Spinbox(3pm)

Spinbox(3pm) — User Contributed Perl Documentation

✨ NAME ✨

Tk::Spinbox — Create and manipulate Spinbox widgets 💅

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

$spinbox =  $parent->Spinbox(?options?);

 -activebackground    -highlightthickness -repeatinterval
 -background          -insertbackground   -selectbackground
 -borderwidth         -insertborderwidth  -selectborderwidth
 -cursor              -insertontime       -selectforeground
 -exportselection     -insertwidth        -takefocus
 -font                -insertofftime      -textvariable
 -foreground          -justify            -xscrollcommand
 -highlightbackground -relief
 -highlightcolor      -repeatdelay

💖 WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS 💖

Okay bestie, these are the special ones that make a Spinbox a Spinbox, not just a sad little entry. 🫶

• -buttonbackground — Name: buttonBackground; Class: Background. The background color to be used for the spin buttons. ✨
• -buttoncursor — Name: buttonCursor; Class: Cursor. The cursor to be used when over the spin buttons. If this is empty (the default), a default cursor will be used. 🖱️
• -buttondownrelief — Name: buttonDownRelief; Class: Relief. The relief to be used for the upper spin button. 💅
• -buttonuprelief — Name: buttonUpRelief; Class: Relief. The relief to be used for the lower spin button. 💅
• -command — Name: command; Class: Command. Specifies a Perl/Tk callback to invoke whenever a Spinbutton is invoked. The callback has these two arguments appended to any existing callback arguments: the current value of the widget and the direction of the button press (up or down). 🔥
• -disabledbackground — Name: disabledBackground; Class: DisabledBackground. Specifies the background color to use when the Spinbox is disabled. If this option is the empty string, the normal background color is used. 💀
• -disabledforeground — Name: disabledForeground; Class: DisabledForeground. Specifies the foreground color to use when the Spinbox is disabled. If this option is the empty string, the normal foreground color is used. 💀
• -format — Name: format; Class: Format. Specifies an alternate format to use when setting the string value when using the -from and -to range. This must be a format specifier of the form %<pad>.<pad>f, as it will format a floating-point number. 🔢
• -from — Name: from; Class: From. A floating-point value corresponding to the lowest value for a Spinbox, to be used in conjunction with -to and -increment. When all are specified correctly, the Spinbox will use these values to control its contents. This value must be less than the -to option. If -values is specified, it supersedes this option. 📉
• -invalidcommand, alias -invcmd — Name: invalidCommand; Class: InvalidCommand. Specifies a script to eval when validateCommand returns 0. Setting it to an empty string disables this feature (the default). The best use of this option is to set it to bell. See Validation below for more information. 🔔
• -increment — Name: increment; Class: Increment. A floating-point value specifying the increment. When used with -from and -to, the value in the widget will be adjusted by -increment when a spin button is pressed (up adds the value, down subtracts the value). ➕➖
• -readonlybackground — Name: readonlyBackground; Class: ReadonlyBackground. Specifies the background color to use when the Spinbox is readonly. If this option is the empty string, the normal background color is used. 🔒
• -state — Name: state; Class: State. Specifies one of three states for the Spinbox: normal, disabled, or readonly. If the Spinbox is readonly, then the value may not be changed using methods and no insertion cursor will be displayed, even if the input focus is in the widget; the contents of the widget may still be selected. If the Spinbox is disabled, the value may not be changed, no insertion cursor will be displayed, the contents will not be selectable, and the Spinbox may be displayed in a different color, depending on the values of the -disabledforeground and -disabledbackground options. 🚦
• -to — Name: to; Class: To. A floating-point value corresponding to the highest value for the Spinbox, to be used in conjunction with -from and -increment. When all are specified correctly, the Spinbox will use these values to control its contents. This value must be greater than the -from option. If -values is specified, it supersedes this option. 📈
• -validate — Name: validate; Class: Validate. Specifies the mode in which validation should operate: none, focus, focusin, focusout, key, or all. It defaults to none. When you want validation, you must explicitly state which mode you wish to use. See Validation below for more. ✅
• -validatecommand, alias -vcmd — Name: validateCommand; Class: ValidateCommand. Specifies a script to evaluate when you want to validate the input in the widget. Setting it to an empty string disables this feature (the default). Validation occurs according to the value of -validate. This command must return a valid boolean value. If it returns 0 (or the valid boolean equivalent) then the value of the widget will not change and the invalidCommand will be evaluated if it is set. If it returns 1, then value will be changed. See Validation below for more information. 🧪
• -values — Name: values; Class: Values. Must be a proper list value. If specified, the Spinbox will use these values as to control its contents, starting with the first value. This option has precedence over the -from and -to range. 📋
• -width — Name: width; Class: Width. Specifies an integer value indicating the desired width of the Spinbox window, in average-size characters of the widget's font. If the value is less than or equal to zero, the widget picks a size just large enough to hold its current text. 📏
• -wrap — Name: wrap; Class: Wrap. Must be a proper boolean value. If on, the Spinbox will wrap around the values of data in the widget. 🔄

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🌈 DESCRIPTION 🌈

The Spinbox method creates a new window (given by the $spinbox argument) and makes it into a Spinbox widget. Additional options, described above, may be specified on the command line or in the option database to configure aspects of the Spinbox such as its colors, font, and relief. ✨

A Spinbox is an extended Entry widget that allows the user to move, or spin, through a fixed set of ascending or descending values such as times or dates in addition to editing the value as in an entry. When first created, a Spinbox's string is empty. A portion of the Spinbox may be selected as described below. If a Spinbox is exporting its selection (see the exportSelection option), then it will observe the standard protocols for handling the selection; Spinbox selections are available as type STRING. Spinboxes also observe the standard Tk rules for dealing with the input focus. When a Spinbox has the input focus it displays an insertion cursor to indicate where new characters will be inserted. 🎯

Spinboxes 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. Spinboxes use the standard -xscrollcommand mechanism for interacting with scrollbars (see the description of the -xscrollcommand option for details). They also support scanning, as described below. 🌟

💖 VALIDATION 💖

Okay bestie, this is the part where your Spinbox gets opinions about what you're allowed to type. Validation works by setting the validateCommand option to a callback, and that callback gets evaluated according to the validate option, like so:

• none — the default, bestie. No validation happening, we're just vibing. ✨
• focus — validateCommand gets called when the Spinbox receives or loses focus.
• focusin — validateCommand gets called when the Spinbox receives focus. 👀
• focusout — validateCommand gets called when the Spinbox loses focus. 🫶
• key — validateCommand gets called when the Spinbox is edited. Every keystroke, periodt.
• all — validateCommand gets called for all of the above conditions. Iconic, no notes. 👑

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🎀 the callback args, aka the lore

The validateCommand and invalidCommand callbacks are invoked with at least 5 positional arguments, and these get appended to any callback arguments you already had going on. Here's the breakdown:

1. The proposed value of the entry. If you're configuring the entry widget to have a new textVariable, this will be the value of that textVariable.
2. The characters to be added (or deleted). This will be "undef" if validation is due to focus, an explicit call to validate, or if the change is due to -textvariable changing.
3. The current value of the entry — i.e. before the proposed change.
4. The index of the character string to be added/deleted, if any. Otherwise -1.
5. Type of action. 1 == INSERT, 0 == DELETE, -1 if it's a forced validation or a textVariable validation.

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💀 the messy part (textVariable + validateCommand)

In general, bestie, the textVariable and validateCommand are dangerous to mix. 😭 Any problems have been overcome so that using the validateCommand will not interfere with the traditional behavior of the Spinbox widget. Using the textVariable for read-only purposes will never cause problems. The danger comes when you try to set the textVariable to something that the validateCommand would not accept — because that causes validate to become none, and the invalidCommand will not be triggered. The same thing happens when an error occurs while evaluating the validateCommand.

Primarily, an error will occur when the validateCommand or invalidCommand encounters an error in its script while evaluating, or when validateCommand does not return a valid boolean value. And the validate option will also set itself to none when you edit the Spinbox widget from within either the validateCommand or the invalidCommand. Such editions will override the one that was being validated. 🙈

So if you wish to edit the value of the widget during validation and still have the validate option set, you should include this command

 my $val = $spinbox->cget(-validate);
 $spinbox->configure(-validate => $val);

in the validateCommand or invalidCommand (whichever one you were editing the Spinbox widget from).

It is also recommended to not set an associated textVariable during validation, as that can cause the Spinbox widget to become out of sync with the textVariable. 🚨

💖 WIDGET METHODS 💖

okay so bestie, when you make a Spinbox with that command, it literally gives birth to a whole widget object and that object's name is $widget. And this command? It's how you boss that object around. It's giving main character energy, fr fr. The general shape of every single call is this:

$widget->method(?arg arg ...?);

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🎀 the index situation 🎀

ngl, a TON of the methods below want one or more indices as arguments. And an index just means: which specific character in the Spinbox's string are we talking about? You can say that in any of these ways, no cap:

• number — you're giving the character as a plain numerical index, where 0 is the very first character in the string. Zero-indexed, as the universe intended 💅
• anchor — this points at the anchor point for the selection, the one you set with the select from and select adjust methods.
• end — points at the character just after the last one in the Spinbox's string. It's literally the same as passing a numerical index equal to the length of the Spinbox's string.
• insert — points at the character right next to the insertion cursor, immediately following it.
• sel.first — the first character in the selection. 🚨 Heads up: it's an error to use this form if the selection isn't in the Spinbox window.
• sel.last — the character just after the last one in the selection. And yeah, same warning: it's an error to use this one if the selection isn't in the Spinbox window.
• @number — here number gets treated as an x-coordinate in the Spinbox's window, and the character that spans that x-coordinate is the one you get. Like, @0 gives you the left-most character in the window. iconic.

You can also abbreviate any of these forms, e.g. e or sel.f. And in general, if your index is out-of-range it just automatically gets rounded to the nearest legal value. the widget is being nice to you 🫶

---

okay now, the following commands are possible for Spinbox widgets. here's the whole menu, bestie 🍓

$widget->bbox(index);

Returns a list of four numbers that describe the bounding box of the character given by index. The first two elements of that list are the x and y coordinates of the upper-left corner of the screen area that the character covers (in pixels, relative to the widget), and the last two elements are the width and height of the character, also in pixels. And lowkey? That bounding box might refer to a region outside the visible area of the window. it's mysterious like that 💜

$widget->cget(option);

Returns the current value of the configuration option given by option. And option can be any of the values that the Spinbox command accepts. slay.

$widget->configure(?option?, ?value, option, value, ...?);

Query or modify the configuration options of the widget, your choice bestie. Here's the breakdown:

• If no option is specified, it returns a list describing all of the available options for $widget (peep Tk::configure for the tea on the format of that list).
• If option is specified with no value, then the command returns a list describing that one named option — and that list will be identical to the corresponding sublist of the value you'd get if you specified no option at all. consistent queen ✨
• 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.

And yeah, option can have any of the values accepted by the Spinbox command.

$widget->delete(first, ?last?);

Deletes one or more elements of the Spinbox. 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 isn't specified it defaults to first+1, i.e. you're just deleting a single character. This command returns an empty string. bye bye character 👋

$widget->get;

Returns the Spinbox's string. that's it. that's the whole method. the simplest little bestie 😌

$widget->icursor(index);

Arranges for the insertion cursor to be displayed just before the character given by index. Returns an empty string.

$widget->identify(x, y);

Returns the name of the window element that corresponds to coordinates x and y in the Spinbox. The return value is one of: none, buttondown, buttonup, entry. so it's basically a vibe check for your mouse coordinates 🌈

$widget->index(index);

Returns the numerical index corresponding to index. translating from index-speak into number-speak, obsessed.

$widget->insert(index, string);

Inserts the characters of string just before the character indicated by index. Returns an empty string.

$widget->invoke(element);

Causes the specified element — either buttondown or buttonup — to be invoked, which triggers the action associated with it. yes, you can just. press the button. programmatically. 🔥

$widget->scan(option, args);

This command is used to implement scanning on Spinboxes. It has two forms, depending on option:

$widget->scanMark(x);

Records x and the current view in the Spinbox window. It's used in conjunction with later scan dragto commands. Typically this command is associated with a mouse button press in the widget. It returns an empty string.

$widget->scanDragto(x);

This command computes the difference between its x argument and the x argument from the last scan mark command for the widget. Then it adjusts the view left or right by 10 times that difference in x-coordinates. Typically this is associated with mouse motion events in the widget, to produce the effect of dragging the Spinbox at high speed through the window. 🦋 The return value is an empty string.

$widget->selection(option, arg);

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

$widget->selectionAdjust(index);

Locates the end of the selection nearest to the character given by index, and adjusts that end of the selection to be at index (i.e. including but not going beyond index). The other end of the selection is made the anchor point for future select to commands. And if the selection isn't currently in the Spinbox? Then a new selection gets created to include the characters between index and the most recent selection anchor point, inclusive. Returns an empty string.

$widget->selectionClear;

Clears the selection if it is currently in this widget. If the selection isn't in this widget then the command has no effect at all. Returns an empty string.

$widget->selectionElement(?element?);

Sets or gets the currently selected element. And if a spinbutton element is specified, it will be displayed depressed. (same, spinbutton. same 😭)

$widget->selectionFrom(index);

Sets the selection anchor point to just before the character given by index. Doesn't change the selection though. Returns an empty string.

$widget->selectionPresent;

Returns 1 if there are characters selected in the Spinbox, and 0 if nothing is selected. a little boolean treat for u ✨

$widget->selectionRange(start, end);

Sets the selection to include the characters starting with the one indexed by start and ending with the one just before end. And if end refers to the same character as start, or an earlier one, then the Spinbox's selection is cleared. periodt.

$widget->selectionTo(index);

The full breakdown, because this one has layers:

• If index is before the anchor point, it sets the selection to the characters from index up to but not including the anchor point.
• If index is the same as the anchor point, it does nothing.
• If index is after the anchor point, it sets the selection to the characters from the anchor point up to but not including index.

The anchor point is determined by the most recent select from or select adjust command in this widget. And if the selection isn't in this widget, then a new selection is created using the most recent anchor point specified for the widget. Returns an empty string.

$widget->set(?string?);

If string is specified, the Spinbox will try and set it to this value. Otherwise it just returns the Spinbox's string. And if validation is on, it will occur when setting the string. 🔍

$widget->validate;

This command is used to force an evaluation of the validateCommand independent of the conditions specified by the validate option. How, you ask? By temporarily setting the validate option to all. It returns 0 or 1. sneaky. i love her.

$widget->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:

$widget->xview;

Returns a list containing two elements. Each element is a real fraction between 0 and 1; together they describe the horizontal span that's visible in the window. So like, if the first element is .2 and the second element is .6, then 20% of the Spinbox's text is off-screen to the left, the middle 40% is visible in the window, and 40% of the text is off-screen to the right. 📐 These are the same values passed to scrollbars via the -xscrollcommand option. iykyk.

$widget->xview(index);

Adjusts the view in the window so that the character given by index is displayed at the left edge of the window.

$widget->xviewMoveto(fraction);

Adjusts the view in the window so that the character fraction of the way through the text appears at the left edge of the window. Fraction must be a fraction between 0 and 1.

$widget->xviewScroll(number, what);

This command shifts the view in the window left or right according to number and what. Number must be an integer. What must be either units or pages or an abbreviation of one of these. If what is units, the view adjusts left or right by number average-width characters on the display; if it's pages then the view adjusts by number screenfuls. And if number is negative then characters farther to the left become visible; if it's positive then characters farther to the right become visible. directional queen 👑

✨ DEFAULT BINDINGS ✨

Tk is out here auto-creating class bindings for Spinboxes, and bestie, they give you this exact default behavior 👇

Quick vocab moment: when the docs say a “word”, they mean a contiguous group of letters, digits, or _ characters — or literally any single character that isn't one of those. periodt.

1. [1] Clicking mouse button 1 positions the insertion 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 strokes out a selection between the insertion cursor and the character under the mouse. 💅
2. [2] Double-clicking with mouse button 1 selects the word under the mouse and positions the insertion cursor at the beginning of the word. Dragging after a double click will stroke out a selection consisting of whole words. 🦋
3. [3] Triple-clicking with mouse button 1 selects all of the text in the Spinbox and positions the insertion cursor before the first character. iconic.
4. [4] The ends of the selection can be adjusted by dragging with mouse button 1 while the Shift key is down; this will adjust the end of the selection that was nearest to the mouse cursor when button 1 was pressed. If the button is double-clicked before dragging then the selection will be adjusted in units of whole words.
5. [5] Clicking mouse button 1 with the Control key down will position the insertion cursor in the Spinbox without affecting the selection. no touchy the selection.
6. [6] If any normal printing characters are typed in a Spinbox, they are inserted at the point of the insertion cursor. 🫶
7. [7] The view in the Spinbox 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 Spinbox at the position of the mouse cursor. 👑
8. [8] If the mouse is dragged out of the Spinbox on the left or right sides while button 1 is pressed, the Spinbox will automatically scroll to make more text visible (if there is more text off-screen on the side where the mouse left the window). it's giving helpful.
9. [9] The Left and Right keys move the insertion cursor one character to the left or right; they also clear any selection in the Spinbox and set the selection anchor. 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 insertion cursor by words, and Control-Shift-Left and Control-Shift-Right move the insertion cursor by words and also extend the selection. Control-b and Control-f behave the same as Left and Right, respectively. Meta-b and Meta-f behave the same as Control-Left and Control-Right, respectively. 🧚
10. [10] The Home key, or Control-a, will move the insertion cursor to the beginning of the Spinbox and clear any selection in the Spinbox. Shift-Home moves the insertion cursor to the beginning of the Spinbox and also extends the selection to that point. 🎀
11. [11] The End key, or Control-e, will move the insertion cursor to the end of the Spinbox and clear any selection in the Spinbox. Shift-End moves the cursor to the end and extends the selection to that point. 💖
12. [12] The Select key and Control-Space set the selection anchor to the position of the insertion cursor. They don't affect the current selection. Shift-Select and Control-Shift-Space adjust the selection to the current position of the insertion cursor, selecting from the anchor to the insertion cursor if there was not any selection previously. lowkey precise.
13. [13] Control-/ selects all the text in the Spinbox. all of it. slay.
14. [14] Control-\ clears any selection in the Spinbox. bye selection.
15. [15] The F16 key (labelled Copy on many Sun workstations) or Meta-w copies the selection in the widget to the clipboard, if there is a selection. clipboard time.
16. [16] The F20 key (labelled Cut on many Sun workstations) or Control-w copies the selection in the widget to the clipboard and deletes the selection. If there is no selection in the widget then these keys have no effect. ✂️
17. [17] The F18 key (labelled Paste on many Sun workstations) or Control-y inserts the contents of the clipboard at the position of the insertion cursor. paste era.
18. [18] The Delete key deletes the selection, if there is one in the Spinbox. If there is no selection, it deletes the character to the right of the insertion cursor. 👉
19. [19] The BackSpace key and Control-h delete the selection, if there is one in the Spinbox. If there is no selection, it deletes the character to the left of the insertion cursor. 👈
20. [20] Control-d deletes the character to the right of the insertion cursor. gone.
21. [21] Meta-d deletes the word to the right of the insertion cursor. word? deleted.
22. [22] Control-k deletes all the characters to the right of the insertion cursor. the whole right side, bestie.
23. [23] Control-t reverses the order of the two characters to the right of the insertion cursor. swap vibes.

Heads up: if the Spinbox is disabled using the -state option, then the Spinbox's view can still be adjusted and text in the Spinbox can still be selected, but no insertion cursor will be displayed and no text modifications will take place. 🚫

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

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🔑 KEYWORDS 🔑

Spinbox, Entry, widget

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That's the whole Spinbox(3pm) page, bestie 💖 This one came from perl v5.40.1, dated 2025-04-13, and yes, it's the Spinbox(3pm) manual. no cap, you made it to the end 🫶✨