table(n) Tk Table Extension table(n)
NAME
table - Create and manipulate tables
SYNOPSIS
table pathName ?options?
STANDARD OPTIONS
-anchor -background -cursor
-exportselection -font -foreground
-highlightbackground -highlightcolor -highlightthickness
-insertbackground -insertborderwidth-insertofftime
-insertontime -insertwidth -invertselected
-relief -takefocus -xscrollcommand
-yscrollcommand
See the options manual entry for details on the standard options.
WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
Command-Line Name:-autoclear
Database Name: autoClear
Database Class: AutoClear
A boolean value which specifies whether the first keypress in a
cell will delete whatever text was previously there. Defaults
to 0.
Command-Line Name:-bordercursor
Database Name: borderCursor
Database Class: Cursor
Specifies the name of the cursor to show when over borders, a
visual indication that interactive resizing is allowed (it is
thus affect by the value of -resizeborders). Defaults to
crosshair.
Command-Line Name:-borderwidth or -bd
Database Name: borderWidth
Database Class: BorderWidth
Specifies a non-negative pixel value or list of values indicat-
ing the width of the 3-D border to draw on interior table cells
(if such a border is being drawn; the relief option typically
determines this). If one value is specified, a rectangle of
this width will be drawn. If two values are specified, then
only the left and right edges of the cell will have borders. If
four values are specified, then the values correspond to the
{left right top bottom} edges. This can be overridden by the a
tag's borderwidth option. It can also be affected by the
defined -drawmode for the table. Each value in the list must
have one of the forms acceptable to TkGetPixels.
Command-Line Name:-browsecommand or -browsecmd
Database Name: browseCommand
Database Class: BrowseCommand
Specifies a command which will be evaluated anytime the active
cell changes. It uses the %-substition model described in COM-
MAND SUBSTITUTION below.
Command-Line Name:-cache
Database Name: cache
Database Class: Cache
A boolean value that specifies whether an internal cache of the
table contents should be kept. This greatly enhances speed per-
formance when used with -command but uses extra memory. Can
maintain state when both -command and -variable are empty. The
cache is automatically flushed whenever the value of -cache or
-variable changes, otherwise you have to explicitly call clear
on it. Defaults to off.
Command-Line Name:-colorigin
Database Name: colOrigin
Database Class: Origin
Specifies what column index to interpret as the leftmost column
in the table. This value is used for user indices in the table.
Defaults to 0.
Command-Line Name:-cols
Database Name: cols
Database Class: Cols
Number of cols in the table. Defaults to 10.
Command-Line Name:-colseparator
Database Name: colSeparator
Database Class: Separator
Specifies a separator character that will be interpreted as the
column separator when cutting or pasting data in a table. By
default, columns are separated as elements of a tcl list.
Command-Line Name:-colstretchmode
Database Name: colStretchode
Database Class: Stretchode
Specifies one of the following stretch modes for columns to fill
extra allocated window space:
none Columns will not stretch to fill the assigned window
space. If the columns are too narrow, there will be a
blank space at the right of the table. This is the
default.
unset Only columns that do not have a specific width set will
be stretched.
all All columns will be stretched by the same number of pix-
els to fill the window space allocated to the table.
This mode can interfere with interactive border resizing
which tries to force column width.
last The last column will be stretched to fill the window
space allocated to the table.
fill (only valid for -rowstretch currently)
The table will get more or less columns according to the
window space allocated to the table. This mode has
numerous quirks and may disappear in the future.
Command-Line Name:-coltagcommand
Database Name: colTagCommand
Database Class: TagCommand
Provides the name of a procedure that will be evaluated by the
widget to determine the tag to be used for a given column. When
displaying a cell, the table widget will first check to see if a
tag has been defined using the tag col widget method. If no tag
is found, it will evaluate the named procedure passing the col-
umn number in question as the sole argument. The procedure is
expected to return the name of a tag to use, or a null string.
Errors occuring during the evaluation of the procedure, or the
return of an invalid tag name are silently ignored.
Command-Line Name:-colwidth
Database Name: colWidth
Database Class: ColWidth
Default column width, interpreted as characters in the default
font when the number is positive, or pixels if it is negative.
Defaults to 10.
Command-Line Name:-command
Database Name: command
Database Class: Command
Specified a command to use as a procedural interface to cell
values. If -usecommand is true, this command will be used
instead of any reference to the -variable array. When retriev-
ing cell values, the return value of the command is used as the
value for the cell. It uses the %-substition model described in
COMAND SUBSTITUTION below.
Command-Line Name:-drawmode
Database Name: drawode
Database Class: Drawode
Sets the table drawing mode to one of the following options:
slow The table is drawn to an offscreen pixmap using the Tk
bordering functions (double-buffering). This means there
will be no flashing, but this mode is slow for larger
tables.
compatible
The table is drawn directly to the screen using the Tk
border functions. It is faster, but the screen may flash
on update. This is the default.
fast The table is drawn directly to the screen and the borders
are done with fast X calls, so they are always one pixel
wide only. As a side effect, it restricts -borderwidth
to a range of 0 or 1. This mode provides best perfor-
mance for large tables, but can flash on redraw and is
not 100% Tk compatible on the border mode.
single The table is drawn to the screen as in fast mode, but
only single pixel lines are drawn (not square borders).
Command-Line Name:-ellipsis
Database Name: ellipsis
Database Class: Ellipsis
This specifies a string to display at the end of a line that
would be clipped by its cell, like ``...''. An ellipsis will be
displayed only on non-wrapping, non-multiline cells that would
be clipped. The ellipsis will display on the left for east
anchored cells, otherwise it displays on the right. Defaults to
"" (no ellipsis).
Command-Line Name:-flashmode
Database Name: flashode
Database Class: Flashode
A boolean value which specifies whether cells should flash when
their value changes. The table tag flash will be applied to
these cells for the duration specified by -flashtime. Defaults
to 0.
Command-Line Name:-flashtime
Database Name: flashTime
Database Class: FlashTime
The amount of time, in 1/4 second increments, for which a cell
should flash when its value has changed. -flashmode must be on.
Defaults to 2.
Command-Line Name:-height
Database Name: height
Database Class: Height
Specifies the desired height for the window, in rows. If zero
or less, then the desired height for the window is made just
large enough to hold all the rows in the table. The height can
be further limited by -maxheight.
Command-Line Name:-invertselected
Database Name: invertSelected
Database Class: InvertSelected
Specifies whether the foreground and background of an item
should simply have their values swapped instead of merging the
sel tag options when the cell is selected. Defaults to 0 (merge
sel tag).
Command-Line Name:-ipadx
Database Name: ipadX
Database Class: Pad
A pixel value specifying the internal offset X padding for text
in a cell. This value does not grow the size of the cell, it
just causes the text to be drawn further from the cell border.
It only affects one side (depending on anchor). Defaults to 0.
See -padx for an alternate padding style.
Command-Line Name:-ipady
Database Name: ipadY
Database Class: Pad
A pixel value specifying the internal offset Y padding for text
in a cell. This value does not grow the size of the cell, it
just causes the text to be drawn further from the cell border.
It only affects one side (depending on anchor). Defaults to 0.
See -pady for an alternate padding style.
Command-Line Name:-justify
Database Name: justify
Database Class: Justify
How to justify multi-line text in a cell. It must be one of
left, right, or center. Defaults to left.
Command-Line Name:-maxheight
Database Name: maxHeight
Database Class: axHeight
The max height in pixels that the window will request. Defaults
to 600.
Command-Line Name:-maxwidth
Database Name: maxWidth
Database Class: axWidth
The max width in pixels that the window will request. Defaults
to 800.
Command-Line Name:-multiline
Database Name: multiline
Database Class: ultiline
Specifies the default setting for the multiline tag option.
Defaults to 1.
Command-Line Name:-padx
Database Name: padX
Database Class: Pad
A pixel value specifying the offset X padding for a cell. This
value causes the default size of the cell to increase by two
times the value (one for each side), unless a specific pixel
size is chosen for the cell with the width command. This will
force an empty area on the left and right of each cell edge.
This padding affects all types of data in the cell. Defaults to
0. See -ipadx for an alternate padding style.
Command-Line Name:-pady
Database Name: padY
Database Class: Pad
A pixel value specifying the offset Y padding for a cell. This
value causes the default size of the cell to increase by two
times the value (one for each side), unless a specific pixel
size is chosen for the cell with the height command. This will
force an empty area on the top and bottom of each cell edge.
This padding affects all types of data in the cell. Defaults to
0. See -ipadx for an alternate padding style.
Command-Line Name:-resizeborders
Database Name: resizeBorders
Database Class: ResizeBorders
Specifies what kind of interactive border resizing to allow,
must be one of row, col, both (default) or none.
Command-Line Name:-rowheight
Database Name: rowHeight
Database Class: RowHeight
Default row height, interpreted as lines in the default font
when the number is positive, or pixels if it is negative.
Defaults to 1.
Command-Line Name:-roworigin
Database Name: rowOrigin
Database Class: Origin
Specifies what row index to interpret as the topmost row in the
table. This value is used for user indices in the table.
Defaults to 0.
Command-Line Name:-rows
Database Name: rows
Database Class: Rows
Number of rows in the table. Defaults to 10.
Command-Line Name:-rowseparator
Database Name: rowSeparator
Database Class: Separator
Specifies a separator character that will be interpreted as the
row separator when cutting or pasting data in a table. By
default, rows are separated as tcl lists.
Command-Line Name:-rowstretchmode
Database Name: rowStretchode
Database Class: Stretchode
Specifies the stretch modes for rows to fill extra allocated
window space. See -colstretchmode for valid options.
Command-Line Name:-rowtagcommand
Database Name: rowTagCommand
Database Class: TagCommand
Provides the name of a procedure that can evaluated by the wid-
get to determine the tag to be used for a given row. The proce-
dure must be defined by the user to accept a single argument
(the row number), and return a tag name or null string. This
operates in a similar manner as -coltagcommand, except that it
applies to row tags.
Command-Line Name:-selectioncommand or -selcmd
Database Name: selectionCommand
Database Class: SelectionCommand
Specifies a command to evaluate when the selection is retrieved
from a table via the selection mechanism (ie: evaluating "selec-
tion get"). The return value from this command will become the
string passed on by the selection mechanism. It uses the %-sub-
stition model described in COMAND SUBSTITUTION below. If an
error occurs, a Tcl background error is generated and nothing is
returned.
Command-Line Name:-selectmode
Database Name: selectode
Database Class: Selectode
Specifies one of several styles for manipulating the selection.
The value of the option may be arbitrary, but the default bind-
ings expect it to be either single, browse, multiple, or
extended; the default value is browse. These styles are like
those for the Tk listbox, except expanded for 2 dimensions.
Command-Line Name:-selecttitle
Database Name: selectTitles
Database Class: SelectTitles
Specifies whether title cells should be allowed in the selec-
tion. Defaults to 0 (disallowed).
Command-Line Name:-selecttype
Database Name: selectType
Database Class: SelectType
Specifies one of several types of selection for the table. The
value of the option may be one of row, col, cell, or both (mean-
ing row &&&& col); the default value is cell. These types define
whether an entire row/col is affected when a cell's selection is
changed (set or clear).
Command-Line Name:-sparsearray
Database Name: sparseArray
Database Class: SparseArray
A boolean value that specifies whether an associated Tcl array
should be kept as a sparse array (1, the default) or as a full
array (0). If true, then cell values that are empty will be
deleted from the array (taking less memory). If false, then all
values in the array will be maintained.
Command-Line Name:-state
Database Name: state
Database Class: State
Specifies one of two states for the entry: normal or disabled.
If the table 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. Also, all insert or delete
methods will be ignored. Defaults to normal.
Command-Line Name:-titlecols
Database Name: titleCols
Database Class: TitleCols
Number of columns to use as a title area. Defaults to 0.
Command-Line Name:-titlerows
Database Name: titleRows
Database Class: TitleRows
Number of rows to use as a title area. Defaults to 0.
Command-Line Name:-usecommand
Database Name: useCommand
Database Class: UseCommand
A boolean value which specifies whether to use the command
option. This value sets itself to zero if command is used and
returns an error. Defaults to 1 (will use command if speci-
fied).
Command-Line Name:-validate
Database Name: validate
Database Class: Validate
A boolean specifying whether validation should occur for the
active buffer. Defaults to 0.
Command-Line Name:-validatecommand or -vcmd
Database Name: validateCommand
Database Class: ValidateCommand
Specifies a command to execute when the active cell is edited.
This command is expected to return a Tcl boolean. If it returns
true, then it is assumed the new value is OK, otherwise the new
value is rejected (the edition will not take place). Errors in
this command are handled in the background. It uses the %-sub-
stition model described in COMAND SUBSTITUTION below.
Command-Line Name:-variable
Database Name: variable
Database Class: Variable
Global Tcl array variable to attach to the table's C array. It
will be created if it doesn't already exist or is a simple vari-
able. Keys used by the table in the array are of the form
row,col for cells and the special key active which contains the
value of the active cell buffer. The Tcl array is managed as a
sparse array (the table doesn't require all valid indices have
values). No stored value for an index is equivalent to the
empty string, and clearing a cell will remove that index from
the Tcl array, unless the -sparsearray options is set to 0.
Command-Line Name:-width
Database Name: width
Database Class: Width
Specifies the desired width for the window, in columns. If zero
or less, then the desired width for the window is made just
large enough to hold all the columns in the table. The width
can be further limited by -maxwidth.
Command-Line Name:-wrap
Database Name: wrap
Database Class: Wrap
Specifies the default wrap value for tags. Defaults to 0.
DESCRIPTION
The table command creates a 2-dimensional grid of cells. The table can
use a Tcl array variable or Tcl command for data storage and retrieval,
as well as optionally cache data in memory for speed. One of these
data sources must be configured before any data is retained by the ta-
ble. The widget has an active cell, the contents of which can be
edited (when the state is normal). The widget supports a default style
for the cells and also multiple tags, which can be used to change the
style of a row, column or cell (see TAGS for details). A cell flash
can be set up so that changed cells will change color for a specified
amount of time ("blink"). Cells can have embedded images or windows,
as described in TAGS and "EMBEDED WINDOWS" respectively.
One or more cells may be selected as described below. If a table is
exporting its selection (see -exportselection option), then it will
observe the standard X11 protocols for handling the selection. See THE
SELECTION for details.
It is not necessary for all the cells to be displayed in the table win-
dow at once; commands described below may be used to change the view in
the window. Tables allow scrolling in both directions using the stan-
dard -xscrollcommand and -yscrollcommand options. They also support
scanning, as described below.
In order to obtain good performance, the table widget supports multiple
drawing modes, two of which are fully Tk compatible.
INITIALIZATION
When the table command is loaded into an interpreter, a built-in Tcl
command, tkTableInit, is evaluated. This will search for the appropri-
ate table binding init file to load. The directories searched are
those in $tclpkgPath, both with Tktable(version) appended and without,
$tklibrary and [pwd] (the current directory). You can also define an
$env(TKTABLELIBRARY) to head this search list. By default, the file
searched for is called tkTable.tcl, but this can be overridden by set-
ting $env(TKTABLELIBRARYFILE).
This entire init script can be overridden by providing your own
tkTableInit procedure before the library is loaded. Otherwise, the
aforementioned env(TKTABLELIBRARY) variable will be set with the
directory in which $env(TKTABLELIBRARYFILE) was found.
INDICES
Many of the widget commands for tables take one or more indices as
arguments. An index specifies a particular cell of the table, in any
of the following ways:
number,number
Specifies the cell as a numerical index of row,col which
corresponds to the index of the associated Tcl array, where
-roworigin,,-colorigin corresponds to the first cell in the
table (0,0 by default). The values for row and column will
be constrained to actual values in the table, which means a
valid cell is always found.
active Indicates the cell that has the location cursor. It is
specified with the activate widget command.
anchor Indicates the anchor point for the selection, which is set
with the selection anchor widget command.
bottomright Indicates the bottom-rightmost cell visible in the table.
end Indicates the bottom right cell of the table.
origin Indicates the top-leftmost editable cell of the table, not
necessarily in the display. This takes into account the
user specified origin and title area.
topleft Indicates the top-leftmost editable cell visible in the ta-
ble (this excludes title cells).
@@x,,y Indicates the cell that covers the point in the table win-
dow specified by x and y (in pixel coordinates). If no
cell covers that point, then the closest cell to that point
is used.
In the widget command descriptions below, arguments named index, first,
and last always contain text indices in one of the above forms.
TAGS
A tag is a textual string that is associated with zero or more rows,
columns or cells in a table. Tags may contain arbitrary characters,
but it is probably best to avoid using names which look like indices to
reduce coding confusion. A tag can apply to an entire row or column,
or just a single cell. There are several permanent tags in each table
that can be configured by the user and will determine the attributes
for special cells:
active This tag is given to the active cell
flash If flash mode is on, this tag is given to any recently
edited cells.
sel This tag is given to any selected cells.
title This tag is given to any cells in the title rows and
columns. This tag has -state disabled by default.
Tags control the way cells are displayed on the screen. Where appro-
priate, the default for displaying cells is determined by the options
for the table widget. However, display options may be associated with
individual tags using the ``pathName tag configure'' widget command.
If a cell, row or column has been tagged, then the display options
associated with the tag override the default display style. The fol-
lowing options are currently supported for tags:
-anchor anchor
Anchor for item in the cell space.
-background or -bg color
Background color of the cell.
-borderwidth or -bd pixelList
Borderwidth of the cell, of the same format for the ta-
ble, but may also be empty to inherit the default table
borderwidth value (the default).
-ellipsis string
String to display at the end of a line that would be
clipped by its cell, like ``...''. An ellipsis will be
displayed only on non-wrapping, non-multiline cells that
would be clipped. The ellipsis will display on the left
for east anchored cells, otherwise it displays on the
right.
-font fontName
Font for text in the cell.
-foreground or -fg color
Foreground color of the cell.
-justify justify
How to justify multi-line text in a cell. It must be one
of left, right, or center.
-image imageName
An image to display in the cell instead of text.
-multiline boolean
Whether to display text with newlines on multiple lines.
-relief relief
The relief for the cell. May be the empty string to
cause this tag to not disturb the value.
-showtext boolean
Whether to show the text over an image.
-state state
The state of the cell, to allow for certain cells to be
disabled. This prevents the cell from being edited by
the insert or delete methods, but a direct set will not
be prevented.
-wrap boolean
Whether characters should wrap in a cell that is not wide
enough.
A priority order is defined among tags based on creation order (first
created tag has highest default priority), and this order is used in
implementing some of the tag-related functions described below. When a
cell is displayed, its properties are determined by the tags which are
assigned to it. The priority of a tag can be modified by the ``path-
Name tag lower'' and ``pathName tag raise'' widget commands.
If a cell has several tags associated with it that define the same dis-
play options (eg - a title cell with specific row and cell tags), then
the options of the highest priority tag are used. If a particular dis-
play option hasn't been specified for a particular tag, or if it is
specified as an empty string, then that option will not be used; the
next-highest-priority tag's option will be used instead. If no tag
specifies a particular display option, then the default style for the
widget will be used.
Images are used for display purposes only. Editing in that cell will
still be enabled and any querying of the cell will show the text value
of the cell, regardless of the value of -showtext.
EMBEDED WINDOWS
There may be any number of embedded windows in a table widget (one per
cell), and any widget may be used as an embedded window (subject to the
usual rules for geometry management, which require the table window to
be the parent of the embedded window or a descendant of its parent).
The embedded window's position on the screen will be updated as the ta-
ble is modified or scrolled, and it will be mapped and unmapped as it
moves into and out of the visible area of the table widget. Each
embedded window occupies one cell's worth of space in the table widget,
and it is referred to by the index of the cell in the table. Windows
associated with the table widget are destroyed when the table widget is
destroyed.
Windows are used for display purposes only. A value still exists for
that cell, but will not be shown unless the window is deleted in some
way. If the window is destroyed or lost by the table widget to another
geometry manager, then any data associated with it is lost (the cell it
occupied will no longer appear in window names).
When an embedded window is added to a table widget with the window con-
figure widget command, several configuration options may be associated
with it. These options may be modified with later calls to the window
configure widget command. The following options are currently sup-
ported:
-create script
NOT CURENTLY SUPORTED. Specifies a Tcl script that may
be evaluated to create the window for the annotation. If
no -window option has been specified for this cell then
this script will be evaluated when the cell is about to
be displayed on the screen. Script must create a window
for the cell and return the name of that window as its
result. If the cell's window should ever be deleted, the
script will be evaluated again the next time the cell is
displayed.
-background or -bg color
Background color of the cell. If not specified, it uses
the table's default background.
-borderwidth or -bd pixelList
Borderwidth of the cell, of the same format for the ta-
ble, but may also be empty to inherit the default table
borderwidth value (the default).
-padx pixels
As defined in the Tk options man page.
-pady pixels
As defined in the Tk options man page.
-relief relief
The relief to use for the cell in which the window lies.
If not specified, it uses the table's default relief.
-sticky sticky
Stickiness of the window inside the cell, as defined by
the grid command.
-window pathName
Specifies the name of a window (widget) to display in the
annotation. It must exist before being specified here.
When an empty string is specified, if a window was dis-
played it will cease to be managed by the table widget.
THE SELECTION
Table selections are available as type STRING. By default, the value
of the selection will be the values of the selected cells in nested Tcl
list form where each row is a list and each column is an element of a
row list. You can change the way this value is interpreted by setting
the -rowseparator and -colseparator options. For example, default
Excel format would be to set -rowseparator to "\n" and -colseparator to
"\t". Changing these values affects both how the table sends out the
selection and reads in pasted data, ensuring that the table should
always be able to cut and paste to itself. It is possible to change
how pastes are handled by editing the table library procedure
tktablePasteHandler. This might be necessary if -selectioncommand is
set.
ROW/COL SPANING
Individual cells can span multiple rows and/or columns. This is done
via the spans command (see below for exact arguments). Cells in the
title area that span are not permitted to span beyond the title area,
and will be constrained accordingly. If the title area shrinks during
a configure, sanity checking will occur to ensure the above. You may
set spans on regular cells that extend beyond the defined row/col area.
These spans will not be constrained, so that when the defined row/col
area expands, the span will expand with it.
When setting a span, checks are made as to whether the span would over-
lap an already spanning or hidden cell. This is an error and it not
allowed. Spans can affect the overall speed of table drawing, although
not significantly. If spans are not used, then there is no performance
loss.
Cells hidden by spanning cells still have valid data. This will be
seen during cut and paste operations that involve hidden cells, or
through direct access by a command like get or set.
The drawing properties of spanning cells apply to only the visual area
of the cell. For example, if a cell is center justified over 5 col-
umns, then when viewing any portion of those columns, it will appear
centered in the visible area. The non-visible column area will not be
considered in the centering calculations.
COMAND SUBSTITUTION
The various option based commands that the table supports all support
the familiar Tk %-substitution model (see bind for more details). The
following %-sequences are recognized and substituted by the table wid-
get:
%%c For SelectionCommand, it is the maximum number of columns in any
row in the selection. Otherwise it is the column of the triggered
cell.
%%C A convenience substitution for %r,%c.
%%i For SelectionCommand, it is the total number of cells in the
selection. For Command, it is 0 for a read (get) and 1 for a
write (set). Otherwise it is the current cursor position in the
cell.
%%r For SelectionCommand, it is the number of rows in the selection.
Otherwise it is the row of the triggered cell.
%%s For ValidateCommand, it is the current value of the cell being
validated. For SelectionCommand, it is the default value of the
selection. For BrowseCommand, it is the index of the last active
cell. For Command, it is empty for reads (get) and the current
value of the cell for writes (set).
%%S For ValidateCommand, it is the potential new value of the cell
being validated. For BrowseCommand, it is the index of the new
active cell.
%%W The pathname to the window for which the command was generated.
WIDGET COMAND
The table 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.
The following commands are possible for table widgets:
pathName activate index
Sets the active cell to the one indicated by index.
pathName bbox first ?last?
It returns the bounding box for the specified cell (range) as a
4-tuple of x, y, width and height in pixels. It clips the box
to the visible portion, if any, otherwise an empty string is
returned.
pathName border option args
This command is a voodoo hack to implement border sizing for
tables. This is normally called through bindings, with the fol-
lowing as valid options:
pathName border mark x y ?rowcol?
Records x and y and the row and/or column border under
that point in the table window, if any; used in conjunc-
tion with later border dragto commands. Typically this
command is associated with a mouse button press in the
widget. If row or col is not specified, it returns a
tuple of both border indices (an empty item means no bor-
der). Otherwise, just the specified item is returned.
pathName border dragto x y
This command computes the difference between its x and y
arguments and the x and y arguments to the last border
mark command for the widget. It then adjusts the previ-
ously marked border by the difference. This command is
typically associated with mouse motion events in the wid-
get, to produce the effect of interactive border resiz-
ing.
pathName cget option
Returns the current value of the configuration option given by
option. Option may have any of the values accepted by the table
command.
pathName clear option ?first? ?last?
This command is a convenience routine to clear certain state
information managed by the table. first and last represent
valid table indices. If neither are specified, then the command
operates on the whole table. The following options are recog-
nized:
pathName clear cache ?first? ?last?
Clears the specified section of the cache, if the table
has been keeping one.
pathName clear sizes ?first? ?last?
Clears the specified row and column areas of specific
height/width dimensions. When just one index is speci-
fied, for example 2,,00, that is interpreted as row 2 and
column 0.
pathName clear tags ?first? ?last?
Clears the specified area of tags (all row, column and
cell tags).
pathName clear all ?first? ?last?
Performs all of the above clear functions on the speci-
fied area.
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 avail-
able options for pathName (see TkConfigureInfo for information
on the format of this list). If option is specified with no
value, 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 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 table command.
pathName curselection ?value?
With no arguments, it returns the sorted indices of the cur-
rently selected cells. Otherwise it sets all the selected cells
to the given value. The set has no effect if there is no asso-
ciated Tcl array or the state is disabled.
pathName curvalue ?value?
If no value is given, the value of the cell being edited
(indexed by active) is returned, else it is set to the given
value.
pathName delete option arg ?arg?
This command is used to delete various things in a table. It
has several forms, depending on the option:
pathName delete active index ?index?
Deletes text from the active cell. If only one index is
given, it deletes the character after that index, other-
wise it deletes from the first index to the second.
index can be a number, insert or end.
pathName delete cols ?switches? index ?count?
Deletes count cols starting at (and including) col index.
The index will be constrained to the limits of the
tables. If count is negative, it deletes cols to the
left. Otherwise it deletes cols to the right. count
defaults to 1 (meaning just the column specified). At
the moment, spans are not adjusted with this action.
Optional switches are:
-holddimensions
Causes the table cols to be unaffected by the
deletion (empty cols may appear). By default the
dimensions are adjusted by count.
-holdselection
Causes the selection to be maintained on the abso-
lute cells values. Otherwise, the selection will
be cleared..
-holdtags
Causes the tags specified by the tag method to not
move along with the data. Also prevents specific
widths set by the width method from being
adjusted. By default, these tags are properly
adjusted.
-holdwindows
Causes the embedded windows created with the win-
dow method to not move along with the data. By
default, these windows are properly adjusted.
-keeptitles
Prevents title area cells from being changed.
Otherwise they are treated just like regular cells
and will move as specified.
-- Signifies the end of the switches.
pathName delete rows ?switches? index ?count?
Deletes count rows starting at (and including) row index.
If count is negative, it deletes rows going up. Other-
wise it deletes rows going down. The selection will be
cleared. The switches are the same as those for column
deletion.
pathName get first ?last?
Returns the value of the cells specified by the table indices
first and (optionally) last in a list.
pathName height ?row? ?value row value ...?
If no row is specified, returns a list describing all rows for
which a height has been set. If row is specified with no value,
it prints out the height of that row in characters (positive
number) or pixels (negative number). If one or more row-value
pairs are specified, then it sets each row to be that height in
lines (positive number) or pixels (negative number). If value
is default, then the row uses the default height, specified by
-rowheight.
pathName hidden ?index? ?index ...?
When called without args, it returns all the hidden cells (those
cells covered by a spanning cell). If one index is specified,
it returns the spanning cell covering that index, if any. If
multiple indices are specified, it returns 1 if all indices are
hidden cells, 0 otherwise.
pathName icursor ?arg?
With no arguments, prints out the location of the insertion cur-
sor in the active cell. With one argument, sets the cursor to
that point in the string. 0 is before the first character, you
can also use insert or end for the current insertion point or
the end of the text. If there is no active cell, or the cell or
table is disabled, this will return -1.
pathName index index ?rowcol?
Returns the integer cell coordinate that corresponds to index in
the form row,col. If row or col is specified, then only the row
or column index is returned.
pathName insert option arg arg
This command is used to into various things into a table. It
has several forms, depending on the option:
pathName insert active index value
The value is a text string which is inserted at the index
postion of the active cell. The cursor is then posi-
tioned after the new text. index can be a number, insert
or end.
pathName insert cols ?switches? index ?count?
Inserts count cols starting at col index. If count is
negative, it inserts before the specified col. Otherwise
it inserts after the specified col. The selection will
be cleared. The switches are the same as those for col-
umn deletion.
pathName insert rows ?switches? index ?count?
Inserts count rows starting at row index. If count is
negative, it inserts before the specified row. Otherwise
it inserts after the specified row. The selection will
be cleared. The switches are the same as those for col-
umn deletion.
pathName reread
Rereads the old contents of the cell back into the editing
buffer. Useful for a key binding when is pressed to
abort the edit (a default binding).
pathName scan option args
This command is used to implement scanning on tables. It has
two forms, depending on option:
pathName scan mark x y
Records x and y and the current view in the table 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 y.
This command computes the difference between its x and y
arguments and the x and y arguments to the last scan mark
command for the widget. It then adjusts the view by 5
times the difference in coordinates. This command is
typically associated with mouse motion events in the wid-
get, to produce the effect of dragging the list at high
speed through the window. The return value is an empty
string.
pathName see index
Adjust the view in the table so that the cell given by index is
positioned as the cell one off from top left (excluding title
rows and columns) if the cell is not currently visible on the
screen. The actual cell may be different to keep the screen
full.
pathName selection option arg
This command is used to adjust the selection within a table. It
has several forms, depending on option:
pathName selection anchor index
Sets the selection anchor to the cell given by index.
The selection anchor is the end of the selection that is
fixed while dragging out a selection with the mouse. The
index anchor may be used to refer to the anchor cell.
pathName selection clear first ?last?
If any of the cells between first and last (inclusive)
are selected, they are deselected. The selection state
is not changed for cells outside this range. first may
be specified as all to remove the selection from all
cells.
pathName selection includes index
Returns 1 if the cell indicated by index is currently
selected, 0 if it isn't.
pathName selection set first ?last?
Selects all of the cells in the range between first and
last, inclusive, without affecting the selection state of
cells outside that range.
pathName set ?rowcol? index ?value? ?index value ...?
Sets the specified index to the associated value. Table valida-
tion will not be triggered via this method. If row or col pre-
cedes the list of index/value pairs, then the value is assumed
to be a Tcl list whose values will be split and set into the
subsequent columns (if row is specified) or rows (for col). For
example, set row 2,,3 {{2,,3 2,,4 2,,5}} will set 3 cells, from 2,3 to
2,5. The setting of cells is silently bounded by the known ta-
ble dimensions.
pathName spans ?index? ?rows,cols index rows,cols ...?
This command is used to manipulate row/col spans. When called
with no arguments, all known spans are returned as a list of
tuples of the form {index span}. When called with only the
index, the span for that index only is returned, if any. Other-
wise an even number of index rows,cols pairs are used to set
spans. A span starts at the index and continues for the speci-
fied number of rows and cols. Negative spans are not supported.
A span of 0,0 unsets any span on that cell. See EXAMPLES for
more info.
pathName tag option ?arg arg ...?
This command is used to manipulate tags. The exact behavior of
the command depends on the option argument that follows the tag
argument. cget, cell, and rowcol complain about unknown tag
names. The following forms of the command are currently sup-
ported:
pathName tag cell tagName ?index ...?
With no arguments, prints out the list of cells that use
the tag. Otherwise it sets the specified cells to use
the named tag, replacing any tag that may have been set
using this method before. If tagName is {}, the cells
are reset to the default tag. Tags added during -*tag-
command evaluation do not register here. If tagName does
not exist, it will be created with the default options.
pathName tag cget tagName option
This command returns the current value of the option
named option associated with the tag given by tagName.
Option may have any of the values accepted by the tag
configure widget command.
pathName tag col tagName ?col ...?
With no arguments, prints out the list of cols that use
the tag. Otherwise it sets the specified columns to use
the named tag, replacing any tag that may have been set
using this method before. If tagName is {}, the cols are
reset to the default tag. Tags added during -coltagcom-
mand evaluation do not register here. If tagName does
not exist, it will be created with the default options.
pathName tag configure tagName ?option? ?value? ?option value
...?
This command is similar to the configure widget command
except that it modifies options associated with the tag
given by tagName instead of modifying options for the
overall table widget. If no option is specified, the
command returns a list describing all of the available
options for tagName (see TkConfigureInfo for information
on the format of this list). If option is specified with
no value, then the command returns a list describing the
one named option (this list will be identical to the cor-
responding sublist of the value returned if no option is
specified). If one or more option-value pairs are speci-
fied, then the command modifies the given option(s) to
have the given value(s) in tagName; in this case the com-
mand returns an empty string. See TAGS above for details
on the options available for tags.
pathName tag delete tagName
Deletes a tag. No error if the tag does not exist.
pathName tag exists tagName
Returns 1 if the named tag exists, 0 otherwise.
pathName tag includes tagName index
Returns 1 if the specified index has the named tag, 0
otherwise.
pathName tag lower tagName ?belowThis?
Lower the priority of the named tag. If belowThis is not
specified, then the tag's priority is lowered to the bot-
tom, otherwise it is lowered to one below belowThis.
pathName tag names ?pattern?
If no pattern is specified, shows the names of all
defined tags. Otherwise the pattern is used as a glob
pattern to show only tags matching that pattern. Tag
names are returned in priority order (highest priority
tag first).
pathName tag raise tagName ?aboveThis?
Raise the priority of the named tag. If aboveThis is not
specified, then the tag's priority is raised to the top,
otherwise it is raised to one above aboveThis.
pathName tag row tagName ?row ...?
With no arguments, prints out the list of rows that use
the tag. Otherwise it sets the specified columns to use
the named tag, replacing any tag that may have been set
using this method before. If tagName is {}, the rows are
reset to use the default tag. Tags added during -rowtag-
command evaluation do not register here. If tagName does
not exist, it will be created with the default options.
pathName validate index
Explicitly validates the specified index based on the current
-validatecommand and returns 0 or 1 based on whether the cell
was validated.
pathName width ?col? ?value col value ...?
If no col is specified, returns a list describing all cols for
which a width has been set. If col is specified with no value,
it prints out the width of that col in characters (positive num-
ber) or pixels (negative number). If one or more col-value
pairs are specified, then it sets each col to be that width in
characters (positive number) or pixels (negative number). If
value is default, then the col uses the default width, specified
by -colwidth.
pathName window option ?arg arg ...?
This command is used to manipulate embedded windows. The exact
behavior of the command depends on the option argument that fol-
lows the window argument. The following forms of the command
are currently supported:
pathName window cget index option
This command returns the current value of the option
named option associated with the window given by index.
Option may have any of the values accepted by the window
configure widget command.
pathName window configure index ?option? ?value? ?option value
...?
This command is similar to the configure widget command
except that it modifies options associated with the
embedded window given by index instead of modifying
options for the overall table widget. If no option is
specified, the command returns a list describing all of
the available options for index (see TkConfigureInfo for
information on the format of this list). If option is
specified with no value, then the command returns a list
describing the one named option (this list will be iden-
tical 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
option(s) to have the given value(s) in index; in this
case the command returns an empty string. See EMBEDED
WINDOWS above for details on the options available for
windows.
pathName window delete index ?index ...?
Deletes an embedded window from the table. The associ-
ated window will also be deleted.
pathName window move indexFrom indexTo
Moves an embedded window from one cell to another. If a
window already exists in the target cell, it will be
deleted.
pathName window names ?pattern?
If no pattern is specified, shows the cells of all embed-
ded windows. Otherwise the pattern is used as a glob
pattern to show only cells matching that pattern.
pathName xview args
This command is used to query and change the horizontal position
of the information 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 horizontal span that is visible in the window. For
example, if the first element is .2 and the second ele-
ment is .6, 20% of the table'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 column given
by index is displayed at the left edge of the window.
pathName xview moveto fraction
Adjusts the view in the window so that fraction of the
total width of the table text is off-screen to the left.
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 cells on the display; if it is pages then
the view adjusts by number screenfuls. If number is neg-
ative then cells farther to the left become visible; if
it is positive then cells farther to the right become
visible.
pathName yview ?args?
This command is used to query and change the vertical position
of the text in the widget's window. It can take any of the fol-
lowing forms:
pathName yview
Returns a list containing two elements, both of which are
real fractions between 0 and 1. The first element gives
the position of the table element at the top of the win-
dow, relative to the table as a whole (0.5 means it is
halfway through the table, for example). The second ele-
ment gives the position of the table element just after
the last one in the window, relative to the table as a
whole. These are the same values passed to scrollbars
via the -yscrollcommand option.
pathName yview index
Adjusts the view in the window so that the row given by
index is displayed at the top of the window.
pathName yview moveto fraction
Adjusts the view in the window so that the element given
by fraction appears at the top of the window. Fraction
is a fraction between 0 and 1; 0 indicates the first
element in the table, 0.33 indicates the element
one-third the way through the table, and so on.
pathName yview scroll number what
This command adjusts the view in the window up or down
according to number and what. Number must be an integer.
What must be either units or pages. If what is units,
the view adjusts up or down by number cells; if it is
pages then the view adjusts by number screenfuls. If
number is negative then earlier elements become visible;
if it is positive then later elements become visible.
DEFAULT BINDINGS
The initialization creates class bindings that give the following
default behaviour:
[1] Clicking Button-1 in a cell activates that cell. Clicking into
an already active cell moves the insertion cursor to the charac-
ter nearest the mouse.
[2] Moving the mouse while Button-1 is pressed will stroke out a
selection area. Exiting while Button-1 is pressed causing scan-
ning to occur on the table along with selection.
[3] Moving the mouse while Button-2 is pressed causes scanning to
occur without any selection.
[4] Home moves the table to have the origin in view.
[5] End moves the table to have the end cell in view.
[6] Control-Home moves the table to the origin and activates that
cell.
[7] Control-End moves the table to the end and activates that cell.
[8] Shift-Control-Home extends the selection to the origin.
[9] Shift-Control-End extends the selection to the end.
[10] The left, right, up and down arrows move the active cell.
[11] Shift- extends the selection in that direction.
[12] Control-leftarrow and Control-rightarrow move the insertion cur-
sor within the cell.
[13] Control-slash selects all the cells.
[14] Control-backslash clears selection from all the cells.
[15] Backspace deletes the character before the insertion cursor in
the active cell.
[16] Delete deletes the character after the insertion cursor in the
active cell.
[17] Escape rereads the value of the active cell from the specified
data source, discarding any edits that have may been performed
on the cell.
[18] Control-a moves the insertion cursor to the beginning of the
active cell.
[19] Control-e moves the insertion cursor to the end of the active
cell.
[20] Control-minus and Control-equals decrease and increase the width
of the column with the active cell in it.
[21] Moving the mouse while Button-3 (the right button on Windows) is
pressed while you are over a border will cause interactive
resizing of that row and/or column to occur, based on the value
of -resizeborders.
Some bindings may have slightly different behavior dependent on the
-selectionmode of the widget.
If the widget is disabled using the -state option, then its view can
still be adjusted and cells can still be selected, but no insertion
cursor will be displayed and no cell modifications will take place.
The behavior of tables can be changed by defining new bindings for
individual widgets or by redefining the class bindings. The default
bindings are either compiled in or read from a file expected to corre-
spond to: "[lindex $tclpkgPath 0]/Tktable/tkTable.tcl".
PERFORMANCE ISUES
The number of rows and columns or a table widget should not signifi-
cantly affect the speed of redraw. Recalculation and redraw of table
parameters and cells is restricted as much as possible.
The display cell with the insert cursor is redrawn each time the cursor
blinks, which causes a steady stream of graphics traffic. Set the
-insertofftime option to 0 avoid this. The use of a -command with the
table without a cache can cause significant slow-down, as the command
is called once for each request of a cell value.
EXAMPLES
Set the topleft title area to be one spanning cell. This overestimates
both row and column span by one, but the command does all the con-
straining for us.
$table span [$table cget -roworigin],[$table cget -colorigin] [$table cget -titlerows],[$table cget -titlecols]
Force a table window refresh (useful for the slight chance that a bug
in the table is not causing proper refresh):
$table configure -padx [$table cget -padx]
KEYWORDS
table, widget, extension
Tk 2.8 table(n)
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