Update docs to mention wxRefCounter class

[wxWidgets.git] / docs / doxygen / overviews / windowdeletion.h

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// Name:        windowdeletion.h
// Purpose:     topic overview
// Author:      wxWidgets team
// RCS-ID:      $Id$
// Licence:     wxWindows license
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/**

@page overview_windowdeletion Window Deletion

Classes: wxCloseEvent, wxWindow

Window deletion can be a confusing subject, so this overview is provided to
help make it clear when and how you delete windows, or respond to user requests
to close windows.

@li @ref overview_windowdeletion_sequence
@li @ref overview_windowdeletion_close
@li @ref overview_windowdeletion_default
@li @ref overview_windowdeletion_menuexit
@li @ref overview_windowdeletion_exitapp
@li @ref overview_windowdeletion_deletion
@li @ref overview_windowdeletion_windowkinds


<hr>


@section overview_windowdeletion_sequence Sequence of Events During Window Deletion

When the user clicks on the system close button or system close command, in a
frame or a dialog, wxWidgets calls wxWindow::Close. This in turn generates an
EVT_CLOSE event: see wxCloseEvent.

It is the duty of the application to define a suitable event handler, and
decide whether or not to destroy the window. If the application is for some
reason forcing the application to close (wxCloseEvent::CanVeto returns @false),
the window should always be destroyed, otherwise there is the option to ignore
the request, or maybe wait until the user has answered a question before
deciding whether it is safe to close. The handler for EVT_CLOSE should signal
to the calling code if it does not destroy the window, by calling
wxCloseEvent::Veto. Calling this provides useful information to the calling
code.

The wxCloseEvent handler should only call wxWindow::Destroy to delete the
window, and not use the @c delete operator. This is because for some window
classes, wxWidgets delays actual deletion of the window until all events have
been processed, since otherwise there is the danger that events will be sent to
a non-existent window.

As reinforced in the next section, calling Close does not guarantee that the window
will be destroyed. Call wxWindow::Destroy if you want to be
certain that the window is destroyed.


@section overview_windowdeletion_close Closing Windows

Your application can either use wxWindow::Close event just as the framework
does, or it can call wxWindow::Destroy directly. If using Close(), you can pass
a @true argument to this function to tell the event handler that we definitely
want to delete the frame and it cannot be vetoed.

The advantage of using Close instead of Destroy is that it will call any
clean-up code defined by the EVT_CLOSE handler; for example it may close a
document contained in a window after first asking the user whether the work
should be saved. Close can be vetoed by this process (return @false), whereas
Destroy definitely destroys the window.


@section overview_windowdeletion_default Default Window Close Behaviour

The default close event handler for wxDialog simulates a Cancel command,
generating a wxID_CANCEL event. Since the handler for this cancel event might
itself call Close, there is a check for infinite looping. The default handler
for wxID_CANCEL hides the dialog (if modeless) or calls EndModal(wxID_CANCEL)
(if modal). In other words, by default, the dialog @e is not destroyed (it
might have been created on the stack, so the assumption of dynamic creation
cannot be made).

The default close event handler for wxFrame destroys the frame using Destroy().


@section overview_windowdeletion_menuexit User Calls to Exit From a Menu

What should I do when the user calls up Exit from a menu? You can simply call
wxWindow::Close on the frame. This will invoke your own close event handler
which may destroy the frame.

You can do checking to see if your application can be safely exited at this
point, either from within your close event handler, or from within your exit
menu command handler. For example, you may wish to check that all files have
been saved. Give the user a chance to save and quit, to not save but quit
anyway, or to cancel the exit command altogether.


@section overview_windowdeletion_exitapp Exiting the Application Gracefully

A wxWidgets application automatically exits when the last top level window
(wxFrame or wxDialog), is destroyed. Put any application-wide cleanup code in
wxApp::OnExit (this is a virtual function, not an event handler).


@section overview_windowdeletion_deletion Automatic Deletion of Child Windows

Child windows are deleted from within the parent destructor. This includes any
children that are themselves frames or dialogs, so you may wish to close these
child frame or dialog windows explicitly from within the parent close handler.


@section overview_windowdeletion_windowkinds Other Kinds of Windows

So far we've been talking about 'managed' windows, i.e. frames and dialogs.
Windows with parents, such as controls, don't have delayed destruction and
don't usually have close event handlers, though you can implement them if you
wish. For consistency, continue to use the wxWindow::Destroy function instead
of the @c delete operator when deleting these kinds of windows explicitly.

*/