The Perl Toolchain Summit needs more sponsors. If your company depends on Perl, please support this very important event.
Archive-name: perl-faq/ptk-faq/part2
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: Wed May 15 22:26:55 EDT 1996
URL: http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/~pvhp/ptk/ptkFAQ.html
Version: 0.03

URL (Hypertext-split): http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/~pvhp/ptk/ptkTOC.html
URL (Plaintext): http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/~pvhp/ptk/ptkFAQ.txt
Image-supplement: http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/~pvhp/ptk/ptkIMG.html
ftp-Archive: ftp://ftp.ccd.bnl.gov/pub/ptk/ptkFAQ.txt
ftp-Archive: ftp://ftp.wpi.edu/perl5/pTk-FAQ
ftp-Archive: ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/perl-faq/ptk-faq/
e-mail-Archive: ptkfaq@pubweb.bnl.gov
gopher-Archive: 128.84.219.153

Perl/Tk FAQ part 2 of 5 - Programming      
************************************* 


 ______________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
 9. How do I get widget X to do Y ? 
 
 There are a number of tasks that can be accomplished with perl/Tk widgets,
 configurations, and bindings (a few that can't and a few that require specific tricks).
 Beginners are encouraged to work through the examples in UserGuide.pod. Some
 examples from UserGuide.pod are addressed in this document among those that
 follow. 
 
 Basically a widget can be "created" by simply calling the sub of the same name: 
 
     my $main = new MainWindow;
 
 will set aside the necessary system memory etc. for a new MainWindow widget (it
 does not appear until after the MainLoop; call). The object "created" is then
 callable via the variable $main. So, for example, if you wanted a Button in your 
 MainWindow, then this: 
 
     $main->Button();
 
 would be a very basic example of a widget command. If you wanted to later call this
 button widget you would need a "widget tag or ID" to "get a handle on it". Instead of
 the above call try something like: 
 
     my $button = $main->Button();
 
 The variable $button is how you refer to the Button widget in subsequent calls,
 such as when we call the pack routine: 
 
     $button -> pack;
 
 A complete script that incorporates these ideas to make a very plain button would
 look like: 
 
     #!/usr/bin/perl -w
     use Tk;
     use strict;
     my $main = new MainWindow;
     my $button = $main -> Button();
     $button -> pack;
     MainLoop; 
 
 But who wants such a plain looking button? You can provide a number of different
 widget configurations via calls to the configure routine as in: 
 
     #!/usr/bin/perl -w
     use Tk;
     use strict;
     my $main = new MainWindow;
     my $button = $main->Button();
     $button -> configure(-text => 'Press me!');
     $button -> pack;
     MainLoop; 
 
 The Perl motto is "there is more than one way to do it." - perl/Tk remains quite true
 to this motto as well. Note that the above script could have been written quite
 succinctly without the use of either the $main or $button variables as: 
 
     #!/usr/bin/perl -w
     use Tk;
     use strict;
     new MainWindow -> Button(-text => 'Press me!') -> pack;
     MainLoop; 
 
 But if you want your widgets to actually do things then you must set up callback
 procedures as discussed later... 
 
 As of Tk-b9(.01) the - sign in front of options (like -text in the above example)
 will be optional (hence ->Button(text => 'Press me!')). 
 
 ______________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
 9.1. How do I get a Button to call a Perl subroutine? 
 
 You may specify the -command option in the call to create & pack the button as in: 
 
     $main->Button(-text => 'Print',
                    -command => sub{do_print($filename, $font)}
                    )->pack;
 
 Where sub do_print { } is a subroutine that handles two arguments and is
 declared elsewhere in the script. A full script example of the use of the above code is
 presented in the second example(s) in UserGuide.pod 
 
 (Full source code for this and other examples from UserGuide.pod may be found at 
 http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/~pvhp/ptk/pod/. To load code from the web save as a local
 file say ex1.pl, edit the first line to point to your perl interpreter, then change
 permission: %chmod u+x ex1.pl, then execute the script: %ex1.pl.) 
 
 The above method is called the "anonymous subroutine (closure)" method. As
 discussed in Callback.pod one might have re-written that statement to use the
 "reference to a sub" method thusly: 
 
     $main->Button(-text => 'Print',
                    -command => [ \&do_print , $filename, $font ]
                    )->pack;
 
 Note the backslash in front of \&do_print. This causes perl to generate a reference
 to sub do_print rather than call it. (thanks Jim Stern :-) 
 
 ______________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
 9.2. How do I arrange the layout of my widgets? 
 
 To control the layout and appearance of widgets in a window one makes use of a 
 geometry manager, as well as -padding, -fill, -expand, and -anchor options of
 individual widgets. 
 
 A geometry manager is any Tk procedure for controlling the arrangement of widgets
 in your application window. The predominant geometry manager used in both Tcl/Tk
 and perl/Tk is pack also known informally as the "packer" (other geometry
 managers are the "placer" and the canvas widget itself but are much less popular.
 There is also Nick Ing-Simmon's Table widget [discussed in a later question] and 
 BLT_Table [which made it's way into perl/Tk thanks to Guy Decoux - but is also
 discussed in a later question]. So far tixForm is for Tcl/Tk only, but a perl/Tk version
 of Tix is in the works. You can invoke pack at the time of widget creation via calls
 like: 
 
     $widget->pack;
 
 where widget can be any of the perl/Tk widget primitives. Widget option lists are
 usually passed as an associative array (hash) in parentheses thusly: 
 
     $widget(-option0 => value0,-option1 => value1)->pack;
 
 pack is often used in conjunction with the frame container widget to arrange your
 widgets much like a hiearchically arranged set of window panes (ultimately in a
 rectangular "tiling" fashion of sorts). An example of this would be: 
 
     my $top2 = $main->Toplevel;
     my $frame = $top2->Frame;
     $frame->pack;
     $frame->Label(-text => 'Left2')->pack(-side => 'left');
     $frame->Label(-text => 'Right2')->pack(-side => 'right');
     $top2->Label(-text => 'Bottom2')->pack(-side => 'bottom');
     MainLoop;
 
 Note that pack itself is given parameters in this example. The default behavior for 
 pack is equivalent to specifying -side => 'top' which can be overridden as in
 the above example. 
 
 (Full source code for this and other examples from UserGuide.pod may be found at 
 http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/~pvhp/ptk/pod/. To load code from the web save as a local
 file say ex2.pl, edit the first line to point to your perl interpreter, change
 permission using: chmod u+x ex2.pl, then type the name of your script: 
 ex2.pl.) 
 
 One of the more helpful options to pass to pack when trying to get a given widget
 layout "just right" is through padding: either -padx or -pady. The details of the
 use of pad depend on which specific widget you are trying to pack. In fact you can
 often add the -pad in the call to create the widget rather than in the call to pack. 
 
 There is also the -anchor configuration option for widgets. A good introduction to
 the 9 possible -anchor (and -overanchor) values is given by the popup demo
 in your Tk-b#/ directory. 
 
 When setting a widget within a frame next to another widget one may wish to make
 use of the -fill => 'style' (where style = none | x | y | both) options
 of either pack or the widget itself. A typical situation where this is used is in setting
 up the Scrollbar next to a Canvas or Text widget. 
 
 Another aspect to consider when laying out your widgets is their behavior under
 resize operations (grabbing a part of the window frame and making it bigger or
 smaller - details depend on your window manager). This may be controlled by the 
 -expand option of either pack or the widget itself. 
 
 ______________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
 9.3. How do I get a Popup to popup? 
 
 For things like a simple "are you sure?" dialog box you might want to take a look at 
 Dialog.pm which is discussed in a later question within this FAQ [15.1]. 
 
 If you don't wish to require Tk::Dialog, you need something more complicated, or you
 simply want to create your own independent window with widgets; you must first
 setup a Toplevel in perl/Tk. The fourth example in UserGuide.pod gives a simple
 example of how to call Toplevel. Quoting from that script: 
 
     my $main = new MainWindow;
     fill_window($main, 'Main');
     my $top1 = $main->Toplevel;
 
 Where sub fill_window is declared after the call to MainLoop;. When
 running that script take careful note of which window pops up first, which window
 has grabbed the active attention of your input device(s), and which widget within the
 active window has the keyboard/mouse focus when all three windows are open. 
 
 The use of Toplevels brings up the issue of grab - or which independent window is
 presently "active" and which are activatable. To make a Toplevel window active
 call grab thusly: 
 
     $Top_widget->grab(grab_option);
 
 where $Top_widget identifies the desired Toplevel (it would be either $top1 or 
 $top2 in the sample script referred to above). grab_option could be -global -
 but this is discouraged as a sign of "desparate programming style". To give a 
 Toplevel "local grab" you may simply say: 
 
     $Top_widget->grab;
 
 That is, without an argument. 
 
 The use of Toplevels may also bring up the issue of focus - or which window -
 even which widget within a window - is presently "hot". You may call focus on an
 entire Toplevel: 
 
     $Top_widget->focus;
 
 However, focus is most often used with individual widgets rather than a whole 
 Toplevel. 
 
 To de-iconify a widget there is in fact a Popup function that may be called thusly: 
 
     $Top_widget->Popup();
 
 ______________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
 9.4. How do I bind keyboard keys? 
 
 There are many default key bindings built in to the widgets of perl/Tk. Making proper
 use of them often involves setting up the right callback. (You may wish to consult the
 examples in BindTable.pod for help with this subject.) 
 
 The basic idea is: 
 
     $widget -> bind('<keyname>' => action);
 
 Where $widget is the tag or ID of the widget for which the bindings are to hold (note
 for global bindings you have to bind to <All>, for semi-global bindings you need to
 bind to all the relevant widgets in your application), '<keyname>' can be things like:
 
     <Key> or <KeyPress> or <Any-KeyPress>
     <KeyRelease>
     <Button> or <ButtonPress>
     <ButtonRelease>
     <Button-1> or <B1> 
     <Double-1>
     <Enter>
     <Leave>
     <Motion>
 
 To figure out what names perl/Tk uses for such <bindings> use the "binder-finder"
 on a widget's .pm file. For example, you could find bindings hidden inside of 
 Button.pm by typing this at your shell prompt: 
 
     perl -ne 'print if s/.*(<[^>]*>).*/$1/g;' Button.pm
 
 while in the directory where Button.pm is located (and if you are not there then
 simply specify the /path/to/Button.pm). Note that due to inheritance (e.g.the
 type of script bindings that are being discussed here) what the binder-finder turns up
 may not be the last word on a given widget's behaviour. This may be especially true
 for a widget inside of a compound/composite widget. Note also that the binder-finder
 will turn up things like <FILEHANDLES> as well as honest <Bindings>.
 Discrimination in its use is called for (and while your at it you could have just as easily
 used an editor and actually examined the code directly now couldn't you?). 
 
 To get an idea of what the code is for a key that you are interested in try running the 
 xlib_demo that comes in your Tk-b# directory. Hold your mouse pointer over the
 window that appears and simply type the key that you are interested in. The code
 should appear in the window. If you do not have perl/Tk up and running yet try "
 xmodmap -pk" or look directly at the /usr/include/X11/keysymdef.h file
 where keysym names are given with an XK_ pre-pended. Do not try things like the
 Tcl/Tk %k symbols in perl scripts. %Ks will be mis-interpreted as non-existant perl
 hashes. Instead look at the Xevent function. 
 
 Ali Corbin <corbin@adsw.fteil.ca.boeing.com> recently posted a great little script for
 determining keyboard key bindings on a MainWindow: 
 
     #!/usr/local/bin/perl -w
     use Tk;
     $top = MainWindow->new();
     $frame = $top->Frame( -height => '6c', -width => '6c',
                             -background => 'black', -cursor => 'gobbler' );
     $frame->pack;
     $top->bind( '<Any-KeyPress>' => sub
     {
         my($c) = @_;
         my $e = $c->XEvent;
         my( $x, $y, $W, $K, $A ) = ( $e->x, $e->y, $e->K, $e->W, $e->A );
 
         print "A key was pressed:\n";
         print "  x = $x\n";
         print "  y = $y\n";
         print "  W = $K\n";
         print "  K = $W\n";
         print "  A = $A\n";
     } );
     MainLoop();
 
 To bind the action of one widget to that of another try taking a look at the .pm file
 for the widget of interest - is there a binding function already defined? If so you may
 use it. An example would be the use of "Up" & "Down" Buttons for a Listbox:
 one could bind the Buttons to call Tk::Listbox::UpDown, however, Guy
 Decoux describes a much more clever way to use the <Up> and <Down> already
 defined in Listbox.pm (this does not work with Tk-b9.01): 
 
     #!/usr/local/bin/perl
     use Tk;
     $top = MainWindow->new;
     $lb = $top->Listbox(-height => 10);
     for($i=0; $i < 120; $i++) {
       $lb->insert('end', $i);
     }
     $f = $top->Frame;
     $up = $f->Button(
            -text => "Up",
            -command => [ $lb->bind(ref $lb, '<Up>'), $lb]
            );
     $down = $f->Button(
              -text => "Down",
              -command =>sub {&{$lb->bind(ref $lb, '<Down>')}($lb)}
              );
     $up->pack(-side => 'left');
     $down->pack;
     $f->pack;
     $lb->pack;
     MainLoop;
 
 ______________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
 9.5. How do I add bindings? 
 
 On Fri, 15 Sep 95 10:30:56 BST Nick Ing-Simmons
 <Nick.Ing-Simmons@tiuk.ti.com> writes: 
 
 
 Re: Multiple binds to a single widget?
 **************************************
 
 On Thu, 14 Sep 1995 14:57:54 -0400
 Alain St <astdenis@cmc.doe.CA> writes:
 !In the tcl/tk doc I have, they say that prepending the script 
 !with '+' appends the new binding to the current one.
 !
 !How do I do that in perlTk? 
 !
 
  You cannot do that that way (yet?) - one issue is what it would mean to prepend
  '+' to a perl/Tk callback : 
 
     $widget->bind('<A>','+',[\&subname,$arg]); 
     # did not look right to me
 
  Other issue is that I would need to manage a list-of-callbacks in glue code. 
 
  Bind your new command to a new tag: 
 
     $widget->bind('Extra',....);
 
  And add Extra to the widgets bindtags: 
 
     $widget->bindtags([ref($widget),$widget,'Extra',$widget->toplevel,'all']);
 
 ______________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
 9.6. How do I bind the action of a slider (sic) to ... ? 
 
 Technically speaking they are called Scrollbars (not sliders) and one must 
 configure the action of the desired widget to call the Scrollbars (i.e. bind is
 not involved here) 
 
 A common task using Scrollbars is to configure things like Canvas, 
 Listbox, or a Text widgets to be updated (change appearance) when the slider of
 the acompanying Scrollbar is moved by the user. 
 
 As an example consider the code that sets up a twelve element Listbox and an
 accompanying vertical Scrollbar: 
 
     my $main = new MainWindow;
     my $box = $main->Listbox(-relief => 'sunken', 
                              -width => -1, # Shrink to fit
                              -height => 5,
                              -setgrid => 'yes');
     my @items = qw(One Two Three Four Five Six Seven
                    Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve);
     foreach (@items) {
        $box->insert('end', $_);
     }
     my $scroll = $main->Scrollbar(-command => ['yview', $box]);
 
 So far so good. But merely setting them up does not mean that the Listbox even
 knows that the Scrollbar is lying next to it. Note that the scalar variable 
 $scroll is how we refer to the Scrollbar, thus, hooking the $box up to handle 
 $scroll events is a matter of configuration: 
 
  
     $box->configure(-yscrollcommand => ['set', $scroll]);
 
 A complete script that makes use of this code (and adds the necessary calls to pack
 and MainLoop;) is given as the fifth example in UserGuide.pod (and may be found
 at http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/~pvhp/ptk/pod/.) 
 
 There was an old Perl/Tk tendency to have a bunch of ScrlFoo widgets (such as 
 ScrlListbox). The use of such widgets is now deprecated in favor of a new 
 Scrolled class, as in: 
 
     $w = $patent->Scrolled('Text',...);
 
 The widgets that can be ->Scrolled() include: 
 
  o Canvas (::Axis) 
  o Entry 
  o Ghostview 
  o HList 
  o HTML (::Web) 
  o Listbox 
  o Pod 
  o Text (::ROText) (::TextUndo) 
  o Tiler 
 
 ______________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
 9.7. How do I configure a Scrollbar to scroll multiple widgets? 
 
 Note that the widget type that you wish to scroll can be important as a scroll "unit" on
 a Text or Listbox may be a character (several pixels - depending on font)
 whereas it would be an X "units" on a Canvas (could be pixel - but you may also
 specify other units). 
 
 A concrete answer for scrolling 3 Listboxes comes courtesy of Frederick L.
 Wagner <derf@ti.com>: 
 
  From a working example of multi-xscrolling: 
 
     sub multiscrollx
     {  # multiscrollx
      my ($sb,$wigs,@args) = @ARG;
      my $w;
      foreach $w (@$wigs)
      {
        $w->xview(@args);
      }
     }  # multiscrollx
  
     # %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
  
       $sh->configure( -command => [ \&multiscrollx, $sh,
                          [$scratchrule,$ruleheader,$ruletable]]);
       $ruletable->configure(  -xscrollcommand => [ 'set', $sh]);
       $ruleheader->configure( -xscrollcommand => [ 'set', $sh]);
       $scratchrule->configure(-xscrollcommand => [ 'set', $sh]);
 
  In this case,
  $sh is a horizontal Scrollbar,
  $ruletable and $scratchrule are Tables
  $ruleheader is an Entry
 
  However, this approach is good for any widget with X-scrolling capability, I
  think. So the Y counterpart should be: 
 
     sub multiscrolly
     {  # multiscrolly
      my ($sb,$wigs,@args) = @ARG;
      my $w;
      foreach $w (@$wigs)
      {
        $w->yview(@args);
      }
     }  # multiscrolly
  
     # %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
  
       $sv->configure( -command => [ \&multiscrolly, $sv,
                                     [$l1,$l2,$l3]]);
       $l1->configure( -yscrollcommand => [ 'set', $sv]);
       $l2->configure( -yscrollcommand => [ 'set', $sv]);
       $l3->configure( -yscrollcommand => [ 'set', $sv]);
 
  Hope that helps. 
 
 Greg VanSickle <vansickl@bnr.ca> points out that this little script snippet does not
 provide for the binding of '<Button-2<' that he is accustomed to. He wrote a
 package called DSListbox to address this binding issue. 
 
 Conversely, Jong Park asked how to setup multiple Scrollbars to scroll the same
 widget. Nick Ing-Simmon's reply makes use of an anonymous sub and can be
 summed up in a little script that scrolls a Text widget (to see the scrolling in action
 type more than 20 lines of text into the widget):
 
     #!/usr/local/bin/perl -w
     
     use Tk;
     my $mw = MainWindow->new();
     
     my $s1 = $mw->Scrollbar(-orient => 'vertical');
     my $s2 = $mw->Scrollbar(-orient => 'vertical');
     
     $s1->pack(-side => 'left', -fill => 'y');
     my $t = $mw->Text(
         -yscrollcommand =>  sub{$s1->set(@_), $s2->set(@_)},
         -wrap           => 'word',
         -width          => 70,
         -height         => 20, 
         -font           => $font,
         -setgrid        => 1,
     )->pack(-side => 'left');
     $s2->pack(-side => 'right', -fill => 'y');
     $s1->configure(-command => [$t => 'yview']);
     $s2->configure(-command => [$t => 'yview']);
     
     MainLoop;
     
     __END__
 
 ______________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
 9.8. How do I display a bitmap? 
 
 You can display X bitmaps on your widgets with the -bitmap configuration option.
 Typically -bitmaps are configured into Label, Frame, Button, etc. widgets (
 Canvas widgets are another story however see question [10.1] below). In order to
 emphasize the bitmap option itself let us assume we were specifying a bitmap for a 
 Label with a call like: 
 
     $main->Label(-bitmap => 'bitmap-name')->pack;
 
 Where bitmap-name could be any of the built in Tk bitmaps: error, gray25, 
 gray50, hourglass, info, question, questhead, warning (see the 
 widget demo for a full list). 
 
 In order to use some of the bitmaps in the perl5/Tk/demos/images/ directory
 you would specify a fuller path name like: 
 
     $main->Label(-bitmap => "\@$tk_library/demos/images/face")->pack;
 
 Note the escaped "\@" on the directory specification (as well as the use of the 
 $tk_library variable imported by use Tk;). If you wanted to specify a file
 called foobar.xbm in the directory where you were running the script then either: 
 
     $main->Label(-bitmap => '@foobar.xbm')->pack;
 #or
     $main->Label(-bitmap => "\@foobar.xbm")->pack;
 
 should work just fine. In another directory however that would be a problem. So
 something like: 
 
     $main->Label(-bitmap => "\@$ENV{'HOME'}/img/foobar.xbm")->pack;
 
 will help someone who has an img/foobar.xbm file in their $HOME directory. If
 you don't mind the non-portability then hard-wiring in the full path name will help
 as well. (Or if you have write access then put your files in Tk/demos/images/ e.g.)
 
 ______________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
 9.9. How do I display an image? 
 
 You will want to get a "Photo" handle on the file as in the following example where 
 'imggif' is the Photo handle for a gif file that is distributed with Tk-b#: 
 
     #!/usr/bin/perl -w
     use strict;
     use Tk;
     my $main = new MainWindow;
 
     $main ->Label(-text => 'Main')->pack;
     $main -> Photo('imggif', 
                    -file => "$Tk::tk_library/demos/images/earth.gif");
     my $l = $main->Label('-image' => 'imggif')->pack;
 
     $main->Button(-text => 'close',
                   -command => sub{destroy $main}
                   )->pack(-side => 'left');
     $main->Button(-text => 'exit',
                   -command => [sub{exit}]
                   )->pack(-side => 'right');
     MainLoop;
 
 (Canvas widgets are another story however see question a later question within this
 FAQ). 
 
 ______________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
 9.10. What Image types are available? 
 
 In addition to the Tk builtin bitmaps there is support for reading images from files
 in formats such as: X11 Bitmaps (.xbm), X Pixmaps (.xpm), and Graphics Inline
 Format (.gif). See the CrtPhImgFmt man page for more info (if you have Tk 4.X
 installed). (In order to support other formats you might also consider running
 through a netpbm filter.) 
 
 For perl generation of images see the question (later in this FAQ) on graphics
 modules. 
 
 ______________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
 9.11. Is there any way to have more than one Listbox contain a selection? 
 
 To allow more than one Listbox to contain a "selection", (or at least a highlighted
 item - which need not be the actual selection) specify the configuration option: 
 
     -exportselection => 0
 
 which will dis-associate Listbox's selection from X selection (only one window
 can have X selection at a time). 
 
 Here is a rather simple script that illustrates what happens when only one Listbox
 has -exportselection => 0 specified: 
 
     #!/usr/bin/perl -w
     
     use Tk;
     
     my $main = MainWindow->new;
     
     my @fruits = ('Apple','Banana','Cherry','Date','Elderberry','Fig');
     my @nuts   = qw(Almond Brazil Chestnut Doughnut Elmnut Filbert);
     
     my $fruit_list = $main->Listbox();
     for (@fruits) { $fruit_list -> insert('end',$_); }
     $fruit_list->pack();
     my $fruitprint_button = $main->Button(
                               -text => "print selection",
                               -command => sub{ printthem($fruit_list) }
                                           )->pack;
     
     my $nut_list = $main->Listbox(
                                   -selectmode => 'multiple',
                                   -exportselection => 0,
                                  )->pack;
     for (@nuts) { $nut_list -> insert('end',$_); }
     my $nutprint_button = $main->Button(
                               -text => "print selection(s)",
                               -command => sub{ printthem($nut_list) }
                                           )->pack;
     
     my $quit_button = $main->Button(-text => "quit program", 
                                     -command => sub{exit},
                                     )->pack();
     
     MainLoop;
     
     sub printthem {
         my $list = shift;
         my @entries = $list->curselection;
         for (@entries) { print $list -> get($_),"\n";}
     }
 
 For a more extensive example of Listbox usage combined with some perl data
 structure exploitation see the script at: 
 
     http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/~pvhp/ptk/etc/lb-constructor
 
 ______________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
 9.12. How do I select a range of tags in a Text widget? 
 
 A question arose concerning getting a range of selections from a Text widget. Nick
 Ing-Simmons' answer mentions several possibilities including: 
 
  Keyboard Copy/Paste 'is' implemented of course... 
 
 
 Subj:   RE: $Text->tag('ranges', 'sel') - does this work?
 
 In <199512291957.OAA02609@ohm.nrl.navy.mil>
 On Fri, 29 Dec 1995 14:57:42 -0500
 Charles J Williams <chas@ohm.nrl.navy.mil> writes:
 !I was writing a little tk perl today, and i decided to try to 
 !implement a copy/paste using the 'sel' tag
 !
 !I enabled exportselection, and then try to probe the select 
 !region with:
 !
 !    $buffer = $text->tag('ranges', 'sel');
 !
 !$buffer comes back with one entry, the end of the selection.
 
  That is to be expected - the scalar gets assigned the last element of the list. 
 
 
 !I tried:
 !
 !    @buffer = $text->tag('ranges', 'sel');
 !
 !same difference.
 
  This seems to work for me: 
 
     ($start,$end) = $text->tagRanges('sel');
 
  In perl/Tk ->tagRanges(...) is an alias for ->tag('ranges',...) 
 
  The following subroutine can also probe and print the tagRanges: 
 
     sub showsel  
     { 
      my $text = @_;
      my @info = $text->tagRanges('sel');
      if (@info)
       {
        print "start=$info[0] end=$info[1]\n" 
       }
     }
 
 ______________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
 9.13. How do I group Radiobuttons together? 
 
 Specify the -variable option on each one. Here is an example pulled from the 
 icon.pl demo script: 
 
      $letters = '';
      my $w_frame_left_b3 = $w_frame_left->Radiobutton(
          -bitmap   => "\@$tk_library/demos/images/letters",
          -variable => \$letters,
          -value    => 'full',
      );
      my $w_frame_left_b4 = $w_frame_left->Radiobutton(
          -bitmap   => "\@$tk_library/demos/images/noletters",
          -variable => \$letters,
          -value    => 'empty',
      );
 
 ______________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
 9.14. How do I specify fonts? 
 
 The quick answer is to specify the font configuration option of your widget as in: 
 
     #!/usr/local/bin/perl -w
     use Tk;
     $main = MaiWindow->new();
     $labl = $main -> Label('-text' => "Foo", '-font' => "fixed");
     $labl -> pack;
     MainLoop;
 
 The long answer involves figuring out what fonts you have access to locally. The Unix
 programs xlsfonts and xfontsel are useful in this regard. 
 
 The perl/Tk version of xfontsel was distributed as the font_test script in the
 Tk-b9.01 build directory. 
 
 See also the later question (within this FAQ) on international fonts. 
 
 ______________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
 9.15. How do I get the entry in an Entry? 
 
 You want to call get on the return value of the widget itself. Here is how it may be
 used in a simplified version of example 1.1 from the Tk::UserGuide where a Button
 is set up to call a sub where the call to get lies: 
 
     #!/usr/bin/perl -w
     use strict;
     use Tk;
 
     my $main = MainWindow -> new();
     my $entry = $main -> Entry();
     $entry -> pack;
     $main->Button(-text => 'Print', 
                   -command => sub{do_print($entry)}
                   )->pack;
     MainLoop;
 
     sub do_print {
         my ($widget) = @_;
         my $entered = $widget -> get();
         print "The string \"$entered\" was entered.\n";
     }
 
 ______________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
 9.16. How do I hide a password Entry? 
 
 Set the -show option to zero, as in this example: 
 
     $entry = $form->Entry(-textvariable => \$user_entry, 
                           -show => 0);
 
 ______________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
 9.17. How do I obtain Menus that do not tear off? 
 
 Nick Ing-Simmons outlined a couple of ways to achieve this result. The critical
 feature being the -tearoff => 0 configuration option of the Menu. In Nick's
 words: 
 
     my $mb = $parent->Menubutton(...);    # The button
     my $menu = $mb->Menu(-tearoff => 0);  # Create a non-tearoff menu
     $mb->configure(-menu => $menu);       # Tell button to use it.
     $mb->command(....);
 
  Above is for clarity - you can loose $menu variable: 
 
     my $mb = $parent->Menubutton(...);  
     $mb->configure(-menu => $mb->Menu(-tearoff => 0));  
     $mb->command(....);