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- <STRONG><P CLASS=block> grab - Confine pointer and keyboard events to a window sub-tree</P></STRONG>
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- <LI><A HREF="#name">NAME</A></LI><LI><A HREF="#supportedplatforms">SUPPORTED PLATFORMS</A></LI>
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- <LI><A HREF="#synopsis">SYNOPSIS</A></LI>
- <LI><A HREF="#description">DESCRIPTION</A></LI>
- <LI><A HREF="#bugs">BUGS</A></LI>
- <LI><A HREF="#keywords">KEYWORDS</A></LI>
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- <H1><A NAME="name">NAME</A></H1>
- <P>grab - Confine pointer and keyboard events to a window sub-tree</P>
- <P>
- <HR>
- <H1><A NAME="supportedplatforms">SUPPORTED PLATFORMS</A></H1>
- <UL>
- <LI>Linux</LI>
- <LI>Solaris</LI>
- <LI>Windows</LI>
- </UL>
- <HR>
- <H1><A NAME="synopsis">SYNOPSIS</A></H1>
- <P><EM>$widget</EM>-><STRONG>grab</STRONG></P>
- <P><EM>$widget</EM>-><STRONG>grab</STRONG><EM>Option</EM></P>
- <P>
- <HR>
- <H1><A NAME="description">DESCRIPTION</A></H1>
- <P>This set of methods implement simple pointer and keyboard grabs for Tk.
- Tk's grabs are different than the grabs
- described in the Xlib documentation.
- When a grab is set for a particular window, Tk restricts all pointer
- events to the grab window and its descendants in Tk's window hierarchy.
- Whenever the pointer is within the grab window's subtree, the pointer
- will behave exactly the same as if there had been no grab at all
- and all events will be reported in the normal fashion.
- When the pointer is outside <EM>$widget</EM>'s tree, button presses and
- releases and
- mouse motion events are reported to <EM>$widget</EM>, and window entry
- and window exit events are ignored.
- The grab subtree ``owns'' the pointer:
- windows outside the grab subtree will be visible on the screen
- but they will be insensitive until the grab is released.
- The tree of windows underneath the grab window can include top-level
- windows, in which case all of those top-level windows
- and their descendants will continue to receive mouse events
- during the grab.</P>
- <P>Two forms of grabs are possible: local and global.
- A local grab affects only the grabbing application: events will
- be reported to other applications as if the grab had never occurred.
- Grabs are local by default.
- A global grab locks out all applications on the screen,
- so that only the given subtree of the grabbing application will be
- sensitive to pointer events (mouse button presses, mouse button releases,
- pointer motions, window entries, and window exits).
- During global grabs the window manager will not receive pointer
- events either.</P>
- <P>During local grabs, keyboard events (key presses and key releases)
- are delivered as usual: the window
- manager controls which application receives keyboard events, and
- if they are sent to any window in the grabbing application then they are
- redirected to the focus window.
- During a global grab Tk grabs the keyboard so that all keyboard events
- are always sent to the grabbing application.
- The <STRONG>focus</STRONG> method is still used to determine which window in the
- application receives the keyboard events.
- The keyboard grab is released when the grab is released.</P>
- <P>Grabs apply to particular displays. If an application has windows
- on multiple displays then it can establish a separate grab on each
- display.
- The grab on a particular display affects only the windows on
- that display.
- It is possible for different applications on a single display to have
- simultaneous local grabs, but only one application can have a global
- grab on a given display at once.</P>
- <P>The <STRONG>grab</STRONG> methods take any of the following forms:</P>
- <DL>
- <DT><STRONG><A NAME="item_grabCurrent"><EM>$widget</EM>-><STRONG>grabCurrent</STRONG></A></STRONG><BR>
- <DD>
- Returns the current grab
- window in this application for <EM>$widget</EM>'s display, or an empty
- string if there is no such window.
- <P></P>
- <DT><STRONG><A NAME="item_grabs"><EM>$widget</EM>-><STRONG>grabs</STRONG></A></STRONG><BR>
- <DD>
- Returns a list whose elements
- are all of the windows grabbed by this application for all displays,
- or an empty string if the application has no grabs.
- <P><EM>Not implemented yet!</EM></P>
- <P></P>
- <DT><STRONG><A NAME="item_grabRelease"><EM>$widget</EM>-><STRONG>grabRelease</STRONG></A></STRONG><BR>
- <DD>
- Releases the grab on <EM>$widget</EM> if there is one, otherwise does
- nothing. Returns an empty string.
- <P></P>
- <DT><STRONG><A NAME="item_grab"><EM>$widget</EM>-><STRONG>grab</STRONG></A></STRONG><BR>
- <DD>
- Sets a local grab on <EM>$widget</EM>.
- If a grab was already in effect for this application on
- <EM>$widget</EM>'s display then it is automatically released.
- If there is already a local grab on <EM>$widget</EM>, then the command
- does nothing. Returns an empty string.
- <P></P>
- <DT><STRONG><A NAME="item_grabGlobal"><EM>$widget</EM>-><STRONG>grabGlobal</STRONG></A></STRONG><BR>
- <DD>
- Sets a global grab on <EM>$widget</EM>.
- If a grab was already in effect for this application on
- <EM>$widget</EM>'s display then it is automatically released.
- If there is already a global grab on <EM>$widget</EM>,
- then the command does nothing. Returns an empty string.
- <P></P>
- <DT><STRONG><A NAME="item_grabStatus"><EM>$widget</EM>-><STRONG>grabStatus</STRONG></A></STRONG><BR>
- <DD>
- Returns <STRONG>none</STRONG> if no grab is currently set on <EM>$widget</EM>,
- <STRONG>local</STRONG> if a local grab is set on <EM>$widget</EM>, and
- <STRONG>global</STRONG> if a global grab is set.
- <P></P></DL>
- <P>
- <HR>
- <H1><A NAME="bugs">BUGS</A></H1>
- <P>It took an incredibly complex and gross implementation to produce
- the simple grab effect described above.
- Given the current implementation, it isn't safe for applications
- to use the Xlib grab facilities at all except through the Tk grab
- procedures.
- If applications try to manipulate X's grab mechanisms directly,
- things will probably break.</P>
- <P>If a single process is managing several different Tk applications,
- only one of those applications can have a local grab for a given
- display at any given time. If the applications are in different
- processes, this restriction doesn't exist.</P>
- <P>
- <HR>
- <H1><A NAME="keywords">KEYWORDS</A></H1>
- <P>grab, keyboard events, pointer events, window</P>
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