Geometry(3)

okay bestie, this is Geometry(3), from the Tk Themed Widget manual — and it's literally your cheat sheet for Tk themed geometry utilities ✨💅

💖 NAME 💖

The function friend group is: Ttk_MakeBox, Ttk_PadBox, Ttk_ExpandBox, Ttk_PackBox, Ttk_StickBox, Ttk_PlaceBox, Ttk_BoxContains, Ttk_MakePadding, Ttk_UniformPadding, Ttk_AddPadding, Ttk_RelievePadding, Ttk_GetPaddingFromObj, Ttk_GetBorderFromObj, Ttk_GetStickyFromObj — all your Tk themed geometry utilities. Also Ttk_AnchorBox pulls up in the synopsis and BOXES below, so don't leave her on read 👀💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

First, the include, no cap:

#include <tkTheme.h>

Then every signature, copied exactly so nobody comes for me:

Ttk_Box
Ttk_MakeBox(int x, int y, int width, int height);

Ttk_Box
Ttk_PadBox(Ttk_Box parcel, Ttk_Padding padding);

Ttk_Box
Ttk_ExpandBox(Ttk_Box parcel, Ttk_Padding padding);

Ttk_Box
Ttk_PackBox(Ttk_Box *cavity, int width, int height, Ttk_Side side);

Ttk_Box
Ttk_StickBox(Ttk_Box parcel, int width, int height, unsigned sticky);

Ttk_Box
Ttk_PlaceBox(Ttk_Box *cavity, int width, int height, Ttk_Side side, unsigned sticky);

Ttk_Box
Ttk_AnchorBox(Ttk_Box parcel, int width, int height, Tk_Anchor anchor);

Ttk_Padding
Ttk_MakePadding(short left, short top, short right, short bottom);

Ttk_Padding
Ttk_UniformPadding(short border);

Ttk_Padding
Ttk_AddPadding(Ttk_Padding padding1, Ttk_Padding padding2;

Ttk_Padding
Ttk_RelievePadding(Ttk_Padding padding, int relief);

int
Ttk_BoxContains(Ttk_Box box, int x, int y);

int
Ttk_GetPaddingFromObj(Tcl_Interp *interp, Tk_Window tkwin, Tcl_Obj *objPtr, Ttk_Padding *padding_rtn);

int
Ttk_GetBorderFromObj(Tcl_Interp *interp, Tcl_Obj *objPtr, Ttk_Padding *padding_rtn);

int
Ttk_GetStickyFromObj(Tcl_Interp *interp, Tcl_Obj *objPtr, int *sticky_rtn);

yes, the Ttk_AddPadding line is giving semicolon-with-no-closing-paren energy, but that's exactly what the original says, so we're respecting the lore 💀

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• Tk_Anchor anchor (in) — One of the symbolic constants TK_ANCHOR_N, TK_ANCHOR_NE, etc. See Tk_GetAnchorFromObj(3).
• Ttk_Box * cavity (in/out) — A rectangular region from which a parcel is allocated.
• short border (in) — Extra padding (in pixels) to add uniformly to each side of a region.
• short bottom (in) — Extra padding (in pixels) to add to the bottom of a region.
• Ttk_Box box (in) — Specifies a rectangular region.
• Ttk_Box * box_rtn (out) — A rectangular region.
• int height (in) — The height in pixels of a region.
• Tcl_Interp * interp (in) — Used to store error messages.
• int left (in) — Extra padding (in pixels) to add to the left side of a region.
• Tcl_Obj * objPtr (in) — String value contains a symbolic name to be converted to an enumerated value or bitmask. Internal rep may be be modified to cache corresponding value.
• Ttk_Padding padding (in) — Extra padding to add on the inside of a region.
• Ttk_Padding * padding_rtn (out) — Padding present in the inside of a region.
• Ttk_Box parcel (in) — A rectangular region, allocated from a cavity.
• int relief (in) — One of the standard Tk relief options (TK_RELIEF_RAISED, TK_RELIEF_SUNKEN, etc.). See Tk_GetReliefFromObj.
• short right (in) — Extra padding (in pixels) to add to the right side of a region.
• Ttk_Side side (in) — One of TTK_SIDE_LEFT, TTK_SIDE_TOP, TTK_SIDE_RIGHT, or TTK_SIDE_BOTTOM.
• unsigned sticky (in) — A bitmask containing one or more of the bits TTK_STICK_W (west, or left), TTK_STICK_E (east, or right), TTK_STICK_N (north, or top), and TTK_STICK_S (south, or bottom). TTK_FILL_X is defined as a synonym for (TTK_STICK_W|TTK_STICK_E), TTK_FILL_Y is a synonym for (TTK_STICK_N|TTK_STICK_S), and TTK_FILL_BOTH is a synonym for (TTK_FILL_X|TTK_FILL_Y). See also: grid(n).
• Tk_Window tkwin (in) — Window whose screen geometry determines the conversion between absolute units and pixels.
• short top (in) — Extra padding at the top of a region.
• int width (in) — The width in pixels of a region.
• int x (in) — X coordinate of upper-left corner of region.
• int y (in) — Y coordinate of upper-left corner of region.

🦋 BOXES 🦋

The Ttk_Box structure represents a rectangular region of a window:

typedef struct {
    int x;
    int y;
    int width;
    int height;
} Ttk_Box;

All coordinates are relative to the window. Periodt.

• Ttk_MakeBox is a convenience routine that constructs a Ttk_Box structure representing a region width pixels wide, height pixels tall, at the specified x, y coordinates.
• Ttk_PadBox returns a new box located inside the specified parcel, shrunken according to the left, top, right, and bottom margins specified by padding.
• Ttk_ExpandBox is the inverse of Ttk_PadBox: it returns a new box surrounding the specified parcel, expanded according to the left, top, right, and bottom margins specified by padding.
• Ttk_PackBox allocates a parcel width by height pixels wide on the specified side of the cavity, and shrinks the cavity accordingly.
• Ttk_StickBox places a box with the requested width and height inside the parcel according to the sticky bits.
• Ttk_PlaceBox combines Ttk_PackBox and Ttk_StickBox: it allocates a parcel on the specified side of the cavity, places a box of the requested size inside the parcel according to sticky, and shrinks the cavity.
• Ttk_AnchorBox places a box with the requested width and height inside the parcel according to the specified anchor option.
• Ttk_BoxContains tests if the specified x, y coordinate lies within the rectangular region box.

💅 PADDDING 💅

The Ttk_Padding structure is used to represent borders, internal padding, and external margins:

typedef struct {
    short left;
    short top;
    short right;
    short bottom;
} Ttk_Padding;

• Ttk_MakePadding is a convenience routine that constructs a Ttk_Padding structure with the specified left, top, right, and bottom components.
• Ttk_UniformPadding constructs a Ttk_Padding structure with all components equal to the specified border.
• Ttk_AddPadding adds two Ttk_Padding structs together and returns a combined padding containing the sum of the individual padding components.
• Ttk_RelievePadding adds an extra 2 pixels of padding to padding according to the specified relief. If relief is TK_RELIEF_SUNKEN, adds two pixels at the top and left so the inner region is shifted down and to the left. If it is TK_RELIEF_RAISED, adds two pixels at the bottom and right so the inner region is shifted up and to the right. Otherwise, adds 1 pixel on all sides. This is typically used in element geometry procedures to simulate a “pressed-in” look for pushbuttons.

✨ CONVERSION ROUTINES ✨

• Ttk_GetPaddingFromObj converts the string in objPtr to a Ttk_Padding structure. The string representation is a list of up to four length specifications “left top right bottom”. If fewer than four elements are specified, bottom defaults to top, right defaults to left, and top defaults to left. See Tk_GetPixelsFromObj(3) for the syntax of length specifications.
• Ttk_GetBorderFromObj is the same as Ttk_GetPaddingFromObj except that the lengths are specified as integers (i.e., resolution-dependent values like 3m are not allowed).
• Ttk_GetStickyFromObj converts the string in objPtr to a sticky bitmask. The string contains zero or more of the characters n, s, e, or w.

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

• Tk_GetReliefFromObj(3)
• Tk_GetPixelsFromObj(3)
• Tk_GetAnchorFromObj(3)

🔑 KEYWORDS 🔑

geometry, padding, margins, box, region, sticky, relief

---

sign-off: this iconic page comes from Tk version 8.5, with footer date/page energy Geometry(3) — muah 💋✨🫶