Tk Built-In Commands tkgetOpenFile(1T)
NAME
tkgetOpenFile, tkgetSaveFile - pop up a dialog box for the
user to select a file to open or save.
SYNOPSIS
tkgetOpenFile ?option value ...?
tkgetSaveFile ?option value ...?
DESCRIPTION
The procedures tkgetOpenFile and tkgetSaveFile pop up a
dialog box for the user to select a file to open or save.
The tkgetOpenFile command is usually associated with the
Open command in the File menu. Its purpose is for the user
to select an existing file only. If the user enters a non-
existent file, the dialog box gives the user an error prompt
and requires the user to give an alternative selection. If
an application allows the user to create new files, it
should do so by providing a separate New menu command.
The tkgetSaveFile command is usually associated with the
Save as command in the File menu. If the user enters a file
that already exists, the dialog box prompts the user for
confirmation whether the existing file should be overwritten
or not.
The following option-value pairs are possible as command
line arguments to these two commands:
-defaultextension extension
Specifies a string that will be appended to the
filename if the user enters a filename without an
extension. The default value is the empty string, which
means no extension will be appended to the filename in
any case. This option is ignored on the Macintosh plat-
form, which does not require extensions to filenames,
and the UNIX implementation guesses reasonable values
for this from the -filetypes option when this is not
supplied.
-filetypes filePatternList
If a File types listbox exists in the file dialog on
the particular platform, this option gives the file-
types in this listbox. When the user choose a filetype
in the listbox, only the files of that type are listed.
If this option is unspecified, or if it is set to the
empty list, or if the File types listbox is not sup-
ported by the particular platform then all files are
listed regardless of their types. See the section
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Tk Built-In Commands tkgetOpenFile(1T)
SPECIFYING FILE PATERNS below for a discussion on the
contents of filePatternList.
-initialdir directory
Specifies that the files in directory should be
displayed when the dialog pops up. If this parameter is
not specified, then the files in the current working
directory are displayed. If the parameter specifies a
relative path, the return value will convert the rela-
tive path to an absolute path. This option may not
always work on the Macintosh. This is not a bug.
Rather, the General Controls control panel on the Mac
allows the end user to override the application default
directory.
-initialfile filename
Specifies a filename to be displayed in the dialog when
it pops up. This option is ignored on the Macintosh
platform.
-multiple boolean
Allows the user to choose multiple files from the Open
dialog. On the Macintosh, this is only available when
Navigation Services are installed.
-message string
Specifies a message to include in the client area of
the dialog. This is only available on the Macintosh,
and only when Navigation Services are installed.
-parent window
Makes window the logical parent of the file dialog. The
file dialog is displayed on top of its parent window.
-title titleString
Specifies a string to display as the title of the dia-
log box. If this option is not specified, then a
default title is displayed.
If the user selects a file, both tkgetOpenFile and
tkgetSaveFile return the full pathname of this file. If the
user cancels the operation, both commands return the empty
string.
SPECIFYING FILE PATERNS
The filePatternList value given by the -filetypes option is
a list of file patterns. Each file pattern is a list of the
form
typeName {extension ?extension ...?} ?{macType ?macType ...?}?
typeName is the name of the file type described by this file
pattern and is the text string that appears in the File
types listbox. extension is a file extension for this file
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Tk Built-In Commands tkgetOpenFile(1T)
pattern. macType is a four-character Macintosh file type.
The list of macTypes is optional and may be omitted for
applications that do not need to execute on the Macintosh
platform.
Several file patterns may have the same typeName, in which
case they refer to the same file type and share the same
entry in the listbox. When the user selects an entry in the
listbox, all the files that match at least one of the file
patterns corresponding to that entry are listed. Usually,
each file pattern corresponds to a distinct type of file.
The use of more than one file patterns for one type of file
is necessary on the Macintosh platform only.
On the Macintosh platform, a file matches a file pattern if
its name matches at least one of the extension(s) AND it
belongs to at least one of the macType(s) of the file pat-
tern. For example, the C Source Files file pattern in the
sample code matches with files that have a .c extension AND
belong to the macType TEXT. To use the OR rule instead, you
can use two file patterns, one with the extensions only and
the other with the macType only. The GIF Files file type in
the sample code matches files that EITHER have a .gif exten-
sion OR belong to the macType GIF.
On the Unix and Windows platforms, a file matches a file
pattern if its name matches at least one of the extension(s)
of the file pattern. The macTypes are ignored.
SPECIFYING EXTENSIONS
On the Unix and Macintosh platforms, extensions are matched
using glob-style pattern matching. On the Windows platforms,
extensions are matched by the underlying operating system.
The types of possible extensions are: (1) the special exten-
sion * matches any file; (2) the special extension ""
matches any files that do not have an extension (i.e., the
filename contains no full stop character); (3TK) any charac-
ter string that does not contain any wild card characters (*
and ?).
Due to the different pattern matching rules on the various
platforms, to ensure portability, wild card characters are
not allowed in the extensions, except as in the special
extension *. Extensions without a full stop character (e.g.
~) are allowed but may not work on all platforms.
EXAMPLE
set types {
{{Text Files} {.txt} }
{{TCL Scripts} {.tcl} }
{{C Source Files} {.c} TEXT}
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Tk Built-In Commands tkgetOpenFile(1T)
{{GIF Files} {.gif} }
{{GIF Files} {} GIF}
{{All Files} * }
}
set filename [tkgetOpenFile -filetypes $types]
if {$filename != ""} {
# Open the file ...
}
SEE ALSO
tkchooseDirectory
KEYWORDS
file selection dialog
ATRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attri-
butes:
ATRIBUTE TYPE ATRIBUTE VALUE
Availability SUNWTk
Interface Stability Uncommitted
NOTES
Source for Tk is available on http:/opensolaris.org.
Tk Last change: 4.2 4
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