ANNOUNCE: GRIDPLUS2 - A Grid/Tile Based Screen Building Tool For Tcl/Tk
Adrian Davis
http://www.satisoft.com/tcltk/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.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 beused "native", GRIDPLUS commands/options exist to create gridsof
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=
Adrian Davis
The README URL is actually:-
http://www.satisoft.com/tcltk/gridplus2/readme.html
Regards,
=Adrian=
Torsten Reincke
this is a big step forward. Thanks for this really nice package! I
tried a few of the examples using Linux and they worked great.
Just one thing: Is it possible to avoid placing the package into [info
library]? I have collected all my Tcl packages in a directory different
from [info library] and installing the icons package there will not do
due to the lookup in [info library].
Torsten
Adrian Davis
> library]? I have collected all my Tcl packages in a directory different
> from [info library] and installing the icons package there will not do
> due to the lookup in [info library].
The icons can be in any directory. The default is [info library], but
you can specify an alternative location by using either:-
The "-iconpath" command option to set the directory for a particular
command.
...or...
The "Gridplus.iconPath" option database item. For example; putting...
option add *Gridplus.iconPath /my/icon/directory
...at the begining of your application will set the default location
for icon files to "/my/icon/directory".
I hope this helps.
Regards,
=Adrian=