command

STklos slot name: command

Specifies a STk command to invoke whenever the scale's value is changed via a widget command. The procedure is called with a real number indicating the new value of the scale. Example:

(scale '.s :command (lambda (x) (format #t "New position is ~S\n" x)))

Name: digits

Class: Digits

Option keyword: :digits

STklos slot name: digits

An integer specifying how many significant digits should be retained when converting the value of the scale to a string. If the number is less than or equal to zero, then the scale picks the smallest value that guarantees that every possible slider position prints as a different string.

Name: from

Class: From

Option keyword: :from

STklos slot name: from

A real value corresponding to the left or top end of the scale.

Name: label

Class: Label

Option keyword: :label

STklos slot name: label

A string to display as a label for the scale. For vertical scales the label is displayed just to the right of the top end of the scale. For horizontal scales the label is displayed just above the left end of the scale. If the option is specified as an empty string, no label is displayed.

Name: length

Class: Length

Option keyword: :length

STklos slot name: length

Specifies the desired long dimension of the scale in screen units (i.e. any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels). For vertical scales this is the scale's height; for horizontal scales it is the scale's width.

Name: resolution

Class: Resolution

Option keyword: :resolution

STklos slot name: resolution

A real value specifying the resolution for the scale. If this value is greater than zero then the scale's value will always be rounded to an even multiple of this value, as will tick marks and the endpoints of the scale. If the value is less than zero then no rounding occurs. Defaults to 1 (i.e., the value will be integral).

Name: showValue

Class: ShowValue

Option keyword: :showvalue

STklos slot name: show-value

Specifies a boolean value indicating whether or not the current value of the scale is to be displayed.

Name: sliderLength

Class: SliderLength

Option keyword: :sliderlength

STklos slot name:

Specifies the size of the slider, measured in screen units along the slider's long dimension. The value may be specified in any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels.

Name: sliderRelief

Class: SliderRelief

Option keyword: :sliderrelief

STklos slot name: slider-relief

Specifies the relief to use when drawing the slider, such as raised or sunken.

Name: state

Class: State

Option keyword: :state

STklos slot name: state

Specifies one of three states for the scale: "normal", "active", or "disabled". If the scale is disabled then the value may not be changed and the scale won't activate. If the scale is active, the slider is displayed using the color specified by the activeBackground option.

Name: tickInterval

Class: TickInterval

Option keyword: :tickinterval

STklos slot name: tick-interval

Must be a real value. Determines the spacing between numerical tick marks displayed below or to the left of the slider. If 0, no tick marks will be displayed.

Name: to

Class: To

Option keyword: :to

STklos slot name: to

Specifies a real value corresponding to the right or bottom end of the scale. This value may be either less than or greater than the from option.

Name: variable

Class: Variable

Option keyword: :variable

STklos slot name: variable

Specifies the name of a global variable to link to the scale. Whenever the value of the variable changes, the scale will update to reflect this value. Whenever the scale is manipulated interactively, the variable will be modified to reflect the scale's new value.

Name: width

Class: Width

Option keyword: :width

STklos slot name: width

Specifies the desired narrow dimension of the trough in screen units (i.e. any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels). For vertical scales this is the trough's width; for horizontal scales this is the trough's height.

DESCRIPTION

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

A scale is a widget that displays a rectangular trough and a small slider. The trough corresponds to a range of real values (determined by the from, to, and resolution options), and the position of the slider selects a particular real value. The slider's position (and hence the scale's value) may be adjusted with the mouse or keyboard as described in the BINDINGS section below. Whenever the scale's value is changed, a STk procedure is invoked (using the command option) to notify other interested widgets of the change. In addition, the value of the scale can be linked to a STk variable (using the variable option), so that changes in either are reflected in the other.

Three annotations may be displayed in a scale widget: a label appearing at the top right of the widget (top left for horizontal scales), a number displayed just to the left of the slider (just above the slider for horizontal scales), and a collection of numerical tick marks just to the left of the current value (just below the trough for horizontal scales). Each of these three annotations may be enabled or disabled using the configuration options.

WIDGET PROCEDURE

The scale procedure creates a new STk procedure whose name is widget-name. This procedure may be used to invoke various operations on the widget. It has the following general form:

(widget-name option ?arg arg ...?)

Option and the args determine the exact behavior of the procedure. The following procedures are possible for scale widgets:

(widget-name 'cget option): Returns the current value of the configuration option given by option. Option may have any of the values accepted by the scale procedure.
(widget-name '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 widget-name (see Tk_ConfigureInfo for information on the format of this list). If option is specified with no value, then the procedure 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 procedure modifies the given widget option(s) to have the given value(s); in this case the procedure returns an empty list. Option may have any of the values accepted by the scale procedure.
(widget-name 'coords )
(widget-name 'coords value): Returns a list whose elements are the x and y coordinates of the point along the centerline of the trough that corresponds to value. If value is omitted then the scale's current value is used.
(widget-name 'get)
(widget-name 'get x y): If x and y are omitted, returns the current value of the scale. If x and y are specified, they give pixel coordinates within the widget; the procedure returns the scale value corresponding to the given pixel. Only one of x or y is used: for horizontal scales y is ignored, and for vertical scales x is ignored.
(widget-name 'identify x y): Returns a string indicating what part of the scale lies under the coordinates given by x and y. A return value of "slider" means that the point is over the slider; "trough1" means that the point is over the portion of the slider above or to the left of the slider; and "trough2" means that the point is over the portion of the slider below or to the right of the slider. If the point isn't over one of these elements, an empty list is returned.
(widget-name 'set value): This procedure is invoked to change the current value of the scale, and hence the position at which the slider is displayed. Value gives the new value for the scale. The procedure has no effect if the scale is disabled.

BINDINGS

Tk automatically creates class bindings for scales that give them the following default behavior. Where the behavior is different for vertical and horizontal scales, the horizontal behavior is described in parentheses.

{[1]}: If button 1 is pressed in the trough, the scale's value will be incremented or decremented by the value of the resolution option so that the slider moves in the direction of the cursor. If the button is held down, the action auto-repeats.
{[2]}: If button 1 is pressed over the slider, the slider can be dragged with the mouse.
{[3]}: If button 1 is pressed in the trough with the Control key down, the slider moves all the way to the end of its range, in the direction towards the mouse cursor.
{[4]}: If button 2 is pressed, the scale's value is set to the mouse position. If the mouse is dragged with button 2 down, the scale's value changes with the drag.
{[5]}: The Up and Left keys move the slider up (left) by the value of the resolution option.
{[6]}: The Down and Right keys move the slider down (right) by the value of the resolution option.
{[7]}: Control-Up and Control-Left move the slider up (left) by the value of the bigIncrement option.
{[8]}: Control-Down and Control-Right move the slider down (right) by the value of the bigIncrement option.
{[9]}: Home moves the slider to the top (left) end of its range.
{[10]}: End moves the slider to the bottom (right) end of its range.

If the scale is disabled using the state option then none of the above bindings have any effect.

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