Toolbars are usually used to group some number of widgets in order to simplify customization of their look and layout. Typically a toolbar consists of buttons with icons, labels and tooltips, but any other widget can also be put inside a toolbar. Finally, items can be arranged horizontally or vertically and buttons can be displayed with icons, labels, or both.
Creating a toolbar is (as one may already suspect) done with the following function:
GtkWidget *gtk_toolbar_new( void );
After creating a toolbar one can append, prepend and insert items (that means simple text strings) or elements (that means any widget types) into the toolbar. To describe an item we need a label text, a tooltip text, a private tooltip text, an icon for the button and a callback function for it. For example, to append or prepend an item you may use the following functions:
GtkWidget *gtk_toolbar_append_item( GtkToolbar *toolbar,
const char *text,
const char *tooltip_text,
const char *tooltip_private_text,
GtkWidget *icon,
GtkSignalFunc callback,
gpointer user_data );
GtkWidget *gtk_toolbar_prepend_item( GtkToolbar *toolbar,
const char *text,
const char *tooltip_text,
const char *tooltip_private_text,
GtkWidget *icon,
GtkSignalFunc callback,
gpointer user_data );If you want to use gtk_toolbar_insert_item(), the only additional parameter which must be specified is the position in which the item should be inserted, thus:
GtkWidget *gtk_toolbar_insert_item( GtkToolbar *toolbar,
const char *text,
const char *tooltip_text,
const char *tooltip_private_text,
GtkWidget *icon,
GtkSignalFunc callback,
gpointer user_data,
gint position );To simplify adding spaces between toolbar items, you may use the following functions:
void gtk_toolbar_append_space( GtkToolbar *toolbar );
void gtk_toolbar_prepend_space( GtkToolbar *toolbar );
void gtk_toolbar_insert_space( GtkToolbar *toolbar,
gint position );If it's required, the orientation of a toolbar and its style can be changed "on the fly" using the following functions:
void gtk_toolbar_set_orientation( GtkToolbar *toolbar,
GtkOrientation orientation );
void gtk_toolbar_set_style( GtkToolbar *toolbar,
GtkToolbarStyle style );
void gtk_toolbar_set_tooltips( GtkToolbar *toolbar,
gint enable );Where orientation is one of GTK_ORIENTATION_HORIZONTAL or GTK_ORIENTATION_VERTICAL. The style is used to set appearance of the toolbar items by using one of GTK_TOOLBAR_ICONS, GTK_TOOLBAR_TEXT, or GTK_TOOLBAR_BOTH.
To show some other things that can be done with a toolbar, let's take the following program (we'll interrupt the listing with some additional explanations):
#include <gtk/gtk.h>
/* This function is connected to the Close button or
* closing the window from the WM */
static gboolean delete_event( GtkWidget *widget,
GdkEvent *event,
gpointer data )
{
gtk_main_quit ();
return FALSE;
}The above beginning seems for sure familiar to you if it's not your first GTK program. There is one additional thing though, we include a nice XPM picture to serve as an icon for all of the buttons.
GtkWidget* close_button; /* This button will emit signal to close
* application */
GtkWidget* tooltips_button; /* to enable/disable tooltips */
GtkWidget* text_button,
* icon_button,
* both_button; /* radio buttons for toolbar style */
GtkWidget* entry; /* a text entry to show packing any widget into
* toolbar */In fact not all of the above widgets are needed here, but to make things clearer I put them all together.
/* that's easy... when one of the buttons is toggled, we just
* check which one is active and set the style of the toolbar
* accordingly
* ATTENTION: our toolbar is passed as data to callback ! */
static void radio_event( GtkWidget *widget,
gpointer data )
{
if (GTK_TOGGLE_BUTTON (text_button)->active)
gtk_toolbar_set_style (GTK_TOOLBAR (data), GTK_TOOLBAR_TEXT);
else if (GTK_TOGGLE_BUTTON (icon_button)->active)
gtk_toolbar_set_style (GTK_TOOLBAR (data), GTK_TOOLBAR_ICONS);
else if (GTK_TOGGLE_BUTTON (both_button)->active)
gtk_toolbar_set_style (GTK_TOOLBAR (data), GTK_TOOLBAR_BOTH);
}
/* even easier, just check given toggle button and enable/disable
* tooltips */
static void toggle_event( GtkWidget *widget,
gpointer data )
{
gtk_toolbar_set_tooltips (GTK_TOOLBAR (data),
GTK_TOGGLE_BUTTON (widget)->active );
}The above are just two callback functions that will be called when one of the buttons on a toolbar is pressed. You should already be familiar with things like this if you've already used toggle buttons (and radio buttons).
int main (int argc, char *argv[])
{
/* Here is our main window (a dialog) and a handle for the handlebox */
GtkWidget* dialog;
GtkWidget* handlebox;
/* Ok, we need a toolbar, an icon with a mask (one for all of
the buttons) and an icon widget to put this icon in (but
we'll create a separate widget for each button) */
GtkWidget * toolbar;
GtkWidget * iconw;
/* this is called in all GTK application. */
gtk_init (&argc, &argv);
/* create a new window with a given title, and nice size */
dialog = gtk_dialog_new ();
gtk_window_set_title (GTK_WINDOW (dialog), "GTKToolbar Tutorial");
gtk_widget_set_size_request (GTK_WIDGET (dialog), 600, 300);
GTK_WINDOW (dialog)->allow_shrink = TRUE;
/* typically we quit if someone tries to close us */
g_signal_connect (G_OBJECT (dialog), "delete_event",
G_CALLBACK (delete_event), NULL);
/* we need to realize the window because we use pixmaps for
* items on the toolbar in the context of it */
gtk_widget_realize (dialog);
/* to make it nice we'll put the toolbar into the handle box,
* so that it can be detached from the main window */
handlebox = gtk_handle_box_new ();
gtk_box_pack_start (GTK_BOX (GTK_DIALOG (dialog)->vbox),
handlebox, FALSE, FALSE, 5);The above should be similar to any other GTK application. Just initialization of GTK, creating the window, etc. There is only one thing that probably needs some explanation: a handle box. A handle box is just another box that can be used to pack widgets in to. The difference between it and typical boxes is that it can be detached from a parent window (or, in fact, the handle box remains in the parent, but it is reduced to a very small rectangle, while all of its contents are reparented to a new freely floating window). It is usually nice to have a detachable toolbar, so these two widgets occur together quite often.
/* toolbar will be horizontal, with both icons and text, and * with 5pxl spaces between items and finally, * we'll also put it into our handlebox */ toolbar = gtk_toolbar_new (); gtk_toolbar_set_orientation (GTK_TOOLBAR (toolbar), GTK_ORIENTATION_HORIZONTAL); gtk_toolbar_set_style (GTK_TOOLBAR (toolbar), GTK_TOOLBAR_BOTH); gtk_container_set_border_width (GTK_CONTAINER (toolbar), 5); gtk_toolbar_set_space_size (GTK_TOOLBAR (toolbar), 5); gtk_container_add (GTK_CONTAINER (handlebox), toolbar);
Well, what we do above is just a straightforward initialization of the toolbar widget.
/* our first item is <close> button */
iconw = gtk_image_new_from_file ("gtk.xpm"); /* icon widget */
close_button =
gtk_toolbar_append_item (GTK_TOOLBAR (toolbar), /* our toolbar */
"Close", /* button label */
"Closes this app", /* this button's tooltip */
"Private", /* tooltip private info */
iconw, /* icon widget */
GTK_SIGNAL_FUNC (delete_event), /* a signal */
NULL);
gtk_toolbar_append_space (GTK_TOOLBAR (toolbar)); /* space after item */In the above code you see the simplest case: adding a button to toolbar. Just before appending a new item, we have to construct an image widget to serve as an icon for this item; this step will have to be repeated for each new item. Just after the item we also add a space, so the following items will not touch each other. As you see gtk_toolbar_append_item() returns a pointer to our newly created button widget, so that we can work with it in the normal way.
/* now, let's make our radio buttons group... */
iconw = gtk_image_new_from_file ("gtk.xpm");
icon_button = gtk_toolbar_append_element (
GTK_TOOLBAR (toolbar),
GTK_TOOLBAR_CHILD_RADIOBUTTON, /* a type of element */
NULL, /* pointer to widget */
"Icon", /* label */
"Only icons in toolbar", /* tooltip */
"Private", /* tooltip private string */
iconw, /* icon */
GTK_SIGNAL_FUNC (radio_event), /* signal */
toolbar); /* data for signal */
gtk_toolbar_append_space (GTK_TOOLBAR (toolbar));Here we begin creating a radio buttons group. To do this we use gtk_toolbar_append_element. In fact, using this function one can also +add simple items or even spaces (type = GTK_TOOLBAR_CHILD_SPACE or +GTK_TOOLBAR_CHILD_BUTTON). In the above case we start creating a radio group. In creating other radio buttons for this group a pointer to the previous button in the group is required, so that a list of buttons can be easily constructed (see the section on Radio Buttons earlier in this tutorial).
/* following radio buttons refer to previous ones */
iconw = gtk_image_new_from_file ("gtk.xpm");
text_button =
gtk_toolbar_append_element (GTK_TOOLBAR (toolbar),
GTK_TOOLBAR_CHILD_RADIOBUTTON,
icon_button,
"Text",
"Only texts in toolbar",
"Private",
iconw,
GTK_SIGNAL_FUNC (radio_event),
toolbar);
gtk_toolbar_append_space (GTK_TOOLBAR (toolbar));
iconw = gtk_image_new_from_file ("gtk.xpm");
both_button =
gtk_toolbar_append_element (GTK_TOOLBAR (toolbar),
GTK_TOOLBAR_CHILD_RADIOBUTTON,
text_button,
"Both",
"Icons and text in toolbar",
"Private",
iconw,
GTK_SIGNAL_FUNC (radio_event),
toolbar);
gtk_toolbar_append_space (GTK_TOOLBAR (toolbar));
gtk_toggle_button_set_active (GTK_TOGGLE_BUTTON (both_button), TRUE);In the end we have to set the state of one of the buttons manually (otherwise they all stay in active state, preventing us from switching between them).
/* here we have just a simple toggle button */
iconw = gtk_image_new_from_file ("gtk.xpm");
tooltips_button =
gtk_toolbar_append_element (GTK_TOOLBAR (toolbar),
GTK_TOOLBAR_CHILD_TOGGLEBUTTON,
NULL,
"Tooltips",
"Toolbar with or without tips",
"Private",
iconw,
GTK_SIGNAL_FUNC (toggle_event),
toolbar);
gtk_toolbar_append_space (GTK_TOOLBAR (toolbar));
gtk_toggle_button_set_active (GTK_TOGGLE_BUTTON (tooltips_button), TRUE);A toggle button can be created in the obvious way (if one knows how to create radio buttons already).
/* to pack a widget into toolbar, we only have to
* create it and append it with an appropriate tooltip */
entry = gtk_entry_new ();
gtk_toolbar_append_widget (GTK_TOOLBAR (toolbar),
entry,
"This is just an entry",
"Private");
/* well, it isn't created within the toolbar, so we must still show it */
gtk_widget_show (entry);As you see, adding any kind of widget to a toolbar is simple. The one thing you have to remember is that this widget must be shown manually (contrary to other items which will be shown together with the toolbar).
/* that's it ! let's show everything. */ gtk_widget_show (toolbar); gtk_widget_show (handlebox); gtk_widget_show (dialog); /* rest in gtk_main and wait for the fun to begin! */ gtk_main (); return 0; }
So, here we are at the end of toolbar tutorial. Of course, to appreciate it in full you need also this nice XPM icon, so here it is:
/* XPM */
static char * gtk_xpm[] = {
"32 39 5 1",
". c none",
"+ c black",
"@ c #3070E0",
"# c #F05050",
"$ c #35E035",
"................+...............",
"..............+++++.............",
"............+++++@@++...........",
"..........+++++@@@@@@++.........",
"........++++@@@@@@@@@@++........",
"......++++@@++++++++@@@++.......",
".....+++@@@+++++++++++@@@++.....",
"...+++@@@@+++@@@@@@++++@@@@+....",
"..+++@@@@+++@@@@@@@@+++@@@@@++..",
".++@@@@@@+++@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@++",
".+#+@@@@@@++@@@@+++@@@@@@@@@@@@+",
".+##++@@@@+++@@@+++++@@@@@@@@$@.",
".+###++@@@@+++@@@+++@@@@@++$$$@.",
".+####+++@@@+++++++@@@@@+@$$$$@.",
".+#####+++@@@@+++@@@@++@$$$$$$+.",
".+######++++@@@@@@@++@$$$$$$$$+.",
".+#######+##+@@@@+++$$$$$$@@$$+.",
".+###+++##+##+@@++@$$$$$$++$$$+.",
".+###++++##+##+@@$$$$$$$@+@$$@+.",
".+###++++++#+++@$$@+@$$@++$$$@+.",
".+####+++++++#++$$@+@$$++$$$$+..",
".++####++++++#++$$@+@$++@$$$$+..",
".+#####+++++##++$$++@+++$$$$$+..",
".++####+++##+#++$$+++++@$$$$$+..",
".++####+++####++$$++++++@$$$@+..",
".+#####++#####++$$+++@++++@$@+..",
".+#####++#####++$$++@$$@+++$@@..",
".++####++#####++$$++$$$$$+@$@++.",
".++####++#####++$$++$$$$$$$$+++.",
".+++####+#####++$$++$$$$$$$@+++.",
"..+++#########+@$$+@$$$$$$+++...",
"...+++########+@$$$$$$$$@+++....",
".....+++######+@$$$$$$$+++......",
"......+++#####+@$$$$$@++........",
".......+++####+@$$$$+++.........",
".........++###+$$$@++...........",
"..........++##+$@+++............",
"...........+++++++..............",
".............++++..............."};