3. Defining Forms

In this chapter we will describe the basics of defining forms. Not all possible classes of objects are described here, only the most common ones. Also, for most classes only a subset of the available types are described. See Part III for a complete overview of all object classes currently available.

Normally you will almost never have to write the code to define forms yourself because the package includes a Form Designer that does this for you (see Part II). Still it is useful to read through this chapter because it explains what some of the different object classes are and how to work with them.

3.1 Starting and Ending a Form Definition

A form consists of a collection of objects. A form definition is started with the routine

FL_FORM *fl_bgn_form(int type, FL_Coord w, FL_Coord h);

w and h indicate the width and height of the form (in pixels by default). Positions in the form will be indicated by integers between 0 and w-1 or h-1. The actual size of the form when displayed on the screen can still be varied. type indicates the type of the background drawn in the form. The background of each form is a box. See the next section for the different types available. The routine returns a pointer to the form just defined. This pointer must be used, for example, when drawing the form or doing interaction with it. The form definition ends with

void fl_end_form(void);

Between these two calls objects are added to the form. The following sections describe some of the more common classes of objects that can be added to a form.

there's no built-in upper limit on the number of forms that can be defined and displayed when required. Normally you probably will first define all your forms before starting the actual work but it's no problem to define new forms also later on.

3.2 Boxes

The probably simplest type of objects are boxes. Boxes are used to give the forms and objects a nicer appearance. They can be used to visually group other objects together. The background of each form is a box. To add a box to a form you use the routine

FL_OBJECT *fl_add_box(int type, FL_Coord x, FL_Coord y,
                      FL_Coord w, FL_Coord h, const char *label);

where type indicates the shape of the box. The Forms Library at the moment supports the following types of boxes:

FL_NO_BOX

No box at all (it's transparent), just a label

FL_UP_BOX

A box that comes out of the screen

FL_DOWN_BOX

A box that goes down into the screen

FL_BORDER_BOX

A flat box with a border

FL_SHADOW_BOX

A flat box with a shadow

FL_FRAME_BOX

A flat box with an engraved frame

FL_ROUNDED_BOX

A rounded box

FL_EMBOSSED_BOX

A flat box with an embossed frame

FL_FLAT_BOX

A flat box without a border (normally invisible unless given a different color than the surroundings)

FL_RFLAT_BOX

A rounded box without a border (normally invisible unless given a different color than the surroundings)

FL_RSHADOW_BOX

A rounded box with a shadow

FL_OVAL_BOX

A box shaped like an ellipse

FL_ROUNDED3D_UPBOX

A rounded box coming out of the screen

FL_ROUNDED3D_DOWNBOX

A rounded box going into the screen

FL_OVAL3D_UPBOX

An oval box coming out of the screen

FL_OVAL3D_DOWNBOX

An oval box going into the screen

The arguments x and y in the call of fl_add_box()indicate the upper left corner of the box in the form while w and h are its width and height. label is a text that is placed in the center of the box. If you don't want a label in the box use an empty string or a NULL pointer. The label can be either one line or multiple lines. To obtain multi-line labels, insert newline characters (\n) in the label string. It is also possible to underline the label or one of the characters in the label. This is accomplished by embedding <CNTRL> H (\010 or '\b') after the letter that needs to be underlined. If the very first character of the label is <Ctrl>H, the entire label is underlined.

The routine fl_add_box() returns a pointer to the box object. (All routines that add objects return a pointer to the object.) This pointer can be used for later references to the object.

It is possible to change the appearance of a box in a form. First of all, it is possible to change the color of the box and secondly, it is possible to change color, size and position of the label inside the box. Details on changing attributes of objects can be found in Changing Attributes. Just a simple example has to suffice here. Assume we want to create a red box, coming out of the screen with the large words "I am a Box" in green in the center:

FL_OBJECT *thebox;

thebox = fl_add_box(FL_UP_BOX, 20, 20, 100, 100, "I am a Box");
fl_set_object_color(thebox, FL_RED, 0 );    /* make box red     */
fl_set_object_lcolor(thebox, FL_GREEN );    /* make label green */
fl_set_object_lsize(thebox, FL_LARGE_SIZE); /* make label large */

Of course, this has to be placed inside a form definition (but the functions for changing the object attributes can also used anywhere else within the program).

3.3 Texts

A second type of object is text. Text can be placed at any place on the form in any color you like. Placing a text object is done with the routine

FL_OBJECT *fl_add_text(int type, FL_Coord x, FL_Coord y,
                       FL_Coord w, FL_Coord h, const char *label);

where type indicates the shape of the text. The Forms Library at the moment supports only one type of text: FL_NORMAL_TEXT.

The text can be placed inside a box using the routine fl_set_object_boxtype() to be described in Changing Attributes. Again, the text can be multi-lined or underlined by embedding respectively the newline (\n) or <Ctrl>H (\010 or '\b') in the label. The style, size and color of the text can be controlled and changed in many ways, see section Label Attributes and Fonts.

Note that there is almost no difference between a box with a label and a text. The only difference lies in the position where the text is placed object. Text is normally placed inside the box at the left side. This helps you put different lines of text below each other. Labels inside boxes are by default centered in the box. You can change the position of the text inside the box using the routines in Label Attributes and Fonts. Note that, when not using any box around the text there is no need to specify a width and height of the box, they can both be 0.

3.4 Buttons

A very important class of objects are buttons. Buttons are placed on the form such that the user can push them with the mouse. Different types of buttons exist: buttons that return to their normal position when the user releases the mouse, buttons that stay pushed until the user pushes them again and radio buttons that make other buttons be released. Adding a button to a form can be done using the following routine

FL_OBJECT *fl_add_button(int type, FL_Coord x, FL_Coord y,
                         FL_Coord w, FL_Coord h,
                         const char *label);

label is the text placed inside (or next to) the button. type indicates the type of the button. The Forms Library at the moment supports a number of types of buttons. The most important ones are:

FL_NORMAL_BUTTON
FL_PUSH_BUTTON
FL_TOUCH_BUTTON
FL_RADIO_BUTTON

They all look the same on the screen but their functions are quite different. Each of these buttons get pushed down when the user presses the mouse on top of them. What actually happens when the user does so depends on the type of button.

A normal button returns to its normal position when the user releases the mouse button.

A push button remains pushed and is only released when the user pushes it again.

A touch button is like a normal button except that as long as the user keeps the mouse pressed it is returned to the application program (see section Doing Interaction on the details of interaction).

A radio button is a push button with additional extra property: Whenever the user pushes a radio button, all other pushed radio buttons in the form (or at least in the group, see below) they belong to are released. In this way the user can make a choice among some mutually exclusive possibilities.

Whenever the user pushes a button and then releases the mouse, the interaction routine fl_do_forms() is interrupted and returns a pointer to the button that was pushed and released. If a callback routine is present for the object being pushed, this routine will be invoked. In either case, the application program knows that the button was pushed and can take action accordingly. In the first case, control will have to be returned to fl_do_forms() again after the appropriate action is performed; and in the latter, fl_do_forms() would never return. See section Doing Interaction, for details on the interaction with forms.

Different types of buttons are used in all the example programs provided. The application program can also set a button to appear pushed or not without user action. This is of course only useful for push buttons and radio buttons. To set or reset a push or radio button use the routine

void fl_set_button(FL_OBJECT *obj, int pushed);

pushed indicates whether the button should appear to be pushed (1) or released (0). Note that this does not invoke a callback routine bound to the button or results in the button getting returned to the program, i.e., only the visual appearance of the button is changed and what it returns when asked for its state (and, in the case of a radio button, possibly that of another radio button in the same group). To also get the callback invoked or the button returned to the program additonally call e.g., fl_trigger_object().

To figure out whether a button appears as pushed or not use

int fl_get_button(FL_OBJECT *obj);

See the program `pushbutton.c' for an example of the use of push buttons and setting and getting button information.

The color and label of buttons can again be changed using the routines in Changing Attributes.

There are other classes of buttons available that behave the same way as buttons but only look different.

Light buttons

have a small "light" (colored area) in the button. Pushing the button switches the light on, and releasing the button switches it off. To add a light button use fl_add_lightbutton() with the same parameters as for normal buttons. The other routines are exactly the same as for normal buttons. The color of the light can be controlled with the routine fl_set_object_color(), see section Changing Attributes.

Round buttons

are buttons that are round. Use fl_add_roundbutton() to add a round button to a form.

Round3d buttons

are buttons that are round and 3D-ish looking. Round and light buttons are nice as radio and push buttons.

Check buttons

are buttons that have a small checkbox the user can push. To add a check button, use fl_add_checkbutton(). More stylish for a group of radio buttons.

Bitmap buttons

are buttons that have a bitmap on top of the box. Use routine fl_add_bitmapbutton() to add a bitmap button to a form.

Pixmap buttons

are buttons that have a pixmap on top of the box. Use routine fl_add_pixmapbutton() to add a pixmap button to a form.

Playing with different boxtypes, colors, etc., you can make many different types of buttons. See `buttonall.c' for some examples. Fig. 16.1 shows all buttons in their default states.

3.5 Sliders

Sliders are useful in letting the user indicate a value between some fixed bounds. A slider is added to a form using the routine

FL_OBJECT *fl_add_slider(int type, FL_Coord x, FL_Coord y,
                         FL_Coord w, FL_Coord h,
                         const char *label);

The two most important types of sliders are FL_VERT_SLIDERM and FL_HOR_SLIDER. The former displays a slider that can be moved vertically and the latter gives a slider that moves horizontally. In both cases the label is placed below the slider. Default value of the slider is 0.5 and can vary between 0.0 and 1.0. These values can be changed using the routines:

void fl_set_slider_value(FL_OBJECT *obj, double val);
void fl_set_slider_bounds(FL_OBJECT *obj, double min, double max);

Whenever the value of the slider is changed by the user, it results in the slider being returned to the application program or the callback routine invoked. The program can read the slider value using the call

double fl_get_slider_value(FL_OBJECT *obj);

and take action accordingly. See the example program `demo05.c' for the use of these routines.

3.6 ValSliders

A valslider is almost identical with a normal slider. The only difference is the way the slider is drawn. For valsliders, in addition to the slider itself, its current value is also shown.

To add a valslider, use

FL_OBJECT *fl_add_valslider(int type, FL_Coord x, FL_Coord y,
                            FL_Coord w, FL_Coord h,
                            const char *label);

For all other interaction with a valslider the same function as for normal sliders can be used.

3.7 Input Fields

It is often required to obtain textual input from the user, e.g., a file name, some fields in a database, etc. To this end input fields exist in the Forms Library. An input field is a field that can be edited by the user using the keyboard. To add an input field to a form use

FL_OBJECT *fl_add_input(int type, FL_Coord x, FL_Coord y,
                        FL_Coord w, FL_Coord h, const char *label);

The main type of input field available is FL_NORMAL_INPUT. The input field normally looks like an FL_DOWN_BOX. This can be changed using the routine fl_set_object_boxtype() to be described in Changing Attributes.

Whenever the user presses the mouse inside an input field a cursor will appear in it (and it will change color). Further input will appear inside this field. Full emacs(1) style editing is supported. When the user presses <Return> or <Tab> the input field is returned to the application program and further input is directed to the next input field. (The <Return> key only works if there are no default buttons in the form. See the overview of object classes. The <Tab> key always works.)

The user can use the mouse to select parts of the input field which will be removed when the user types the erase character or replaced by any new input the user types in. Also the location of the cursor can be moved in the input field using the mouse.

The input field is fully integrated with the X Selection mechanism. Use the left button to cut from and the middle button to paste into an input field.

The application program can direct the focus to a particular object using the call

void fl_set_focus_object(FL_FORM *form, FL_OBJECT *obj);

It puts the input focus in the form form onto object obj. To obtain the focus object, the following routine is available

FL_OBJECT *fl_get_focus_object(FL_FORM *form);

Note that the label is not the default text in the input field. The label is (by default) placed in front of the input field. To set the contents of the input field use the routines

void fl_set_input(FL_OBJECT *obj, const char *str);
void fl_set_input_f(FL_OBJECT *obj, const char *fmt, ...);

To change the color of the input text or the cursor use

void fl_set_input_color(FL_OBJECT *obj, int tcol, int ccol);

Here tcol indicates the color of the text and ccol is the color of the cursor. To obtain the string in the field (when the user has changed it) use:

const char *fl_get_input(FL_OBJECT *obj);

See the program `demo06.c' for an example of the use of input fields.

3.8 Grouping Objects

Objects inside a form definition can be grouped together. To this end we place them in between the routines

FL_OBJECT *fl_bgn_group(void);

and

void fl_end_group(void);

The first function returns a pointer to a pseudo-object that represents the start of the group (its class is FL_BEGIN_GROUP). It can be used in a number of functions to work on the whole group at once. Also the second creates a pseudo-object (of class FL_END_GROUP), marking the groups end, but since this object can't be used its address isn't returned.

Groups can't be nested. Groups are useful for two reasons. First of all it is possible to hide groups of objects. (see section Hiding and Showing below.) This is often very handy. We can, for example, display part of a form only when the user asks for it (see demo program `group.c'. Some attributes are naturally multi-objects, e.g., to glue several objects together using the gravity attribute. Instead of setting the gravity for each object, you can place all related objects inside a group and set the resize/gravity attribute of the group.

The second reason is for using radio buttons. As indicated in section 3.4 pushing a radio button makes the currently pushed radio button released. In fact, this happens only with radio buttons in the particular group. So to make two pairs (or more) of radio buttons, simply put each pair in a different group so that they won't interfere with each other. See, e.g., the example program `buttonall.c'. It is a good idea to always put radio buttons in a group, even if you have only one set of them.

It is possible to add objects to an existing group

FL_OBJECT *fl_addto_group(FL_OBJECT *group);

where group is the object returned by fl_bgn_group(). After this call, you can start adding objects to the group (e.g., fl_add_button() etc.). The newly added objects are appended at the end of the group. When through with adding, use fl_end_group() as before.

3.9 Hiding and Showing

It is possible to temporarily hide certain objects or groups of objects. To this end, use the routine

void fl_hide_object(FL_OBJECT *obj);

obj is the object to hide or the group of objects to hide. Hidden objects don't play any role anymore. All routines on the form act as if the object does not exist. To make the object or group of objects visible again use

void fl_show_object(FL_OBJECT *obj);

Hiding and showing (groups of) objects are useful to change the appearance of a form depending on particular information provided by the user. You can also make overlapping groups in the form and take care that only one of them is visible.

If you want to know if an object is shown you can use

int fl_object_is_visible(FL_OBJECT *obj);

Please note for an object to be visible also the form it belongs to must be shown, which isn't factored into the return value.

3.10 Deactivating and Triggering Objects

Sometimes you might want a particular object to be temporarily inactive, e.g., you want to make it impossible for the user to press a particular button or to type input in a particular field. For this you can use the routine

void fl_deactivate_object(FL_OBJECT *obj);

obj is the object to be deactivated. When obj is a group the whole group is deactivated. To reactivate the group or button use the routine

void fl_activate_object(FL_OBJECT *obj);

To find out if an object is in active state use the function

int fl_object_is_active(FL_OBJECT *obj);

Normally you also want to give the user a visual indication that the object is not active. This can, for example, be done by changing the label color to grey (see below). This is not done automatically, so unless you set e.g., a different color the objects appearance won't change on deactivation (or re-activation).

It is possible to simulate the action of an object being triggered from within the program by using the following routine

void fl_trigger_object(FL_OBJECT *obj);

Calling this routine on an object obj results in the object returned to the application program or its callback being called if it exists. Note however, there is no visual feedback, i.e., fl_trigger_object(button) will not make the button object named button appear to be pushed.

3.11 Changing Attributes

There are a number of general routines that can be used to alter the appearance of any object.

3.11.1 Color

To change the color of a particular object use the routine

void fl_set_object_color(FL_OBJECT *obj,
                         FL_COLOR col1, FL_COLOR col2);

col1 and col2 are indices into a colormap. Which colors are actually changed depends on the type of the object. For box and text only col1 is important. It indicates the color of the box or of the box in which the text is placed. For buttons, col1 is the color of the button when released and col2 is the color of the button when pushed. (Note that when changing the color of a button the nice property that the color of a button changes when the mouse moves over it disappears.) For light buttons the two colors indicate the color of the light when off and when on. For bitmap buttons, col1 is the color of the box and col2 is the color of the bitmap. For sliders col1 is the color of the background of the slider and col2 is the color of the slider itself. Finally, for input objects col1 is the color of the input field when it is not selected and col2 is the color when it has input focus, i.e., the user can enter text. For all types of objects, the default colors can be found in the file `forms.h'. For example, for input fields the default colors are FL_INPUT_COL1 and FL_INPUT_COL2. Form Designer comes in very handy in familiarizing you with various attributes since you can change all attributes of an object and immediately see the difference by "test"ing the object.

To find out the colors of an object use

void fl_get_object_color(FL_OBJECT *obj,
                         FL_COLOR *col1, FL_COLOR *col2);

The following pre-defined color symbols can be used in all color change requests. If the workstation does not support this many colors, substitution by the closest color will happen.

Name	RGB triple
FL_BLACK	( 0, 0, 0)
FL_WHITE	(255, 255, 255),
FL_COL1	(173, 173, 173)
FL_BOTTOM_BCOL	( 89, 89, 89)
FL_RIGHT_BCOL	( 41, 41, 41)
FL_MCOL	(191, 191, 191)
FL_LEFT_BCOL	(222, 222, 222)
FL_LIGHTER_COL1	(204, 204, 204)
FL_DARKER_COL1	(161, 161, 161)
FL_SLATEBLUE	(113, 113, 198)
FL_INDIANRED	(198, 113, 113)
FL_RED	(255, 0, 0)
FL_BLUE	( 0, 0, 255)
FL_GREEN	( 0, 255, 0)
FL_YELLOW	(255, 255, 0)
FL_MAGENTA	(255, 0, 255)
FL_CYAN	( 0, 255, 255)
FL_TOMATO	255, 99, 71
FL_INACTIVE	(110, 110, 110)
FL_TOP_BCOL	(204, 204, 204)
FL_PALEGREEN	(113, 198, 113)
FL_DARKGOLD	(205, 149, 10)
FL_ORCHID	(205, 105, 201)
FL_DARKCYAN	(40, 170, 175)
FL_DARKTOMATO	(139, 54, 38)
FL_WHEAT	(255, 231, 155)
FL_DARKORANGE	(255, 128, 0)
FL_DEEPPINK	(255, 0, 128)
FL_CHARTREUSE	(128, 255, 0)
FL_DARKVIOLET	(128, 0, 255)
FL_SPRINGGREEN	( 0, 255, 128)
FL_DODGERBLUE	( 0, 128, 255)
FL_FREE_COL1	( ?, ?, ?)

Of all the colors listed in the table above FL_FREE_COL1 has the largest numerical value, and all color with indices smaller than that are used (or can potentially be used) by the Forms Library although, if you wish, they can also be changed using the following routine prior to fl_initialize():

void fl_set_icm_color(FL_COLOR index, int r, int g, int b);

Note that although the color of an object is indicated by a single index, it is not necessarily true that the Forms Library is operating in PseudoColor. Forms Library is capable of operating in all visuals and as a matter of fact the Forms Library will always select TrueColor or DirectColor if the hardware is capable of it.

The actual color is handled by an internal colormap of FL_MAX_COLORS entries (default is 1024). To change or query the values of this internal colormap use the call

void fl_set_icm_color(FL_COLOR index, int r, int g, int b);
void fl_get_icm_color(FL_COLOR index, int *r, int *g, int *b);

Call fl_set_icm_color() before fl_initialize() to change XForms's default colormap. Note that these two routines do not communicate with the X server, they only populate/return information about the internal colormap, which is made known to the X server by the initialization routine fl_initialize().

To change the colormap and make a color index active so that it can be used in various drawing routines after fl_initialize() initialization, use the following function

unsigned long fl_mapcolor(FL_COLOR i,
                          int red, int green, int blue);

This function frees the previous allocated pixel corresponding to color index i and re-allocates a pixel with the RGB value specified. The pixel value is returned by the function. It is recommended that you use an index larger than FL_FREE_COL1 for your remap request to avoid accidentally freeing the colors you have not explicitly allocated. Indices larger than 224 are reserved and should not be used.

Sometimes it may be more convenient to associate an index with a colorname, e.g., "red" etc., which may have been obtained via resources. To this end, the following routine exists

long fl_mapcolorname(FL_COLOR i, const char *name);

where name is the color name(2). The function returns -1 if the colorname name is not resolved. You can obtain the RGB values of an index by using the following routine

unsigned long fl_getmcolor(FL_COLOR i,
                           int *red, int *green, int *blue);

The function returns the pixel value as known by the Xserver. If the requested index, i, is never mapped or is freed, the RGB values as well as the pixel value are random. Since this function communicates with the Xserver to obtain the pixel information, it has a two-way traffic overhead. If you're only interested in the internal colormap of XForms, fl_get_icm_color() is more efficient.

Note that the current version only uses the lower byte of the primary color. Thus all primary colors in the above functions should be specified in the range of 0-255 inclusive.

To free any colors that you no longer need, the following routine should be used

void fl_free_colors(FL_COLOR colors[], int ncolors);

Prior to XForms version 0.76, there is a color "leakage" in the implementation of the internal colormap that prevents the old index from being freed in the call fl_mapcolor(), resulting in accelerated colormap overflow and some other undesirable behavior. Since there may still be some applications based on older versions of the Forms Library, a routine is provided to force the library to be compatible with the (buggy) behavior:

void fl_set_color_leak(int flag);

Due to the use of an internal colormap and the simplified user interface, changing the colormap value for the index may not result in a change of the color for the object. An actual redraw of the object (see below) whose color is changed may be required to have the change take effect. Therefore, a typical sequence of changing the color of a visible object is as follows:

fl_mapcolor(newcol, red, green, blue);  /* obj uses newcol */
fl_redraw_object(obj);

3.11.2 Bounding Boxes

Each object has a bounding box. This bounding box can have different shapes. For boxes it is determined by the type. For text it is normally not visible. For input fields it normally is a FL_DOWN_BOX, etc. The shape of the box can be changed using the routine

void fl_set_object_boxtype(FL_OBJECT *obj, int boxtype);

boxtype should be one of the following: FL_UP_BOX, FL_DOWN_BOX, FL_FLAT_BOX, FL_BORDER_BOX, FL_SHADOW_BOX, FL_ROUNDED_BOX, FL_RFLAT_BOX, FL_RSHADOW_BOX and FL_NO_BOX, with the same meaning as the type for boxes. Some care has to be taken when changing boxtypes. In particular, for objects like sliders, input fields, etc. never use the boxtype FL_NO_BOX. Don't change the boxtype of objects that are visible on the screen. It might have undesirable effects. If you must do so, redraw the entire form after changing the boxtype of an object (see below). See the program `boxtype.c' for the effect of the boxtype on the different classes of objects.

It is possible to alter the appearance of an object by changing the border width attribute

void fl_set_object_bw(FL_OBJECT *obj, int bw);

To find out about the current setting for the border width of an object call

int fl_get_object_bw(FL_OBJECT *obj);

Border width controls the "height" of an object, e.g., a button having a border width of 3 pixels appears more pronounced than one having a border width of 2. The Forms Library's default is FL_BOUND_WIDTH (1) pixels (before version 1.0.91 the default was 3). Note that the border width can be negative. Negative border width does not make a down box, rather, it makes the object having an upbox appear less pronounced and "softer". See program `borderwidth.c' for the effect of border width on different objects. All applications developed using XForms accept a command line option `-bw', followed by an integer number, the user can use to select the preferred border width. It is recommended that you document this flag in your application documentation. If you prefer a certain border width, use fl_set_defaults() or fl_set_border_width() before fl_initialize() to set the border width instead of hard-coding it on a per form or per object basis so the user has the option to change it at run time via the `-bw' flag.

There also exists a call that changes the object border width for the entire application

void fl_set_border_width(int border_width);

3.11.3 Label Attributes and Fonts

There are also a number of routines to change the appearance of the label. The first one is

void fl_set_object_lcolor(FL_OBJECT *obj, FL_COLOR lcol);

It sets the color of the label. The default is black (FL_BLACK). The font size of the label can be changed using the routine

void fl_set_object_lsize(FL_OBJECT *obj, int lsize);

where lsize gives the size in points. Depending on the server and fonts installed, arbitrary sizes may or may not be possible. Fig 3.5 shows the font sizes that are standard with MIT/XConsortium distribution. So use of these values is encouraged. In any case, if a requested size can not be honored, substitution will be made. The default size for XForms is 10pt.

Labels can be drawn in many different font styles. The style of the label can be controlled with the routine

void fl_set_object_lstyle(FL_OBJECT *obj, int lstyle);

The default font for the Forms Library is Helvetica at 10pt.

Additional styles are available:

The last three styles are special in that they are modifiers, i.e., they do not cause font changes themselves, they only modify the appearance of the font already active. E.g., to get a bold engraved text, set lstyle to FL_BOLD_STYLE|FL_ENGRAVED_STYLE.

Other styles correspond to the first 12 fonts. The package, however, can handle up to 48 different fonts. The first 16 (numbers 0-15) have been pre-defined. The following table gives their names:

 0 helvetica-medium-r
 1 helvetica-bold-r
 2 helvetica-medium-o
 3 helvetica-bold-o
 4 courier-medium-r
 5 courier-bold-r
 6 courier-medium-o
 7 courier-bold-o
 8 times-medium-r
 9 times-bold-r
10 times-medium-o
11 times-bold-o
12 charter-medium-r
13 charter-bold-r
14 charter-medium-i
15 Symbol

The other 32 fonts (numbers 16-47) can be filled in by the application program. Actually, the application program can also change the first 16 fonts if required (e.g., to force a particular resolution). To change a font for the the entire application, use one of the following routines:

int fl_set_font_name(int index, const char *name);
int fl_set_font_name(int index, const char *fmt, ...);

The first form accepts just a simple string for the font name while the second assembles the name from a format string as it's used with printf() etc. and the following arguments. The first argument, index, is the number of the font (between 0 and FL_MAXFONTS-1) and the font name should be a valid font name (with the exception of the size field). If you are defining a completely different font family starting at index k, it's a good idea to define k + FL_BOLD_STYLE to be the corresponding bold font in the family , and k + FL_ITALIC_STYLE the corresponding italic font in the family (so object like browser can obtain correct style when switching font styles):

#define Pretty       30
#define PrettyBold   (Pretty + FL_BOLD_STYLE)
#define PrettyItalic (Pretty + FL_ITALIC_STYLE)

fl_set_font_name(Pretty, fontname);
fl_set_font_name(PrettyBold, boldfontname);
fl_set_font_name(PrettyItalic, italicfontname);
...
fl_set_object_lstyle(obj, PrettyBold);

The function returns a negative value if the requested font is invalid or otherwise can't be loaded. Note however, if this routine is called before fl_initialize(), it will return 0, but may fail later if the font name is not valid. To change the default font (helvetica-medium), a program should change font FL_NORMAL_STYLE.

If a font name in XLFD is given, a question mark (?) in the point size position informs the Forms Library that variable size will be requested later. It is preferable that the complete XLFD name (i.e., with 14 dashes and possibly wildcards) be given because a complete name has the advantage that the font may be re-scalable if scalable fonts are available. This means that although both

"-*-helvetica-medium-r-*-*-*-?-*-*-*-*-*-*"
"-*-helvetica-medium-r-*-*-*-?-*-*"

are valid font names, the first form may be re-scalable while the the second is not. To obtain the actual built-in font names, use the following function

int fl_enumerate_fonts(void (*cb)(const char *f), int shortform);

where cb is a callback function that gets called once for every built-in font name. The font name is passed to the callback function as the string pointer parameter while shortform selects if a short form of the name should be used.

XForms only specifies the absolutely needed parts of the font names, and assumes the font path is set so that the server always chooses the most optimal fonts for the system. If this is not true, you can use fl_set_font_name() or fl_set_font_name_f() to select the exact font you want. In general, this is not recommended if your application is to be run/displayed on different servers.

See `fonts.c' for a demonstration of all the built-in font styles available.

You can change the alignment of the label with respect to the bounding box of the object. For this you should use the routine

void fl_set_object_lalign(FL_OBJECT *obj, int align);

with the following values for the align argument:

Alignment requests with the abpve constants place the text outside the box (except for FL_ALIGN_CENTER). To get a value that can be used to align the label within the object the function

int fl_to_inside_lalign(int align);

can be used, which returns the necessary value for the corresponding inside alignment. Except for the case of FL_ALIGN_CENTER (which is always inside the object) the result is the original value, logically or'ed with the constant .

There's also a function for the reverse conversion, i.e., from a calue for inside to outside alignment

int fl_to_outside_lalign(int align);

Using this functions is a bit simpler than combining the value with the FL_ALIGN_INSIDE constant, especially when it comes to FL_ALIGN_CENTER (which doesn't has the this bit set, even though labels with this alignment will always be shown within the object.

Both functions return -1 if an invalid value for the alignment is passed to them.

There exist also three functions to test for the inside or outside alignment:

int fl_is_inside_lalign(int align);
int fl_is_outside_lalign(int align);
int fl_is_center_lalign(int align);

Note that these functions return 0 also in the case that the alignment value passed to them is invalid.

Not all objects accept all kinds of label alignment. For example for sliders, inputs etc. it doesn't make sense to have the label within the object und in these cases a request for an inside label is ignored (or, more precisely, converted to the corresponding request for an outside label or, on a request with FL_ALIGN_CENTER, the reversion to the default label position). On the other hand, some objects like the text object (where the text to be shown is the label's text) accept only inside alignment and a request for an outside alignment will automatically replaced by the corresponding inside alignment.

See also the demo program `lalign.c' for an example of the positioning of labels using the above constants.

Finally, the routines

void fl_set_object_label(FL_OBJECT *obj, const char *label);
void fl_set_object_label_f(FL_OBJECT *obj, const char *fmt, ...);

change the label of a given object. Whilw the first function expects a simple string for the label. the second one accepts a format string with the same format specifiers as printf() etc., followed by as many additional arguments as there are format specifiers. An internal copy of the label for the object is made. As mentioned earlier, newline (\n) can be embedded in the label to generate multiple lines. By embedding <Ctrl>H (\010) in the label, the entire label or one of the characters in the label can be underlined. The function

const char * fl_get_object_label(FL_OBJECT *obj);

returns the label string.

3.11.4 Tool Tips

As will be seen later, an object can be decorated by icons instead of labels. For this kind of object, it is helpful to show a text string that explains the function the object controls under appropriate conditions. Forms Library elected to show the message after the mouse enters the object for about 600 milli-seconds. The text is removed when the mouse leaves the object or when the mouse is pressed.

To set the text, use the following routines

void fl_set_object_helper(FL_OBJECT *obj, const char *helpmsg);
void fl_set_object_helper_f(FL_OBJECT *obj, const char *fmt, ...);

where helpmsg is a text string (with possible embedded newlines in it) that will be shown when the mouse enters the object, after about a 600 milli-second delay. The second form of the function accepts instead a format string like printf() etc., followed by the appropriate number of arguments. In both cases an internal copy of the string is made.

The boxtype, color and font for the message display can be customized further using the following routines

void fl_set_tooltip_boxtype(int boxtype);
void fl_set_tooltip_color(FL_COLOR textcolor, FL_COLOR background);
void fl_set_tooltip_font(int style, int size);
void fl_set_tooltip_lalign(int align);

where boxtype is the backface of the form that displays the text. The default is FL_BORDER_BOX. textcolor and background specify the colors of the text string and the backface. The defaults for these are FL_BLACK and FL_YELLOW respectively. The style and size parameters are the font style and size of the text. align is the alignment of the text string with respective to the box. The default is FL_ALIGN_LEFT | FL_ALIGN_INSIDE .

3.11.5 Redrawing Objects

A word of caution is required. It is possible to change the attributes of an object at any time. But when the form is already displayed on the screen some care has to be taken. Whenever attributes change the system redraws the object. This is fine when drawing the object erases the old one but this is not always the case. For example, when placing labels outside the box (not using FL_ALIGN_CENTER) they are not correctly erased. It is always possible to force the system to redraw an object using

void fl_redraw_object(FL_OBJECT *obj);

When the object is a group it redraws the complete group. To redraw an entire form, use

void fl_redraw_form(FL_FORM *form);

Use of these routines is normally not necessary and should be kept to an absolute minimum.

3.11.6 Changing Many Attributes

Whenever you change an attribute of an object in a visible form the object is redrawn immediately to make the change visible. This can be undesirable when you change a number of attributes of the same object. You only want the changed object to be drawn after the last change. Drawing it after each change will give a flickering effect on the screen. This gets even worse when you, for example, just want to hide a few objects. After each object you hide the entire form is redrawn. In addition to the flickering, it is also time consuming. Thus it is more efficient to tell the library to temporarily not redraw the form while changes are being made. This can be done by "freezing" the form. While a form is being frozen it is not redrawn, all changes made are instead buffered internally. Only when you unfreeze the form, all changes made in the meantime are drawn at once. For freezing and unfreezing two calls exist:

void fl_freeze_form(FL_FORM *form);

and

void fl_unfreeze_form(FL_FORM *form);

It is a good practice to place multiple changes to the contents of a form always between calls to these two procedures. Further, it is better to complete modifying the attributes of one object before starting work on the next.

3.11.7 Symbols

Rather than using text as a label it is possible to place symbols like an arrows etc. on objects. This is done in the following way:

When the label starts with the character @ instead of the text a particular symbol is drawn(3). The rest of the label string indicates the symbol. A number of pre-defined symbols are available:

See Fig. 3.6 for how some of them look.

It is possible to use the symbols in different orientations. When the symbol name is preceded by a digit 1-9 it is rotated like on the numerical keypad, i.e., 6 (and also 5) result in no rotation, 9 a rotation of 45 degrees counter-clockwise, 8 a rotation of 90 degrees, etc. Hence the order is 6, 9, 8, 7, 4, 1, 2, 3. (Just think of the keypad as consisting of arrow keys with 6 pointing in the default orientation, i.e., to the right). So to get an arrow that is pointing to the left top use a label @7->. To put the symbol in other orientations, put a 0 after the @, followed by the angle (counter-clockwise). E.g., to draw an arrow at an angle of 30 degrees you can use @030->.

The symbol will be scaled to fit in the bounding box. When the bounding box is not square, scaling in the x- and y-directions will be different. If keeping the aspect ratio is desired, put a sharp (#) immediately after the . E.g., @#9->.

Two additional prefixes, + and -, followed by a single digit, can be used to make small symbol size adjustment. A + indicates an increase of the symbol size while a - a decrease. The single digit following the prefix is the amount of increment (or decrement) in pixels. For example, to draw a square that is 3 pixels smaller in size than the default size use @-3square. If a single sequence of + or - and a single digit does not suffice, it can repeated, the effect is cumulative. Of course, this can also be combined with a rotation etc., so i.e., @-9-3030-> (the order in which the different sequences are used doesn't matter) will result in an arrow drawn 12 pixels smaller than normal and rotated by 30 degrees counter-clockwise.

As already stated the "default" size of a symbol is (this at least holds for the built-in ones) one where it fits autoatically into the box it is to be drawn into, with a bit of room left around it. Thus the size of the symbol should in most cases be fine without any further fine-tuning. If you increase the size for whatever reasons please consider that the symbol automatically gets clipped to the area it is will be drawn into, i.e., increments that result in the symbol becoming larger than the box it is to be drawn into should be avoided.

In addition to using symbols as object labels, symbols can also be drawn directly using

int fl_draw_symbol(const char *symbolname, FL_Coord x, FL_Coord y,
                   FL_Coord w, FL_Coord h, FL_Color col);

(the function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure when the symbol name isn't valid) or indirectly via fl_drw_text(). Drawing is clipped automatically to the area given by the arguments.

The application program can also add symbols to the system which it can then use to display symbols on objects that are not provided by the Forms Library. To add a symbol, use the call

int fl_add_symbol(const char *name, void (*drawit)(),int sc);

name is the name under which the symbol should be known, which may not have a @, a # or a digit at the start (or + or -, directly followed by a digit). drawit() is the routine to be called for drawing the symbol. sc is reserved and currently has no meaning. Best set it to 0.

The routine drawit() should have the form

void drawit(FL_Coord x, FL_Coord y, FL_Coord w, FL_Coord h,
            int angle, FL_COLOR col);

col is the color in which to draw the symbol. This is the label color that can be provided and changed by the application program. The routine should draw the symbol centered inside the box by x, y, w, h and rotated from its natural position by angle degrees. The draw function can call all types of drawing routines, including fl_draw_symbol(). Before it is called clipping is set to the area given by the first four arguments.

If the new symbol name is the same as that of a built-in or of one previously defined, the new definition overrides the built-in or previously defined one.

The function returns 1 on success and 0 on failure (due to invalid arguments).

The symbol handling routines really should be viewed as a means of associating an arbitrary piece of text (the label) with arbitrary graphics, application of which can be quite pleasant given the right tasks.

A symbol (built-in or previously defined) can also be deleted using

int fl_delete_symbol(const char *name);

On success 1 is returned, otherwise 0.

3.12 Adding and Removing Objects

In some situations you might want to add objects to an already existing form (i.e., a form for which fl_end_form() has already been called. Reopening a form for the addition of further objects can be done by using the call

FL_FORM *fl_addto_form(FL_FORM *form);

After this call you can again add objects to the form with the usual functions for adding objects (like fl_add_button() etc.). When done with adding objects to the form again call fl_end_form(). It is possible to add objects to forms that are being displayed, but this is not always a good idea because not everything behaves well (e.g., strange things might happen when a group is started but not yet finished).

To remove an object from a form simply use

void fl_delete_object(FL_OBJECT *obj);

It removes the object from the form it currently belongs to and also from a group it may belong to. The argument can also be the pseudo-object starting a group (i.e., the return value of fl_bgn_group()) in which case the whole group of objects will be removed from the form.

Contrary to what the name of the function may hint at the object itself isn't deleted but it remains available (except if it's an object that marks the start or end of a group) and thus it can be added again to the same or another form (without having to call fl_addto_form() first and fl_end_form() afterwards) using the function

void fl_add_object(FL_FORM *form, FL_OBJECT *obj);

Normally, this function should only be used within object classes to add a newly created object to the form currently under construction. It can not be used for pseude-objects representing the start or end of a group.

3.13 Freeing Objects

If the application program does not need an object anymore it can completely delete it, freeing all memory used for it, using a call of

void fl_free_object(FL_OBJECT *obj);

After this the object is truely destroyed and can no longer be used. If you hadn't removed the object from the form it did belong to using fl_delete_object() before this will be done automatically.

To free the memory used by an entire form use a call of

void fl_free_form(FL_FORM *form);

This will delete and free all the objects of the form and the form itself. A freed form can not be referenced anymore.

This document was generated by Jens Thoms Toerring on January 5, 2014 using texi2html 1.82.