The scrollutil::scrollednotebook Command
and the closetab Style Element

For Scrollutil Version 2.5

by

Csaba Nemethi

csaba.nemethi@t-online.de

Contents

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The scrollutil::scrollednotebook Command – Quick Reference

NAME
scrollutil::scrollednotebook – Create and manipulate scrollednotebook widgets
SYNOPSIS
package require scrollutil_tile
scrollutil::scrollednotebook pathName ?options?
DESCRIPTION
STANDARD OPTIONS
-cursor  -style
WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
-forgetcommand command
-height screenDistance
-leavecommand command
-movabletabs boolean
-padding paddingSpec
-takefocus 0|1|""|command
-width screenDistance
TAB OPTIONS
TAB IDENTIFIERS
WIDGET COMMAND
pathName add window ?options?
pathName adjustsize
pathName attrib ?name ?value name value ...??
pathName cget option
pathName closetabstate tabId ?normal|disabled?
pathName configure ?option ?value option value ...??
pathName forget tabId
pathName hasattrib name
pathName hastabattrib tabId name
pathName hide tabId
pathName identify component x y
pathName index tabId
pathName insert pos window ?options?
pathName instate stateSpec ?script?
pathName notebookpath
pathName see tabId
pathName select ?tabId?
pathName state ?stateSpec?
pathName style
pathName tab tabId ?option ?value option value ...??
pathName tabattrib tabId ?name ?value name value ...??
pathName tabs
pathName unsetattrib name
pathName unsettabattrib tabId name
KEYBOARD TRAVERSAL
VIRTUAL EVENTS
FURTHER BINDINGS
KEYWORDS
scrollednotebook, widget, notebook, scrolled

Contents     Start page

The scrollutil::scrollednotebook Command – Detailed Reference

NAME
scrollutil::scrollednotebook – Create and manipulate scrollednotebook widgets
SYNOPSIS
package require scrollutil_tile
scrollutil::scrollednotebook pathName ?options?
Note that the scrollutil::scrollednotebook command is provided by the Scrollutil_tile package, but not by Scrollutil.
DESCRIPTION
The scrollutil::scrollednotebook command creates a new window named pathName and of the class Scrollednotebook, and makes it into a scrollednotebook widget.  Additional options, described below, may be specified on the command line or in the option database to configure aspects of the scrollednotebook widget such as its width, height, and style.  The scrollutil::scrollednotebook 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.
A scrollednotebook is a mega-widget that contains a ttk::notebook within a scrollableframe and supports an arbitrary number of unsqueezed tabs.  Currently not visible tabs can be brought into view by navigating with the mouse wheel, touchpad, or keyboard, and by scrolling with the aid of the two arrow buttons placed on demand in the top-left and top-right or bottom-left and bottom-right corners (depending on the notebook's style).  The size of the arrows depends on the display's scaling percentage, while their color is theme-specific and is updated whenever the theme changes.  An individual tab can be made visible programmatically with the aid of the see subcommand.  Unlike the ttk::notebook widget, whose -width option is quite often overridden by the total width of the tabs, the scrollednotebook widget respects the value of its -width option, regardless of the space required by the tabs.
The API of the scrollednotebook widget is nearly identical to that of ttk::notebook.  Apart from a few additional, scrollednotebook-specific subcommands, the Tcl command associated with a scrollednotebook widget provides the same subcommands as the one associated with a ttk::notebook.
STANDARD OPTIONS
-cursor  -style
See the ttk_widget manual entry for details on the standard options.  The -style option refers to the style of the ttk::notebook widget contained in the scrollednotebook.  The value of the -tabposition option of the style specified by this Ttk widget option must be one of nw (the default), n (the default for the aqua theme), ne, sw, s, or se.  These values will result in a horizontal tab layout (the scrollednotebook widget doesn't support vertical tab layouts).
The default values of the standard options are:
-cursor "" -style TNotebook
WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
Command-Line Name:  -forgetcommand
Database Name:  forgetCommand
Database Class:  ForgetCommand

Specifies a command to be invoked when attempting to remove a tab and unmanage the associated window with the aid of the forget subcommand.  If the option's value is a nonempty string then it is concatenated with the path name of the scrollednotebook widget and that of the window to be unmanaged, and the resulting script, which must return a boolean, is evaluated in the global scope.  If the return value of this script is false then the forget subcommand is aborted, i.e., the tab is not removed and the associated window is not unmanaged.  The default is an empty string.

Command-Line Name:  -height
Database Name:  height
Database Class:  Height

If present and greater than zero, specifies the desired height of the pane area in any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels.  Otherwise, the widget's height is set to the requested height of the ttk::notebook contained in it (which in turn depends on the maximum requested height of all panes and tabs and the extra vertical space resulting from the value of the -padding option), immediately after the scrollednotebook gets mapped.  The default is 0.

Command-Line Name:  -leavecommand
Database Name:  leaveCommand
Database Class:  LeaveCommand

Specifies a command to be invoked when attempting to leave the currently selected window by selecting a different one.  If the option's value is a nonempty string then it is concatenated with the path name of the scrollednotebook widget and that of the currently selected window, and the resulting script, which must return a boolean, is evaluated in the global scope.  If the return value of this script is false then the operation of selecting a different window is aborted.  The default is an empty string.

Command-Line Name:  -movabletabs
Database Name:  movableTabs
Database Class:  MovableTabs

Specifies a boolean value that determines whether the tabs can be moved with the mouse.  See the FURTHER BINDINGS section below for details.  The default is 1.

Command-Line Name:  -padding
Database Name:  padding
Database Class:  Padding

Specifies the amount of extra space to add around the outside of the ttk::notebook widget contained in the scrollednotebook.  See the ttk_notebook manual entry for details.  The default is an empty string.  Note that if this default value is used then the ttk::notebook widget will be drawn with the external padding specified by the -padding option of the widget's style.

Command-Line Name:  -takefocus
Database Name:  takeFocus
Database Class:  TakeFocus

This option determines whether the scrollednotebook widget accepts the focus during keyboard traversal.  It is almost identical to the standard option of the same name (see the options manual entry for details).  The only difference is that not the scrollednotebook widget itself but the ttk::notebook contained in it will receive the focus during keyboard traversal with the standard keys (Tab and Shift-Tab).  The default is "ttk::takefocus" (just like for ttk::notebook and several other Tk themed widgets).

Command-Line Name:  -width
Database Name:  width
Database Class:  Width

If present and greater than zero, specifies the desired width of the ttk::notebook contained in the widget, in any of the forms acceptable to Tk_GetPixels.  Otherwise, the widget's width is set to the requested width of the ttk::notebook contained in it (which in turn depends on the maximum requested width of all panes, the total width of the tabs, and the extra horizontal space resulting from the value of the -padding option), immediately after the scrollednotebook gets mapped.  The default is 10c, which should be overridden with a suitable application-specific value.

TAB OPTIONS
See the ttk_notebook manual entry.
TAB IDENTIFIERS
See the ttk_notebook manual entry.
WIDGET COMMAND
The scrollutil::scrollednotebook 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 scrollednotebook widgets:
pathName add window ?options?
See the ttk_notebook manual entry.
pathName adjustsize
Sets the scrollednotebook's -height option to the maximum requested height of all panes, and its -width option to the maximum requested width of all panes, increased by the extra horizontal space resulting from the value of the -padding option.
pathName attrib ?name ?value name value ...??
Queries or modifies the attributes of the widget.  If no name is specified, the command returns a list of pairs, each of which contains the name and the value of an attribute for pathName.  If name is specified with no value, then the command returns the value of the one named attribute, or an empty string if no corresponding value exists (you can use the hasattrib subcommand to distinguish this case from the one that the value of an existing attribute is an empty string).  If one or more name-value pairs are specified, then the command sets the given widget attribute(s) to the given value(s); in this case the return value is an empty string.  Each name may be an arbitrary string.
pathName cget option
Returns the current value of the configuration option given by option, which may have any of the values accepted by the scrollutil::scrollednotebook command.
pathName closetabstate tabId ?normal|disabled?
Sets or queries the state of the closetab element of the tab specified by tabId.  Invoking this subcommand is just a shortcut for passing pathName, tabId, and the optional argument (if present) to the scrollutil::closetabstate command.
pathName configure ?option ?value option value ...??
Queries or modifies the configuration options of the widget.  If no option is specified, the command 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 return value is an empty string.  option may have any of the values accepted by the scrollutil::scrollednotebook command.
pathName forget tabId
See the ttk_notebook manual entry.
pathName hasattrib name
Returns 1 if the attribute name exists and 0 otherwise.
pathName hastabattrib tabId name
Returns 1 if the attribute name for the tab given by tabId exists and 0 otherwise.
pathName hide tabId
See the ttk_notebook manual entry.
pathName identify component x y
See the ttk_notebook manual entry.
pathName index tabId
See the ttk_notebook manual entry.
pathName insert pos window ?options?
See the ttk_notebook manual entry.
pathName instate stateSpec ?script?
See the ttk_widget manual entry.
pathName notebookpath
Returns the path name of the ttk::notebook widget contained in the scrollednotebook.  One of the extremely rare cases where this subcommand is needed, is related to setting a tooltip for one of the tabs.  If nb denotes the ttk::notebook path name returned by this subcommand, you can set a tooltip message for one of its tabs by using either the -tab option of the tooltip::tooltip command from the tooltip package contained in tklib: 
tooltip::tooltip nb -tab tabId message
or the -nbktab option of the baltip::tip command from the baltip package by Alex Plotnikov: 
baltip::tip nb message -nbktab tabWindow ...
The support for the -tab option of the tooltip::tooltip command was added in version 1.6 of the tooltip package.  The baltip::tip command accepts a great variety of additional options, too.  The baltip package can be downloaded from the location
https://chiselapp.com/user/aplsimple/repository/baltip/download/
REMARK:  With the above exception, in the vast majority of cases there is no need to access the ttk::notebook widget contained in the scrollednotebook directly.  Moreover, using the ttk::notebook's options or subcommands instead of those of the scrollednotebook widget will more often than not result in an unpredictable behavior.
pathName see tabId
This subcommand adjusts the view in the scrollednotebook's window so that the tab given by tabId becomes visible in it.  Note that when a tab gets selected, this command is automatically invoked for it, in order to make that tab visible.
pathName select ?tabId?
See the ttk_notebook manual entry.
pathName state ?stateSpec?
See the ttk_widget manual entry.
pathName style
Returns the style used by the ttk::notebook widget contained in the scrollednotebook.  For Tk themed widgets this subcommand was introduced in Tk 8.7a4, but the scrollednotebook widget provides it for all supported Tk versions.
pathName tab tabId ?option ?value option value ...??
See the ttk_notebook manual entry.
pathName tabattrib tabId ?name ?value name value ...??
Queries or modifies the attributes of the tab given by tabId.  If no name is specified, the command returns a list of pairs, each of which contains the name and the value of an attribute for the tab.  If name is specified with no value, then the command returns the value of the one named tab attribute, or an empty string if no corresponding value exists (you can use the hastabattrib subcommand to distinguish this case from the one that the value of an existing tab attribute is an empty string).  If one or more name-value pairs are specified, then the command sets the given tab attribute(s) to the given value(s); in this case the return value is an empty string.  Each name may be an arbitrary string.
pathName tabs
See the ttk_notebook manual entry.
pathName unsetattrib name
Unsets the attribute name.  Returns an empty string.
pathName unsettabattrib tabId name
Unsets the attribute name for the tab given by tabId.  Returns an empty string.
KEYBOARD TRAVERSAL
See the ttk_notebook manual entry.
VIRTUAL EVENTS
As described in the ttk_notebook manual entry, after a new tab of a ttk::notebook is selected (programmatically or interactively), the widget generates a <<NotebookTabChanged>> virtual event.  This holds true for scrollednotebook widgets, too.
The Scrollutil_tile package defines the virtual event <<Button3>> as <Button-3> for all windowing systems and additionally as <Control-Button-1> for Mac OS X/11+.  If this event occurs over a tab of a ttk::notebook or scrollednotebook whose disabled widget state flag is not set, and the Tk version is 8.5a2 or later, then the widget generates a <<MenuItemsRequested>> virtual event, by invoking   event generate  with the -data option set to a list consisting of the path name of an empty pop-up menu and the numerical index of the tab in question.  (The support for this option was introduced in Tk 8.5a2.)  If the application creates a binding for this virtual event, the binding script can access the user data as the value of the %d field, with the goal to populate the menu with application-specific entries.  Note that the pop-up menu is posted with a delay of 100 ms, to make sure that it will appear readily populated by the application.

The following example provides a pop-up menu item for closing the tabs of a ttk::notebook or scrollednotebook widget $nb:

bind $nb <<MenuItemsRequested>> { populateMenu %W %d }

proc populateMenu {nb data} {
    foreach {menu tabIdx} $data {}
    $menu add command -label "Close Tab" -command [list $nb forget $tabIdx]
}
See the next section for the description of the virtual events <<NotebookTabMoved>>, <<NotebookTabClosed>>, and <<CloseTabRequested>>.
FURTHER BINDINGS
The Scrollutil_tile package creates the following additional bindings for the ttk::notebook and scrollednotebook widgets:
  1. Navigation between the tabs of a scrollednotebook or ttk::notebook widget via the mouse wheel or touchpad:  A mouse wheel tick or two-finger gesture on the touchpad selects the tab of state normal cyclically following/preceding the currently selected one.  (Note that the same effect can also be achieved with the keys Right, Left, Control-Tab, and Control-Shift-Tab.)  On the windowing system aqua, if the Option key is down while the mouse wheel is being rotated then a wheel tick selects the 10'th tab of state normal cyclically following/preceding the currently selected one (modulo the number of tabs).  The same holds true on the windowing systems x11 and win32 if the Tk version is 8.7a4 or later and the mouse wheel is rotated with the Alt key down.
  2. Scrolling the tab row of a scrollednotebook widget with the aid of the arrow buttons:  If the tab at the right edge of the scrollednotebook is only partly visible then pressing mouse button 1 over the right arrow adjusts the view in the tab row so that the tab becomes fully visible; otherwise the click brings the next nonhidden tab into view.  Similarly, if the tab at the left edge of the scrollednotebook is only partly visible then pressing mouse button 1 over the left arrow adjusts the view in the tab row so that the tab becomes fully visible; otherwise the click brings the previous nonhidden tab into view.  If the mouse button is held down for at least 300 milliseconds, the actions described above will auto-repeat every 100 milliseconds.
  3. Moving the tabs of a scrollednotebook or ttk::notebook widget with the mouse:  If mouse button 1 is pressed over a tab but outside the closetab element (if any) and then dragged outside that tab then (in case of a scrollednotebook provided that the value of the widget's -movabletabs option is true) the mouse cursor takes on the shape of a left/right arrow, indicating that the tab in question is being moved to another position.  This operation ends when mouse button 1 is released, and can be canceled by pressing the Escape key.  In both cases, the mouse cursor is reset to its original value, specified by the -cursor configuration option.  After releasing mouse button 1, the source tab is moved to the position previously pointed to by the arrow (provided that the action was not canceled via Escape).  If the Tk version is 8.5a2 or later then after moving the tab to its new position, the widget generates a <<NotebookTabMoved>> virtual event, by invoking  event generate  with the -data option set to a list consisting of the path name of the widget contained in the source pane and the numerical index of the target tab position.  (The support for this option was introduced in Tk 8.5a2.)  All the above works also for a ttk::notebook with vertical tab layout, with the only difference that for the duration of the drag, the cursor is set to one having the shape of an up/down arrow.
  4. Closing a tab of a scrollednotebook widget with the aid of the closetab element:  If mouse button 1 is pressed over the closetab element (if any) of a tab and later released over the same element then, provided that both the value of the tab's -state option and the state of its closetab element is normal, the tab is closed by means of the widget's forget subcommand.  Recall that this operation can get canceled by the command specified as the value of the -forgetcommand option; if this was not the case and the Tk version is 8.5a2 or later then, after closing the tab, the widget generates a <<NotebookTabClosed>> virtual event, by invoking  event generate  with the -data option set to the path name of the widget contained in that tab's pane.
  5. Closing a tab of a ttk::notebook widget with the aid of the closetab element:  If mouse button 1 is pressed over the closetab element (if any) of a tab and later released over the same element then, provided that both the value of the tab's -state option and the state of its closetab element is normal, an action depending on the Tk version is taken:
    • If the Tk version is 8.5a2 or later then the tab is not (yet) closed.  Instead, the widget generates a <<CloseTabRequested>> virtual event, by invoking  event generate  with the -data option set to the numerical index of the tab in question.  It is the responsibility of the application to create a binding for this virtual event and to close the tab from within the binding script by invoking the widget's forget subcommand if appropriate, like in the following example: 
      bind $nb <<CloseTabRequested>> { closeTab %W %d }

proc closeTab {nb tabIdx} {
    set btn [tk_messageBox -title "Close Tab?" -icon question \
             -message "Do you really want to close the tab?" -type yesno
    if {$btn eq "yes"} {
        $nb forget $tabIdx

        # Optionally:
        set widget [lindex [$nb tabs] $tabIdx]
        event generate $nb <<NotebookTabClosed>> -data $widget
    }
}
    • If the Tk version is earlier than 8.5a2 then the tab is closed immediately by means of the widget's forget subcommand.  (Recall that the -data option for virtual events was introduced in Tk 8.5a2.)
If the widget's disabled state flag is set then none of the above actions occur: the tabs are completely insensitive.
KEYWORDS
scrollednotebook, widget, notebook, scrolled

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The closetab Style Element

The Scrollutil_tile package automatically creates a new style element named closetab, whose shape resembles that of an x character.  The element's size depends on the display's scaling percentage, while its foreground color is theme-specific and is updated whenever the theme changes.

You can add this element to the tabs of a ttk::notebook style (like TNotebook or My.TNotebook) by using the scrollutil::addclosetab command, thus making the tabs of any ttk::notebook or scrollednotebook widget of that style closable by the user.

For the opposite operation the Scrollutil_tile package provides the scrollutil::removeclosetab command.

The state (normal or disabled) of of the closetab element of a ttk::notebook or scrollednotebook tab can be set and queried with the aid of the scrollutil::closetabstate command.

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The scrollutil::addclosetab Command

NAME
scrollutil::addclosetab – Add the closetab element to the tabs of a ttk::notebook style
SYNOPSIS
package require scrollutil_tile
scrollutil::addclosetab notebookStyle
Note that the scrollutil::addclosetab command is provided by the Scrollutil_tile package, but not by Scrollutil.
DESCRIPTION
Modifies the style notebookStyle.Tab corresponding to a given ttk::notebook style (like TNotebook or My.TNotebook) by adding the closetab element to it.  This makes the tabs of any ttk::notebook or scrollednotebook widget whose -style option was set to notebookStyle closable by the user.  If the closetab element was already present in the style notebookStyle.Tab then the command returns without performing any action.
KEYWORDS
ttk::notebook style, closetab

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The scrollutil::removeclosetab Command

NAME
scrollutil::removeclosetab – Remove the closetab element from the tabs of a ttk::notebook style
SYNOPSIS
package require scrollutil_tile
scrollutil::removeclosetab notebookStyle
Note that the scrollutil::removeclosetab command is provided by the Scrollutil_tile package, but not by Scrollutil.
DESCRIPTION
Modifies the style notebookStyle.Tab corresponding to a given ttk::notebook style (like TNotebook or My.TNotebook) by removing the closetab element from it.  If the closetab element was not present in the style notebookStyle.Tab then the command returns without performing any action.
KEYWORDS
ttk::notebook style, closetab

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The scrollutil::closetabstate Command

NAME
scrollutil::closetabstate – Set or query the state of the closetab element of a ttk::notebook or scrollednotebook tab
SYNOPSIS
package require scrollutil_tile
scrollutil::closetabstate notebook tabId ?normal|disabled?
Note that the scrollutil::closetabstate command is provided by the Scrollutil_tile package, but not by Scrollutil.
DESCRIPTION
Sets or queries the state of the closetab element of the tab specified by tabId of the ttk::notebook or scrollednotebook widget notebook.  The optional argument specifies the state as normal or disabled.  Without this argument the command returns the current state of the tab's closetab element.
Provided that the widget's disabled state flag is not set and the value of the tab's -state option is normal, the differences between the two closetab states are as follows:
Note that the closetabstate scrollednotebook widget subcommand is a convenient shortcut for this command.
KEYWORDS
tab, closetab, state

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