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.so man.macros

.TH menu n 4.1 Tk "Tk Built-In Commands"

.BS

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

.SH NAME

menu \- Create and manipulate menu widgets

.SH SYNOPSIS

\fBmenu\fR \fIpathName \fR?\fIoptions\fR?

.SO

\-activebackground      \-background    \-disabledforeground    \-relief

\-activeborderwidth     \-borderwidth   \-font  \-takefocus

\-activeforeground      \-cursor        \-foreground

.SE

.SH "WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS"

.VS

.OP \-postcommand postCommand Command

If this option is specified then it provides a Tcl command to execute

each time the menu is posted.  The command is invoked by the \fBpost\fR

widget command before posting the menu. Note that in 8.0 on Macintosh

and Windows, all commands in a menu systems are executed before any

are posted. This is due to the limitations in the individual platforms'

menu managers.

.VE

.OP \-selectcolor selectColor Background

For menu entries that are check buttons or radio buttons, this option

specifies the color to display in the indicator when the check button

or radio button is selected.

.OP \-tearoff tearOff TearOff

This option must have a proper boolean value, which specifies

whether or not the menu should include a tear-off entry at the

top.  If so, it will exist as entry 0 of the menu and the other

entries will number starting at 1.  The default

menu bindings arrange for the menu to be torn off when the tear-off

entry is invoked.

.OP \-tearoffcommand tearOffCommand TearOffCommand

If this option has a non-empty value, then it specifies a Tcl command

to invoke whenever the menu is torn off.  The actual command will

consist of the value of this option, followed by a space, followed

by the name of the menu window, followed by a space, followed by

the name of the name of the torn off menu window.  For example, if

the option's is ``\fBa b\fR'' and menu \fB.x.y\fR is torn off to

create a new menu \fB.x.tearoff1\fR, then the command

``\fBa b .x.y .x.tearoff1\fR'' will be invoked.

.VS

.OP \-title title Title

The string will be used to title the window created when this menu is

torn off. If the title is NULL, then the window will have the title

of the menubutton or the text of the cascade item from which this menu

was invoked.

.OP \-type type Type

This option can be one of \fBmenubar\fR, \fBtearoff\fR, or

\fBnormal\fR, and is set when the menu is created. While the string

returned by the configuration database will change if this option is

changed, this does not affect the menu widget's behavior. This is used

by the cloning mechanism and is not normally set outside of the Tk

library.

.VE

.BE

.SH INTRODUCTION

.PP

The \fBmenu\fR command creates a new top-level window (given

by the \fIpathName\fR argument) and makes it into a menu widget.

Additional

options, described above, may be specified on the command line

or in the option database

to configure aspects of the menu such as its colors and font.

The \fBmenu\fR command returns its

\fIpathName\fR argument.  At the time this command is invoked,

there must not exist a window named \fIpathName\fR, but

\fIpathName\fR's parent must exist.

.PP

.VS

A menu is a widget that displays a collection of one-line entries arranged

in one or more columns.  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.

.VE

.PP

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 \fB\-label\fR,

\fB\-bitmap\fR, and \fB\-image\fR options for the entry.

If the  \fB\-accelerator\fR option is specified for an entry then a second

textual field is displayed to the right of the label.  The accelerator

typically describes a keystroke sequence that may be typed in the

application to cause the same result as invoking the menu entry.

The third field is an \fIindicator\fR.  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.

.PP

In normal use, an entry becomes active (displays itself differently)

whenever the mouse pointer is over the entry.  If a mouse

button is released over the entry then the entry is \fIinvoked\fR.

The effect of invocation is different for each type of entry;

these effects are described below in the sections on individual

entries.

.PP

Entries may be \fIdisabled\fR, which causes their labels

and accelerators to be displayed

with dimmer colors.

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.

.VS

.PP

Whenever a menu's active entry is changed, a <> virtual

event is send to the menu. The active item can then be queried from

the menu, and an action can be taken, such as setting

context-sensitive help text for the entry.

.VE

.SH "COMMAND ENTRIES"

.PP

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 Tcl command is executed.  The Tcl

command is specified with the \fB\-command\fR option.

.SH "SEPARATOR ENTRIES"

.PP

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 behavior other than its display appearance.

.SH "CHECKBUTTON ENTRIES"

.PP

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, a particular

value is stored in a particular global variable (as determined by

the \fB\-onvalue\fR and \fB\-variable\fR options for the entry);  when

the entry is deselected another value (determined by the

\fB\-offvalue\fR option) is stored in the global variable.

An indicator box is displayed to the left of the label in a checkbutton

entry.  If the entry is selected then the indicator's center is displayed

in the color given by the \fB-selectcolor\fR option for the entry;

otherwise the indicator's center is displayed in the background color for

the menu.  If a \fB\-command\fR option is specified for a checkbutton

entry, then its value is evaluated as a Tcl command each time the entry

is invoked;  this happens after toggling the entry's

selected state.

.SH "RADIOBUTTON ENTRIES"

.PP

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 the \fB\-value\fR and

\fB\-variable\fR 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 color given by the \fB\-selectcolor\fR option

for the entry;

otherwise the indicator's center is displayed in the background color for

the menu.  If a \fB\-command\fR option is specified for a radiobutton

entry, then its value is evaluated as a Tcl command each time the entry

is invoked;  this happens after selecting the entry.

.SH "CASCADE ENTRIES"

.PP

A cascade entry is one with an associated menu (determined

by the \fB\-menu\fR option).  Cascade entries allow the construction

of cascading menus.

The \fBpostcascade\fR widget command can be used to post and unpost

the associated menu just next to 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).

.PP

A cascade entry posts its associated menu by invoking a

Tcl command of the form

.CS

\fImenu\fB post \fIx y\fR

.CE

where \fImenu\fR is the path name of the associated menu, and \fIx\fR

and \fIy\fR are the root-window coordinates of the upper-right

corner of the cascade entry.

.VS

On Unix, the lower-level menu is unposted by executing a Tcl command with

the form

.CS

\fImenu\fB unpost\fR

.CE

where \fImenu\fR is the name of the associated menu.

On other platforms, the platform's native code takes care of unposting the

menu.

.VE

.PP

.VS

If a \fB\-command\fR option is specified for a cascade entry then it is

evaluated as a Tcl command whenever the entry is invoked. This is not

supported on Windows.

.VE

.SH "TEAR-OFF ENTRIES"

.PP

A tear-off entry appears at the top of the menu if enabled with the

\fBtearOff\fR option.  It is not like other menu entries in that

it cannot be created with the \fBadd\fR widget command and

cannot be deleted with the \fBdelete\fR widget command.

When a tear-off entry is created it appears as a dashed line at

the top of the menu.  Under the default bindings, invoking the

tear-off entry causes a torn-off copy to be made of the menu and

all of its submenus.

.VS

.SH "MENUBARS"

.PP

Any menu can be set as a menubar for a toplevel window (see

\fBtoplevel\fR command for syntax). On the Macintosh, whenever the

toplevel is in front, this menu's cascade items will appear in the

menubar across the top of the main monitor. On Windows and Unix, this

menu's items will be displayed in a menubar accross the top of the

window. These menus will behave according to the interface guidelines

of their platforms. For every menu set as a menubar, a clone menu is

made. See the \fBCLONES\fR section for more information.

.VE

.VS

.SH "SPECIAL MENUS IN MENUBARS"

.PP

Certain menus in a menubar will be treated specially.  On the Macintosh,

access to the special Apple and Help menus is provided. On Windows,

access to the Windows System menu in each window is provided. On X Windows,

a special right-justified help menu is provided. In all cases, these

menus must be created with the command name of the menubar menu concatenated

with the special name. So for a menubar named .menubar, on the Macintosh,

the special menus would be .menubar.apple and .menubar.help; on Windows,

the special menu would be .menubar.system; on X Windows, the help

menu would be .menubar.help.

.PP

When Tk sees an Apple menu on the Macintosh, that menu's contents make

up the first items of the Apple menu on the screen whenever the window

containing the menubar is in front. The menu is the

first one that the user sees and has a title which is an Apple logo.

After all of the Tk-defined items, the menu will have a separator,

followed by all of the items in the user's Apple Menu Items folder.

Since the System uses a different menu definition procedure for

the Apple menu than Tk uses for its menus, and the system APIs do

not fully support everything Tk tries to do, the menu item will only

have its text displayed. No font attributes, images, bitmaps, or colors

will be displayed. In addition, a menu with a tearoff item will have

the tearoff item displayed as "(TearOff)".

.PP

When Tk see a Help menu on the Macintosh, the menu's contents are

appended to the standard help menu on the right of the user's menubar

whenever the user's menubar is in front. The first items in the menu

are provided by Apple. Similar to the Apple Menu, cusomization in this

menu is limited to what the system provides.

.PP

When Tk sees a System menu on Windows, its items are appended to the

system menu that the menubar is attached to. This menu has an icon

representing a spacebar, and can be invoked with the mouse or by typing

Alt+Spacebar.  Due to limitations in the Windows API, any font changes,

colors, images, bitmaps, or tearoff images will not appear in the

system menu.

.PP

When Tk see a Help menu on X Windows, the menu is moved to be last in

the menubar and is right justified.

.VE

.VS

.SH "CLONES"

.PP

When a menu is set as a menubar for a toplevel window, or when a menu

is torn off, a clone of the menu is made. This clone is a menu widget

in its own right, but it is a child of the original. Changes in the

configuration of the original are reflected in the

clone. Additionally, any cascades that are pointed to are also cloned

so that menu traversal will work right. Clones are destroyed when

either the tearoff or menubar goes away, or when the original menu is

destroyed.

.VE

.SH "WIDGET COMMAND"

.PP

The \fBmenu\fR command creates a new Tcl command whose

name is \fIpathName\fR.  This

command may be used to invoke various

operations on the widget.  It has the following general form:

.CS

\fIpathName option \fR?\fIarg arg ...\fR?

.CE

\fIOption\fR and the \fIarg\fRs

determine the exact behavior of the command.

.PP

Many of the widget commands for a menu take as one argument an

indicator of which entry of the menu to operate on.  These

indicators are called \fIindex\fRes and may be specified in

any of the following forms:

.TP 12

\fInumber\fR

Specifies the entry numerically, where 0 corresponds

to the top-most entry of the menu, 1 to the entry below it, and

so on.

.TP 12

\fBactive\fR

Indicates the entry that is currently active.  If no entry is

active then this form is equivalent to \fBnone\fR.  This form may

not be abbreviated.

.TP 12

\fBend\fR

Indicates the bottommost entry in the menu.  If there are no

entries in the menu then this form is equivalent to \fBnone\fR.

This form may not be abbreviated.

.TP 12

\fBlast\fR

Same as \fBend\fR.

.TP 12

\fBnone\fR

Indicates ``no entry at all'';  this is used most commonly with

the \fBactivate\fR option to deactivate all the entries in the

menu.  In most cases the specification of \fBnone\fR causes

nothing to happen in the widget command.

This form may not be abbreviated.

.TP 12

\fB@\fInumber\fR

In this form, \fInumber\fR is treated as a y-coordinate in the

menu's window;  the entry closest to that y-coordinate is used.

For example, ``\fB@0\fR'' indicates the top-most entry in the

window.

.TP 12

\fIpattern\fR

If the index doesn't satisfy one of the above forms then this

form is used.  \fIPattern\fR is pattern-matched against the label of

each entry in the menu, in order from the top down, until a

matching entry is found.  The rules of \fBTcl_StringMatch\fR

are used.

.PP

The following widget commands are possible for menu widgets:

.TP

\fIpathName \fBactivate \fIindex\fR

Change the state of the entry indicated by \fIindex\fR to \fBactive\fR

and redisplay it using its active colors.

Any previously-active entry is deactivated.  If \fIindex\fR

is specified as \fBnone\fR, or if the specified entry is

disabled, then the menu ends up with no active entry.

Returns an empty string.

.TP

\fIpathName \fBadd \fItype \fR?\fIoption value option value ...\fR?

Add a new entry to the bottom of the menu.  The new entry's type

is given by \fItype\fR and must be one of \fBcascade\fR,

\fBcheckbutton\fR, \fBcommand\fR, \fBradiobutton\fR, or \fBseparator\fR,

or a unique abbreviation of one of the above.  If additional arguments

are present, they specify any of the following options:

.RS

.TP

\fB\-activebackground \fIvalue\fR

Specifies a background color to use for displaying this entry when it

is active.

If this option is specified as an empty string (the default), then the

\fBactiveBackground\fR option for the overall menu is used.

If the \fBtk_strictMotif\fR variable has been set to request strict

Motif compliance, then this option is ignored and the \fB\-background\fR

option is used in its place.

This option is not available for separator or tear-off entries.

.TP

\fB\-activeforeground \fIvalue\fR

Specifies a foreground color to use for displaying this entry when it

is active.

If this option is specified as an empty string (the default), then the

\fBactiveForeground\fR option for the overall menu is used.

This option is not available for separator or tear-off entries.

.TP

\fB\-accelerator \fIvalue\fR

Specifies a string to display at the right side of the menu entry.

Normally describes an accelerator keystroke sequence that may be

typed to invoke the same function as the menu entry.  This option

is not available for separator or tear-off entries.

.TP

\fB\-background \fIvalue\fR

Specifies a background color to use for displaying 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

\fBbackground\fR option for the overall menu is used.

This option is not available for separator or tear-off entries.

.TP

\fB\-bitmap \fIvalue\fR

Specifies a bitmap to display in the menu instead of a textual

label, in any of the forms accepted by \fBTk_GetBitmap\fR.

This option overrides the \fB\-label\fR option but may be reset

to an empty string to enable a textual label to be displayed.

If a \fB\-image\fR option has been specified, it overrides

\fB\-bitmap\fR.

This option is not available for separator or tear-off entries.

.VS

.TP

\fB\-columnbreak \fIvalue\fR

When this option is zero, the appears below the previous entry. When

this option is one, the menu appears at the top of a new column in the

menu.

.VE

.TP

\fB\-command \fIvalue\fR

Specifies a Tcl command to execute when the menu entry is invoked.

Not available for separator or tear-off entries.

.TP

\fB\-font \fIvalue\fR

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 \fBfont\fR option for the overall menu is used.

This option is not available for separator or tear-off entries.

.TP

\fB\-foreground \fIvalue\fR

Specifies a foreground color to use for displaying 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

\fBforeground\fR option for the overall menu is used.

This option is not available for separator or tear-off entries.

.VS

.TP

\fB\-hidemargin \fIvalue\fR

Specifies whether the standard margins should be drawn for this menu

entry. This is useful when creating palette with images in them, i.e.,

color palettes, pattern palettes, etc. 1 indicates that the margin for

the entry is hidden; 0 means that the margin is used.

.VE

.TP

\fB\-image \fIvalue\fR

Specifies an image to display in the menu instead of a text string

or bitmap

The image must have been created by some previous invocation of

\fBimage create\fR.

This option overrides the \fB\-label\fR and \fB\-bitmap\fR 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 separator or tear-off entries.

.TP

\fB\-indicatoron \fIvalue\fR

Available only for checkbutton and radiobutton entries.

\fIValue\fR is a boolean that determines whether or not the

indicator should be displayed.

.TP

\fB\-label \fIvalue\fR

Specifies a string to display as an identifying label in the menu

entry.  Not available for separator or tear-off entries.

.TP

\fB\-menu \fIvalue\fR

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.

.TP

\fB\-offvalue \fIvalue\fR

Available only for checkbutton entries.  Specifies the value to

store in the entry's associated variable when the entry is

deselected.

.TP

\fB\-onvalue \fIvalue\fR

Available only for checkbutton entries.  Specifies the value to

store in the entry's associated variable when the entry is selected.

.TP

\fB\-selectcolor \fIvalue\fR

Available only for checkbutton and radiobutton entries.

Specifies the color to display in the indicator when the entry is

selected.

If the value is an empty string (the default) then the \fBselectColor\fR

option for the menu determines the indicator color.

.TP

\fB\-selectimage \fIvalue\fR

Available only for checkbutton and radiobutton entries.

Specifies an image to display in the entry (in place of

the \fB\-image\fR option) when it is selected.

\fIValue\fR is the name of an image, which must have been created

by some previous invocation of \fBimage create\fR.

This option is ignored unless the \fB\-image\fR option has

been specified.

.TP

\fB\-state \fIvalue\fR

Specifies one of three states for the entry:  \fBnormal\fR, \fBactive\fR,

or \fBdisabled\fR.  In normal state the entry is displayed using the

\fBforeground\fR option for the menu and the \fBbackground\fR

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 \fBactiveForeground\fR

option for the menu along with the \fBactivebackground\fR 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

\fBdisabledForeground\fR option for the menu and the

\fBbackground\fR option from the entry.

This option is not available for separator entries.

.TP

\fB\-underline \fIvalue\fR

Specifies the integer index of a character to underline in the entry.

This option is also queried by the default bindings and used to

implement keyboard traversal.

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 available for separator or tear-off entries.

.TP

\fB\-value \fIvalue\fR

Available only for radiobutton entries.  Specifies the value to

store in the entry's associated variable when the entry is selected.

If an empty string is specified, then the \fB\-label\fR option

for the entry as the value to store in the variable.

.TP

\fB\-variable \fIvalue\fR

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.

.LP

The \fBadd\fR widget command returns an empty string.

.RE

.TP

\fIpathName \fBcget\fR \fIoption\fR

Returns the current value of the configuration option given

by \fIoption\fR.

\fIOption\fR may have any of the values accepted by the \fBmenu\fR

command.

.VS

.TP

\fIpathName\fR \fBclone\fR \fInewPathname ?cloneType?\fR

Makes a clone of the current menu named \fInewPathName\fR. This clone

is a menu in its own right, but any changes to the clone are

propogated to the original menu and vice versa. \fIcloneType\fR can be

\fBnormal\fR, \fBmenubar\fR, or \fBtearoff\fR. Should not normally be

called outside of the Tk library. See the \fBCLONES\fR section for

more information.

.VE

.TP

\fIpathName \fBconfigure\fR ?\fIoption\fR? ?\fIvalue option value ...\fR?

Query or modify the configuration options of the widget.

If no \fIoption\fR is specified, returns a list describing all of

the available options for \fIpathName\fR (see \fBTk_ConfigureInfo\fR for

information on the format of this list).  If \fIoption\fR is specified

with no \fIvalue\fR, then the command returns a list describing the

one named option (this list will be identical to the corresponding

sublist of the value returned if no \fIoption\fR is specified).  If

one or more \fIoption\-value\fR 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.

\fIOption\fR may have any of the values accepted by the \fBmenu\fR

command.

.TP

\fIpathName \fBdelete \fIindex1\fR ?\fIindex2\fR?

Delete all of the menu entries between \fIindex1\fR and

\fIindex2\fR inclusive.

If \fIindex2\fR is omitted then it defaults to \fIindex1\fR.

Attempts to delete a tear-off menu entry are ignored (instead, you

should change the \fBtearOff\fR option to remove the tear-off entry).

.TP

\fIpathName \fBentrycget\fR \fIindex option\fR

Returns the current value of a configuration option for

the entry given by \fIindex\fR.

\fIOption\fR may have any of the values accepted by the \fBadd\fR

widget command.

.TP

\fIpathName \fBentryconfigure \fIindex \fR?\fIoptions\fR?

This command is similar to the \fBconfigure\fR command, except that

it applies to the options for an individual entry, whereas \fBconfigure\fR

applies to the options for the menu as a whole.

\fIOptions\fR may have any of the values accepted by the \fBadd\fR

widget command.  If \fIoptions\fR are specified, options are modified

as indicated

in the command and the command returns an empty string.

If no \fIoptions\fR are specified, returns a list describing

the current options for entry \fIindex\fR (see \fBTk_ConfigureInfo\fR for

information on the format of this list).

.TP

\fIpathName \fBindex \fIindex\fR

Returns the numerical index corresponding to \fIindex\fR, or

\fBnone\fR if \fIindex\fR was specified as \fBnone\fR.

.TP

\fIpathName \fBinsert \fIindex\fR \fItype \fR?\fIoption value option value ...\fR?

Same as the \fBadd\fR widget command except that it inserts the new

entry just before the entry given by \fIindex\fR, instead of appending

to the end of the menu.  The \fItype\fR, \fIoption\fR, and \fIvalue\fR

arguments have the same interpretation as for the \fBadd\fR widget

command.  It is not possible to insert new menu entries before the

tear-off entry, if the menu has one.

.TP

\fIpathName \fBinvoke \fIindex\fR

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 \fBinvoke\fR 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 \fBinvoke\fR

widget command.

.TP

\fIpathName \fBpost \fIx y\fR

Arrange for the menu to be displayed on the screen at the root-window

coordinates given by \fIx\fR and \fIy\fR.  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 \fBpostCommand\fR option has been specified, then its value is

executed as a Tcl script before posting the menu and the result of

that script is returned as the result of the \fBpost\fR widget

command.

If an error returns while executing the command, then the error is

returned without posting the menu.

.TP

\fIpathName \fBpostcascade \fIindex\fR

Posts the submenu associated with the cascade entry given by

\fIindex\fR, and unposts any previously posted submenu.

If \fIindex\fR doesn't correspond to a cascade entry,

or if \fIpathName\fR isn't posted,

the command has no effect except to unpost any currently posted

submenu.

.TP

\fIpathName \fBtype \fIindex\fR

Returns the type of the menu entry given by \fIindex\fR.

This is the \fItype\fR argument passed to the \fBadd\fR widget

command when the entry was created, such as \fBcommand\fR

or \fBseparator\fR, or \fBtearoff\fR for a tear-off entry.

.TP

.VS

\fIpathName \fBunpost\fR

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. This subcommand does not work on Windows and the

Macintosh, as those platforms have their own way of unposting menus.

.VE

.TP

\fIpathName \fByposition \fIindex\fR

Returns a decimal string giving the y-coordinate within the menu

window of the topmost pixel in the entry specified by \fIindex\fR.

.SH "MENU CONFIGURATIONS"

.PP

The default bindings support four different ways of using menus:

.VS

.TP

\fBPulldown Menus in Menubar\fR

This is the most command case. You create a menu widget that will become the

menu bar. You then add cascade entries to this menu, specifying the

pull down menus you wish to use in your menu bar. You then create all

of the pulldowns. Once you have done this, specify the menu using the

\fB-menu\fR option of the toplevel's widget command. See the

\fBtoplevel\fR manual entry for details.

.VE

.TP

\fBPulldown Menus in Menu Buttons\fR

This is the compatable way to do menu bars.  You create one menubutton

widget for each top-level menu, and typically you arrange a series of

menubuttons in a row in a menubar window.  You also create the top-level menus

and any cascaded submenus, and tie them together with \fB\-menu\fR

options in menubuttons and cascade menu entries.  The top-level menu must

be a child of the menubutton, and each submenu must be a child of the

menu that refers to it.  Once you have done this, the default bindings

will allow users to traverse and invoke the tree of menus via its

menubutton;  see the \fBmenubutton\fR manual entry for details.

.TP

\fBPopup Menus\fR

Popup menus typically post in response to a mouse button press or

keystroke.  You create the popup menus and any cascaded submenus,

then you call the \fBtk_popup\fR procedure at the appropriate time

to post the top-level menu.

.TP

\fBOption Menus\fR

An option menu consists of a menubutton with an associated menu

that allows you to select one of several values.  The current value

is displayed in the menubutton and is also stored in a global

variable.  Use the \fBtk_optionMenu\fR procedure to create option

menubuttons and their menus.

.TP

\fBTorn-off Menus\fR

You create a torn-off menu by invoking the tear-off entry at

the top of an existing menu.  The default bindings will create a new menu

that is a copy of the original menu and leave it permanently

posted as a top-level window.  The torn-off menu behaves just

the same as the original menu.

.SH "DEFAULT BINDINGS"

.PP

Tk automatically creates class bindings for menus that give them

the following default behavior:

.IP [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.

.IP [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.

.IP [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.

.IP [4]

The Space and Return keys invoke the active entry and

unpost the menu.

.IP [5]

If any of the entries in a menu have letters underlined with

with \fB\-underline\fR option, then pressing one of the underlined

letters (or its upper-case or lower-case equivalent) invokes that

entry and unposts the menu.

.IP [6]

The Escape key aborts a menu selection in progress without invoking any

entry.  It also unposts the menu unless it is a torn-off menu.

.IP [7]

The Up and Down keys activate the next higher or lower entry

in the menu.  When one end of the menu is reached, the active

entry wraps around to the other end.

.IP [8]

The Left key moves to the next menu to the left.

If the current menu is a cascaded submenu, then the submenu is

unposted and the current menu entry becomes the cascade entry

in the parent.

If the current menu is a top-level menu posted from a

menubutton, then the current menubutton is unposted and the

next menubutton to the left is posted.

Otherwise the key has no effect.

The left-right order of menubuttons is determined by their stacking

order:  Tk assumes that the lowest menubutton (which by default

is the first one created) is on the left.

.IP [9]

The Right key moves to the next menu to the right.

If the current entry is a cascade entry, then the submenu is

posted and the  current menu entry becomes the first entry

in the submenu.

Otherwise, if the current menu was posted from a

menubutton, then the current menubutton is unposted and the

next menubutton to the right is posted.

.PP

Disabled menu entries are non-responsive:  they don't activate and

they ignore mouse button presses and releases.

.PP

The behavior of menus can be changed by defining new bindings for

individual widgets or by redefining the class bindings.

.SH BUGS

.PP

At present it isn't possible to use the

option database to specify values for the options to individual

entries.

.SH KEYWORDS

menu, widget