NAME¶

ttk::entry - Editable text field widget

SYNOPSIS¶

ttk::entry pathName ?options?

DESCRIPTION¶

An ttk::entry widget displays a one-line text string and allows that string to be edited by the user. The value of the string may be linked to a Tcl variable with the -textvariable option. Entry widgets support horizontal scrolling with the standard -xscrollcommand option and xview widget command.

STANDARD OPTIONS¶

-class	-cursor	-style
-takefocus	-xscrollcommand

See the ttk_widget manual entry for details on the standard options.

WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS¶

[-exportselection exportSelection] A boolean value specifying whether or not a selection in the widget should be linked to the X selection. If the selection is exported, then selecting in the widget deselects the current X selection, selecting outside the widget deselects any widget selection, and the widget will respond to selection retrieval requests when it has a selection. [-invalidcommand invalidCommand] A script template to evaluate whenever the validateCommand returns 0. See VALIDATION below for more information. [-justify justify] Specifies how the text is aligned within the entry widget. One of left, center, or right. [-show show] If this option is specified, then the true contents of the entry are not displayed in the window. Instead, each character in the entry's value will be displayed as the first character in the value of this option, such as “*” or a bullet. This is useful, for example, if the entry is to be used to enter a password. If characters in the entry are selected and copied elsewhere, the information copied will be what is displayed, not the true contents of the entry. [-state state] Compatibility option; see ttk::widget(n) for details. Specifies one of three states for the entry, normal, disabled, or readonly. See WIDGET STATES, below. [-textvariable textVariable] Specifies the name of a variable whose value is linked to the entry widget's contents. Whenever the variable changes value, the widget's contents are updated, and vice versa. [-validate validate] Specifies the mode in which validation should operate: none, focus, focusin, focusout, key, or all. Default is none, meaning that validation is disabled. See VALIDATION below. [-validatecommand validateCommand] A script template to evaluate whenever validation is triggered. If set to the empty string (the default), validation is disabled. The script must return a boolean value. See VALIDATION below. [-width width] Specifies an integer value indicating the desired width of the entry window, in average-size characters of the widget's font.

NOTES¶

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 insert 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 xScrollCommand mechanism for interacting with scrollbars (see the description of the xScrollCommand option for details).

INDICES¶

Many of the entry widget commands 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.

@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.

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 insert cursor.

sel.first

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

sel.last

Indicates the character just after the last one in the selection. It is an error to use this form if the selection is not in the entry 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.

WIDGET COMMAND¶

The following commands are possible for entry widgets:

pathName bbox index

Returns a list of four numbers describing the bounding box of the character given by index. The first two elements of the list give the x and y coordinates of the upper-left corner of the screen area covered by the character (in pixels relative to the widget) and the last two elements give the width and height of the character, in pixels. The bounding box may refer to a region outside the visible area of the window.

pathName cget option

Returns the current value of the specified option. See ttk::widget(n).

pathName configure ?option? ?value option value ...?

Modify or query widget options. See ttk::widget(n).

pathName delete first ?last?

Delete one or more elements of the entry. First is the index of the first character to delete, and last is the index of the character just after the last one to delete. If last is not specified it defaults to first+1, i.e. a single character is deleted. This command returns the empty string.

pathName get

Returns the entry's string.

pathName icursor index

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

pathName identify x y

Returns the name of the element at position x, y, or the empty string if the coordinates are outside the window.

pathName index index

Returns the numerical index corresponding to index.

pathName insert index string

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

pathName instate statespec ?script?

Test the widget state. See ttk::widget(n).

pathName selection option arg

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

pathName state ?stateSpec?

Modify or query the widget state. See ttk::widget(n).

pathName validate

Force revalidation, independent of the conditions specified by the -validate option. Returns 0 if validation fails, 1 if it succeeds. Sets or clears the invalid state accordingly.

pathName xview args

This command is used to query and change the horizontal position of the text in the widget's window. It can take any of the following forms:

VALIDATION¶

The -validate, -validatecommand, and -invalidcommand options are used to enable entry widget validation.

DEFAULT BINDINGS¶

The entry widget's default bindings enable the following behavior. In the descriptions below, “word” refers to a contiguous group of letters, digits, or “_” characters, or any single character other than these.

• Clicking mouse button 1 positions the insert cursor just before the character underneath the mouse cursor, sets the input focus to this widget, and clears any selection in the widget. Dragging with mouse button 1 down strokes out a selection between the insert cursor and the character under the mouse.
• Double-clicking with mouse button 1 selects the word under the mouse and positions the insert cursor at the end of the word. Dragging after a double click strokes out a selection consisting of whole words.
• Triple-clicking with mouse button 1 selects all of the text in the entry and positions the insert cursor at the end of the line.
• The ends of the selection can be adjusted by dragging with mouse button 1 while the Shift key is down. If the button is double-clicked before dragging then the selection will be adjusted in units of whole words.
• Clicking mouse button 1 with the Control key down will position the insert cursor in the entry without affecting the selection.
• If any normal printing characters are typed in an entry, they are inserted at the point of the insert cursor.
• The view in the entry can be adjusted by dragging with mouse button 2. If mouse button 2 is clicked without moving the mouse, the selection is copied into the entry at the position of the mouse cursor.
• If the mouse is dragged out of the entry on the left or right sides while button 1 is pressed, the entry will automatically scroll to make more text visible (if there is more text off-screen on the side where the mouse left the window).
• The Left and Right keys move the insert cursor one character to the left or right; they also clear any selection in the entry. If Left or Right is typed with the Shift key down, then the insertion cursor moves and the selection is extended to include the new character. Control-Left and Control-Right move the insert cursor by words, and Control-Shift-Left and Control-Shift-Right move the insert cursor by words and also extend the selection. Control-b and Control-f behave the same as Left and Right, respectively.
• The Home key and Control-a move the insert cursor to the beginning of the entry and clear any selection in the entry. Shift-Home moves the insert cursor to the beginning of the entry and extends the selection to that point.
• The End key and Control-e move the insert cursor to the end of the entry and clear any selection in the entry. Shift-End moves the cursor to the end and extends the selection to that point.
• Control-/ selects all the text in the entry.
• Control-\ clears any selection in the entry.
• The standard Tk <<Cut>>, <<Copy>>, <<Paste>>, and <<Clear>> virtual events operate on the selection in the expected manner.
• The Delete key deletes the selection, if there is one in the entry. If there is no selection, it deletes the character to the right of the insert cursor.
• The BackSpace key and Control-h delete the selection, if there is one in the entry. If there is no selection, it deletes the character to the left of the insert cursor.
• Control-d deletes the character to the right of the insert cursor.
• Control-k deletes all the characters to the right of the insertion cursor.

WIDGET STATES¶

In the disabled state, the entry cannot be edited and the text cannot be selected. In the readonly state, no insert cursor is displayed and the entry cannot be edited (specifically: the insert and delete commands have no effect). The disabled state is the same as readonly, and in addition text cannot be selected.

Note that changes to the linked -textvariable will still be reflected in the entry, even if it is disabled or readonly.

Typically, the text is “grayed-out” in the disabled state, and a different background is used in the readonly state.

The entry widget sets the invalid state if revalidation fails, and clears it whenever validation succeeds.

SEE ALSO¶

ttk::widget(n), entry(n)

KEYWORDS¶

entry, widget, text field