table(n) manual page

Table of Contents

-anchor -background -borderwidth -cursor
-exportselection -font -foreground
-highlightbackground -highlightcolor -highlightthickness
-insertbackground -insertborderwidth -insertofftime
-insertontime -insertwidth -padx -pady
-relief -takefocus -xscrollcommand -yscrollcommand

See the options manual entry for details on the standard options.

WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS

Command-Line Name: -autoclear
Database Name: autoClear
Database Class: AutoClear

A boolean value which specifies whether the first keypress in a cell will: delete whatever text was previously there. Defaults to 0.

Command-Line Name: -batchmode
Database Name: batchMode
Database Class: BatchMode

If true, updates are not forced out at any point, the widget waits for Tk to: be idle before it repaints the screen. If false, flashes, variable updates and the cursor changes are forced immediately to the screen. Defaults to false.

Command-Line Name: -browsecommand or -browsecmd
Database Name: browseCommand
Database Class: BrowseCommand

Specifies a command which will be evaluated anytime the active cell changes.: It uses the %-substition model described in COMMAND SUBSTITUTION below.

Command-Line Name: -colorigin
Database Name: colOrigin
Database Class: Origin

Column origin of top left corner of screen into the array variable: First column maps to array(x,$colorigin). Defaults to 0.

Command-Line Name: -cols
Database Name: cols
Database Class: Cols

Number of cols in the table. Defaults to 10.

Command-Line Name: -colseparator
Database Name: colSeparator
Database Class: Separator

Specifies a separator character that will be interpreted as the column: separator when cutting or pasting data in a table. By default, columns are separated as elements of a tcl list.

Command-Line Name: -colstretchmode
Database Name: colStretchMode
Database Class: StretchMode

Specifies one of the following stretch modes for columns to fill extra: allocated window space:
none: Columns will not stretch to fill the assigned window space. If the columns are too narrow, there will be a blank space at the right of the table. This is the default.
unset: Only columns that do not have a specific width set will be stretched.
all: All columns will be stretched by the same number of pixels to fill the window space allocated to the table. This mode can interfere with interactive border resizing which tries to force column width.
last: The last column will be stretched to fill the window space allocated to the table.
fill (only valid for rowstretch currently): The table will get more or less columns according to the window space allocated to the table. This mode has numerous quirks and may disappear in the future.

Command-Line Name: -coltagcommand
Database Name: colTagCommand
Database Class: TagCommand

Provides the name of a procedure that will be evaluated by the widget to: determine the tag to be used for a given column. When displaying a cell, the table widget will first check to see if a tag has been defined using the coltag widget command. If no tag is found, it will evaluate the named procedure passing the column number in question as the sole argument. The procedure is expected to return the name of a tag to use, or a null string. Errors occuring during the evaluation of the procedure, or the return of an invalid tag name are silently ignored.

Command-Line Name: -command
Database Name: command
Database Class: Command

Specified a command to use as a procedural interface to cell values.: If -usecommand is true, this command will be used instead of any reference to the -variable array. It uses the %-substition model described in COMMAND SUBSTITUTION below.

Command-Line Name: -drawmode
Database Name: drawMode
Database Class: DrawMode

Sets the table drawing mode to one of the following options:
slow: The table is drawn to an offscreen pixmap using the Tk bordering functions. This means there will be no flashing, but this mode is slow for all but small tables.
compatible: The table is drawn directly to the screen using the Tk border functions. It is faster, but the screen may flash on update. This is the default.
fast: The table is drawn directly to the screen and the borders are done with fast X calls, so they are always one pixel wide only. This mode provides best performance for large tables, but can flash on redraw and is not 100% Tk compatible on the border mode.

Command-Line Name: -flashmode
Database Name: flashMode
Database Class: FlashMode

A boolean value which specifies whether cells should flash when their value: changes. The table tag flash will be applied to these cells for the duration specified by -flashtime. Defaults to 0.

Command-Line Name: -flashtime
Database Name: flashTime
Database Class: FlashTime

The amount of time, in 1/4 second increments, for which a cell should flash: when it is edited. -flashmode must be on. Defaults to 2.

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

Height of default row in pixels (-1, the default, means set to font height).

Command-Line Name: -maxheight
Database Name: maxHeight
Database Class: MaxHeight

The max height in pixels that the window will request. Defaults to 800.

Command-Line Name: -maxwidth
Database Name: maxWidth
Database Class: MaxWidth

The max width in pixels that the window will request. Defaults to 1000.

Command-Line Name: -roworigin
Database Name: rowOrigin
Database Class: Origin

Row origin of top left corner of screen into the array variable.: First row maps to array($roworigin,y). Defaults to 0.

Command-Line Name: -rows
Database Name: rows
Database Class: Rows

Number of rows in the table. Defaults to 10.

Command-Line Name: -rowseparator
Database Name: rowSeparator
Database Class: Separator

Specifies a separator character that will be interpreted as the row: separator when cutting or pasting data in a table. By default, rows are separated as tcl lists.

Command-Line Name: -rowstretchmode
Database Name: rowStretchMode
Database Class: StretchMode

Specifies the stretch modes for rows to fill extra: allocated window space. See -colstretchmode for valid options.

Command-Line Name: -rowtagcommand
Database Name: rowTagCommand
Database Class: TagCommand

Provides the name of a procedure that can evaluated by the widget to: determine the tag to be used for a given row. The procedure must be defined by the user to accept a single argument (the row number), and return a tag name or null string. This operates in a similar manner as -coltagcommand, except that it applies to row tags.

Command-Line Name: -selectioncommand or -selcmd
Database Name: selectionCommand
Database Class: SelectionCommand

Specifies a command to evaluate when the selection is retrieved from a table: via the selection mechanism (ie: evaluating "selection get"). The return value from this command will become the string passed on by the selection mechanism. It uses the %-substition model described in COMMAND SUBSTITUTION below.

Command-Line Name: -selectmode
Database Name: selectMode
Database Class: SelectMode

Specifies one of several styles for manipulating the selection. The value: of the option may be arbitrary, but the default bindings expect it to be either single, browse, multiple, or extended; the default value is browse. These styles are like those for the Tk listbox, except expanded for 2 dimensions.

Command-Line Name: -selecttype
Database Name: selectType
Database Class: SelectType

Specifies one of several types of selection for the table. The value of the: option may be one of row, col, cell, or both (meaning row && col); the default value is cell. These types define whether an entire row/col is affected when a cell's selection is changed (set or clear).

Command-Line Name: -state
Database Name: state
Database Class: State

Specifies one of two states for the entry: normal or disabled.: If the table is disabled 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.

Command-Line Name: -titlecols
Database Name: titleCols
Database Class: TitleCols

Number of columns to use as a title area. Defaults to 0.

Command-Line Name: -titlerows
Database Name: titleRows
Database Class: TitleRows

Number of rows to use as a title area. Defaults to 0.

Command-Line Name: -usecommand
Database Name: useCommand
Database Class: UseCommand

A boolean value which specifies whether to use the command option.: This value sets itself to zero if command is used and returns an error.

Command-Line Name: -validate
Database Name: validate
Database Class: Validate

A boolean specifying whether validation should occur for the active buffer.: Defaults to 0.

Command-Line Name: -validatecommand or -vcmd
Database Name: validateCommand
Database Class: ValidateCommand

Specifies a command to execute when the active cell is edited. This command: is expected to return a Tcl boolean. If it returns true, then it is assumed the new value is OK, otherwise the new value is rejected (the edition will not take place). Errors in this command are handled in the background. It uses the %-substition model described in COMMAND SUBSTITUTION below.

Command-Line Name: -variable
Database Name: variable
Database Class: Variable

Global Tcl array variable to attach to the table's C array. It will be: created if it doesn't already exist or is a simple variable. The table is effectively useless without an attached array (no data will be stored). Keys used by the table in the array are of the form row,col for cells and the special key active which contains the value of the active cell buffer. No stored value for an index is equivalent to the empty string.

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

Default column width in characters in the default font. Defaults to 10.: }

DESCRIPTION

The table command creates a 2-dimensional grid of cells which can used to display or update the contents of a Tcl array variable. The widget has an active cell, the contents of which can be edited (when the state is normal). The widget supports a default style for the cells and also multiple tags, which can be used to change the foreground, background, font, relief and anchor for a row, column or cell. A cell flash can be set up so that newly changing cells will change color for a specified amount of time.

One or more cells may be selected as described below. If a table is exporting its selection (see exportSelection option), then it will observe the standard X11 protocols for handling the selection. See THE SELECTION below for details.

It is not necessary for all the cells to be displayed in the table window at once; commands described below may be used to change the view in the window. Tables allow scrolling in both directions using the standard xScrollCommand and yScrollCommand options. They also support scanning, as described below.

In order to obtain good performance, the table widget supports three drawing modes, two of which are fully Tk compatible.

INDICES

Many of the widget commands for tables take one or more indices as arguments. An index specifies a particular cell of the table, in any of the following ways:

number,number: Specifies the cell as a numerical index of row,col which corresponds to the index of the associated Tcl array, where -roworigin,-colorigin corresponds to the first cell in the table (0,0 by default).
active: Indicates the cell that has the location cursor. It is specified with the activate widget command.
anchor: Indicates the anchor point for the selection, which is set with the selection anchor widget command.
bottomright: Indicates the bottom-rightmost cell visible in the table.
end: Indicates the bottom right cell of the table.
origin: Indicates the top-leftmost editable cell of the table, not necessarily in the display. This takes into account the user specified origin and title area.
topleft: Indicates the top-leftmost editable cell visible in the table (this excludes title cells).
@x,y: Indicates the cell that covers the point in the table window specified by x and y (in pixel coordinates). If no cell covers that point, then the closest cell to that point is used.

In the widget command descriptions below, arguments named index, first, and last always contain text indices in one of the above forms.

THE SELECTION

Table selections are available as type STRING (or COMPOUND_TEXT with the Kanji patch). By default, the value of the selection will be the values of the selected cells in nested Tcl list form where each row is a list and each column is an element of a row list. You can change the way this value is interpreted by setting the -rowseparator and -colseparator options. For example, default Excel format would be to set -rowseparator to "\n" and -colseparator to "\t". Changes these values affects both how the table sends out the selection and reads in pasted data, ensuring that the table should always be able to cut and paste to itself. It is possible to change how pastes are handled by editing the table library procedure tk_tablePasteHandler. This might be necessary if -selectioncommand is set.

COMMAND SUBSTITUTION

The various option based commands that the table supports all support the familiar Tk %-substitution model (see bind for more details). The following %-sequences are recognized and substituted by the table widget:

%c: For SelectionCommand, it is the maximum number of columns in any row in the selection. Otherwise it is the column of the triggered cell.
%C: Only valid for the ValidateCommand, it is the row,col index of the cell being validated.
%i: For SelectionCommand, it is the total number of cells in the selection. For Command, it is 0 for a read (get) and 1 for a write (set). Otherwise it is the current cursor position in the cell.
%r: For SelectionCommand, it is the number of rows in the selection. Otherwise it is the row of the triggered cell.
%s: For ValidateCommand, it is the current value of the cell being validated. For SelectionCommand, it is the default value of the selection. For BrowseCommand, it is the index of the last active cell. For Command, it is empty for reads (get) and the current value of the cell for writes (set).
%S: For ValidateCommand, it is the potential new value of the cell being validated. For BrowseCommand, it is the index of the new active cell.
%W: The pathname to the window for which the command was generated.

WIDGET COMMAND

The table 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 table widgets:

pathName activate index: Sets the active cell to the one indicated by index.
pathName bbox first ?last?: It returns the bounding box for the specified cell (range) as a 4-tuple of x, y, width and height in pixels. It clips the box to the visible portion, if any, otherwise an empty string is returned.
pathName cget option: Returns the current value of the configuration option given by option. Option may have any of the values accepted by the table 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 table command.
pathName curselection ?set value?: With no arguments, it returns the sorted indices of the currently selected cells. Otherwise it sets all the selected cells to the given value. The set has no effect if there is no associated Tcl array or the state is disabled.
pathName curvalue ?value?: If no value is given, the value of the cell being edited (indexed by active) is returned, else it is set to the given value.
pathName delete option arg ?arg?: This command is used to delete various things in a table. It has several forms, depending on the option:
pathName delete active index ?index?: Deletes text from the active cell. If only one index is given, it deletes the character after that index, otherwise it deletes from the first index to the second. index can be a number, insert or end.
pathName delete cols ?switches? index ?count?: Deletes count cols starting at (and including) col index. If count is negative, it deletes cols to the left. Otherwise it deletes cols to the right. The optional switches are:
-cols: Sets an artificial maximum column boundary to use when collapsing the rest of the columns. By default it uses the value of the -cols widget option. This can cause interesting side-effects when used in conjunction with the other options.
-holddimensions: Causes the table cols to be unaffected by the deletion (empty cols may appear). By default the dimensions are adjusted by count.
-holdtags: Causes the tags specified by the tag method to not collapse along with the data. Also prevents specific widths set by the width method from being adjusted. By default, these tags are properly adjusted.
-keeptitles: Prevents title area cell contents from being moved. Otherwise they are treated just like regular cells and will move as specified.
-rows: Sets an artificial maximum row boundary to use when collapsing the rest of the rows. By default it uses the value of the -rows widget option. This can cause interesting side-effects when used in conjunction with the other options.
--: Signifies the end of the options.

pathName delete rows ?switches? index ?count?: Deletes count rows starting at (and including) row index. If count is negative, it deletes rows going up. Otherwise it deletes rows going down. The switches are the same as those for column deletion.

pathName get first ?last?: Returns the value of the cells specified by the table indices first and (optionally) last in a list.
pathName height ?row? ?value row value ...?: If no row is specified, returns a list describing all rows for which a height has been set. If row is specified with no value, it prints out the height of that row in pixels. If one or more row-value pairs are specified, then it sets each row to be that height in pixels. If value is negative, then the row uses the default height.
pathName icursor ?arg?: With no arguments, prints out the location of the insertion cursor in the active cell. With one argument, sets the cursor to that point in the string. 0 is before the first character, you can also use insert or end for the current insertion point or the end of the text.
pathName index index ?row|col?: Returns the integer cell coordinate that corresponds to index in the form row,col. If row or col is specified, then only the row or column index is returned.
pathName insert option arg arg: This command is used to into various things into a table. It has several forms, depending on the option:
pathName insert active index value: The value is a text string which is inserted at the index postion of the active cell. The cursor is then positioned after the new text. index can be a number, insert or end.
pathName insert cols ?switches? index ?count?: Inserts count cols starting at col index. If count is negative, it inserts before the specified col. Otherwise it inserts after the specified col. The switches are the same as those for column deletion.
pathName insert rows ?switches? index ?count?: Inserts count rows starting at row index. If count is negative, it inserts before the specified row. Otherwise it inserts after the specified row. The switches are the same as those for column deletion.

pathName reread: Rereads the old contents of the cell back into the editing buffer. Useful for a key binding when <Escape> is pressed to abort the edit (a default binding).
pathName scan option args: This command is used to implement scanning on tables. It has two forms, depending on option:
pathName scan mark x y: Records x and y and the current view in the table 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 y.: This command computes the difference between its x and y arguments and the x and y arguments to the last scan mark command for the widget. It then adjusts the view by 5 times the difference in coordinates. This command is typically associated with mouse motion events in the widget, to produce the effect of dragging the list at high speed through the window. The return value is an empty string.

pathName see index: Adjust the view in the table so that the cell given by index is positioned as the cell one off from top left (excluding title rows and columns) if the cell is not currently visible on the screen. The actual cell may be different to keep the screen full.
pathName selection option arg: This command is used to adjust the selection within a table. It has several forms, depending on option:
pathName selection anchor index: Sets the selection anchor to the cell given by index. The selection anchor is the end of the selection that is fixed while dragging out a selection with the mouse. The index anchor may be used to refer to the anchor cell.
pathName selection clear first ?last?: If any of the cells between first and last (inclusive) are selected, they are deselected. The selection state is not changed for cells outside this range. first may be specified as all to remove the selection from all cells.
pathName selection includes index: Returns 1 if the cell indicated by index is currently selected, 0 if it isn't.
pathName selection set first ?last?: Selects all of the cells in the range between first and last, inclusive, without affecting the selection state of cells outside that range.

pathName set index ?value? ?index value ...?: Sets the specified index to the associated value.
pathName tag option ?arg arg ...?: This command is used to manipulate tags. The exact behavior of the command depends on the option argument that follows the tag argument. The following forms of the command are currently supported:
pathName tag cell tagName ?index ... ?: With no arguments, prints out the list of cells that use the tag. Otherwise it sets the specified cells to use the tag. If tag is {}, the cells are reset to the default tag. Tags added during -*tagcommand evaluation do not register here.
pathName tag cget tagName option: This command returns the current value of the option named option associated with the tag given by tagName. Option may have any of the values accepted by the tag configure widget command.
pathName tag col tagName ?col ... ?: With no arguments, prints out the list of cols that use the tag. Otherwise it sets the specified cols to use the tag. If tag is {}, the cols are reset to the default tag. Tags added during -coltagcommand evaluation do not register here.
pathName tag configure tagName ?option? ?value? ?option value ...?: This command is similar to the configure widget command except that it modifies options associated with the tag given by tagName instead of modifying options for the overall text widget. If no option is specified, the command returns a list describing all of the available options for tagName (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 option(s) to have the given value(s) in tagName; in this case the command returns an empty string. See TAGS above for details on the options available for tags.
pathName tag delete tagName: Deletes a tag. No error if the tag does not exist.
pathName tag exists tagName: Returns 1 if the named tag exists, 0 otherwise.
pathName tag names ?pattern?: If no pattern is specified, shows the names of all defined tags. Otherwise the pattern is used as a glob pattern to show only tags matching that pattern.
pathName tag row tagName ?row ...?: With no arguments, prints out the list of rows that use the tag. Otherwise it sets the specified rows to use the tag. If tag is {}, the rows are reset to use the default tag. Tags added during -rowtagcommand evaluation do not register here.

pathName validate index: Explicitly validates the specified index based on the current -validatecommand and returns 0 or 1 based on whether the cell was validated.
pathName width ?col? ?value col value ...?: If no col is specified, returns a list describing all cols for which a width has been set. If col is specified with no value, it prints out the width of that col in characters. If one or more col-value pairs are specified, then it sets each col to be that width in characters. If value is negative, then the col uses the default width.
pathName xview args: This command is used to query and change the horizontal position of the information 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 table'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 column given by index is displayed at the left edge of the window.
pathName xview moveto fraction: Adjusts the view in the window so that fraction of the total width of the table text is off-screen to the left. 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 character units (the width of the 0 character) 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.

pathName yview ?args?: This command is used to query and change the vertical position of the text in the widget's window. It can take any of the following forms:
pathName yview: Returns a list containing two elements, both of which are real fractions between 0 and 1. The first element gives the position of the table element at the top of the window, relative to the table as a whole (0.5 means it is halfway through the table, for example). The second element gives the position of the table element just after the last one in the window, relative to the table as a whole. These are the same values passed to scrollbars via the -yscrollcommand option.
pathName yview index: Adjusts the view in the window so that the row given by index is displayed at the top of the window.
pathName yview moveto fraction: Adjusts the view in the window so that the element given by fraction appears at the top of the window. Fraction is a fraction between 0 and 1; 0 indicates the first element in the table, 0.33 indicates the element one-third the way through the table, and so on.
pathName yview scroll number what: This command adjusts the view in the window up or down according to number and what. Number must be an integer. What must be either units or pages. If what is units, the view adjusts up or down by number lines; if it is pages then the view adjusts by number screenfuls. If number is negative then earlier elements become visible; if it is positive then later elements become visible.

DEFAULT BINDINGS

The initialization creates class bindings that give the following default behaviour:

Clicking the mouse button in a cell activates that cell.
Moving the mouse while button 1 is pressed will stroke out a selection area. Exiting while button 1 is pressed causing scanning to occur on the table along with selection.
Moving the mouse while button 2 is pressed causes scanning to occur without any selection.
Home moves the table to have the origin in view.
End moves the table to have the end cell in view.
Control-Home moves the table to the origin and activates that cell.
Control-End moves the table to the end and activates that cell.
Shift-Control-Home extends the selection to the origin.
Shift-Control-End extends the selection to the end.
The left, right, up and down arrows move the active cell.
Shift-<arrow> extends the selection in that direction.
Control-leftarrow and Control-rightarrow move the insertion cursor within the cell.
Control-slash selects all the cells.
Control-backslash clears selection from all the cells.
Backspace deletes the character before the insertion cursor in the active cell.
Delete deletes the character after the insertion cursor in the active cell.
Escape rereads the value of the active cell from the array variable, discarding any edits that have may been performed on the cell.
Return sets the array value of the active cell to the edited value and moves to the next cell down.
Control-a moves the insertion cursor to the beginning of the active cell.
Control-e moves the insertion cursor to the end of the active cell.
Control-minus and Control-equals decrease and increase the width of the column with the active cell in it.
Moving the mouse while button 3 (the right button on Windows) is pressed while you are over a border will cause interactive resizing of that row and/or column to occur.

Some bindings may have slightly different behavior dependent on the -selectionmode of the widget.

If the widget is disabled using the -state option, then its view can still be adjusted and cells can still be selected, but no insertion cursor will be displayed and no cell modifications will take place.

The behavior of tables can be changed by defining new bindings for individual widgets or by redefining the class bindings. The default bindings are either compiled in or read from a file expected to correspond to: "[lindex $tcl_pkgPath 0]/Tktable/tkTable.tcl".

KEYWORDS

table, widget, extension

Table of Contents

NAME
SYNOPSIS
STANDARD OPTIONS
WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
DESCRIPTION
INDICES
TAGS
THE SELECTION
COMMAND SUBSTITUTION
WIDGET COMMAND
DEFAULT BINDINGS
KEYWORDS