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controlwidget(n) 0.1 "controlwidget"
Name
controlwidget - Collection of widgets for displaying and controlling numerical values
Synopsis
- package require Tcl ?8.5?
- package require Tk ?8.5?
- package require snit ?2.0?
- package require controlwidget ?0.1?
- ::controlwidget::meter w args
- ::controlwidget::slider w args
- ::controlwidget::equalizerBar w args
- ::controlwidget::thermometer w args
- ::controlwidget::voltmeter w args
- ::controlwidget::tachometer w args
- ::controlwidget::rdial w args
- $widget get
- $widget set value
- ::controlwidget::led w args
- ::controlwidget::radioMatrix w args
- $led on
- $led off
- $led setstate state
- $matrix get
- $matrix set index
Description
The controlwidget package focuses on the display and interactive control of numerical values. It mimicks several of the meters and controls found in laboratory settings but also daily life: volt meters, equalizers and tachometers to name a few. They can be seen as alternatives for the scale widget.
Note: The package has not sofar been tested extensively, and that may result in an unexpected appearance if you use sizes that are different than the defaults. Also not all options for the coloring of the various parts and fonts and so on have been tested, so that may be another source of bugs.
A last note: some parts have not been included in any option, most notably the colors of parts that require lighter and darker shades to cooperate.
TYPES OF WIDGETS
The package distinguishes several typed of widgets:
-
Vertical meters: the value of the variable is translated into a vertical position, like with the coloured bars you find on your stereo installation.
-
Angle displays: the value of the variable is related to the angle of a needle, like with tachometers.
-
Interactive widgets: most widgets allow you to change the value of the variable by pressing the mouse button on the needle and shifting it up and down or left and right.
-
Non-interactive widgets: some widgets, like the thermometer widget, do not allow such interaction.
-
Logical or choice widgets: some widgets display the values as either on/off (or true/false) or as one of a set of discrete choices.
All widgets have in common, however, that you can connect them to a variable and that changing the variable changes the display. Forthermore, all widgets have the set and get methods to interact with the value that the widget displays (whether that is stored in a global variable or not).
They also have in common that their appearance and behaviour is determined by one or more options that you can set at creation time and often later on as well. The widgets are all based on the snit package, so that the methods configure and cget are available to set and get these options.
COMMANDS
Currently the package contains these widgets of the vertical meter type:
- ::controlwidget::meter w args
-
Create a vertical meter consisting of an axis and a moveable arrow.
- widget w (in)
-
Name of the widget to be created.
- arguments args (in)
-
List of key-value pairs, controlling the appearance and behaviour of the widget:
- ::controlwidget::slider w args
-
Create a widget containing one or more vertical sliders and an axis. You can shift the slider handles interactively via the mouse.
- widget w (in)
-
Name of the widget to be created.
- arguments args (in)
-
List of key-value pairs, controlling the appearance and behaviour of the widget:
- ::controlwidget::equalizerBar w args
-
Create a widget containing one or more vertical bars resembling those found on hifi graphical equalizers. Note that it is a read-only widget.
- widget w (in)
-
Name of the widget to be created.
- arguments args (in)
-
List of key-value pairs, controlling the appearance and behaviour of the widget:
- ::controlwidget::thermometer w args
-
Create a thermometer widget (read-only)
- widget w (in)
-
Name of the widget to be created.
- arguments args (in)
-
List of key-value pairs, controlling the appearance and behaviour of the widget:
These widgets all use a vertical axis and have the following options in common for configuring the axis:
The package contains the following widget based on angle displays:
- ::controlwidget::voltmeter w args
-
Create a voltmeter-like widget.
- widget w (in)
-
Name of the widget to be created.
- arguments args (in)
-
List of key-value pairs, controlling the appearance and behaviour of the widget:
- ::controlwidget::tachometer w args
-
Create a tachometer-like widget.
- widget w (in)
-
Name of the widget to be created.
- arguments args (in)
-
List of key-value pairs, controlling the appearance and behaviour of the widget. In addition to the ones given for the voltmeter widget:
- ::controlwidget::rdial w args
-
Create a rotating dial. You can drag the dial to change the value. With the shift button depressed the value changes slowly, with the control button depressed it changes fast.
- widget w (in)
-
Name of the widget to be created.
- arguments args (in)
-
List of key-value pairs, controlling the appearance and behaviour of the widget:
All these widgets have the following methods:
- $widget get
-
Return the current value or values shown in the widget
- $widget set value
-
Reset the value or values shown in the widget. If the widget is associated with a variable, that variable is set as well.
- value double/list
-
New value or values for the widget
Two further widgets are available, meant to display logical values:
- ::controlwidget::led w args
-
Create a LED-like widget.
- widget w (in)
-
Name of the widget to be created.
- arguments args (in)
-
List of key-value pairs, controlling the appearance and behaviour of the widget. In addition to the ones given for the voltmeter widget:
- ::controlwidget::radioMatrix w args
-
Create a matrix of radio buttons that behaves as a single widget.
- widget w (in)
-
Name of the widget to be created.
- arguments args (in)
-
List of key-value pairs, controlling the appearance and behaviour of the widget. In addition to the ones given for the voltmeter widget:
The LED widget has the following public methods:
- $led on
-
Set the state to "on"
- $led off
-
Set the state to "off"
- $led setstate state
-
Set the state according to the value of "state"
- state boolean (in)
-
New state for the LED widget
The radioMatrix widget has two public methods:
- $matrix get
-
Return the index of the currently selected radio button
- $matrix set index
-
Select the radio button with index "index"
- index integer
-
Index of the radio button to be set
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The code for most of these widgets first appeared on the Wiki. In many cases, Arjen Markus merely refactored the code a bit and "snitified" some of them. The original code was developed by the following people:
-
Vertical meter, LED display, radio matrix: Ron Fox
-
Rotating dials: Gerhard Reithofer
-
Voltmeter and tachometer: Marco Maggi
-
Code for moving the needle: ?
Bugs, Ideas, Feedback
This document, and the package it describes, will undoubtedly contain bugs and other problems. Please report such in the category controlwidget of the Tklib Trackers. Please also report any ideas for enhancements you may have for either package and/or documentation.
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 Ron Fox <rfox@...>
Copyright © 2010 Gerhard Reithofer <...@...>
Copyright © 2010 Marco Maggi <...@...>
Copyright © 2010 Arjen Markus
<arjenmarkus@users.sourceforge.net>