Mastering Perl/TK: Graphical User Interfaces in Perl (Paperback)

Preface

1. Hello, Perl/Tk
Perl/Tk Concepts
Some Perl/Tk History
Getting Started with Perl/Tk
Hello World Example
Unsolicited Advice
Debugging and Prototyping Perl/Tk Programs

2. Geometry Management
The pack Geometry Manager
The grid Geometry Manager
The place Geometry Manager
The form Geometry Manager
Geometry Management Summary

3. Fonts
Experimenting with Fonts
Dissecting a Font
Using Fonts
Using Fonts Dynamically
Font Manipulation Methods

4. Button, Checkbutton, and Radiobutton Widgets
Creating Button Widgets
Standard Options for Each Button Type
Table of Options for Button-Type Widgets
Displaying Text on Buttons
Displaying an Image or Bitmap
Checkbutton and Radiobutton Indicator Status
On and Off Values for a Checkbutton
Radiobutton Values
The -command Option
Disabling a Button
Text Manipulation
Altering the Button's Style
Changing the Size of a Button
Adding a Keyboard Mapping
Color Options
Indicator Colors
Hiding the Indicator
Focus Options
Altering the Highlight Rectangle
Configuring a Button
Flashing the Button
Invoking the Button
Turning a Checkbutton/Radiobutton On and Off

5. Label and Entry Widgets
The Label Widget
The Entry Widget
The Perl/Tk LabEntry Mega-Widget

6. The Scrollbar Widget
Defining Scrollbar Parts
The Scrolled Method
The Scrollbar Widget
Examples

7. The Listbox Widget
Creating and Filling a Listbox
Listbox Options
Selection Modes
Colors
Listbox Style
Configuring a Listbox
Inserting Items
Deleting Items
Retrieving Elements
Selection Methods
Moving to a Specific Index
Translating Indexes
Counting Items
Active Versus Selected
Bounding Box
Finding an Index by y Coordinate
Scrolling Methods
Listbox Virtual Events
Listbox Example

8. The Text, TextUndo, and ROText Widgets
Creating and Using a Text Widget
Text Widget Options
A Short Break for a Simple Example
Text Indexes
Text Tags
Inserting Text
Deleting Text
Retrieving Text
Translating Index Values
Comparing Index Values
Showing an Index
Getting the Size of a Character
Getting Line Information
Searching the Contents of a Text Widget
Scrolling
Marks
Embedding Widgets
Internal Debug Flag
The Perl/Tk Text Widget Extended Methods
The TextUndo Widget
The ROText Widget

9. The Canvas Widget
Creating a Canvas
The Canvas Coordinate System
The Scrollable Region
Using bind with a Canvas
Canvas Options
Creating Items in a Canvas
Configuring the Canvas Widget
Configuring Items in the Canvas Widget
Tags
Retrieving Bounding Box Coordinates
Translating Coordinates
Moving Items Around
Changing the Display List
Deleting Items
Deleting Tags
Determining Item Type
Setting Keyboard Focus
Rendering the Canvas as PostScript
Scaling the Canvas
Scanning
A Drawing Program Example

10. The Scale Widget
Creating a Scale
Assigning a Callback
Orientation
Minimum and Maximum Values
Displayed Versus Stored Value
Adding a Label
Displaying Value Increments
Changing the Size of the Scale
Options You'll Probably Never Need
Configuring a Scale
Getting the Value of a Scale
Setting the Value of a Scale
Determining Coordinates
Identifying Parts of a Scale

11. Frame, MainWindow, and Toplevel Widgets
Creating a Frame
Creating a Toplevel Widget
Options
Frame Methods
Toplevel Methods
Creating Multiple MainWindows
Putting Two MainWindows to Work

12. The Menu System
Menu System Components
Menubars and Pulldown Menus
The Win32 System Menu Item
Classical Menubars
Popup Menus
Option Menus
Menu Virtual Events
Pie Menus

13. Miscellaneous Perl/Tk Methods
Managing Widgets with configure and cget
Building a Family Tree
Widget's ID
Color-Related Methods
The Application's Name
Widget Existence
Is the Widget Mapped?
Converting Screen Distances
Size of Widget
Widget Position
Screen Information
Atom Methods
Ringing a Bell
Clipboard and Selection Methods
Destroying a Widget
Focus Methods
Grab Methods
Marking a Widget Busy and Unbusy
Widget Mapping and Layering
Interapplication Communication
Waiting for Events to Happen
Time Delays
Parsing Command-Line Options
Really Miscellaneous Methods

14. Creating Custom Widgets in Pure Perl/Tk
A Mega-Widget Quick-Start
The Perl/Tk Class Hierarchy
Mega-Widget Implementation Details
Composite Mega-Widgets
Derived Mega-Widgets
Packaging a Mega-Widget for Public Distribution

15. Anatomy of the MainLoop
Creating a Callback
Binding to Events
The bindtags Command
Executing Nonblocking System Commands
Tracing Perl/Tk Variables
Nonblocking Wait Activities
Splash Screens
Synthesizing Virtual Events
Coexisting with Other GUI Main Loops

16. User Customization
Using the Command Line
Using the Option Database

17. Images and Animations
An Overview of Perl/Tk Image Types
Methods Common to All Image Types
Bitmap Primitives
DefineBitmap
The Bitmap Image Type
The Pixmap Image Type
The Photo Image Type
The Compound Image Type
Tk::Animation
tkneko-Animating the Neko on a Canvas
Tile and Transparent Images
Miscellaneous Image Methods
Simple Photo Rotations

18. A Tk Interface Extension Tour
Display Items
Item Styles
The TList Widget
The HList Family of Widgets
Tix Images

19. Interprocess Communication with Pipes and Sockets
Handling Unsolicited Media Changes
IPADM Design Considerations
The Perl/Tk IPADM Client, ipadm
The IPADM Helper, ipadmh
The IPADM Daemon, ipadmd
Polling Win32 Sockets

20. IPC with send
Security and Inter-Language Considerations
Computing p with Parallel Message Passing
TclRobots

21. C Widget Internals
The Tk::Square Widget
Interfacing tkSquare.c with Perl/Tk
Building and Testing Tk::Square
How Not to Port Tk::Square

22. Perl/Tk and the Web
Library for WWW Access in Perl
The PerlPlus Browser Plug-in

23. Plethora of pTk Potpourri
pTk Special Variables and Exporter Symbols
Manipulating the Cursor
Dialog Boxes
The Adjuster Widget
The Balloon Widget
The BrowseEntry Widget
The LabFrame Widget
The NoteBook Widget
The Pane Widget
The ProgressBar Widget
Widgets Not in the Perl/Tk Distribution

A. Installing Perl/Tk
B. Options and Default Values for Each Widget
C. Complete Program Listings

Index