entry - Create and manipulate 'entry' one-line text entry widgets
entry pathName ?
options?
-background -highlightthickness -selectbackground
-borderwidth -insertbackground -selectborderwidth
-cursor -insertborderwidth -selectforeground
-exportselection -insertofftime -takefocus
-font -insertontime -textvariable
-foreground -insertwidth -xscrollcommand
-highlightbackground -justify
-highlightcolor -relief
See the
options manual entry for details on the standard options.
Command-Line Name: -disabledbackground
Database Name: disabledBackground
Database Class: DisabledBackground
- Specifies the background color to use when the entry is
disabled. If this option is the empty string, the normal background color
is used.
Command-Line Name: -disabledforeground
Database Name: disabledForeground
Database Class: DisabledForeground
- Specifies the foreground color to use when the entry is
disabled. If this option is the empty string, the normal foreground color
is used.
Command-Line Name: -invalidcommand or -invcmd
Database Name: invalidCommand
Database Class: InvalidCommand
- Specifies a script to eval when -validatecommand
returns 0. Setting it to {} disables this feature (the default). The best
use of this option is to set it to bell. See VALIDATION
below for more information.
Command-Line Name: -readonlybackground
Database Name: readonlyBackground
Database Class: ReadonlyBackground
- Specifies the background color to use when the entry is
readonly. If this option is the empty string, the normal background color
is used.
Command-Line Name: -show
Database Name: show
Database Class: Show
- If this option is specified, then the true contents of the
entry are not displayed in the window. Instead, each character in the
entry's value will be displayed as the first character in the value of
this option, such as “*”. This is useful, for example, if
the entry is to be used to enter a password. If characters in the entry
are selected and copied elsewhere, the information copied will be what is
displayed, not the true contents of the entry.
Command-Line Name: -state
Database Name: state
Database Class: State
- Specifies one of three states for the entry: normal,
disabled, or readonly. If the entry is readonly, 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; the contents
of the widget may still be selected. If the entry is disabled, the value
may not be changed, no insertion cursor will be displayed, the contents
will not be selectable, and the entry may be displayed in a different
color, depending on the values of the -disabledforeground and
-disabledbackground options.
Command-Line Name: -validate
Database Name: validate
Database Class: Validate
- Specifies the mode in which validation should operate:
none, focus, focusin, focusout, key, or
all. It defaults to none. When you want validation, you must
explicitly state which mode you wish to use. See VALIDATION below
for more.
Command-Line Name: -validatecommand or -vcmd
Database Name: validateCommand
Database Class: ValidateCommand
- Specifies a script to eval when you want to validate the
input into the entry widget. Setting it to {} disables this feature (the
default). This command must return a valid Tcl boolean value. If it
returns 0 (or the valid Tcl boolean equivalent) then it means you reject
the new edition and it will not occur and the -invalidcommand will
be evaluated if it is set. If it returns 1, then the new edition occurs.
See VALIDATION below for more information.
Command-Line Name: -width
Database Name: width
Database Class: Width
- Specifies an integer value indicating the desired width of
the entry window, in average-size characters of the widget's font. If the
value is less than or equal to zero, the widget picks a size just large
enough to hold its current text.
The
entry command creates a new window (given by the
pathName
argument) and makes it into an entry widget. Additional options, described
above, may be specified on the command line or in the option database to
configure aspects of the entry such as its colors, font, and relief. The
entry command returns its
pathName argument. At the time this
command is invoked, there must not exist a window named
pathName, but
pathName's parent must exist.
An entry is a widget that displays a one-line text string and allows that string
to be edited using widget commands described below, which are typically bound
to keystrokes and mouse actions. When first created, an entry's string is
empty. A portion of the entry may be selected as described below. If an entry
is exporting its selection (see the
-exportselection option), then it
will observe the standard X11 protocols for handling the selection; entry
selections are available as type
STRING. Entries also observe the
standard Tk rules for dealing with the input focus. When an entry has the
input focus it displays an
insertion cursor to indicate where new
characters will be inserted.
Entries are capable of displaying strings that are too long to fit entirely
within the widget's window. In this case, only a portion of the string will be
displayed; commands described below may be used to change the view in the
window. Entries use the standard
-xscrollcommand mechanism for
interacting with scrollbars (see the description of the
-xscrollcommand
option for details). They also support scanning, as described below.
Validation works by setting the
-validatecommand option to a script (
validateCommand) which will be evaluated according to the
-validate option as follows:
- none
- Default. This means no validation will occur.
- focus
-
validateCommand will be called when the entry
receives or loses focus.
- focusin
-
validateCommand will be called when the entry
receives focus.
- focusout
-
validateCommand will be called when the entry loses
focus.
- key
-
validateCommand will be called when the entry is
edited.
- all
-
validateCommand will be called for all above
conditions.
It is possible to perform percent substitutions on the value of the
-validatecommand and
-invalidcommand options, just as you would
in a
bind script. The following substitutions are recognized:
- %d
- Type of action: 1 for insert, 0 for delete,
or -1 for focus, forced or textvariable validation.
- %i
- Index of char string to be inserted/deleted, if any,
otherwise -1.
- %P
- The value of the entry if the edit is allowed. If you are
configuring the entry widget to have a new textvariable, this will be the
value of that textvariable.
- %s
- The current value of entry prior to editing.
- %S
- The text string being inserted/deleted, if any, {}
otherwise.
- %v
- The type of validation currently set.
- %V
- The type of validation that triggered the callback (key,
focusin, focusout, forced).
- %W
- The name of the entry widget.
In general, the
-textvariable and
-validatecommand options can be
dangerous to mix. Any problems have been overcome so that using the
-validatecommand will not interfere with the traditional behavior of
the entry widget. Using the
-textvariable for read-only purposes will
never cause problems. The danger comes when you try set the
-textvariable to something that the
-validatecommand would not
accept, which causes
-validate to become
none (the
-invalidcommand will not be triggered). The same happens when an error
occurs evaluating the
-validatecommand.
Primarily, an error will occur when the
-validatecommand or
-invalidcommand encounters an error in its script while evaluating or
-validatecommand does not return a valid Tcl boolean value. The
-validate option will also set itself to
none when you edit the
entry widget from within either the
-validatecommand or the
-invalidcommand. Such editions will override the one that was being
validated. If you wish to edit the entry widget (for example set it to {})
during validation and still have the
-validate option set, you should
include the command
after idle {%W config -validate %v}
in the
-validatecommand or
-invalidcommand (whichever one you were
editing the entry widget from). It is also recommended to not set an
associated
-textvariable during validation, as that can cause the entry
widget to become out of sync with the
-textvariable.
The
entry 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 subcommand ?arg arg ...?
Subcommand and the
args determine the exact behavior of the
command.
Many of the widget commands for entries take one or more indices as arguments.
An index specifies a particular character in the entry's string, in any of the
following ways:
- number
- Specifies the character as a numerical index, where 0
corresponds to the first character in the string.
- anchor
- Indicates the anchor point for the selection, which is set
with the select from and select adjust widget commands.
- end
- Indicates the character just after the last one in the
entry's string. This is equivalent to specifying a numerical index equal
to the length of the entry's string.
- insert
- Indicates the character adjacent to and immediately
following the insertion cursor.
- sel.first
- Indicates the first character in the selection. It is an
error to use this form if the selection is not in the entry window.
- sel.last
- Indicates the character just after the last one in the
selection. It is an error to use this form if the selection is not in the
entry window.
-
@number
- In this form, number is treated as an x-coordinate
in the entry's window; the character spanning that x-coordinate is used.
For example, “ @0” indicates the left-most character
in the window.
Abbreviations may be used for any of the forms above, e.g. “
e” or “
sel.f”. In general, out-of-range
indices are automatically rounded to the nearest legal value.
The following commands are possible for entry widgets:
-
pathName bbox index
- Returns a list of four numbers describing the bounding box
of the character given by index. The first two elements of the list
give the x and y coordinates of the upper-left corner of the screen area
covered by the character (in pixels relative to the widget) and the last
two elements give the width and height of the character, in pixels. The
bounding box may refer to a region outside the visible area of the
window.
-
pathName cget option
- Returns the current value of the configuration option given
by option. Option may have any of the values accepted by the
entry command.
-
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
available options for pathName (see Tk_ConfigureInfo 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 entry command.
-
pathName delete first
?last?
- Delete one or more elements of the entry. First is
the index of the first character to delete, and last is the index
of the character just after the last one to delete. If last is not
specified it defaults to first+1, i.e. a single character is
deleted. This command returns an empty string.
-
pathName get
- Returns the entry's string.
-
pathName icursor index
- Arrange for the insertion cursor to be displayed just
before the character given by index. Returns an empty string.
-
pathName index index
- Returns the numerical index corresponding to
index.
-
pathName insert index string
- Insert the characters of string just before the
character indicated by index. Returns an empty string.
-
pathName scan option args
- This command is used to implement scanning on entries. It
has two forms, depending on option:
-
pathName scan mark x
- Records x and the current view in the entry 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
- This command computes the difference between its x
argument and the x argument to the last scan mark command
for the widget. It then adjusts the view left or right by 10 times the
difference in x-coordinates. This command is typically associated with
mouse motion events in the widget, to produce the effect of dragging the
entry at high speed through the window. The return value is an empty
string.
-
pathName selection option arg
- This command is used to adjust the selection within an
entry. It has several forms, depending on option:
-
pathName selection adjust index
- Locate the end of the selection nearest to the character
given by index, and adjust that end of the selection to be at
index (i.e. including but not going beyond index). The other
end of the selection is made the anchor point for future select to
commands. If the selection is not currently in the entry, then a new
selection is created to include the characters between index and
the most recent selection anchor point, inclusive. Returns an empty
string.
-
pathName selection clear
- Clear the selection if it is currently in this widget. If
the selection is not in this widget then the command has no effect.
Returns an empty string.
-
pathName selection from index
- Set the selection anchor point to just before the character
given by index. Does not change the selection. Returns an empty
string.
-
pathName selection present
- Returns 1 if there is are characters selected in the entry,
0 if nothing is selected.
-
pathName selection range start
end
- Sets the selection to include the characters starting with
the one indexed by start and ending with the one just before
end. If end refers to the same character as start or
an earlier one, then the entry's selection is cleared.
-
pathName selection to index
- If index is before the anchor point, set the
selection to the characters from index up to but not including the
anchor point. If index is the same as the anchor point, do nothing.
If index is after the anchor point, set the selection to the
characters from the anchor point up to but not including index. The
anchor point is determined by the most recent select from or
select adjust command in this widget. If the selection is not in
this widget then a new selection is created using the most recent anchor
point specified for the widget. Returns an empty string.
-
pathName validate
- This command is used to force an evaluation of the
-validatecommand independent of the conditions specified by the
-validate option. This is done by temporarily setting the
-validate option to all. It returns 0 or 1.
-
pathName xview args
- This command is used to query and change the horizontal
position of the text 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 element is .6, 20% of the entry'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 character given
by index is displayed at the left edge of the window.
-
pathName xview moveto fraction
- Adjusts the view in the window so that the character
fraction of the way through the text appears at the left edge of
the window. 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 average-width characters on the
display; if it is pages then the view adjusts by number
screenfuls. If number is negative then characters farther to the
left become visible; if it is positive then characters farther to the
right become visible.
Tk automatically creates class bindings for entries that give them the following
default behavior. In the descriptions below, “word” refers to a
contiguous group of letters, digits, or “_” characters, or any
single character other than these.
- [1]
- Clicking mouse button 1 positions the insertion cursor just
before the character underneath the mouse cursor, sets the input focus to
this widget, and clears any selection in the widget. Dragging with mouse
button 1 strokes out a selection between the insertion cursor and the
character under the mouse.
- [2]
- Double-clicking with mouse button 1 selects the word under
the mouse and positions the insertion cursor at the end of the word.
Dragging after a double click will stroke out a selection consisting of
whole words.
- [3]
- Triple-clicking with mouse button 1 selects all of the text
in the entry and positions the insertion cursor at the end of the
line.
- [4]
- The ends of the selection can be adjusted by dragging with
mouse button 1 while the Shift key is down; this will adjust the end of
the selection that was nearest to the mouse cursor when button 1 was
pressed. If the button is double-clicked before dragging then the
selection will be adjusted in units of whole words.
- [5]
- Clicking mouse button 1 with the Control key down will
position the insertion cursor in the entry without affecting the
selection.
- [6]
- If any normal printing characters are typed in an entry,
they are inserted at the point of the insertion cursor.
- [7]
- The view in the entry can be adjusted by dragging with the
middle mouse button (button 2, or button 3 in TkAqua). If the middle mouse
button is clicked without moving the mouse, the selection is copied into
the entry at the position of the mouse cursor.
- [8]
- If the mouse is dragged out of the entry on the left or
right sides while button 1 is pressed, the entry will automatically scroll
to make more text visible (if there is more text off-screen on the side
where the mouse left the window).
- [9]
- The Left and Right keys move the insertion cursor one
character to the left or right; they also clear any selection in the entry
and set the selection anchor. If Left or Right is typed with the Shift key
down, then the insertion cursor moves and the selection is extended to
include the new character. Control-Left and Control-Right move the
insertion cursor by words, and Control-Shift-Left and Control-Shift-Right
move the insertion cursor by words and also extend the selection.
Control-b and Control-f behave the same as Left and Right, respectively.
Meta-b and Meta-f behave the same as Control-Left and Control-Right,
respectively.
- [10]
- The Home key, or Control-a, will move the insertion cursor
to the beginning of the entry and clear any selection in the entry.
Shift-Home moves the insertion cursor to the beginning of the entry and
also extends the selection to that point.
- [11]
- The End key, or Control-e, will move the insertion cursor
to the end of the entry and clear any selection in the entry. Shift-End
moves the cursor to the end and extends the selection to that point.
- [12]
- The Select key and Control-Space set the selection anchor
to the position of the insertion cursor. They do not affect the current
selection. Shift-Select and Control-Shift-Space adjust the selection to
the current position of the insertion cursor, selecting from the anchor to
the insertion cursor if there was not any selection previously.
- [13]
- Control-/ selects all the text in the entry.
- [14]
- Control-\ clears any selection in the entry.
- [15]
- The F16 key (labelled Copy on many Sun workstations) or
Meta-w copies the selection in the widget to the clipboard, if there is a
selection.
- [16]
- The F20 key (labelled Cut on many Sun workstations) or
Control-w copies the selection in the widget to the clipboard and deletes
the selection. If there is no selection in the widget then these keys have
no effect.
- [17]
- The F18 key (labelled Paste on many Sun workstations) or
Control-y inserts the contents of the clipboard at the position of the
insertion cursor.
- [18]
- The Delete key deletes the selection, if there is one in
the entry. If there is no selection, it deletes the character to the right
of the insertion cursor.
- [19]
- The BackSpace key and Control-h delete the selection, if
there is one in the entry. If there is no selection, it deletes the
character to the left of the insertion cursor.
- [20]
- Control-d deletes the character to the right of the
insertion cursor.
- [21]
- Meta-d deletes the word to the right of the insertion
cursor.
- [22]
- Control-k deletes all the characters to the right of the
insertion cursor.
- [23]
- Control-t reverses the order of the two characters to the
right of the insertion cursor.
If the entry is disabled using the
-state option, then the entry's view
can still be adjusted and text in the entry can still be selected, but no
insertion cursor will be displayed and no text modifications will take place
except if the entry is linked to a variable using the
-textvariable
option, in which case any changes to the variable are reflected by the entry
whatever the value of its
-state option.
The behavior of entries can be changed by defining new bindings for individual
widgets or by redefining the class bindings.
ttk::entry(3tk)
entry, widget