place(n)                     Tk Built-In Commands                     place(n)



NAME
       place - Geometry manager for fixed or rubber-sheet placement

SYNOPSIS
       (place window option value ?option value ...?)

       (place 'configure window option value ?option value ...?)

       (place 'forget window)

       (place 'info window)

       (place 'slaves window)


DESCRIPTION
       The placer is a geometry manager for Tk.  It provides simple fixed
       placement of windows, where you specify the exact size and location of
       one window, called the slave, within another window, called the master.
       The placer also provides rubber-sheet placement, where you specify the
       size and location of the slave in terms of the dimensions of the
       master, so that the slave changes size and location in response to
       changes in the size of the master.  Lastly, the placer allows you to
       mix these styles of placement so that, for example, the slave has a
       fixed width and height but is centered inside the master.

       If the first argument to the place procedure is a window path name or
       configure then the procedure arranges for the placer to manage the
       geometry of a slave whose path name is window.  The remaining arguments
       consist of one or more option:value pairs that specify the way in which
       window's geometry is managed.  If the placer is already managing
       window, then the option:value pairs modify the configuration for
       window.  In this form the place procedure returns an empty string as
       result.  The following option:value pairs are supported:

       :in master
              Master specifes the path name of the window relative to which
              window is to be placed.  Master must either be window's parent
              or a descendant of window's parent.  In addition, master and
              window must both be descendants of the same top-level window.
              These restrictions are necessary to guarantee that window is
              visible whenever master is visible.  If this option isn't
              specified then the master defaults to window's parent.

       :x location
              Location specifies the x-coordinate within the master window of
              the anchor point for window.  The location is specified in
              screen units (i.e. any of the forms accepted by Tk_GetPixels)
              and need not lie within the bounds of the master window.

       :relx location
              Location specifies the x-coordinate within the master window of
              the anchor point for window.  In this case the location is
              specified in a relative fashion as a floating-point number:  0.0
              corresponds to the left edge of the master and 1.0 corresponds
              to the right edge of the master.  Location need not be in the
              range 0.0-1.0.  If both :x and :relx are specified for a slave
              then their values are summed.  For example, :relx 0.5 :x -2
              positions the left edge of the slave 2 pixels to the left of the
              center of its master.

       :y location
              Location specifies the y-coordinate within the master window of
              the anchor point for window.  The location is specified in
              screen units (i.e. any of the forms accepted by Tk_GetPixels)
              and need not lie within the bounds of the master window.

       :rely location
              Location specifies the y-coordinate within the master window of
              the anchor point for window.  In this case the value is
              specified in a relative fashion as a floating-point number:  0.0
              corresponds to the top edge of the master and 1.0 corresponds to
              the bottom edge of the master.  Location need not be in the
              range 0.0-1.0.  If both :y and :rely are specified for a slave
              then their values are summed.  For example, :rely 0.5 :x 3
              positions the top edge of the slave 3 pixels below the center of
              its master.

       :anchor where
              Where specifies which point of window is to be positioned at the
              (x,y) location selected by the :x, :y, :relx, and :rely options.
              The anchor point is in terms of the outer area of window
              including its border, if any.  Thus if where is se then the
              lower-right corner of window's border will appear at the given
              (x,y) location in the master.  The anchor position defaults to
              nw.

       :width size
              Size specifies the width for window in screen units (i.e. any of
              the forms accepted by Tk_GetPixels).  The width will be the
              outer width of window including its border, if any.  If size is
              an empty string, or if no :width or :relwidth option is
              specified, then the width requested internally by the window
              will be used.

       :relwidth size
              Size specifies the width for window.  In this case the width is
              specified as a floating-point number relative to the width of
              the master: 0.5 means window will be half as wide as the master,
              1.0 means window will have the same width as the master, and so
              on.  If both :width and :relwidth are specified for a slave,
              their values are summed.  For example, :relwidth 1.0 :width 5
              makes the slave 5 pixels wider than the master.

       :height size
              Size specifies the height for window in screen units (i.e. any
              of the forms accepted by Tk_GetPixels).  The height will be the
              outer dimension of window including its border, if any.  If size
              is an empty string, or if no :height or :relheight option is
              specified, then the height requested internally by the window
              will be used.

       :relheight size
              Size specifies the height for window.  In this case the height
              is specified as a floating-point number relative to the height
              of the master: 0.5 means window will be half as high as the
              master, 1.0 means window will have the same height as the
              master, and so on.  If both :height and :relheight are specified
              for a slave, their values are summed.  For example, :relheight
              1.0 :height :2 makes the slave 2 pixels shorter than the master.

       :bordermode mode
              Mode determines the degree to which borders within the master
              are used in determining the placement of the slave.  The default
              and most common value is inside.  In this case the placer
              considers the area of the master to be the innermost area of the
              master, inside any border: an option of :x 0 corresponds to an
              x-coordinate just inside the border and an option of :relwidth
              1.0 means window will fill the area inside the master's border.
              If mode is outside then the placer considers the area of the
              master to include its border; this mode is typically used when
              placing window outside its master, as with the options :x 0 :y 0
              :anchor 'ne.  Lastly, mode may be specified as ignore, in which
              case borders are ignored:  the area of the master is considered
              to be its official X area, which includes any internal border
              but no external border.  A bordermode of ignore is probably not
              very useful.

       If the same value is specified separately with two different options,
       such as :x and :relx, then the most recent option is used and the older
       one is ignored.

       The place slaves procedure returns a list of all the slave windows for
       which window is the master.  If there are no slaves for window then an
       empty string is returned.

       The place forget procedure causes the placer to stop managing the
       geometry of window.  As a side effect of this procedure window will be
       unmapped so that it doesn't appear on the screen.  If window isn't
       currently managed by the placer then the procedure has no effect.
       Place forget returns an empty string as result.

       The place info procedure returns a list giving the current
       configuration of window.  The list consists of option-value pairs in
       exactly the same form as might be specified to the place configure
       procedure.  If the configuration of a window has been retrieved with
       place info, that configuration can be restored later by first using
       place forget to erase any existing information for the window and then
       invoking place configure with the saved information.


FINE POINTS
       It is not necessary for the master window to be the parent of the slave
       window.  This feature is useful in at least two situations.  First, for
       complex window layouts it means you can create a hierarchy of
       subwindows whose only purpose is to assist in the layout of the parent.
       The ``real children'' of the parent (i.e. the windows that are
       significant for the application's user interface) can be children of
       the parent yet be placed inside the windows of the geometry-management
       hierarchy.  This means that the path names of the ``real children''
       don't reflect the geometry-management hierarchy and users can specify
       options for the real children without being aware of the structure of
       the geometry-management hierarchy.

       A second reason for having a master different than the slave's parent
       is to tie two siblings together.  For example, the placer can be used
       to force a window always to be positioned centered just below one of
       its siblings by specifying the configuration :in sibling :relx 0.5
       :rely 1.0 :anchor 'n :bordermode 'outside Whenever the sibling is
       repositioned in the future, the slave will be repositioned as well.

       Unlike many other geometry managers (such as the packer) the placer
       does not make any attempt to manipulate the geometry of the master
       windows or the parents of slave windows (i.e. it doesn't set their
       requested sizes).  To control the sizes of these windows, make them
       windows like frames and canvases that provide configuration options for
       this purpose.


SEE ALSO
       grid, pack



STk                                   3.1                             place(n)
