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# tooltip(n) 1.4.6 tklib "Tooltip management"

## Name

tooltip - Tooltip management

## Synopsis

- package require Tcl 8.4
- package require msgcat 1.3
- package require tooltip ?1.4.6?

- ::tooltip::tooltip command ?options?
- ::tooltip::tooltip pathName ?option arg? message

## Description

This package provides tooltips, small text messages that can be displayed when the mouse hovers over a widget, menu item, canvas item, listbox item or text widget tag.

## COMMANDS

::tooltip::tooltip command ?options?

  Manage the tooltip package using the following subcommands.

  clear index

    Prevents the specified widgets from showing tooltips. pattern is a glob pattern and defaults to matching all widgets.

  delay ?millisecs?

    Query or set the hover delay. This is the interval that the pointer must remain over the widget before the tooltip is displayed. The delay is specified in milliseconds and must be greater than 50ms. With no argument the current delay is returned.

  fade ?boolean?

    Enable or disable fading of the tooltip. The is enabled by default on Win32 and Aqua. The tooltip will fade away on Leave events instead disappearing.

  disable
  off

    Disable all tooltips

  enable
  on

    Enables tooltips for defined widgets.

::tooltip::tooltip pathName ?option arg? message

  This command arranges for widget pathName to display a tooltip with message message. The tooltip uses a late-binding msgcat call on the passed in message to allow for on-the-fly language changes in an application. If the widget specified is a menu, canvas or text widget then additional options are used to tie the tooltip to specific menu entries, canvas items or text tags.

  -index index

    This option is used to set a tooltip on a menu item. The index may be either the entry index or the entry label. The widget must be a menu widget but the entries do not have to exists when the tooltip is set.

  -items name

    This option is used to set a tooltip for canvas widget or listbox items. For the canvas widget, the item must already be present in the canvas widget and will be found with a find withtag lookup. For listbox widgets the item(s) may be created later but the programmer is responsible for managing the link between the listbox item index and the corresponding tooltip. If the listbox items are re-ordered, the tooltips will need amending.

    If the widget is not a canvas or listbox then an error is raised.

  -tag name

    The -tag option can be used to set a tooltip for a text widget tag. The tag should already be present when this command is called or an error will be returned. The widget must also be a text widget.

  --

    The -- option marks the end of options. The argument following this one will be treated as message even if it starts with a -.

## EXAMPLE

    # Demonstrate widget tooltip
    package require tooltip
    pack [label .l -text "label"]
    tooltip::tooltip .l "This is a label widget"

    # Demonstrate menu tooltip
    package require tooltip
    . configure -menu [menu .menu]
    .menu add cascade -label Test -menu [menu .menu.test -tearoff 0]
    .menu.test add command -label Tooltip
    tooltip::tooltip .menu.test -index 0 "This is a menu tooltip"

    # Demonstrate canvas item tooltip
    package require tooltip
    pack [canvas .c]
    set item [.c create rectangle 10 10 80 80]
    tooltip::tooltip .c -item $item "Canvas item tooltip"

    # Demonstrate listbox item tooltip
    package require tooltip
    pack [listbox .lb]
    .lb insert 0 "item one"
    tooltip::tooltip .lb -item 0 "Listbox item tooltip"

    # Demonstrate text tag tooltip
    package require tooltip
    pack [text .txt]
    .txt tag configure TIP-1 -underline 1
    tooltip::tooltip .txt -tag TIP-1 "tooltip one text"
    .txt insert end "An example of a " {} "tooltip" TIP-1 " tag.\n" {}

## Bugs, Ideas, Feedback

This document, and the package it describes, will undoubtedly contain bugs and other problems. Please report such in the category tooltip of the Tklib Trackers. Please also report any ideas for enhancements you may have for either package and/or documentation.

## Keywords

balloon, help, hover, tooltip

## Copyright

Copyright © 1996-2008, Jeffrey Hobbs