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'\" Copyright (c) 1993-1998  Lucent Technologies, Inc.

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'\" RCS: $Id: itk.n,v 1.1.1.1 2002-01-16 10:24:47 markom Exp $

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.so man.macros

.TH itk n 3.0 itk "[incr\ Tk]"

.BS

'\" Note:  do not modify the .SH NAME line immediately below!

.SH NAME

itk \- framework for building mega-widgets in Tcl/Tk

.BE

.SH DESCRIPTION

.PP

Mega-widgets are high-level widgets that are constructed using

Tk widgets as component parts, usually without any C code.  A

fileselectionbox, for example, may have a few listboxes, some

entry widgets and some control buttons.  These individual widgets

are put together in a way that makes them act like one big

widget.  A fileselectionbox mega-widget can be created with a

command like:

.CS

fileselectionbox .fsb -background blue -foreground white

.CE

Once it has been created, it can be reconfigured with a command

like:

.CS

\&.fsb configure -background green -foreground black

.CE

and all of its internal components will change color.  Each

mega-widget has a set of methods that can be used to manipulate

it.  For example, the current selection can be queried from a

fileselectionbox like this:

.CS

set fileName [.fsb get]

.CE

In effect, a mega-widget looks and acts exactly like a Tk widget,

but is considerably easier to implement.

.PP

\fB[incr\ Tk]\fR is a framework for building mega-widgets.  It

uses \fB[incr\ Tcl]\fR to support the object paradigm, and adds

base classes which provide default widget behaviors.

.PP

All \fB[incr\ Tk]\fR widgets are derived from the \fBArchetype\fR

base class.  This class manages internal component widgets,

and provides methods like "configure" and "cget" to access

configuration options.

.PP

The \fBWidget\fR base class inherits everything from \fBArchetype\fR,

and adds a Tk frame which acts as a container for the mega-widget.

It is used to build mega-widgets that sit inside of other frames

and toplevels.  Derived classes create other internal components

and pack them into the "hull" frame created by the \fBWidget\fR

base class.

.PP

The \fBToplevel\fR base class inherits everything from \fBArchetype\fR,

but adds a Tk toplevel which acts as a container for the mega-widget.

It is used to build mega-widgets, such as dialog boxes, that have

their own toplevel window.  Derived classes create other internal

components and pack them into the "hull" toplevel created by the

\fBToplevel\fR base class.

.SH [incr Widgets] LIBRARY

.PP

\fB[incr\ Widgets]\fR is a mega-widget library built using

\fB[incr\ Tk]\fR.  It can be used right out of the box, and

contains more than 30 different widget classes, including:

.IP -

fileselectiondialog

.IP -

tabnotebook

.IP -

panedwindow

.IP -

combobox

.IP -

optionmenu

.IP -

scrolledlistbox

.IP -

scrolledframe

.IP -

messagedialog

.IP -

and many others...

.LP

The \fBcatalog\fR demo in the "iwidgets/demos" directory

shows all of the available widgets in action.  Each widget

class has its own man page describing the features available.

.SH KEYWORDS

class, object, object-oriented, mega-widget