forked from AuroraMiddleware/gtk
186 lines
7.4 KiB
XML
186 lines
7.4 KiB
XML
<?xml version="1.0"?>
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<!DOCTYPE chapter PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.3//EN"
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"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.3/docbookx.dtd" [
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]>
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<chapter id="gtk-migrating-GtkGrid">
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<title>Migrating from other containers to GtkGrid</title>
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<para>
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#GtkGrid is an attempt to write a comprehensive, legacy-free,
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box-layout container that is flexible enough to replace #GtkBox,
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#GtkTable, #GtkAlignment and the like.
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</para>
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<para>
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The layout model of GtkGrid is to arrange its children in rows and
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columns (children can span multiple rows or columns, too). This is
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done by assigning positions (and sizes) on a two-dimentions grid that
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stretches arbitrarily far in all directions.
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</para>
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<section>
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<title>GtkBox versus GtkGrid: packing</title>
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<para>
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GtkBox works by arranging child widgets in a single line, either
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horizontally or vertically. It allows packing children from the
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beginning or end, using gtk_box_pack_start() and gtk_box_pack_end().
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</para>
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<inlinegraphic fileref="box-packing.png" format="PNG"></inlinegraphic>
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<example>
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<title>A simple box</title>
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<programlisting>
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box = gtk_box_new (GTK_ORIENTATION_HORIZONTAL, 0);
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gtk_box_pack_start (GTK_BOX (box), gtk_label_new ("One"), FALSE, FALSE, 0);
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gtk_box_pack_start (GTK_BOX (box), gtk_label_new ("Two"), FALSE, FALSE, 0);
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</programlisting>
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<para>This can be done with #GtkGrid as follows:</para>
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<programlisting>
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grid = gtk_grid_new ();
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child1 = gtk_label_new ("One");
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gtk_grid_attach (GTK_GRID (grid), child1, 0, 0, 1, 1);
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child2 = gtk_label_new ("Two");
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gtk_grid_attach_next_to (GTK_GRID (grid), child2, child1, GTK_POS_RIGHT, 1, 1);
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</programlisting>
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<para>
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And similarly for gtk_box_pack_end(). In that case, you
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would use #GTK_POS_LEFT to place the grid children from
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left to right.
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</para>
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</example>
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<para>
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One difference to keep in mind is that the gtk_box_pack_start/pack_end
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functions allow you to place an arbitrary number of children from
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either end without ever 'colliding in the middle'. With GtkGrid, you
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have to leave enough space between the two ends, if you want to combine
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packing from both ends towards the middle. In practice, this should be
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easy to avoid; and GtkGrid simply ignores entirely empty rows or
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columns for layout and spacing.
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</para>
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<para>
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On the other hand, GtkGrid is more flexible in that its grid extends
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indefinitively in both directions — there is no problem with
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using negative numbers for the grid positions. So, if you discover
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that you need to place a widget before your existing arrangement,
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you always can.
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</para>
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</section>
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<section>
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<title>GtkBox versus GtkGrid: sizing</title>
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<para>
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When adding a child to a GtkBox, there are two hard-to-remember
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parameters (child properties, more exactly) named expand and fill
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that determine how the child size behaves in the main direction
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of the box. If expand is set, the box allows the position occupied
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by the child to grow when extra space is available. If fill is
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also set, the extra space is allocated to the child widget itself.
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Otherwise it is left 'free'.
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There is no control about the 'minor' direction; children
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are always given the full size in the minor direction.
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</para>
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<inlinegraphic fileref="box-expand.png" format="PNG"></inlinegraphic>
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<para>
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GtkGrid does not have any custom child properties for controlling
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size allocation to children. Instead, it fully supports the newly
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introduced #GtkWidget:hexpand, #GtkWidget:vexpand, #GtkWidget:halign
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and #GtkWidget:valign properties.
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</para>
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<para>
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The #GtkWidget:hexpand and #GtkWidget:vexpand properties operate
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in a similar way to the expand child properties of #GtkBox. As soon
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as a column contains a hexpanding child, GtkGrid allows the column
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to grow when extra space is available (similar for rows and vexpand).
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In contrast to GtkBox, all the extra space is always allocated
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to the child widget, there are no 'free' areas.
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</para>
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<para>
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To replace the functionality of the fill child properties, you can
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set the #GtkWidget:halign and #GtkWidget:valign properties. An
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align value of #GTK_ALIGN_FILL has the same effect as setting fill
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to %TRUE, a value of #GTK_ALIGN_CENTER has the same effect as setting
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fill to %FALSE. The image below shows the effect of various combinations
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of halign and valign.
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</para>
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<inlinegraphic fileref="widget-hvalign.png" format="PNG"></inlinegraphic>
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<example>
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<title>Expansion and alignment</title>
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<programlisting>
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box = gtk_box_new (GTK_ORIENTATION_HORIZONTAL, 0);
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gtk_box_pack_start (GTK_BOX (box), gtk_label_new ("One"), TRUE, FALSE, 0);
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gtk_box_pack_start (GTK_BOX (box), gtk_label_new ("Two"), TRUE, TRUE, 0);
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</programlisting>
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<para>This can be done with #GtkGrid as follows:</para>
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<programlisting>
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grid = gtk_grid_new ();
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child1 = gtk_label_new ("One");
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gtk_widget_set_hexpand (child1, TRUE);
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gtk_widget_set_halign (child1, GTK_ALIGN_CENTER);
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gtk_grid_attach (GTK_GRID (grid), child1, 0, 0, 1, 1);
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child2 = gtk_label_new ("Two");
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gtk_widget_set_hexpand (child2, TRUE);
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gtk_widget_set_halign (child1, GTK_ALIGN_FILL);
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gtk_grid_attach_next_to (GTK_GRID (grid), child2, child1, GTK_POS_RIGHT, 1, 1);
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</programlisting>
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</example>
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<para>
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One difference between the new GtkWidget expand properties and
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the GtkBox child property of the same name is that widget expandability
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is 'inherited' from children. What this means is that a container
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will become itself expanding as soon as it has
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an expanding child. This is typically what you want, it lets
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you e.g. mark the content pane of your application window as
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expanding, and all the intermediate containers between the
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content pane and the toplevel window will automatically do
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the right thing. This automatism can be overridden at any
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point by setting the expand flags on a container explicitly.
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</para>
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<para>
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Another difference between GtkBox and GtkGrid with respect to
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expandability is when there are no expanding children at all.
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In this case, GtkBox will forcibly expand all children whereas
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GtkGrid will not. In practice, the effect of this is typically
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that a grid will 'stick to the corner' when the toplevel
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containing it is grown, instead of spreading out its children
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over the entire area. The problem can be fixed by setting some
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or all of the children to expand.
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</para>
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<para>
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When you set the #GtkBox:homogeneous property on a GtkBox,
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it reserves the same space for all its children. GtkGrid does
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this in a very similar way, with #GtkGrid:row-homogeneous and
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#GtkGrid:column-homogeneous properties which control whether
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all rows have the same height and whether all columns have
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the same width.
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</para>
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</section>
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<!--
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<section>
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<title>GtkBox versus GtkGrid: spacing</title>
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cover here: spacing, padding, margins
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</section>
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<section>
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<title>GtkTable versus GtkGrid</title>
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cover here: spanning, attachment points, grid size, attach options vs expand/align
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</section>
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-->
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</chapter>
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