'\" '\" Generated from file 'persistentSelection\&.man' by tcllib/doctools with format 'nroff' '\" .TH "persistentSelection" 3tk 1\&.0 tklib "Enhanced PRIMARY selection" .\" The -*- nroff -*- definitions below are for supplemental macros used .\" in Tcl/Tk manual entries. .\" .\" .AP type name in/out ?indent? .\" Start paragraph describing an argument to a library procedure. .\" type is type of argument (int, etc.), in/out is either "in", "out", .\" or "in/out" to describe whether procedure reads or modifies arg, .\" and indent is equivalent to second arg of .IP (shouldn't ever be .\" needed; use .AS below instead) .\" .\" .AS ?type? ?name? .\" Give maximum sizes of arguments for setting tab stops. Type and .\" name are examples of largest possible arguments that will be passed .\" to .AP later. If args are omitted, default tab stops are used. .\" .\" .BS .\" Start box enclosure. From here until next .BE, everything will be .\" enclosed in one large box. .\" .\" .BE .\" End of box enclosure. .\" .\" .CS .\" Begin code excerpt. .\" .\" .CE .\" End code excerpt. .\" .\" .VS ?version? ?br? .\" Begin vertical sidebar, for use in marking newly-changed parts .\" of man pages. The first argument is ignored and used for recording .\" the version when the .VS was added, so that the sidebars can be .\" found and removed when they reach a certain age. If another argument .\" is present, then a line break is forced before starting the sidebar. .\" .\" .VE .\" End of vertical sidebar. .\" .\" .DS .\" Begin an indented unfilled display. .\" .\" .DE .\" End of indented unfilled display. .\" .\" .SO ?manpage? .\" Start of list of standard options for a Tk widget. The manpage .\" argument defines where to look up the standard options; if .\" omitted, defaults to "options". The options follow on successive .\" lines, in three columns separated by tabs. .\" .\" .SE .\" End of list of standard options for a Tk widget. .\" .\" .OP cmdName dbName dbClass .\" Start of description of a specific option. cmdName gives the .\" option's name as specified in the class command, dbName gives .\" the option's name in the option database, and dbClass gives .\" the option's class in the option database. .\" .\" .UL arg1 arg2 .\" Print arg1 underlined, then print arg2 normally. .\" .\" .QW arg1 ?arg2? .\" Print arg1 in quotes, then arg2 normally (for trailing punctuation). .\" .\" .PQ arg1 ?arg2? .\" Print an open parenthesis, arg1 in quotes, then arg2 normally .\" (for trailing punctuation) and then a closing parenthesis. .\" .\" # Set up traps and other miscellaneous stuff for Tcl/Tk man pages. .if t .wh -1.3i ^B .nr ^l \n(.l .ad b .\" # Start an argument description .de AP .ie !"\\$4"" .TP \\$4 .el \{\ . ie !"\\$2"" .TP \\n()Cu . el .TP 15 .\} .ta \\n()Au \\n()Bu .ie !"\\$3"" \{\ \&\\$1 \\fI\\$2\\fP (\\$3) .\".b .\} .el \{\ .br .ie !"\\$2"" \{\ \&\\$1 \\fI\\$2\\fP .\} .el \{\ \&\\fI\\$1\\fP .\} .\} .. .\" # define tabbing values for .AP .de AS .nr )A 10n .if !"\\$1"" .nr )A \\w'\\$1'u+3n .nr )B \\n()Au+15n .\" .if !"\\$2"" .nr )B \\w'\\$2'u+\\n()Au+3n .nr )C \\n()Bu+\\w'(in/out)'u+2n .. .AS Tcl_Interp Tcl_CreateInterp in/out .\" # BS - start boxed text .\" # ^y = starting y location .\" # ^b = 1 .de BS .br .mk ^y .nr ^b 1u .if n .nf .if n .ti 0 .if n \l'\\n(.lu\(ul' .if n .fi .. .\" # BE - end boxed text (draw box now) .de BE .nf .ti 0 .mk ^t .ie n \l'\\n(^lu\(ul' .el \{\ .\" Draw four-sided box normally, but don't draw top of .\" box if the box started on an earlier page. .ie !\\n(^b-1 \{\ \h'-1.5n'\L'|\\n(^yu-1v'\l'\\n(^lu+3n\(ul'\L'\\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^yu'\l'|0u-1.5n\(ul' .\} .el \}\ \h'-1.5n'\L'|\\n(^yu-1v'\h'\\n(^lu+3n'\L'\\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^yu'\l'|0u-1.5n\(ul' .\} .\} .fi .br .nr ^b 0 .. .\" # VS - start vertical sidebar .\" # ^Y = starting y location .\" # ^v = 1 (for troff; for nroff this doesn't matter) .de VS .if !"\\$2"" .br .mk ^Y .ie n 'mc \s12\(br\s0 .el .nr ^v 1u .. .\" # VE - end of vertical sidebar .de VE .ie n 'mc .el \{\ .ev 2 .nf .ti 0 .mk ^t \h'|\\n(^lu+3n'\L'|\\n(^Yu-1v\(bv'\v'\\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^Yu'\h'-|\\n(^lu+3n' .sp -1 .fi .ev .\} .nr ^v 0 .. .\" # Special macro to handle page bottom: finish off current .\" # box/sidebar if in box/sidebar mode, then invoked standard .\" # page bottom macro. .de ^B .ev 2 'ti 0 'nf .mk ^t .if \\n(^b \{\ .\" Draw three-sided box if this is the box's first page, .\" draw two sides but no top otherwise. .ie !\\n(^b-1 \h'-1.5n'\L'|\\n(^yu-1v'\l'\\n(^lu+3n\(ul'\L'\\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^yu'\h'|0u'\c .el \h'-1.5n'\L'|\\n(^yu-1v'\h'\\n(^lu+3n'\L'\\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^yu'\h'|0u'\c .\} .if \\n(^v \{\ .nr ^x \\n(^tu+1v-\\n(^Yu \kx\h'-\\nxu'\h'|\\n(^lu+3n'\ky\L'-\\n(^xu'\v'\\n(^xu'\h'|0u'\c .\} .bp 'fi .ev .if \\n(^b \{\ .mk ^y .nr ^b 2 .\} .if \\n(^v \{\ .mk ^Y .\} .. .\" # DS - begin display .de DS .RS .nf .sp .. .\" # DE - end display .de DE .fi .RE .sp .. .\" # SO - start of list of standard options .de SO 'ie '\\$1'' .ds So \\fBoptions\\fR 'el .ds So \\fB\\$1\\fR .SH "STANDARD OPTIONS" .LP .nf .ta 5.5c 11c .ft B .. .\" # SE - end of list of standard options .de SE .fi .ft R .LP See the \\*(So manual entry for details on the standard options. .. .\" # OP - start of full description for a single option .de OP .LP .nf .ta 4c Command-Line Name: \\fB\\$1\\fR Database Name: \\fB\\$2\\fR Database Class: \\fB\\$3\\fR .fi .IP .. .\" # CS - begin code excerpt .de CS .RS .nf .ta .25i .5i .75i 1i .. .\" # CE - end code excerpt .de CE .fi .RE .. .\" # UL - underline word .de UL \\$1\l'|0\(ul'\\$2 .. .\" # QW - apply quotation marks to word .de QW .ie '\\*(lq'"' ``\\$1''\\$2 .\"" fix emacs highlighting .el \\*(lq\\$1\\*(rq\\$2 .. .\" # PQ - apply parens and quotation marks to word .de PQ .ie '\\*(lq'"' (``\\$1''\\$2)\\$3 .\"" fix emacs highlighting .el (\\*(lq\\$1\\*(rq\\$2)\\$3 .. .\" # QR - quoted range .de QR .ie '\\*(lq'"' ``\\$1''\\-``\\$2''\\$3 .\"" fix emacs highlighting .el \\*(lq\\$1\\*(rq\\-\\*(lq\\$2\\*(rq\\$3 .. .\" # MT - "empty" string .de MT .QW "" .. .BS .SH NAME persistentSelection \- Enhanced PRIMARY selection .SH SYNOPSIS package require \fBTcl 8\&.5\fR .sp package require \fBTk 8\&.5\fR .sp package require \fBpersistentSelection ?1\&.0?\fR .sp \fBpersistentSelection::fixText\fR .sp \fBpersistentSelection::getClassicPrimarySel\fR ?\fIdisplayOf\fR? ?\fIwithOthers\fR? .sp \fBpersistentSelection::getPrimarySel\fR ?\fIdisplayOf\fR? .sp \fBpersistentSelection::report\fR \fItype\fR \fIpathName\fR .sp .BE .SH DESCRIPTION Consider a \fBTk\fR widget that sets its \fB-exportselection\fR option to boolean \fBtrue\fR, thereby exporting its selection\&. When the selection in the widget is canceled, by default \fBTk\fR also cancels the \fBPRIMARY\fR selection\&. In this situation, an attempt to read the \fBPRIMARY\fR selection, e\&.g\&. by a \fB<>\fR event, will fail\&. .PP The \fBpersistentSelection\fR package offers more convenient behavior\&. It will sustain as the \fBPRIMARY\fR selection the last non-empty value set by any \fBTk\fR widget that it monitors, as long as the \fBPRIMARY\fR selection is not claimed by another process, or by a widget that it does not monitor\&. .PP The \fBpersistentSelection\fR package works by binding to the \fB<>\fR event on the widgets of interest, and using this binding to monitor any change of the selection in the widget\&. Its commands are confined to the namespace \fB::persistentSelection\fR\&. .SH COMMANDS .TP \fBpersistentSelection::fixText\fR Call this command once to resolve problems with \fB\fBtext\fR\fR widgets that use the default \fBText\fR bindtag (rather than \fBNtext\fR)\&. See \fBText widgets\fR for an explanation\&. .sp The command adjusts some \fBText\fR bindings to generate \fB<>\fR events; and it re-orders calls to the \fB\fBtext\fR\fR widget \fBtag\fR command in the private command \fB::tk::TextSelectTo\fR, so that this command cooperates better with \fBpersistentSelection\fR\&. .sp These adjustments are needed only to older versions of \fBTk\fR\&. The command \fBpersistentSelection::fixText\fR has no effect on sufficiently recent releases\&. It can safely be called for any version of \fBTk\fR\&. .TP \fBpersistentSelection::getClassicPrimarySel\fR ?\fIdisplayOf\fR? ?\fIwithOthers\fR? .RS .IP \(bu \fIdisplayOf\fR - a \fBTk\fR window path on the display to be interrogated (optional, default {\fB\&.\fR}) .IP \(bu \fIwithOthers\fR - whether to return the \fBPRIMARY\fR selection if it is owned by another process or interpreter (optional, boolean, default \fBfalse\fR) .RE .IP A command to return the classic (non-persistent) form of the \fBPRIMARY\fR selection\&. If the selection does not exist, or is sustained only by \fBpersistentSelection\fR, the command returns the empty string\&. .TP \fBpersistentSelection::getPrimarySel\fR ?\fIdisplayOf\fR? .RS .IP \(bu \fIdisplayOf\fR - a \fBTk\fR window on the display to be interrogated (optional, default {\fB\&.\fR}) .RE .IP A command to return the value of the \fBPRIMARY\fR selection\&. If the selection does not exist, the command returns the empty string\&. The usual \fBTk\fR commands are perfectly valid, but they raise an error if the selection does not exist\&. .TP \fBpersistentSelection::report\fR \fItype\fR \fIpathName\fR .RS .IP \(bu \fItype\fR - (value \fBtext\fR or \fBentry\fR) classification of the widget whose selection has changed .IP \(bu \fIpathName\fR - the \fBTk\fR window path of the widget whose selection has changed .RE .IP To make package \fBpersistentSelection\fR monitor a widget, this command must be bound to the \fB<>\fR event on that widget\&. The command records changes in the widget's selection, and uses the information to sustain a non-empty \fBPRIMARY\fR selection on each display\&. .PP .SH USAGE .SS "SCRIPT REQUIREMENTS" For each widget that will be monitored by \fBpersistentSelection\fR, the command \fBpersistentSelection::report\fR must be bound to event \fB<>\fR in one of the widget's binding tags\&. .PP For example, the developer may wish to use \fBpersistentSelection\fR with every \fB\fBtext\fR\fR and \fB\fBentryPlus\fR\fR widget in an application: this can be achieved by adding the \fB<>\fR binding to the \fBText\fR and \fBEntryPlus\fR bindtags\&. See \fBEXAMPLES\fR\&. .PP If \fBpersistentSelection\fR is not required for all widgets of a particular class, the binding can be added to per-widget bindtags\&. See \fBEXAMPLES\fR\&. .SS "WIDGET REQUIREMENTS" To be capable of being monitored by \fBpersistentSelection\fR, a widget must satisfy three conditions: .IP \(bu It must have an \fB-exportselection\fR option that allows it to export its selection to the \fBPRIMARY\fR selection\&. .IP \(bu It must generate a \fB<>\fR event whenever its selection changes\&. .IP \(bu its bindings to other events should be suitable - specifically, in versions of \fBTk\fR older than \fB8\&.6\&.6\fR, a GUI event that extends or reduces the selection from one non-empty value to another should not use an intermediate state that has an empty selection, because this confuses \fBpersistentStore\fR\&. .PP .PP The \fBTk\fR and \fBTtk\fR widgets that can export their selection are \fB\fBtext\fR\fR, \fB\fBentry\fR\fR, \fB\fBlistbox\fR\fR, \fB\fBspinbox\fR\fR, \fB\fBttk::entry\fR\fR, \fB\fBttk::spinbox\fR\fR, and \fB\fBttk::combobox\fR\fR\&. .SS "TEXT WIDGETS" In versions of \fBTk\fR older than \fB8\&.6\&.9\fR, the \fB\fBtext\fR\fR widget does not generate \fB<>\fR events in a few "corner cases" in which its selection changes\&. These omissions can be corrected by changes to the \fBText\fR bindings, in order to satisfy the second condition of \fBWidget requirements\fR\&. .PP In addition, versions of \fBTk\fR older than \fB8\&.6\&.6\fR process selection events slightly differently from newer versions, and in combination with the \fBText\fR bindings this confuses \fBpersistentStore\fR\&. If an upgrade to the current version of \fBTcl/Tk\fR is not feasible, this problem can be resolved by making a slight modification to the widget bindings, in order to satisfy the third condition of \fBWidget requirements\fR\&. .PP Either the script should call the command \fBpersistentSelection::fixText\fR to adjust the \fBText\fR bindings and the commands that they call; or the widget can use the \fBNtext\fR binding tag (for \fBntext\fR version 1\&.0 or above) instead of the default \fBText\fR bindtag\&. .PP In either case, the argument \fItype\fR supplied to command \fBpersistentSelection::report\fR should have the value \fBtext\fR\&. .SS "ENTRY, SPINBOX, TTK::ENTRY, TTK::SPINBOX, AND TTK::COMBOBOX WIDGETS" The \fB\fBentry\fR\fR, \fB\fBspinbox\fR\fR, \fB\fBttk::entry\fR\fR, \fB\fBttk::spinbox\fR\fR, and \fB\fBttk::combobox\fR\fR widgets do not generate a \fB<>\fR event when their selection changes, and therefore require modification\&. .PP The package \fBwidgetPlus\fR provides \fBsnit\fR wrappers \fB\fBwidgetPlus::entryPlus\fR\fR, \fB\fBwidgetPlus::spinboxPlus\fR\fR, \fB\fBwidgetPlus::ttkEntryPlus\fR\fR, \fB\fBwidgetPlus::ttkSpinboxPlus\fR\fR, and \fB\fBwidgetPlus::ttkComboboxPlus\fR\fR respectively\&. Each \fBwidgetPlus\fR widget generates the required \fB<>\fR events\&. .PP In all these cases, the argument \fItype\fR supplied to command \fBpersistentSelection::report\fR should have the value \fBentry\fR\&. This argument determines how \fBpersistentSelection\fR will inspect the widget's selection, and the commands that do so are the same for all these widgets\&. .SS "LISTBOX WIDGETS" A similar wrapper has not been created for the \fB\fBlistbox\fR\fR widget, which has the complication of permitting multiple selections\&. .SH "TO DO" .IP \(bu Test on a system with multiple displays\&. .PP .SH BUGS This version of \fBpersistentSelection\fR is intended to be compatible with all releases of \fBTk\fR 8\&.5 and 8\&.6, and with the branches \fIcore-8-5-branch\fR, \fIcore-8-6-branch\fR, \fIrevised_text\fR, and \fItrunk\fR in the source code repository for \fBTk\fR\&. Any incompatibility with any of these versions, for any \fBTk\fR windowing system, should be reported as a bug\&. Please report such in the category \fIpersistentSelection\fR of the \fITklib Trackers\fR [http://core\&.tcl\&.tk/tklib/reportlist]\&. .SH EXAMPLES Each example uses \fBpersistentSelection\fR to retain the last non-empty value of the selection in certain widgets\&. Each example also includes the creation of sample widgets\&. .PP Monitor all \fB\fBentryPlus\fR\fR widgets\&. .CS package require widgetPlus widgetPlus::entryPlus \&.ep pack \&.ep package require persistentSelection bind EntryPlus <> {::persistentSelection::report entry %W} .CE Monitor all \fB\fBtext\fR\fR widgets that use the default \fBText\fR bindings\&. .CS text \&.t pack \&.t package require persistentSelection ::persistentSelection::fixText bind Text <> {::persistentSelection::report text %W} .CE Monitor all \fB\fBtext\fR\fR widgets that use the default \fBText\fR bindings, and all \fB\fBentryPlus\fR\fR widgets\&. .CS text \&.t pack \&.t package require widgetPlus widgetPlus::entryPlus \&.ep pack \&.ep package require persistentSelection ::persistentSelection::fixText bind Text <> {::persistentSelection::report text %W} bind EntryPlus <> {::persistentSelection::report entry %W} .CE Monitor all \fB\fBtext\fR\fR widgets that use \fBNtext\fR bindings\&. .CS text \&.t pack \&.t package require ntext bindtags \&.t {\&.t Ntext \&. all} package require persistentSelection bind Ntext <> {::persistentSelection::report text %W} .CE Monitor a single \fB\fBentryPlus\fR\fR widget \fB\&.ep\fR .CS package require widgetPlus widgetPlus::entryPlus \&.ep pack \&.ep package require persistentSelection bind \&.ep <> {::persistentSelection::report entry %W} .CE Monitor a single \fB\fBtext\fR\fR widget \fB\&.t\fR .CS text \&.t pack \&.t package require persistentSelection bind \&.t <> {::persistentSelection::report text %W} .CE .SH "SEE ALSO" bindtags, ntext, text, widgetPlus