Chapter 15. Widgets Without X-Windows

# Chapter 15. Widgets Without X-Windows

Some Widgets do not have an associated X-Window, so they therefore do not receive X events. This means that the signals described in the X event signals section will not be emitted. If you want to capture events for these widgets you can use a special container called `Gtk::EventBox`, which is described in the EventBox section.

Here is a list of some of these Widgets:

    Gtk::Alignment (deprecated from gtkmm version 3.14)
    Gtk::Arrow (deprecated from gtkmm version 3.14)
    Gtk::AspectFrame
    Gtk::Bin
    Gtk::Box
    Gtk::Button
    Gtk::CheckButton
    Gtk::Fixed
    Gtk::Frame
    Gtk::Grid
    Gtk::Image
    Gtk::Label
    Gtk::MenuItem
    Gtk::Notebook
    Gtk::Paned
    Gtk::RadioButton
    Gtk::Range
    Gtk::ScrolledWindow
    Gtk::Separator
    Gtk::Table (deprecated from gtkmm version 3.4)
    Gtk::Toolbar

These widgets are mainly used for decoration or layout, so you won't often need to capture events on them. They are intended to have no X-Window in order to improve performance.

## EventBox

Some gtkmm widgets don't have associated X windows; they draw on their parents' windows. Because of this, they cannot receive events. Also, if they are incorrectly sized, they don't clip, so you can get messy overwriting etc. To receive events on one of these widgets, you can place it inside an `EventBox` widget and then call `Gtk::Widget::set_events()` on the EventBox before showing it.

Although the name `EventBox` emphasises the event-handling method, the widget can also be used for clipping (and more; see the example below).

The constructor for `Gtk::EventBox` is:

    Gtk::EventBox();

A child widget can be added to the `EventBox` using:

    event_box.add(child_widget);

Reference

### Example

The following example demonstrates both uses of an `EventBox` - a label is created that is clipped to a small box, and set up so that a mouse-click on the label causes the program to exit. Resizing the window reveals varying amounts of the label.

Figure 15.1. EventBox

Source Code

File: `examplewindow.h` (For use with gtkmm 3, not gtkmm 2)

    #ifndef GTKMM_EXAMPLEWINDOW_H
    #define GTKMM_EXAMPLEWINDOW_H

    #include <gtkmm.h>

    class ExampleWindow : public Gtk::Window
    {
    public:
      ExampleWindow();
      virtual ~ExampleWindow();

    protected:
      //Signal handlers:
      bool on_eventbox_button_press(GdkEventButton* button_event);

      //Child widgets:
      Gtk::EventBox m_EventBox;
      Gtk::Label m_Label;
    };

    #endif //GTKMM_EXAMPLEWINDOW_H

File: `main.cc` (For use with gtkmm 3, not gtkmm 2)

    #include "examplewindow.h"
    #include <gtkmm/application.h>

    int main(int argc, char *argv[])
    {
      auto app = Gtk::Application::create(argc, argv, "org.gtkmm.example");

      ExampleWindow window;

      //Shows the window and returns when it is closed.
      return app->run(window);
    }

File: `examplewindow.cc` (For use with gtkmm 3, not gtkmm 2)

    #include "examplewindow.h"

    ExampleWindow::ExampleWindow()
    : m_Label("Click here to quit, quit, quit, quit, quit")
    {
      set_title ("EventBox");
      set_border_width(10);

      add(m_EventBox);

      m_EventBox.add(m_Label);

      //Clip the label short:
      set_default_size(110, 20);
      m_Label.set_size_request(110, 20);
      m_Label.set_ellipsize(Pango::ELLIPSIZE_END);

      //And bind an action to it:
      m_EventBox.set_events(Gdk::BUTTON_PRESS_MASK);
      m_EventBox.signal_button_press_event().connect(
        sigc::mem_fun(*this, &ExampleWindow::on_eventbox_button_press) );

      m_EventBox.set_tooltip_text("Click me!");

      show_all_children();
    }

    ExampleWindow::~ExampleWindow()
    {
    }

    bool ExampleWindow::on_eventbox_button_press(GdkEventButton*)
    {
      hide();
      return true;
    }

Adjustment Internals |  | Chapter 16. Dialogs