TixIntro3

Overview

Tix, which stands for Tk Interface Extension, is an extension library for Tcl/Tk. Tix adds many new widgets, image types and other commands that allows you to create compelling Tcl/Tk-based GUI applications.

One advantage of Tix over other Tk widget libraries is many of the Tix standard widgets are implemented in native code. This enhances performance and provides native look-and-feel for your applications.

This version of Tix works with Tcl/Tk version 8.0 or above. If Tix has been installed properly on your system, you can load the package into any Tk script by invoking the command package require Tix After this command has successfully returned, you can start using the functionalities of the Tix library. See the EXAMPLES section below for example scripts that use Tix.

If the "package require Tix" command fails, you probably need to install a new copy of Tix on your system. You can download the latest version of Tix from the web site http://tix.sourceforge.net/.

Standard widgets

Tix includes the following standard widgets which, like their counterparts in Tk, are implemented in native code to achieve high performance and native look-and-feel.

tixGrid

The tixGrid widget displays items in a spread-sheet format.

tixHList

Hierarchical listbox widget. This widget display entries in a tree-like format.

tixInputOnly

A transparent window that can be used to cover another widget so as to disable mouse input.

tixNBFrame

The tixNBFrame widget is used internally by the tixNoteBook widget to display choices among a set of overlapping pages.

tixTList

Tabular listbox widget. This widget is similar to the built-in Tk listbox widget but provides more flexibility in displaying the list entries.

Mega widgets

Tix provides many new types of mega widgets: these are widgets that are composed of built-in Tk widgets and the Tix standard widgets mentioned above.

tixBalloon

The tixBalloon widget provides context-sensitive on-screen help.

tixButtonBox

A convenience class for creating a box of button widgets.

tixCheckList

A subclass of tixTree that presents single- or multiple choices to the user in a tree-like format.

tixComboBox

A combination of the listbox and entry widgets that allows the user to input an item by typing or by selecting from a list of items.

tixControl

The tixControl widget allows the user to adjust a value using arrow buttons.

tixDirList

A directory selection widget that displays the file system as a cascading list.

tixDirSelectDialog

A dialog for selecting a directory. This widget is deprecated. Use tk_chooseDirectory instead.

tixDirTree

A directory selection widget that displays the file system in a tree format.

tixExFileSelectBox

A widget for selecting a file. This widget is deprecated. Use tk_getOpenFile instead.

tixExFileSelectDialog

A dialog for selecting a file. This widget is deprecated. Use tk_getOpenFile instead.

tixFileEntry

A special entry widget that allows the user to choose a file by typing in its name or by selecting from a file dialog.

tixFileSelectBox

A widget for selecting a file. This widget is deprecated. Use tk_getOpenFile instead.

tixFileSelectDialog

A dialog for selecting a file. This widget is deprecated. Use tk_getOpenFile instead.

tixLabelEntry

A convenience class for creating an entry with an associated label widget.

tixLabelFrame

A labelled frame widget for grouping together a set of related widgets.

tixListNoteBook

The tixListNoteBook widget allows the user to choose from a set of over-lapping pages by selecting from a list box.

tixMeter

The tixMeter widget displays a bar graph to indicate progress.

tixNoteBook

The tixNoteBook widget allows the user to choose from a set of over-lapping pages with a tabbed notebook metaphore.

tixOptionMenu

The tixOptionMenu widget allows the user to choose a value from a pop-up menu.

tixPanedWindow

The tixPanedWindow widgets allows the user to adjust the visible size of several frame widgets with handle bars.

tixPopupMenu

The tixPopupMenu widget can be used to implement context-sensitive pop-up menu.

tixScrolledHList

A tixHList widget with smart scrollbars. Like other Tix scrolled widgets, the scroll bars can be displayed on an as-needed basis.

tixScrolledListBox

A Tk listbox widget with smart scrollbars.

tixScrolledText

A Tk text widget with smart scrollbars.

tixScrolledWindow

A Tk frame widget with smart scrollbars.

tixSelect

The tixSelect widget uses a set of buttons to present single- or multiple selection options to the user.

tixStdButtonBox

A subclass of tixButtonBox that provides four standard buttons (OK, Apply, Cancel Help) for Motif(TM)-like dialog boxes.

tixTree

A subclass of tixScrolledHList that supports expanding and collapsing of entries in a hierarchical list.

Display items

Three Tix standard widgets tixGrid, tixHList and tixTList support the Display Items mechanism. Display items are created by the widget command of these standard widgets. You can customize the items using styles objects.

tixDisplayStyle

Create style objects to customize display items.

Image types

Tix provides two additional image types to the Tk image framework.

compound

The compound image type allows you to combine images, widgets, and text strings into a single Tk image object.

pixmap

The pixmap image type supports the XPM format.

Other commands

The following Tcl command are also included in the Tix library to perform various functions.

tixDestroy

Destroy Tix objects instances of classes defined by tixClass construct.

tixForm

A geometry manager based on attachment rules. This geometry manager is deprecated. Use the Tk grid geometry manager instead.

tixMwm

A command to communicate with the Mwm, the Motif(TM) Window Manager. Works on Unix only.

tix

The tix command controls the Tix application context.

tixGetBoolean

The tixGetBoolean command converts a string to a boolean value.

tixGetInt

The tixGetInt command converts a string to a integer value.

tixUtils

The tixUtils manual page describes some utility Tix commands.

Executable program

tixwish

The tixwish program can be used to execute Tix-based applications. tixwish is deprecated. You shuld use the standard wish program from Tk and access Tix via the "package require Tix" command.

Examples

The following is an example script that uses a tixTree widget.

set tree [tixTree .t] pack $tree -expand yes -fill both for {set i 0} {$i < 2} {incr i} {
$tree subwidget hlist add $i -itemtype imagetext \
-text "Folder $i" -image [tix getimage folder]
for {set j 0} {$j < 5} {incr j} {
$tree subwidget hlist add $i.$j -itemtype imagetext \
-text "File $i.$j" -image [tix getimage textfile]
} } $tree autosetmode

Keywords

Tix, mega widgets