ANNOUNCE: GRIDPLUS2.2 - A Grid/Tile Based Screen Building Tool For Tcl/Tk
Adrian Davis
http://www.satisoft.com/tcltk/gridplus2
New and Enhanced Features
------------------------------------------
*) New -icons option for tree to determine whether or not icons are
displayed.
Changes
-------------
*) The gpmap modified to map to a dropdown value (which makes much
more sense!!).
*) The window command mode has been modified so that (for a contained
window) the
windowcommand is invoked when a window of the same name already
exists.
Bug Fixes
-------------
*) Fixed container problem caused by latest latest Tcl/Tk release.
*) Fixed layout edge padding problem for some layouts using spanned
columns.
GRIDPLUS2:
====================
GRIDPLUS2 is a Tile based version of GRIDPLUS. Whereas GRIDPLUS
Version 1 has features to control widget style as well as window
layout - GRIDPLUS2 assumes that the Tile style engine facilties will
be used to control widget styles. GRIDPLUS2 instead provides
SIGNIFICANTLY ENHANCED screen layout/desgin functionality - which can
further reduce the coding required to achieve the desired widow/
widget layout.
One of the main enhancements is the new GRIDPLUS2 Widget Grid. With
GRIDPLUS1 it was only possible to create one type of widget in a
particular Grid (Buttons, checkbuttons, entries etc.). In order to
mix widgets in a Grid it was neccessary to create additional Grids for
the other widget types and then "embed" them into a parent Grid. The
new widget Grid allows all of the GRIDPLUS widget types to be mixed
in the same Grid.
See http://www.satisoft.com.tcltk/gridplus2/readme-20.html for
further details.
WHAT IS GRIDPLUS:
====================
GRIDPLUS is a package intended to simplify GUI screen layout
development for TCL/TK programmers. GRIDPLUS is the second in a
series of packages aimed at producing a framework for development
and distribution of "database" applications written in Tcl/Tk, but I
feel that some of the packages may also be of more general interest.
The first package ICONS, released 2002 (http://www.satisoft.com/
tcltk/ icons), was originally developed to be used with GRIDPLUS.
Firstly: GRIDPLUS is not a "Visual" design tool.
GRIDPLUS is a "Grid" based layout system which builds on, simplifies
and extends the existing grid manager. GRIDPLUS layouts are defined
as a hierarchy of grids. Each cell in a grid consists of two
elements. These will usually be a text label and some other widget
such as an entry. It is also allowed to have just one element in a
cell, or a cell which is empty. GRIDPLUS grids can also be stretched
to neatly fill the cells in which they are positioned. While the
GRIDPLUS grid can be used "native", GRIDPLUS commands/options exist
to create grids of Buttons, Checkbuttons, Dropdowns (Comboboxes),
Entries, Menubuttons, Links and Radiobuttons. All places where text
can be displayed make use of the TCL message catalogue facility.
In effect GRIDPLUS is much more than an alternative to the grid
geometry manager, it provides most, if not all, of the facilities
required to build complete screens/windows. Although aimed at
producing data entry/update/display form screens for database
applications, it may be useful for other tasks.
GRIDPLUS also includes the following features:-
*) Scrollable text widget.
*) Scrollable tablelist.
*) Scrollable tree widget.
*) Basic notebook type widget.
*) Simple drop-down menus.
*) Simple method to specify widget traversal order when using the TAB
key to navigate the screen.
*) A group facility to enable/disable groups of widgets and menu
options.
*) Facility to include non-GRIDPLUS widgets in groups.
*) Simple pattern/procedure based entry validations.
*) Works with toplevel windows.
*) ...and much, much more!!
Best Regards,
=Adrian=