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menu(n)                      Tk Built-In Commands                      menu(n)

______________________________________________________________________________


NAME

       menu, tk_menuSetFocus - Create and manipulate 'menu' widgets and
       menubars


SYNOPSIS

       menu pathName ?options?
       tk_menuSetFocus pathName


STANDARD OPTIONS

       -activebackground     -borderwidth         -foreground
       -activeborderwidth    -cursor              -relief
       -activeforeground     -disabledforeground  -takefocus
       -background           -font

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


WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS

       Command-Line Name:-postcommand
       Database Name:  postCommand
       Database Class: Command

              If this option is specified then it provides a Tcl command to
              execute each time the menu is posted.  The command is invoked by
              the post widget command before posting the menu. Note that in Tk
              8.0 on Macintosh and Windows, all post-commands in a system of
              menus are executed before any of those menus are posted.  This
              is due to the limitations in the individual platforms' menu
              managers.

       Command-Line Name:-selectcolor
       Database Name:  selectColor
       Database Class: Background

              For menu entries that are check buttons or radio buttons, this
              option specifies the color to display in the indicator when the
              check button or radio button is selected.

       Command-Line Name:-tearoff
       Database Name:  tearOff
       Database Class: TearOff

              This option must have a proper boolean value, which specifies
              whether or not the menu should include a tear-off entry at the
              top.  If so, it will exist as entry 0 of the menu and the other
              entries will number starting at 1.  The default menu bindings
              arrange for the menu to be torn off when the tear-off entry is
              invoked.  This option is ignored under Aqua/macOS, where menus
              cannot be torn off.

       Command-Line Name:-tearoffcommand
       Database Name:  tearOffCommand
       Database Class: TearOffCommand

              If this option has a non-empty value, then it specifies a Tcl
              command to invoke whenever the menu is torn off.  The actual
              command will consist of the value of this option, followed by a
              space, followed by the name of the menu window, followed by a
              space, followed by the name of the name of the torn off menu
              window.  For example, if the option's value is "a b" and menu
              .x.y is torn off to create a new menu .x.tearoff1, then the
              command "a b .x.y .x.tearoff1" will be invoked.  This option is
              ignored under Aqua/macOS, where menus cannot be torn off.

       Command-Line Name:-title
       Database Name:  title
       Database Class: Title

              The string will be used to title the window created when this
              menu is torn off. If the title is NULL, then the window will
              have the title of the menubutton or the text of the cascade item
              from which this menu was invoked.

       Command-Line Name:-type
       Database Name:  type
       Database Class: Type

              This option can be one of menubar, tearoff, or normal, and is
              set when the menu is created. While the string returned by the
              configuration database will change if this option is changed,
              this does not affect the menu widget's behavior. This is used by
              the cloning mechanism and is not normally set outside of the Tk
              library.
______________________________________________________________________________


INTRODUCTION

       The menu command creates a new top-level window (given by the pathName
       argument) and makes it into a menu widget.  That menu widget can either
       be used as a pop-up window or applied to a toplevel (with its -menu
       option) to make it into the menubar for that toplevel.  Additional
       options, described above, may be specified on the command line or in
       the option database to configure aspects of the menu such as its colors
       and font.  The menu command returns its pathName argument.  At the time
       this command is invoked, there must not exist a window named pathName,
       but pathName's parent must exist.

       A menu is a widget that displays a collection of one-line entries
       arranged in one or more columns.  There exist several different types
       of entries, each with different properties.  Entries of different types
       may be combined in a single menu.  Menu entries are not the same as
       entry widgets.  In fact, menu entries are not even distinct widgets;
       the entire menu is one widget.

       Menu entries are displayed with up to three separate fields.  The main
       field is a label in the form of a text string, a bitmap, or an image,
       controlled by the -label, -bitmap, and -image options for the entry.
       If the  -accelerator option is specified for an entry then a second
       textual field is displayed to the right of the label.  The accelerator
       typically describes a keystroke sequence that may be used in the
       application to cause the same result as invoking the menu entry.  This
       is a display option, it does not actually set the corresponding binding
       (which can be achieved using the bind command).  The third field is an
       indicator.  The indicator is present only for checkbutton or
       radiobutton entries.  It indicates whether the entry is selected or
       not, and is displayed to the left of the entry's string.

       In normal use, an entry becomes active (displays itself differently)
       whenever the mouse pointer is over the entry.  If a mouse button is
       released over the entry then the entry is invoked.  The effect of
       invocation is different for each type of entry; these effects are
       described below in the sections on individual entries.

       Entries may be disabled, which causes their labels and accelerators to
       be displayed with dimmer colors.  The default menu bindings will not
       allow a disabled entry to be activated or invoked.  Disabled entries
       may be re-enabled, at which point it becomes possible to activate and
       invoke them again.

       Whenever a menu's active entry is changed, a <<MenuSelect>> virtual
       event is send to the menu. The active item can then be queried from the
       menu, and an action can be taken, such as setting context-sensitive
       help text for the entry.


TYPES OF ENTRIES

   COMMAND ENTRIES
       The most common kind of menu entry is a command entry, which behaves
       much like a button widget.  When a command entry is invoked, a Tcl
       command is executed.  The Tcl command is specified with the -command
       option.

   SEPARATOR ENTRIES
       A separator is an entry that is displayed as a horizontal dividing
       line.  A separator may not be activated or invoked, and it has no
       behavior other than its display appearance.

   CHECKBUTTON ENTRIES
       A checkbutton menu entry behaves much like a checkbutton widget.  When
       it is invoked it toggles back and forth between the selected and
       deselected states.  When the entry is selected, a particular value is
       stored in a particular global variable (as determined by the -onvalue
       and -variable options for the entry);  when the entry is deselected
       another value (determined by the -offvalue option) is stored in the
       global variable.  An indicator box is displayed to the left of the
       label in a checkbutton entry.  If the entry is selected then the
       indicator's center is displayed in the color given by the -selectcolor
       option for the entry; otherwise the indicator's center is displayed in
       the background color for the menu.  If a -command option is specified
       for a checkbutton entry, then its value is evaluated as a Tcl command
       each time the entry is invoked;  this happens after toggling the
       entry's selected state.

   RADIOBUTTON ENTRIES
       A radiobutton menu entry behaves much like a radiobutton widget.
       Radiobutton entries are organized in groups of which only one entry may
       be selected at a time.  Whenever a particular entry becomes selected it
       stores a particular value into a particular global variable (as
       determined by the -value and -variable options for the entry).  This
       action causes any previously-selected entry in the same group to
       deselect itself.  Once an entry has become selected, any change to the
       entry's associated variable will cause the entry to deselect itself.
       Grouping of radiobutton entries is determined by their associated
       variables:  if two entries have the same associated variable then they
       are in the same group.  An indicator diamond is displayed to the left
       of the label in each radiobutton entry.  If the entry is selected then
       the indicator's center is displayed in the color given by the
       -selectcolor option for the entry; otherwise the indicator's center is
       displayed in the background color for the menu.  If a -command option
       is specified for a radiobutton entry, then its value is evaluated as a
       Tcl command each time the entry is invoked;  this happens after
       selecting the entry.

   CASCADE ENTRIES
       A cascade entry is one with an associated menu (determined by the -menu
       option).  Cascade entries allow the construction of cascading menus.
       The postcascade widget command can be used to post and unpost the
       associated menu just next to of the cascade entry.  The associated menu
       must be a child of the menu containing the cascade entry (this is
       needed in order for menu traversal to work correctly).

       A cascade entry posts its associated menu by invoking a Tcl command of
       the form
              menu post x y
       where menu is the path name of the associated menu, and x and y are the
       root-window coordinates of the upper-right corner of the cascade entry.
       On Unix, the lower-level menu is unposted by executing a Tcl command
       with the form
              menu unpost
       where menu is the name of the associated menu.  On other platforms, the
       platform's native code takes care of unposting the menu.

       If a -command option is specified for a cascade entry then it is
       evaluated as a Tcl command whenever the entry is invoked. This is not
       supported on Windows.

   TEAR-OFF ENTRIES
       A tear-off entry appears at the top of the menu if enabled with the
       -tearoff option.  It is not like other menu entries in that it cannot
       be created with the add widget command and cannot be deleted with the
       delete widget command.  When a tear-off entry is created it appears as
       a dashed line at the top of the menu.  Under the default bindings,
       invoking the tear-off entry causes a torn-off copy to be made of the
       menu and all of its submenus.


MENUBARS

       Any menu can be set as a menubar for a toplevel window (see toplevel
       command for syntax). On the Macintosh, whenever the toplevel is in
       front, this menu's cascade items will appear in the menubar across the
       top of the main monitor. On Windows and Unix, this menu's items will be
       displayed in a menubar across the top of the window. These menus will
       behave according to the interface guidelines of their platforms. For
       every menu set as a menubar, a clone menu is made. See the CLONES
       section for more information.

       As noted, menubars may behave differently on different platforms.  One
       example of this concerns the handling of checkbuttons and radiobuttons
       within the menu.  While it is permitted to put these menu elements on
       menubars, they may not be drawn with indicators on some platforms, due
       to system restrictions.

   SPECIAL MENUS IN MENUBARS
       Certain menus in a menubar will be treated specially.  On the
       Macintosh, access to the special Application, Window and Help menus is
       provided. On Windows, access to the Windows System menu in each window
       is provided.  On X Windows, a special right-justified help menu may be
       provided if Motif menu compatibility is enabled. In all cases, these
       menus must be created with the command name of the menubar menu
       concatenated with the special name. So for a menubar named .menubar, on
       the Macintosh, the special menus would be .menubar.apple,
       .menubar.window and .menubar.help; on Windows, the special menu would
       be .menubar.system; on X Windows, the help menu would be .menubar.help.

       When Tk sees a .menubar.apple menu as the first menu in a menubar on
       the Macintosh, that menu's contents make up the first items of the
       Application menu whenever the window containing the menubar is in
       front.  After all of the Tk-defined items, the menu will have a
       separator, followed by all standard Application menu items.  Such a
       .apple menu must be present in a menu when that menu is first
       configured as a toplevel's menubar, otherwise a default application
       menu (hidden from Tk) will be inserted into the menubar at that time
       and subsequent addition of a .apple menu will no longer result in it
       becoming the Application menu.

       When Tk sees a .menubar.window menu on the Macintosh, the menu's
       contents are inserted into the standard Window menu of the user's
       menubar whenever the window's menubar is in front. The first items in
       the menu are provided by macOS, and the names of the current toplevels
       are automatically appended after all the Tk-defined items and a
       separator. The Window menu on the Mac also allows toggling the window
       into a fullscreen state, and managing a tabbed window interface
       (multiple windows grouped into a single window) if supported by that
       version of the operating system.

       When Tk sees a .menubar.help menu on the Macintosh, the menu's contents
       are appended to the standard Help menu of the user's menubar whenever
       the window's menubar is in front. The first items in the menu are
       provided by macOS.

       When Tk sees a System menu on Windows, its items are appended to the
       system menu that the menubar is attached to. This menu is tied to the
       application icon and can be invoked with the mouse or by typing
       Alt+Spacebar.  Due to limitations in the Windows API, any font changes,
       colors, images, bitmaps, or tearoff images will not appear in the
       system menu.

       When Tk sees a Help menu on X Windows and Motif menu compatibility is
       enabled the menu is moved to be last in the menubar and is right
       justified. Motif menu compatibility is enabled by setting the Tk option
       *Menu.useMotifHelp to true or by calling tk::classic::restore menu.


CLONES

       When a menu is set as a menubar for a toplevel window, or when a menu
       is torn off, a clone of the menu is made. This clone is a menu widget
       in its own right, but it is a child of the original. Changes in the
       configuration of the original are reflected in the clone. Additionally,
       any cascades that are pointed to are also cloned so that menu traversal
       will work right. Clones are destroyed when either the tearoff or
       menubar goes away, or when the original menu is destroyed.


WIDGET COMMAND

       The menu command creates a new Tcl command whose name is pathName.
       This command may be used to invoke various operations on the widget.
       It has the following general form:
              pathName option ?arg arg ...?
       Option and the args determine the exact behavior of the command.

       Many of the widget commands for a menu take as one argument an
       indicator of which entry of the menu to operate on. These indicators
       are called indexes and may be specified in any of the following forms:

       active      Indicates the entry that is currently active.  If no entry
                   is active then this form is equivalent to none.  This form
                   may not be abbreviated.

       end         Indicates the bottommost entry in the menu.  If there are
                   no entries in the menu then this form is equivalent to
                   none.  This form may not be abbreviated.

       last        Same as end.

       none        Indicates "no entry at all"; this is used most commonly
                   with the activate option to deactivate all the entries in
                   the menu.  In most cases the specification of none causes
                   nothing to happen in the widget command.  This form may not
                   be abbreviated.

       @x,y        Indicates the entry that covers the point in the menu's
                   window specified by x and y (in pixel coordinates).  If no
                   entry covers that point, then this form is equivalent to
                   none.  If only a single number is specified, it is treated
                   as the y-coordinate.

       number      Specifies the entry numerically, where 0 corresponds to the
                   top-most entry of the menu, 1 to the entry below it, and so
                   on.

       pattern     If the index does not satisfy one of the above forms then
                   this form is used.  Pattern is pattern-matched against the
                   label of each entry in the menu, in order from the top
                   down, until a matching entry is found.  The rules of string
                   match are used.

       If the index could match more than one of the above forms, then the
       form earlier in the above list takes precedence.

       The following widget commands are possible for menu widgets:

       pathName activate index
              Change the state of the entry indicated by index to active and
              redisplay it using its active colors.  Any previously-active
              entry is deactivated.  If index is specified as none, or if the
              specified entry is disabled, then the menu ends up with no
              active entry.  Returns an empty string.

       pathName add type ?option value option value ...?
              Add a new entry to the bottom of the menu.  The new entry's type
              is given by type and must be one of cascade, checkbutton,
              command, radiobutton, or separator, or a unique abbreviation of
              one of the above.  If additional arguments are present, they
              specify the options listed in the MENU ENTRY OPTIONS section
              below.  The add widget command returns an empty string.

       pathName cget option
              Returns the current value of the configuration option given by
              option.  Option may have any of the values accepted by the menu
              command.

       pathName clone newPathname ?cloneType?
              Makes a clone of the current menu named newPathName. This clone
              is a menu in its own right, but any changes to the clone are
              propagated to the original menu and vice versa. cloneType can be
              normal, menubar, or tearoff. Should not normally be called
              outside of the Tk library. See the CLONES section for more
              information.

       pathName configure ?option? ?value option value ...?
              Query or modify the configuration options of the widget.  If no
              option is specified, returns a list describing all of the
              available options for pathName (see Tk_ConfigureInfo for
              information on the format of this list).  If option is specified
              with no value, then the command returns a list describing the
              one named option (this list will be identical to the
              corresponding sublist of the value returned if no option is
              specified).  If one or more option-value pairs are specified,
              then the command modifies the given widget option(s) to have the
              given value(s);  in this case the command returns an empty
              string.  Option may have any of the values accepted by the menu
              command.

       pathName delete index1 ?index2?
              Delete all of the menu entries between index1 and index2
              inclusive.  If index2 is omitted then it defaults to index1.
              Attempts to delete a tear-off menu entry are ignored (instead,
              you should change the -tearoff option to remove the tear-off
              entry).

       pathName entrycget index option
              Returns the current value of a configuration option for the
              entry given by index.  Option may have any of the names
              described in the MENU ENTRY OPTIONS section below.

       pathName entryconfigure index ?options...?
              This command is similar to the configure command, except that it
              applies to the options for an individual entry, whereas
              configure applies to the options for the menu as a whole.
              Options may have any of the values described in the MENU ENTRY
              OPTIONS section below.  If options are specified, options are
              modified as indicated in the command and the command returns an
              empty string.  If no options are specified, returns a list
              describing the current options for entry index (see
              Tk_ConfigureInfo for information on the format of this list).

       pathName index index
              Returns the numerical index corresponding to index, or none if
              index was specified as none.

       pathName insert index type ?option value option value ...?
              Same as the add widget command except that it inserts the new
              entry just before the entry given by index, instead of appending
              to the end of the menu.  The type, option, and value arguments
              have the same interpretation as for the add widget command.  It
              is not possible to insert new menu entries before the tear-off
              entry, if the menu has one.

       pathName invoke index
              Invoke the action of the menu entry.  See the sections on the
              individual entries above for details on what happens.  If the
              menu entry is disabled then nothing happens.  If the entry has a
              command associated with it then the result of that command is
              returned as the result of the invoke widget command.  Otherwise
              the result is an empty string.  Note:  invoking a menu entry
              does not automatically unpost the menu;  the default bindings
              normally take care of this before invoking the invoke widget
              command.

       pathName post x y ?index?
              Arrange for the menu to be displayed on the screen at the root-
              window coordinates given by x and y.  If an index is specified
              the menu will be located so that the entry with that index is
              displayed at the point.  These coordinates are adjusted if
              necessary to guarantee that the entire menu is visible on the
              screen.  This command normally returns an empty string.  If the
              -postcommand option has been specified, then its value is
              executed as a Tcl script before posting the menu and the result
              of that script is returned as the result of the post widget
              command.  If an error returns while executing the command, then
              the error is returned without posting the menu.

       pathName postcascade index
              Posts the submenu associated with the cascade entry given by
              index, and unposts any previously posted submenu.  If index does
              not correspond to a cascade entry, or if pathName is not posted,
              the command has no effect except to unpost any currently posted
              submenu.

       pathName type index
              Returns the type of the menu entry given by index.  This is the
              type argument passed to the add or insert widget command when
              the entry was created, such as command or separator, or tearoff
              for a tear-off entry.

       pathName unpost
              Unmap the window so that it is no longer displayed.  If a lower-
              level cascaded menu is posted, unpost that menu.  Returns an
              empty string. This subcommand does not work on Windows and the
              Macintosh, as those platforms have their own way of unposting
              menus.

       pathName xposition index
              Returns a decimal string giving the x-coordinate within the menu
              window of the leftmost pixel in the entry specified by index.

       pathName yposition index
              Returns a decimal string giving the y-coordinate within the menu
              window of the topmost pixel in the entry specified by index.


MENU ENTRY OPTIONS

       The following options are allowed on menu entries. Most options are not
       supported by all entry types.

       -activebackground value
              Specifies a background color to use for displaying this entry
              when it is active. This option is ignored on Aqua/macOS.  If it
              is specified as an empty string (the default), then the
              -activebackground option for the overall menu is used.  If the
              tk_strictMotif variable has been set to request strict Motif
              compliance, then this option is ignored and the -background
              option is used in its place.  This option is not available for
              separator or tear-off entries.

       -activeforeground value
              Specifies a foreground color to use for displaying this entry
              when it is active.   This option is ignored on Aqua/macOS.  If
              this option is specified as an empty string (the default), then
              the -activeforeground option for the overall menu is used.  This
              option is not available for separator or tear-off entries.

       -accelerator value
              Specifies a string to display at the right side of the menu
              entry.  Normally describes an accelerator keystroke sequence
              that may be used to invoke the same function as the menu entry.
              This is a display option, it does not actually set the
              corresponding binding (which can be achieved using the bind
              command). This option is not available for separator or tear-off
              entries.

       -background value
              Specifies a background color to use for displaying this entry
              when it is in the normal state (neither active nor disabled).
              This option is ignored on Aqua/macOS.  If it is specified as an
              empty string (the default), then the -background option for the
              overall menu is used.  This option is not available for
              separator or tear-off entries.

       -bitmap value
              Specifies a bitmap to display in the menu instead of a textual
              label, in any of the forms accepted by Tk_GetBitmap.  This
              option overrides the -label option (as controlled by the
              -compound option) but may be reset to an empty string to enable
              a textual label to be displayed.  If a -image option has been
              specified, it overrides -bitmap.  This option is not available
              for separator or tear-off entries.

       -columnbreak value
              When this option is zero, the entry appears below the previous
              entry. When this option is one, the entry appears at the top of
              a new column in the menu.  This option is ignored on Aqua/macOS,
              where menus are always a single column.

       -command value
              Specifies a Tcl command to execute when the menu entry is
              invoked.  Not available for separator or tear-off entries.

       -compound value
              Specifies whether the menu entry should display both an image
              and text, and if so, where the image should be placed relative
              to the text.  Valid values for this option are bottom, center,
              left, none, right and top.  The default value is none, meaning
              that the button will display either an image or text, depending
              on the values of the -image and -bitmap options.

       -font value
              Specifies the font to use when drawing the label or accelerator
              string in this entry.  If this option is specified as an empty
              string (the default) then the -font option for the overall menu
              is used.  This option is not available for separator or tear-off
              entries.

       -foreground value
              Specifies a foreground color to use for displaying this entry
              when it is in the normal state (neither active nor disabled).
              This option is ignored on Aqua/macOS.  If it is specified as an
              empty string (the default), then the -foreground option for the
              overall menu is used.  This option is not available for
              separator or tear-off entries.

       -hidemargin value
              Specifies whether the standard margins should be drawn for this
              menu entry. This is useful when creating palette with images in
              them, i.e., color palettes, pattern palettes, etc. 1 indicates
              that the margin for the entry is hidden; 0 means that the margin
              is used.

       -image value
              Specifies an image to display in the menu instead of a text
              string or bitmap.  The image must have been created by some
              previous invocation of image create.  This option overrides the
              -label and -bitmap options (as controlled by the -compound
              option) but may be reset to an empty string to enable a textual
              or bitmap label to be displayed.  This option is not available
              for separator or tear-off entries.

       -indicatoron value
              Available only for checkbutton and radiobutton entries.  Value
              is a boolean that determines whether or not the indicator should
              be displayed.

       -label value
              Specifies a string to display as an identifying label in the
              menu entry.  Not available for separator or tear-off entries.

       -menu value
              Available only for cascade entries.  Specifies the path name of
              the submenu associated with this entry.  The submenu must be a
              child of the menu.

       -offvalue value
              Available only for checkbutton entries.  Specifies the value to
              store in the entry's associated variable when the entry is
              deselected.

       -onvalue value
              Available only for checkbutton entries.  Specifies the value to
              store in the entry's associated variable when the entry is
              selected.

       -selectcolor value
              Available only for checkbutton and radiobutton entries.
              Specifies the color to display in the indicator when the entry
              is selected.  If the value is an empty string (the default) then
              the -selectcolor option for the menu determines the indicator
              color.

       -selectimage value
              Available only for checkbutton and radiobutton entries.
              Specifies an image to display in the entry (in place of the
              -image option) when it is selected.  Value is the name of an
              image, which must have been created by some previous invocation
              of image create.  This option is ignored unless the -image
              option has been specified.

       -state value
              Specifies one of three states for the entry:  normal, active, or
              disabled.  In normal state the entry is displayed using the
              -foreground option for the menu and the -background option from
              the entry or the menu.  The active state is typically used when
              the pointer is over the entry.  In active state the entry is
              displayed using the -activeforeground option for the menu along
              with the -activebackground option from the entry.  Disabled
              state means that the entry should be insensitive:  the default
              bindings will refuse to activate or invoke the entry.  In this
              state the entry is displayed according to the
              -disabledforeground option for the menu and the -background
              option from the entry.  This option is not available for
              separator entries.

       -underline value
              Specifies the integer index of a character to underline in the
              entry.  This option is also queried by the default bindings and
              used to implement keyboard traversal.  0 corresponds to the
              first character of the text displayed in the entry, 1 to the
              next character, and so on.  If a bitmap or image is displayed in
              the entry then this option is ignored.  This option is not
              available for separator or tear-off entries.

       -value value
              Available only for radiobutton entries.  Specifies the value to
              store in the entry's associated variable when the entry is
              selected.  If an empty string is specified, then the -label
              option for the entry as the value to store in the variable.

       -variable value
              Available only for checkbutton and radiobutton entries.
              Specifies the name of a global variable to set when the entry is
              selected.  For checkbutton entries the variable is also set when
              the entry is deselected.  For radiobutton entries, changing the
              variable causes the currently-selected entry to deselect itself.

              For checkbutton entries, the default value of this option is
              taken from the -label option, and for radiobutton entries a
              single fixed value is used. It is recommended that you always
              set the -variable option when creating either a checkbutton or a
              radiobutton.


MENU CONFIGURATIONS

       The default bindings support four different ways of using menus:

       Pulldown Menus in Menubar
              This is the most common case. You create a menu widget that will
              become the menu bar. You then add cascade entries to this menu,
              specifying the pull down menus you wish to use in your menu bar.
              You then create all of the pulldowns. Once you have done this,
              specify the menu using the -menu option of the toplevel's widget
              command. See the toplevel manual entry for details.

       Pulldown Menus in Menu Buttons
              This is the compatible way to do menu bars.  You create one
              menubutton widget for each top-level menu, and typically you
              arrange a series of menubuttons in a row in a menubar window.
              You also create the top-level menus and any cascaded submenus,
              and tie them together with -menu options in menubuttons and
              cascade menu entries.  The top-level menu must be a child of the
              menubutton, and each submenu must be a child of the menu that
              refers to it.  Once you have done this, the default bindings
              will allow users to traverse and invoke the tree of menus via
              its menubutton;  see the menubutton manual entry for details.

       Popup Menus
              Popup menus typically post in response to a mouse button press
              or keystroke.  You create the popup menus and any cascaded
              submenus, then you call the tk_popup procedure at the
              appropriate time to post the top-level menu.

       Option Menus
              An option menu consists of a menubutton with an associated menu
              that allows you to select one of several values.  The current
              value is displayed in the menubutton and is also stored in a
              global variable.  Use the tk_optionMenu procedure to create
              option menubuttons and their menus.

       Torn-off Menus
              You create a torn-off menu by invoking the tear-off entry at the
              top of an existing menu.  The default bindings will create a new
              menu that is a copy of the original menu and leave it
              permanently posted as a top-level window.  The torn-off menu
              behaves just the same as the original menu.


DEFAULT BINDINGS

       Tk automatically creates class bindings for menus that give them the
       following default behavior:

       [1]    When the mouse enters a menu, the entry underneath the mouse
              cursor activates;  as the mouse moves around the menu, the
              active entry changes to track the mouse.

       [2]    When the mouse leaves a menu all of the entries in the menu
              deactivate, except in the special case where the mouse moves
              from a menu to a cascaded submenu.

       [3]    When a button is released over a menu, the active entry (if any)
              is invoked.  The menu also unposts unless it is a torn-off menu.

       [4]    The Space and Return keys invoke the active entry and unpost the
              menu.

       [5]    If any of the entries in a menu have letters underlined with the
              -underline option, then pressing one of the underlined letters
              (or its upper-case or lower-case equivalent) invokes that entry
              and unposts the menu.

       [6]    The Escape key aborts a menu selection in progress without
              invoking any entry.  It also unposts the menu unless it is a
              torn-off menu.

       [7]    The Up and Down keys activate the next higher or lower entry in
              the menu.  When one end of the menu is reached, the active entry
              wraps around to the other end.

       [8]    The Left key moves to the next menu to the left.  If the current
              menu is a cascaded submenu, then the submenu is unposted and the
              current menu entry becomes the cascade entry in the parent.  If
              the current menu is a top-level menu posted from a menubutton,
              then the current menubutton is unposted and the next menubutton
              to the left is posted.  Otherwise the key has no effect.  The
              left-right order of menubuttons is determined by their stacking
              order:  Tk assumes that the lowest menubutton (which by default
              is the first one created) is on the left.

       [9]    The Right key moves to the next menu to the right.  If the
              current entry is a cascade entry, then the submenu is posted and
              the  current menu entry becomes the first entry in the submenu.
              Otherwise, if the current menu was posted from a menubutton,
              then the current menubutton is unposted and the next menubutton
              to the right is posted.

       Disabled menu entries are non-responsive:  they do not activate and
       they ignore mouse button presses and releases.

       Several of the bindings make use of the command tk_menuSetFocus.  It
       saves the current focus and sets the focus to its pathName argument,
       which is a menu widget.

       The behavior of menus can be changed by defining new bindings for
       individual widgets or by redefining the class bindings.


BUGS

       At present it is not possible to use the option database to specify
       values for the options to individual entries.


SEE ALSO

       bind(n), menubutton(n), ttk::menubutton(n), toplevel(n)


KEYWORDS

       menu, widget

Tk                                    4.1                              menu(n)

tk 8.6.15 - Generated Wed Dec 4 16:00:07 CST 2024
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