Tk_Name(3tk)

📦
version 9.0.4 · 3 versions
, in ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

okay bestie, welcome to the Tk_Name(3tk) page from the Tk Library Procedures 💖 this one's all about how Tk windows have names and how you convert between those names and window tokens. it's giving "identity crisis but make it iconic" ✨

✨ NAME ✨

Tk_Name, Tk_PathName, Tk_NameToWindow — convert between names and window tokens.

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

#include <tk.h>

Tk_Uid
Tk_Name(tkwin)

char *
Tk_PathName(tkwin)

Tk_Window
Tk_NameToWindow(interp, pathName, tkwin)

✨ ARGUMENTS ✨

  • Tk_Window tkwin (in) — the token for the window, bestie. it's the little handle that says "this window right here" 👑
  • Tcl_Interp *interp (out) — the interpreter you use for error reporting. and yes, it can be NULL, no cap.
  • const char *pathName (in) — a character string holding the path name of the window. it's like the window's full legal name in the hierarchy 🦋

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so every window managed by Tk has two names, periodt:

  1. a short name — this one identifies the window among its siblings, aka the children of the same parent.
  2. a path name — this one identifies the window uniquely among all the windows that belong to the same main window.

the path name gets way more play in Tk than the short name. like, so many commands (looking at you, bind) expect path names as arguments. it's the main character for real.

🌸 Tk_Name 🌸

the Tk_Name macro returns a window's short name. that's literally the same as the name argument you passed to Tk_CreateWindow when the window was created. the value comes back as a Tk_Uid, which you can use just like a string pointer, but it also has the properties of a unique identifier. if you want the deets on that, go read the manual entry for Tk_GetUid — it's giving "iykyk" 💅

🦋 Tk_PathName 🦋

the Tk_PathName macro returns a hierarchical name for tkwin. path names have a structure similar to file names in Unix, except they use dots between elements instead of slashes. so:

  • the main window for an application has the path name .
  • its children have names like .a and .b
  • their children have names like .a.aa and .b.bb
  • and so on, forever and ever, amen ✨

a window counts as a child of another window for naming purposes if the second window was named as the first window's parent when the first window was created. and lowkey? this is not always the same as the X window hierarchy. for example, a pop-up is created as a child of the root window, but its logical parent will usually be a window within the application. so the vibes are different from the actual X tree, okay? 🙈

👑 Tk_NameToWindow 👑

the Tk_NameToWindow procedure returns the token for a window when you give it:

  • the window's path name (that's the pathName argument), and
  • another window that belongs to the same main window (that's tkwin).

normally it returns a token for the named window. but if no such window exists, Tk_NameToWindow leaves an error message in the interpreter interp's result and returns NULL. so watch out for that, bestie 😭

why do you even need the tkwin argument? because path names are only unique within a single application hierarchy. for example, if a single process has opened two main windows, each one will have its own separate naming hierarchy, and the same path name might show up in each hierarchy. normally tkwin is the main window of the hierarchy you want, but it doesn't have to be: any window in the desired hierarchy will do. flexible, iconic, we love to see it 💖

✨ KEYWORDS ✨

name, path name, token, window

and that's the whole page, babe! this was Tk_Name(3tk) from the Tk library, signing off with main character energy 👑💅✨

📦 where this page comes from