► |  | The Racket Graphical Interface Toolkit

1 | Windowing
2 | Widget Gallery
3 | Windowing Classes
4 | Windowing Functions
5 | Editors
6 | Snip and Style Classes
7 | Editor Classes
8 | Editor Functions
9 | WXME Decoding
10 | Preferences
11 | Dynamic Loading
12 | Startup Actions
13 | Platform Dependencies
| Index

▼ | 3 | Windowing Classes

3.1 | area<%>
3.2 | area-container<%>
3.3 | area-container-window<%>
3.4 | button%
3.5 | canvas<%>
3.6 | canvas%
3.7 | check-box%
3.8 | checkable-menu-item%
3.9 | choice%
3.10 | clipboard-client%
3.11 | clipboard<%>
3.12 | combo-field%
3.13 | control<%>
3.14 | column-control-event%
3.15 | control-event%
3.16 | cursor%
3.17 | dialog%
3.18 | event%
3.19 | frame%
3.20 | gauge%
3.21 | group-box-panel%
3.22 | grow-box-spacer-pane%
3.23 | horizontal-pane%
3.24 | horizontal-panel%
3.25 | key-event%
3.26 | labelled-menu-item<%>
3.27 | list-box%
3.28 | list-control<%>
3.29 | menu%
3.30 | menu-bar%
3.31 | menu-item<%>
3.32 | menu-item%
3.33 | menu-item-container<%>
3.34 | message%
3.35 | mouse-event%
3.36 | pane%
3.37 | panel%
3.38 | popup-menu%
3.39 | printer-dc%
3.40 | radio-box%
3.41 | selectable-menu-item<%>
3.42 | separator-menu-item%
3.43 | scroll-event%
3.44 | slider%
3.45 | subarea<%>
3.46 | subwindow<%>
3.47 | tab-panel%
3.48 | text-field%
3.49 | timer%
3.50 | top-level-window<%>
3.51 | vertical-pane%
3.52 | vertical-panel%
3.53 | window<%>

On this page:

accept-drop-files
client->screen
enable
focus
get-client-handle
get-client-size
get-cursor
get-handle
get-height
get-label
get-plain-label
get-size
get-width
get-x
get-y
has-focus?
is-enabled?
is-shown?
on-drop-file
on-focus
on-move
on-size
on-subwindow-char
on-subwindow-event
on-subwindow-focus
on-superwindow-enable
on-superwindow-show
popup-menu
refresh
screen->client
set-cursor
set-label
show
warp-pointer

Inherited methods:
from area<%>
get-graphical-min-size
get-parent
get-top-level-window
min-height
min-width
stretchable-height
stretchable-width

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interface window<%> : interface?
implements: | area<%>

A window<%> object is an area<%> with a graphical representation that can respond to events.

All window<%> classes accept the following named instantiation arguments:

- enabled — default is #t; passed to enable if #f

> method (send a-window accept-drop-files) → boolean?
> (send a-window accept-drop-files accept-files?) → void?
> accept-files? : any/c

Enables or disables drag-and-drop dropping for the window, or gets the enable state. Dropping is initially disabled. See also on-drop-file.

> method (send a-window client->screen x y)
> | → |  |
> position-integer? |  | position-integer?
> x : position-integer?
> y : position-integer?

Converts local window coordinates to screen coordinates.

On Mac OS X, the screen coordinates start with (0, 0) at the upper left of the menu bar. In contrast, move in top-level-window<%> considers (0, 0) to be below the menu bar. See also get-display-left-top-inset.

> method (send a-window enable enable?) → void?
> enable? : any/c

Enables or disables a window so that input events are ignored. (Input events include mouse events, keyboard events, and close-box clicks, but not focus or update events.) When a window is disabled, input events to its children are also ignored.

The enable state of a window can be changed by enabling a parent window, and such changes do not go through this method; use on-superwindow-enable to monitor enable state changes.

If enable? is true, the window is enabled, otherwise it is disabled.

> method (send a-window focus) → void?

Moves the keyboard focus to the window, relative to its top-level window, if the window ever accepts the keyboard focus. If the focus is in the window’s top-level window, then the focus is immediately moved to this window. Otherwise, the focus is not immediately moved, but when the window’s top-level window gets the keyboard focus, the focus is delegated to this window.

See also on-focus.

Note that on Unix, keyboard focus can move to the menu bar when the user is selecting a menu item.

The current keyboard focus window can be changed by the user, and such changes do not go through this method; use on-focus to monitor focus changes.

> method (send a-window get-client-handle) → cpointer?

Returns a handle to the “inside” of the window for the current platform’s GUI toolbox. The value that the pointer represents depends on the platform:

- Windows: HWND

- Mac OS X: NSView

- Unix: GtkWidget

See also get-handle.

> method (send a-window get-client-size)
> | → |  |
> dimension-integer? |  | dimension-integer?

Gets the interior size of the window in pixels. For a container, the interior size is the size available for placing subwindows (including the border margin). For a canvas, this is the visible drawing area.

The client size is returned as two values: width and height (in pixels).

See also reflow-container.

> method (send a-window get-cursor) → (or/c (is-a?/c cursor%) #f)

Returns the window’s cursor, or #f if this window’s cursor defaults to the parent’s cursor. See set-cursor for more information.

> method (send a-window get-handle) → cpointer?

Returns a handle to the “outside” of the window for the current platform’s GUI toolbox. The value that the pointer represents depends on the platform:

- Windows: HWND

- Mac OS X: NSWindow for a top-level-window<%> object, NSView for other windows

- Unix: GtkWidget

See also get-client-handle.

> method (send a-window get-height) → dimension-integer?

Returns the window’s total height (in pixels).

See also reflow-container.

> method (send a-window get-label)
> | → |  |
> (or/c label-string?
> (is-a?/c bitmap%)
> (or/c 'app 'caution 'stop)
> (list/c (is-a?/c bitmap%)
> label-string?
> (or/c 'left 'top 'right 'bottom))
> #f)

Gets a window’s label, if any. Control windows generally display their label in some way. Frames and dialogs display their label as a window title. Panels do not display their label, but the label can be used for identification purposes. Messages, buttons, and check boxes can have bitmap labels (only when they are created with bitmap labels), but all other windows have string labels. In addition, a message label can be an icon symbol 'app, 'caution, or 'stop, and a button can have both a bitmap label and a string label (along with a position for the bitmap).

A label string may contain &s, which serve as keyboard navigation annotations for controls on Windows and Unix. The ampersands are not part of the displayed label of a control; instead, ampersands are removed in the displayed label (on all platforms), and any character preceding an ampersand is underlined (Windows and Unix) indicating that the character is a mnemonic for the control. Double ampersands are converted into a single ampersand (with no displayed underline). See also on-traverse-char.

If the window does not have a label, #f is returned.

> method (send a-window get-plain-label) → (or/c string? #f)

Like get-label, except that:

- If the label includes (&c) for any character c, then the sequenece and any surrounding whitespace is removed.

- If the label contains &c for any character c, the & is removed.

- If the label contains a tab character, then the tab character and all following characters are removed.

See also button%’s handling of labels.

If the window has no label or the window’s label is not a string, #f is returned.

> method (send a-window get-size)
> | → |  |
> dimension-integer? |  | dimension-integer?

Gets the current size of the entire window in pixels, not counting horizontal and vertical margins. (On Unix, this size does not include a title bar or borders for a frame/dialog.) See also get-client-size.

The geometry is returned as two values: width and height (in pixels).

See also reflow-container.

> method (send a-window get-width) → dimension-integer?

Returns the window’s current total width (in pixels).

See also reflow-container.

> method (send a-window get-x) → position-integer?

Returns the position of the window’s left edge in its parent’s coordinate system.

See also reflow-container.

> method (send a-window get-y) → position-integer?

Returns the position of the window’s top edge in its parent’s coordinate system.

See also reflow-container.

> method (send a-window has-focus?) → boolean?

Indicates whether the window currently has the keyboard focus. See also on-focus.

> method (send a-window is-enabled?) → boolean?

Indicates whether the window is currently enabled or not. The result is #t if this window is enabled when its ancestors are enabled, or #f if this window remains disable when its ancestors are enabled. (That is, the result of this method is affected only by calls to enable for a-window, not by the enable state of parent windows.)

> method (send a-window is-shown?) → boolean?

Indicates whether the window is currently shown or not. The result is #t if this window is shown when its ancestors are shown, or #f if this window remains hidden when its ancestors are shown. (That is, the result of this method is affected only by calls to show for a-window, not by the visibility of parent windows.)

> method (send a-window on-drop-file pathname) → void?
> pathname : path?

Called when the user drags a file onto the window. (On Unix, drag-and-drop is supported via the XDND protocol.) Drag-and-drop must first be enabled for the window with accept-drop-files.

On Mac OS X, when the application is running and user double-clicks an application-handled file or drags a file onto the application’s icon, the main thread’s application file handler is called (see application-file-handler). The default handler calls the on-drop-file method of the most-recently activated frame if drag-and-drop is enabled for that frame, independent of the frame’s eventspace (but the method is called in the frame’s eventspace’s handler thread). When the application is not running, the filenames are provided as command-line arguments.

> method (send a-window on-focus on?) → void?
> on? : any/c

Specification: Called when a window receives or loses the keyboard focus. If the argument is #t, the keyboard focus was received, otherwise it was lost.

Note that on Unix, keyboard focus can move to the menu bar when the user is selecting a menu item.

Default implementation: Does nothing.

> method (send a-window on-move x y) → void?
> x : position-integer?
> y : position-integer?

Specification: Called when the window is moved. (For windows that are not top-level windows, “moved” means moved relative to the parent’s top-left corner.) The new position is provided to the method.

Default implementation: Does nothing.

> method (send a-window on-size width height) → void?
> width : dimension-integer?
> height : dimension-integer?

Specification: Called when the window is resized. The window’s new size (in pixels) is provided to the method. The size values are for the entire window, not just the client area.

Default implementation: Does nothing.

> > method
> > (send a-window on-subwindow-char |  | receiver |  |  |  |
> > |  | event) |  | → |  | boolean?
> receiver : (is-a?/c window<%>)
> event : (is-a?/c key-event%)

Specification: Called when this window or a child window receives a keyboard event. The on-subwindow-char method of the receiver’s top-level window is called first (see get-top-level-window); if the return value is #f, then the on-subwindow-char method is called for the next child in the path to the receiver, and so on. Finally, if the receiver’s on-subwindow-char method returns #f, the event is passed on to the receiver’s normal key-handling mechanism.

The event argument is the event that was generated for the receiver window.

The atomicity limitation on-subwindow-event applies to on-subwindow-char as well. That is, an insufficiently cooperative on-subwindow-char method can effectively disable a control’s handling of key events, even when it returns #f

BEWARE: The default on-subwindow-char in frame% and on-subwindow-char in dialog% methods consume certain keyboard events (e.g., arrow keys, Enter) used for navigating within the window. Because the top-level window gets the first chance to handle the keyboard event, some events never reach the “receiver” child unless the default frame or dialog method is overridden.

Default implementation: Returns #f.

> > method
> > (send a-window on-subwindow-event |  | receiver |  |  |  |
> > |  | event) |  | → |  | boolean?
> receiver : (is-a?/c window<%>)
> event : (is-a?/c mouse-event%)

Specification: Called when this window or a child window receives a mouse event. The on-subwindow-event method of the receiver’s top-level window is called first (see get-top-level-window); if the return value is #f, the on-subwindow-event method is called for the next child in the path to the receiver, and so on. Finally, if the receiver’s on-subwindow-event method returns #f, the event is passed on to the receiver’s normal mouse-handling mechanism.

The event argument is the event that was generated for the receiver window.

If the on-subwindow-event method chain does not complete atomically (i.e., without requiring other threads to run) or does not complete fast enough, then the corresponding event may not be delivered to a target control, such as a button. In other words, an insufficiently cooperative on-subwindow-event method can effectively disable a control’s handling of mouse events, even when it returns #f.

Default implementation: Returns #f.

> > method
> > (send a-window on-subwindow-focus |  | receiver |  |  |  |
> > |  | on?) |  | → |  | void?
> receiver : (is-a?/c window<%>)
> on? : boolean?

Specification: Called when this window or a child window receives or loses the keyboard focus. This method is called after the on-focus method of receiver. The on-subwindow-focus method of the receiver’s top-level window is called first (see get-top-level-window), then the on-subwindow-focus method is called for the next child in the path to the receiver, and so on.

Default implementation: Does nothing.

> method (send a-window on-superwindow-enable enabled?) → void?
> enabled? : any/c

Specification: Called via the event queue whenever the enable state of a window has changed, either through a call to the window’s enable method, or through the enabling/disabling of one of the window’s ancestors. The method’s argument indicates whether the window is now enabled or not.

This method is not called when the window is initially created; it is called only after a change from the window’s initial enable state. Furthermore, if an enable notification event is queued for the window and it reverts its enabled state before the event is dispatched, then the dispatch is canceled.

If the enable state of a window’s ancestor changes while the window is deleted (e.g., because it was removed with delete-child), then no enable events are queued for the deleted window. But if the window is later re-activated into an enable state that is different from the window’s state when it was de-activated, then an enable event is immediately queued.

Default implementation: Does nothing.

> method (send a-window on-superwindow-show shown?) → void?
> shown? : any/c

Specification: Called via the event queue whenever the visibility of a window has changed, either through a call to the window’s show, through the showing/hiding of one of the window’s ancestors, or through the activating or deactivating of the window or its ancestor in a container (e.g., via delete-child). The method’s argument indicates whether the window is now visible or not.

This method is not called when the window is initially created; it is called only after a change from the window’s initial visibility. Furthermore, if a show notification event is queued for the window and it reverts its visibility before the event is dispatched, then the dispatch is canceled.

Default implementation: Does nothing.

> method (send a-window popup-menu menu x y) → void?
> menu : (is-a?/c popup-menu%)
> x : position-integer?
> y : position-integer?

Pops up the given popup-menu% object at the specified coordinates (in this window’s coordinates), and returns after handling an unspecified number of events; the menu may still be popped up when this method returns. If a menu item is selected from the popup-menu, the callback for the menu item is called. (The eventspace for the menu item’s callback is the window’s eventspace.)
While the menu is popped up, its target is set to the window. See get-popup-target for more information.

The menu is popped up within the window at position (x, y).

> method (send a-window refresh) → void?

Enqueues an event to repaint the window.

> method (send a-window screen->client x y)
> | → |  |
> position-integer? |  | position-integer?
> x : position-integer?
> y : position-integer?

Converts global coordinates to window local coordinates. See also client->screen for information on screen coordinates.

> method (send a-window set-cursor cursor) → void?
> cursor : (or/c (is-a?/c cursor%) #f)

Sets the window’s cursor. Providing #f instead of a cursor value removes the window’s cursor.

If a window does not have a cursor, it uses the cursor of its parent. Frames and dialogs start with the standard arrow cursor, and text fields start with an I-beam cursor. All other windows are created without a cursor.

> method (send a-window set-label l) → void?
> l : label-string?

Sets a window’s label. The window’s natural minimum size might be different after the label is changed, but the window’s minimum size is not recomputed.

If the window was not created with a label, or if the window was created with a non-string label, l is ignored.

See get-label for more information.

> method (send a-window show show?) → void?
> show? : any/c

Shows or hides a window.

The visibility of a window can be changed by the user clicking the window’s close box, for example, and such changes do not go through this method; use on-superwindow-show or on-close to monitor visibility changes.

If show? is #f, the window is hidden. Otherwise, the window is shown.

> method (send a-window warp-pointer x y) → void?
> x : position-integer?
> y : position-integer?

Moves the cursor to the given location in the window’s local coordinates.
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