entry(n) Tk Built-In Commands entry(n)_________________________________________________________________NAMEentry - Create and manipulate entry widgets
SYNOPSISentry pathName ?options?
STANDARD OPTIONS-background-highlightbackground-insertontime-selectforeground
-borderwidth-highlightcolor-insertwidth-takefocus
-cursor-highlightthickness-justify-textvariable
-exportselection-insertbackground-relief-xscrollcommand
-font-insertborderwidth-selectbackground
-foreground-insertofftime -selectborderwidth
See the options manual entry for details on the standard
options.
WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
Command-Line Name:-show
Database Name: show
Database Class: Show
If this option is specified, then the true contents
of the entry are not displayed in the window.
Instead, each character in the entry's value will
be displayed as the first character in the value of
this option, such as ``*''. This is useful, for
example, if the entry is to be used to enter a
password. If characters in the entry are selected
and copied elsewhere, the information copied will
be what is displayed, not the true contents of the
entry.
Command-Line Name:-state
Database Name: state
Database Class: State
Specifies one of two states for the entry: normal
or disabled. If the entry is disabled then the
value may not be changed using widget commands and
no insertion cursor will be displayed, even if the
input focus is in the widget.
Command-Line Name:-width
Database Name: width
Database Class: Width
Specifies an integer value indicating the desired
width of the entry window, in average-size charac-
ters of the widget's font. If the value is less
than or equal to zero, the widget picks a size just
large enough to hold its current text.
Tk 4.1 1
entry(n) Tk Built-In Commands entry(n)_________________________________________________________________DESCRIPTION
The entry command creates a new window (given by the path-
Name argument) and makes it into an entry widget. Addi-
tional options, described above, may be specified on the
command line or in the option database to configure
aspects of the entry such as its colors, font, and relief.
The entry command returns its pathName argument. At the
time this command is invoked, there must not exist a win-
dow named pathName, but pathName's parent must exist.
An entry is a widget that displays a one-line text string
and allows that string to be edited using widget commands
described below, which are typically bound to keystrokes
and mouse actions. When first created, an entry's string
is empty. A portion of the entry may be selected as
described below. If an entry is exporting its selection
(see the exportSelection option), then it will observe the
standard X11 protocols for handling the selection; entry
selections are available as type STRING. Entries also
observe the standard Tk rules for dealing with the input
focus. When an entry has the input focus it displays an
insertion cursor to indicate where new characters will be
inserted.
Entries are capable of displaying strings that are too
long to fit entirely within the widget's window. In this
case, only a portion of the string will be displayed;
commands described below may be used to change the view in
the window. Entries use the standard xScrollCommand mech-
anism for interacting with scrollbars (see the description
of the xScrollCommand option for details). They also sup-
port scanning, as described below.
WIDGET COMMAND
The entry 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.
Many of the widget commands for entries take one or more
indices as arguments. An index specifies a particular
character in the entry's string, in any of the following
ways:
number Specifies the character as a numerical index,
where 0 corresponds to the first character in
the string.
Tk 4.1 2
entry(n) Tk Built-In Commands entry(n)
anchor Indicates the anchor point for the selection,
which is set with the select from and select
adjust widget commands.
end Indicates the character just after the last
one in the entry's string. This is equivalent
to specifying a numerical index equal to the
length of the entry's string.
insert Indicates the character adjacent to and imme-
diately following the insertion cursor.
sel.first Indicates the first character in the selec-
tion. It is an error to use this form if the
selection isn't in the entry window.
sel.last Indicates the character just after the last
one in the selection. It is an error to use
this form if the selection isn't in the entry
window.
@number In this form, number is treated as an x-coor-
dinate in the entry's window; the character
spanning that x-coordinate is used. For exam-
ple, ``@0'' indicates the left-most character
in the window.
Abbreviations may be used for any of the forms above, e.g.
``e'' or ``sel.f''. In general, out-of-range indices are
automatically rounded to the nearest legal value.
The following commands are possible for entry widgets:
pathName bbox index
Returns a list of four numbers describing the
bounding box of the character given by index. The
first two elements of the list give the x and y
coordinates of the upper-left corner of the screen
area covered by the character (in pixels relative
to the widget) and the last two elements give the
width and height of the character, in pixels. The
bounding box may refer to a region outside the vis-
ible area of the window.
pathName cget option
Returns the current value of the configuration
option given by option. Option may have any of the
values accepted by the entry 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 path-
Name (see Tk_ConfigureInfo for information on the
Tk 4.1 3
entry(n) Tk Built-In Commands entry(n)
format of this list). If option is specified with
no value, then the command returns a list describ-
ing the one named option (this list will be identi-
cal 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 entry command.
pathName delete first ?last?
Delete one or more elements of the entry. First is
the index of the first character to delete, and
last is the index of the character just after the
last one to delete. If last isn't specified it
defaults to first+1, i.e. a single character is
deleted. This command returns an empty string.
pathName get
Returns the entry's string.
pathName icursor index
Arrange for the insertion cursor to be displayed
just before the character given by index. Returns
an empty string.
pathName index index
Returns the numerical index corresponding to index.
pathName insert index string
Insert the characters of string just before the
character indicated by index. Returns an empty
string.
pathName scan option args
This command is used to implement scanning on
entries. It has two forms, depending on option:
pathName scan mark x
Records x and the current view in the entry
window; used in conjunction with later scan
dragto commands. Typically this command is
associated with a mouse button press in the
widget. It returns an empty string.
pathName scan dragto x
This command computes the difference between
its x argument and the x argument to the
last scan mark command for the widget. It
then adjusts the view left or right by 10
times the difference in x-coordinates. This
command is typically associated with mouse
motion events in the widget, to produce the
Tk 4.1 4
entry(n) Tk Built-In Commands entry(n)
effect of dragging the entry at high speed
through the window. The return value is an
empty string.
pathName selection option arg
This command is used to adjust the selection within
an entry. It has several forms, depending on
option:
pathName selection adjust index
Locate the end of the selection nearest to
the character given by index, and adjust
that end of the selection to be at index
(i.e including but not going beyond index).
The other end of the selection is made the
anchor point for future select to commands.
If the selection isn't currently in the
entry, then a new selection is created to
include the characters between index and the
most recent selection anchor point, inclu-
sive. Returns an empty string.
pathName selection clear
Clear the selection if it is currently in
this widget. If the selection isn't in this
widget then the command has no effect.
Returns an empty string.
pathName selection from index
Set the selection anchor point to just
before the character given by index.
Doesn't change the selection. Returns an
empty string.
pathName selection present
Returns 1 if there is are characters
selected in the entry, 0 if nothing is
selected.
pathName selection range start end
Sets the selection to include the characters
starting with the one indexed by start and
ending with the one just before end. If end
refers to the same character as start or an
earlier one, then the entry's selection is
cleared.
pathName selection to index
If index is before the anchor point, set the
selection to the characters from index up to
but not including the anchor point. If
index is the same as the anchor point, do
nothing. If index is after the anchor
point, set the selection to the characters
Tk 4.1 5
entry(n) Tk Built-In Commands entry(n)
from the anchor point up to but not includ-
ing index. The anchor point is determined
by the most recent select from or select
adjust command in this widget. If the
selection isn't in this widget then a new
selection is created using the most recent
anchor point specified for the widget.
Returns an empty string.
pathName xview args
This command is used to query and change the hori-
zontal position of the text in the widget's window.
It can take any of the following forms:
pathName xview
Returns a list containing two elements.
Each element is a real fraction between 0
and 1; together they describe the horizon-
tal span that is visible in the window. For
example, if the first element is .2 and the
second element is .6, 20% of the entry's
text is off-screen to the left, the middle
40% is visible in the window, and 40% of the
text is off-screen to the right. These are
the same values passed to scrollbars via the
-xscrollcommand option.
pathName xview index
Adjusts the view in the window so that the
character given by index is displayed at the
left edge of the window.
pathName xview moveto fraction
Adjusts the view in the window so that the
character fraction of the way through the
text appears at the left edge of the window.
Fraction must be a fraction between 0 and 1.
pathName xview scroll number what
This command shifts the view in the window
left or right according to number and what.
Number must be an integer. What must be
either units or pages or an abbreviation of
one of these. If what is units, the view
adjusts left or right by number average-
width characters on the display; if it is
pages then the view adjusts by number
screenfuls. If number is negative then
characters farther to the left become visi-
ble; if it is positive then characters far-
ther to the right become visible.
Tk 4.1 6
entry(n) Tk Built-In Commands entry(n)DEFAULT BINDINGS
Tk automatically creates class bindings for entries that
give them the following default behavior. In the descrip-
tions below, ``word'' refers to a contiguous group of let-
ters, digits, or ``_'' characters, or any single character
other than these.
[1] Clicking mouse button 1 positions the insertion
cursor just before the character underneath the
mouse cursor, sets the input focus to this widget,
and clears any selection in the widget. Dragging
with mouse button 1 strokes out a selection between
the insertion cursor and the character under the
mouse.
[2] Double-clicking with mouse button 1 selects the
word under the mouse and positions the insertion
cursor at the beginning of the word. Dragging
after a double click will stroke out a selection
consisting of whole words.
[3] Triple-clicking with mouse button 1 selects all of
the text in the entry and positions the insertion
cursor before the first character.
[4] The ends of the selection can be adjusted by drag-
ging with mouse button 1 while the Shift key is
down; this will adjust the end of the selection
that was nearest to the mouse cursor when button 1
was pressed. If the button is double-clicked
before dragging then the selection will be adjusted
in units of whole words.
[5] Clicking mouse button 1 with the Control key down
will position the insertion cursor in the entry
without affecting the selection.
[6] If any normal printing characters are typed in an
entry, they are inserted at the point of the inser-
tion cursor.
[7] The view in the entry can be adjusted by dragging
with mouse button 2. If mouse button 2 is clicked
without moving the mouse, the selection is copied
into the entry at the position of the mouse cursor.
[8] If the mouse is dragged out of the entry on the
left or right sides while button 1 is pressed, the
entry will automatically scroll to make more text
visible (if there is more text off-screen on the
side where the mouse left the window).
[9] The Left and Right keys move the insertion cursor
one character to the left or right; they also
Tk 4.1 7
entry(n) Tk Built-In Commands entry(n)
clear any selection in the entry and set the selec-
tion anchor. If Left or Right is typed with the
Shift key down, then the insertion cursor moves and
the selection is extended to include the new char-
acter. Control-Left and Control-Right move the
insertion cursor by words, and Control-Shift-Left
and Control-Shift-Right move the insertion cursor
by words and also extend the selection. Control-b
and Control-f behave the same as Left and Right,
respectively. Meta-b and Meta-f behave the same as
Control-Left and Control-Right, respectively.
[10] The Home key, or Control-a, will move the insertion
cursor to the beginning of the entry and clear any
selection in the entry. Shift-Home moves the
insertion cursor to the beginning of the entry and
also extends the selection to that point.
[11] The End key, or Control-e, will move the insertion
cursor to the end of the entry and clear any selec-
tion in the entry. Shift-End moves the cursor to
the end and extends the selection to that point.
[12] The Select key and Control-Space set the selection
anchor to the position of the insertion cursor.
They don't affect the current selection. Shift-
Select and Control-Shift-Space adjust the selection
to the current position of the insertion cursor,
selecting from the anchor to the insertion cursor
if there was not any selection previously.
[13] Control-/ selects all the text in the entry.
[14] Control-\ clears any selection in the entry.
[15] The F16 key (labelled Copy on many Sun worksta-
tions) or Meta-w copies the selection in the widget
to the clipboard, if there is a selection.
[16] The F20 key (labelled Cut on many Sun workstations)
or Control-w copies the selection in the widget to
the clipboard and deletes the selection. If there
is no selection in the widget then these keys have
no effect.
[17] The F18 key (labelled Paste on many Sun worksta-
tions) or Control-y inserts the contents of the
clipboard at the position of the insertion cursor.
[18] The Delete key deletes the selection, if there is
one in the entry. If there is no selection, it
deletes the character to the right of the insertion
cursor.
Tk 4.1 8
entry(n) Tk Built-In Commands entry(n)
[19] The BackSpace key and Control-h delete the selec-
tion, if there is one in the entry. If there is no
selection, it deletes the character to the left of
the insertion cursor.
[20] Control-d deletes the character to the right of the
insertion cursor.
[21] Meta-d deletes the word to the right of the inser-
tion cursor.
[22] Control-k deletes all the characters to the right
of the insertion cursor.
[23] Control-w deletes the word to the left of the
insertion cursor.
[24] Control-t reverses the order of the two characters
to the right of the insertion cursor.
If the entry is disabled using the -state option, then the
entry's view can still be adjusted and text in the entry
can still be selected, but no insertion cursor will be
displayed and no text modifications will take place.
The behavior of entries can be changed by defining new
bindings for individual widgets or by redefining the class
bindings.
KEYWORDS
entry, widget
Tk 4.1 9
