### 2.10 entry

entry \- Create and manipulate entry widgets

#### Synopsis

entry pathName ?options?

#### Standard Options

    background      foreground        insertWidth       selectForeground
    borderWidth     insertBackground  relief            textVariable
    cursor          insertBorderWidth scrollCommand
    exportSelection insertOffTime     selectBackground
    font            insertOnTime      selectBorderWidth

See options, for more information.

#### Arguments for Entry

`:state`

  Name=`"state" Class=`"`State"`

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

`:width`

  Name=`"width" Class=`"`Width"`

  Specifies an integer value indicating the desired width of the entry window, in average-size characters of the widget’s font.

#### Description

The entry command creates a new window (given by the pathName argument) and makes it into an entry widget. Additional options, described above, may be specified on the command line or in the option database to configure aspects of the entry such as its colors, font, and relief. The entry 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.

An entry is a widget that displays a one-line text string and allows that string to be edited using widget commands described below, which are typically bound to keystrokes and mouse actions. When first created, an entry’s string is empty. A portion of the entry may be selected as described below. If an entry is exporting its selection (see the exportSelection option), then it will observe the standard X11 protocols for handling the selection; entry selections are available as type STRING. Entries also observe the standard Tk rules for dealing with the input focus. When an entry has the input focus it displays an insertion cursor to indicate where new characters will be inserted.

Entries are capable of displaying strings that are too long to fit entirely within the widget’s window. In this case, only a portion of the string will be displayed; commands described below may be used to change the view in the window. Entries use the standard scrollCommand mechanism for interacting with scrollbars (see the description of the scrollCommand option for details). They also support scanning, as described below.

#### A Entry Widget’s Arguments

The entry 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.

Many of the widget commands for entries take one or more indices as arguments. An index specifies a particular character in the entry’s string, in any of the following ways:

number

  Specifies the character as a numerical index, where 0 corresponds to the first character in the string.

end

  Indicates the character just after the last one in the entry’s string. This is equivalent to specifying a numerical index equal to the length of the entry’s string.

insert

  Indicates the character adjacent to and immediately following the insertion cursor.

sel.first

  Indicates the first character in the selection. It is an error to use this form if the selection isn’t in the entry window.

sel.last

  Indicates the last character in the selection. It is an error to use this form if the selection isn’t in the entry window.

@number

  In this form, number is treated as an x-coordinate in the entry’s window; the character spanning that x-coordinate is used. For example, “@0” indicates the left-most character in the window.

Abbreviations may be used for any of the forms above, e.g. “e” or “sel.f”. In general, out-of-range indices are automatically rounded to the nearest legal value.

The following commands are possible for entry widgets:

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 entry command.

pathName :delete first ?last?

  Delete one or more elements of the entry. First and last are indices of of the first and last characters in the range to be deleted. If last isn’t specified it defaults to first, i.e. a single character is deleted. This command returns an empty string.

pathName :get

  Returns the entry’s string.

pathName :icursor index

  Arrange for the insertion cursor to be displayed just before the character given by index. Returns an empty string.

pathName :index index

  Returns the numerical index corresponding to index.

pathName :insert index string

  Insert the characters of string just before the character indicated by index. Returns an empty string.

pathName :scan option args

  This command is used to implement scanning on entries. It has two forms, depending on option:

  pathName :scan :mark x

    Records x and the current view in the entry 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

    This command computes the difference between its x argument and the x argument to the last scan mark command for the widget. It then adjusts the view left or right by 10 times the difference in x-coordinates. This command is typically associated with mouse motion events in the widget, to produce the effect of dragging the entry at high speed through the window. The return value is an empty string.

pathName :select option arg

  This command is used to adjust the selection within an entry. It has several forms, depending on option:

  pathName :select :adjust index

    Locate the end of the selection nearest to the character given by index, and adjust that end of the selection to be at index (i.e including but not going beyond index). The other end of the selection is made the anchor point for future select to commands. If the selection isn’t currently in the entry, then a new selection is created to include the characters between index and the most recent selection anchor point, inclusive. Returns an empty string.

  pathName :select :clear

    Clear the selection if it is currently in this widget. If the selection isn’t in this widget then the command has no effect. Returns an empty string.

  pathName :select :from index

    Set the selection anchor point to just before the character given by index. Doesn’t change the selection. Returns an empty string.

  pathName :select :to index

    Set the selection to consist of the elements from the anchor point to element index, inclusive. The anchor point is determined by the most recent select from or select adjust command in this widget. If the selection isn’t in this widget then a new selection is created using the most recent anchor point specified for the widget. Returns an empty string.

pathName :view index

  Adjust the view in the entry so that element index is at the left edge of the window. Returns an empty string.

#### "Default Bindings"

Tk automatically creates class bindings for entries that give them the following default behavior:

- [1] Clicking mouse button 1 in an entry positions the insertion cursor just before the character underneath the mouse cursor and sets the input focus to this widget.
- [2] Dragging with mouse button 1 strokes out a selection between the insertion cursor and the character under the mouse.
- [3] The ends of the selection can be adjusted by dragging with mouse button 1 while the shift key is down; this will adjust the end of the selection that was nearest to the mouse cursor when button 1 was pressed.
- [4] The view in the entry can be adjusted by dragging with mouse button 2.
- [5] If the input focus is in an entry widget and characters are typed on the keyboard, the characters are inserted just before the insertion cursor.
- [6] Control-h and the Backspace and Delete keys erase the character just before the insertion cursor.
- [7] Control-w erases the word just before the insertion cursor.
- [8] Control-u clears the entry to an empty string.
- [9] Control-v inserts the current selection just before the insertion cursor.
- [10] Control-d deletes the selected characters; an error occurs if the selection is not in this widget.

If the entry is disabled using the state option, then the entry’s view can still be adjusted and text in the entry can still be selected, but no insertion cursor will be displayed and no text modifications will take place.

The behavior of entries can be changed by defining new bindings for individual widgets or by redefining the class bindings.

#### Keywords

entry, widget