controlwidget(3) Collection of widgets for displaying and controlling numerical values

SYNOPSIS

package require Tcl ?8.5?

package require Tk ?8.5?

package require snit ?2.0?

package require controlwidget ?0.1?

::controlwidget::meter w args

::controlwidget::slider w args

::controlwidget::equalizerBar w args

::controlwidget::thermometer w args

::controlwidget::voltmeter w args

::controlwidget::tachometer w args

::controlwidget::rdial w args

$widget get

$widget set value

::controlwidget::led w args

::controlwidget::radioMatrix w args

$led on

$led off

$led setstate state

$matrix get

$matrix set index




DESCRIPTION

The controlwidget package focuses on the display and interactive control of numerical values. It mimicks several of the meters and controls found in laboratory settings but also daily life: volt meters, equalizers and tachometers to name a few. They can be seen as alternatives for the scale widget.

Note: The package has not sofar been tested extensively, and that may result in an unexpected appearance if you use sizes that are different than the defaults. Also not all options for the coloring of the various parts and fonts and so on have been tested, so that may be another source of bugs.

A last note: some parts have not been included in any option, most notably the colors of parts that require lighter and darker shades to cooperate.

TYPES OF WIDGETS

The package distinguishes several typed of widgets:
  • Vertical meters: the value of the variable is translated into a vertical position, like with the coloured bars you find on your stereo installation.
  • Angle displays: the value of the variable is related to the angle of a needle, like with tachometers.
  • Interactive widgets: most widgets allow you to change the value of the variable by pressing the mouse button on the needle and shifting it up and down or left and right.
  • Non-interactive widgets: some widgets, like the thermometer widget, do not allow such interaction.
  • Logical or choice widgets: some widgets display the values as either on/off (or true/false) or as one of a set of discrete choices.

All widgets have in common, however, that you can connect them to a variable and that changing the variable changes the display. Forthermore, all widgets have the set and get methods to interact with the value that the widget displays (whether that is stored in a global variable or not).

They also have in common that their appearance and behaviour is determined by one or more options that you can set at creation time and often later on as well. The widgets are all based on the snit package, so that the methods configure and cget are available to set and get these options.

COMMANDS

Currently the package contains these widgets of the vertical meter type:
::controlwidget::meter w args
Create a vertical meter consisting of an axis and a moveable arrow.
widget w (in)
Name of the widget to be created.
arguments args (in)
List of key-value pairs, controlling the appearance and behaviour of the widget:
variable name
Name of the variable to be associated with the meter
background color
Background color for the widget
height pixels
Height of the widget
width pixels
Width of the widget
arrowthickness pixels
Thickness of the displayed arrow in pixels
arrowcolor color
Color of the displayed arrow
readonly boolean
Whether the arrow can be moved interactively or not
::controlwidget::slider w args
Create a widget containing one or more vertical sliders and an axis. You can shift the slider handles interactively via the mouse.
widget w (in)
Name of the widget to be created.
arguments args (in)
List of key-value pairs, controlling the appearance and behaviour of the widget:
variable name
Name of the (list) variable to be associated with the widget
number integer
Number of sliders in the widget
background color
Background color for the widget
height pixels
Height of the widget
width pixels
Width of the widget
sliderthickness pixels
Thickness of the slider handles
sliderwidth color
Width of the slider handles
troughwidth color
Width of the troughs holding the sliders
::controlwidget::equalizerBar w args
Create a widget containing one or more vertical bars resembling those found on hifi graphical equalizers. Note that it is a read-only widget.
widget w (in)
Name of the widget to be created.
arguments args (in)
List of key-value pairs, controlling the appearance and behaviour of the widget:
variable name
Name of the (list) variable to be associated with the widget
number integer
Number of bars in the widget
background color
Background color for the widget
height pixels
Height of the widget
width pixels
Width of the widget
barwidth pixels
Width of the bars
segments integer
Number of segments the bars are divided in
safecolor color
Color for values lower than the warning level
warningcolor color
Color for values greater than the warning level
warninglevel double
Threshold value, determines at what level the color changes
::controlwidget::thermometer w args
Create a thermometer widget (read-only)
widget w (in)
Name of the widget to be created.
arguments args (in)
List of key-value pairs, controlling the appearance and behaviour of the widget:
variable name
Name of the (list) variable to be associated with the widget
background color
Background color for the widget
height pixels
Height of the widget
width pixels
Width of the widget
linethickness pixels
Thickness of the line representing the "temperature"
linecolor color
Color of the line

These widgets all use a vertical axis and have the following options in common for configuring the axis:

axisformat string
Format string for formatting the numbers along the axis
axisfont string
Name of the font to be used for the numbers
axiscolor color
Color of the axis (including the numbers)
from color
Lower value for the axis
to color
Upper value for the axis
majorticks integer
Number of major tickmarks to draw (each is labelled)
minorticks integer
Number of minor tickmarks to draw between two major tickmarks
log boolean
Use a logarithmic axis (true) or a linear axis (false)

The package contains the following widget based on angle displays:

::controlwidget::voltmeter w args
Create a voltmeter-like widget.
widget w (in)
Name of the widget to be created.
arguments args (in)
List of key-value pairs, controlling the appearance and behaviour of the widget:
variable name
Name of the variable to be associated with the meter
value value
Value for the meter (if not associated with a variable)
min value
The minimum value for data in the display
max value
The maximum value for data in the display
labels list
The labels to be shown along the scale. (These are simply considered texts, so no relation with the minimum and maximum perse)
title string
String to be shown below the dial
width pixels
The width of the widget
height pixels
The height of the widget
borderwidth pixels
The width of the border surrounding the entire widget
relief string
The relief of the border surrounding the entire widget
highlightthickness pixels
The width of the border to indicate the widget has keyboard focus
labelfont fontname
Font of the labels to the scale
titlefont fontname
Font of the title below the dial
dialcolor color
Color of the dial holding the needle
needlecolor color
Color of the needle
scalecolor color
Color of the scale (arc and tickmarks)
labelcolor color
Color of the labels to the scale
titlecolor color
Color of the title below the dial
::controlwidget::tachometer w args
Create a tachometer-like widget.
widget w (in)
Name of the widget to be created.
arguments args (in)
List of key-value pairs, controlling the appearance and behaviour of the widget. In addition to the ones given for the voltmeter widget:
variable name
Name of the variable to be associated with the meter
value value
Value for the meter (if not associated with a variable)
dangerlevel value
Level above which values are indicated with a different color
dangercolor color
Color for the values above the "danger level"
dangerwidth pixels
Width for the colored band indicating the "danger level"
pincolor color
Color for the needle and the pin
::controlwidget::rdial w args
Create a rotating dial. You can drag the dial to change the value. With the shift button depressed the value changes slowly, with the control button depressed it changes fast.
widget w (in)
Name of the widget to be created.
arguments args (in)
List of key-value pairs, controlling the appearance and behaviour of the widget:
variable name
Name of the variable to be associated with the dial
value value
Value for the dial (if not associated with a variable)
orient string
Whether a horizontal disk/dial is required ("horizontal") or a vertical one ("vertical")
step value
Initial step for incrementing or decrementing the value
slow value
Factor on the step size for incrementing or decrementing the value slowly
fast value
Factor on the step size for incrementing or decrementing the value fast
scale value
Scale value to be applied to the actual value
callback command
Command to be called when the value changes
width pixels
The width of the widget
height pixels
The height of the widget
background color
The background color of the widget (coloring of the disk/dial)
foreground color
The foreground color of the widget (the marker lines)

All these widgets have the following methods:

$widget get
Return the current value or values shown in the widget
$widget set value
Reset the value or values shown in the widget. If the widget is associated with a variable, that variable is set as well.
value double/list
New value or values for the widget

Two further widgets are available, meant to display logical values:

::controlwidget::led w args
Create a LED-like widget.
widget w (in)
Name of the widget to be created.
arguments args (in)
List of key-value pairs, controlling the appearance and behaviour of the widget. In addition to the ones given for the voltmeter widget:
variable name
Name of the variable to be associated with the LED
size pixels
Diameter of the LED widget
on color
Color to use for the "on" state
off color
Color to use for the "off" state
::controlwidget::radioMatrix w args
Create a matrix of radio buttons that behaves as a single widget.
widget w (in)
Name of the widget to be created.
arguments args (in)
List of key-value pairs, controlling the appearance and behaviour of the widget. In addition to the ones given for the voltmeter widget:
variable name
Name of the variable to be associated with the matrix
orient string
The way the radio buttons are to be arranged (horizontal or vertical first)
rows integer
Number of rows in the matrix
columns integer
Number of columns in the matrix
command list
Command associated with the radio buttons. Invoked when the active radio button changes.

The LED widget has the following public methods:

$led on
Set the state to "on"
$led off
Set the state to "off"
$led setstate state
Set the state according to the value of "state"
state boolean (in)
New state for the LED widget

The radioMatrix widget has two public methods:

$matrix get
Return the index of the currently selected radio button
$matrix set index
Select the radio button with index "index"
index integer
Index of the radio button to be set

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The code for most of these widgets first appeared on the Wiki. In many cases, Arjen Markus merely refactored the code a bit and "snitified" some of them. The original code was developed by the following people:
  • Vertical meter, LED display, radio matrix: Ron Fox
  • Rotating dials: Gerhard Reithofer
  • Voltmeter and tachometer: Marco Maggi
  • Code for moving the needle: ?

KEYWORDS

controlling, displaying, numerical values, scale widget

COPYRIGHT

Copyright (c) 2010 Ron Fox <rfox@...>
Copyright (c) 2010 Gerhard Reithofer <...@...>
Copyright (c) 2010 Marco Maggi <...@...>
Copyright (c) 2010 Arjen Markus <[email protected]>

LAST SEARCHED