docs/latex/wx/txrc.tex

   1 \section{XML-based resource system overview}\label{xrcoverview}
   2
   3 Classes: \helpref{wxXmlResource}{wxxmlresource}, \helpref{wxXmlResourceHandler}{wxxmlresourcehandler}
   4
   5 {\bf IMPORTANT NOTE:} XRC is not yet a part of the core wxWindows library, so
   6 please see the next section for how to compile and link it. Otherwise if you
   7 try to use it, you will get link errors.
   8
   9 The XML-based resource system, known as XRC, allows user interface elements such as
  10 dialogs, menu bars and toolbars, to be stored in text files and loaded into
  11 the application at run-time. XRC files can also be compiled into binary XRS files or C++
  12 code, so an XML parser does not need to be linked with the application and load times
  13 are faster.
  14
  15 There are several advantages to using XRC resources.
  16
  17 \begin{itemize}\itemsep=0pt
  18 \item Recompiling and linking an application is not necessary if the
  19 resources change.
  20 \item If you use a dialog designers that generates C++ code, it can be hard
  21 to reintegrate this into existing C++ code. Separation of resources and code
  22 is a more elegant solution.
  23 \item You can choose between different alternative resource files at run time, if necessary.
  24 \item The XRC format uses sizers for flexibility, allowing dialogs to be resizable
  25 and highly portable.
  26 \item The XRC format is a wxWindows standard,
  27 and can be generated or postprocessed by any program that understands it. As it is based
  28 on the XML standard, existing XML editors can be used for simple editing purposes.
  29 \end{itemize}
  30
  31 XRC was written by Vaclav Slavik.
  32
  33 \subsection{Compiling and using XRC}\label{compilingxrc}
  34
  35 XRC can be found under the 'contrib' hierarchy, in the following directories:
  36
  37 \begin{verbatim}
  38   contrib/src/xrc           ; XRC source
  39   contrib/include/wx/xrc    ; XRC headers
  40   contrib/samples/xrc       ; XRC sample
  41   contrib/utils/wxrc        ; XRC resource compiler
  42   contrib/utils/wxrcedit    ; XRC editor (in progress)
  43 \end{verbatim}
  44
  45 To compile XRC:
  46
  47 \begin{itemize}\itemsep=0pt
  48 \item Under Windows using VC++, open the contrib/src/xrc/XrcVC.dsw project
  49 and compile. Also compile contrib/utils/wxrc using wxBase if you wish to compile
  50 resource files.
  51 \item Under Unix, XRC should be configured when you configured
  52 wxWindows. Make XRC by changing directory to contrib/src/xrc and
  53 type 'make'.  Similarly compile contrib/utils/wxrc using wxBase if you wish to compile
  54 resource files. {\bf Note:} there is currently a
  55 problem with the wxWindows build system that means that
  56 only the static version of library can be built at present.
  57 \end{itemize}
  58
  59 To use XRC:
  60
  61 \begin{itemize}\itemsep=0pt
  62 \item Under Windows using VC++, link with wxxrc[d].lib.
  63 \item Under Unix, link with libwxxrc[d].a.
  64 \end{itemize}
  65
  66 \subsection{XRC concepts}\label{xrcconcepts}
  67
  68 These are the typical steps for using XRC files in your application.
  69
  70 \begin{itemize}\itemsep=0pt
  71 \item Include the appropriate headers: normally "wx/xrc/xmlres.h" will suffice;
  72 \item call \verb$wxXmlResource::Get()->InitAllHandlers()$ from your wxApp::OnInit function,
  73 and then call \verb$wxXmlResource::Get()->Load("myfile.xrc")$ to load the resource file;
  74 \item to create a dialog from a resource, create it using the default constructor, and then
  75 load using for example \verb$wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadDialog(&dlg, this, "dlg1")$;
  76 \item set up event tables as usual but use the \verb$XRCID(str)$ macro to translate from XRC string names
  77 to a suitable integer identifier, for example \verb$EVT\_MENU(XRCID("quit"), MyFrame::OnQuit)$.
  78 \end{itemize}
  79
  80 To create an XRC file, use one of the following methods.
  81
  82 \begin{itemize}\itemsep=0
  83 \item Create the file by hand;
  84 \item use \urlref{wxDesigner}{http://www.roebling.de}, a commercial dialog designer/RAD tool;
  85 \item use \urlref{XRCed}{http://www.mema.ucl.ac.be/~rolinsky/xrced/}, a wxPython-based
  86 dialog editor that you can find in the {\tt wxPython/tools} subdirectory of the wxWindows
  87 CVS archive;
  88 \item use \urlref{wxWorkshop}{http://wxworkshop.sourceforge.net} (under development);
  89 \item use wxrcedit ({\tt utils/contrib/wxrcedit}) (under development);
  90 \item convert WIN32 RC files to XRC with the tool in {\tt contrib/utils/convertrc}.
  91 \end{itemize}
  92
  93 It is highly recommended that you use a tool such as wxDesigner, since it's fiddly writing
  94 XRC files by hand.
  95
  96 You can use \helpref{wxXmlResource::Load}{wxxmlresourceload} in a number of ways.
  97 You can pass an XRC file (XML-based text resource file), an XMB file (compiled binary file)
  98 or a zip-compressed file (extension ZIP or RSC) containing other XRC or XMB files.
  99
 100 TODO: is the compiled binary format XMB or XRS? How do you handle a C++ resource file?
 101
 102 \subsection{Using binary resource files}\label{binaryresourcefiles}
 103
 104 To compile binary resource files, use the command-line wxrc utility. It takes a single file parameter (the
 105 input XRC file) and the following switches and options.
 106
 107 \begin{itemize}\itemsep=0
 108 \item -h (--help): show a help message
 109 \item -v (--verbose): show verbose logging information
 110 \item -c (--cpp-code): write C++ source rather than a RSC file
 111 \item -u (--uncompressed): do not compress XML files (C++ only)
 112 \item -g (--gettext): output .po catalog (to stdout, or a file if -o is used)
 113 \item -n (--function) <name>: specify C++ function name (use with -c)
 114 \item -o (--output) <filename>: specify the output file, such as resource.xrs or resource.cpp
 115 \item -l (--list-of-handlers) <filename>: output a list of necessary handlers to this file
 116 \end{itemize}
 117
 118 For example:
 119
 120 \begin{verbatim}
 121   % wxrc resource.wrc
 122   % wxrc resource.wrc -o resource.wrs
 123   % wxrc resource.wrc -v -c -o resource.cpp
 124 \end{verbatim}
 125
 126 \subsection{XRC C++ sample}\label{xrccppsample}
 127
 128 This is the C++ source file (xrcdemo.cpp) for the XRC sample.
 129
 130 \begin{verbatim}
 131 #include "wx/wx.h"
 132 #include "wx/image.h"
 133 #include "wx/xrc/xmlres.h"
 134
 135 // the application icon
 136 #if defined(__WXGTK__) || defined(__WXMOTIF__) || defined(__WXMAC__)
 137     #include "rc/appicon.xpm"
 138 #endif
 139
 140 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 141 // private classes
 142 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 143
 144 // Define a new application type, each program should derive a class from wxApp
 145 class MyApp : public wxApp
 146 {
 147 public:
 148     // override base class virtuals
 149     // ----------------------------
 150
 151     // this one is called on application startup and is a good place for the app
 152     // initialization (doing it here and not in the ctor allows to have an error
 153     // return: if OnInit() returns false, the application terminates)
 154     virtual bool OnInit();
 155 };
 156
 157 // Define a new frame type: this is going to be our main frame
 158 class MyFrame : public wxFrame
 159 {
 160 public:
 161     // ctor(s)
 162     MyFrame(const wxString& title, const wxPoint& pos, const wxSize& size);
 163
 164     // event handlers (these functions should _not_ be virtual)
 165     void OnQuit(wxCommandEvent& event);
 166     void OnAbout(wxCommandEvent& event);
 167     void OnDlg1(wxCommandEvent& event);
 168     void OnDlg2(wxCommandEvent& event);
 169
 170 private:
 171     // any class wishing to process wxWindows events must use this macro
 172     DECLARE_EVENT_TABLE()
 173 };
 174
 175 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 176 // event tables and other macros for wxWindows
 177 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 178
 179 BEGIN_EVENT_TABLE(MyFrame, wxFrame)
 180     EVT_MENU(XRCID("menu_quit"),  MyFrame::OnQuit)
 181     EVT_MENU(XRCID("menu_about"), MyFrame::OnAbout)
 182     EVT_MENU(XRCID("menu_dlg1"), MyFrame::OnDlg1)
 183     EVT_MENU(XRCID("menu_dlg2"), MyFrame::OnDlg2)
 184 END_EVENT_TABLE()
 185
 186 IMPLEMENT_APP(MyApp)
 187
 188 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 189 // the application class
 190 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 191
 192 // 'Main program' equivalent: the program execution "starts" here
 193 bool MyApp::OnInit()
 194 {
 195     wxImage::AddHandler(new wxGIFHandler);
 196     wxXmlResource::Get()->InitAllHandlers();
 197     wxXmlResource::Get()->Load("rc/resource.xrc");
 198
 199     MyFrame *frame = new MyFrame("XML resources demo",
 200                                  wxPoint(50, 50), wxSize(450, 340));
 201     frame->Show(TRUE);
 202     return TRUE;
 203 }
 204
 205 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 206 // main frame
 207 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 208
 209 // frame constructor
 210 MyFrame::MyFrame(const wxString& title, const wxPoint& pos, const wxSize& size)
 211        : wxFrame((wxFrame *)NULL, -1, title, pos, size)
 212 {
 213     SetIcon(wxICON(appicon));
 214
 215     SetMenuBar(wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadMenuBar("mainmenu"));
 216     SetToolBar(wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadToolBar(this, "toolbar"));
 217 }
 218
 219 // event handlers
 220 void MyFrame::OnQuit(wxCommandEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
 221 {
 222     // TRUE is to force the frame to close
 223     Close(TRUE);
 224 }
 225
 226 void MyFrame::OnAbout(wxCommandEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
 227 {
 228     wxString msg;
 229     msg.Printf( _T("This is the about dialog of XML resources demo.\n")
 230                 _T("Welcome to %s"), wxVERSION_STRING);
 231
 232     wxMessageBox(msg, "About XML resources demo", wxOK | wxICON_INFORMATION, this);
 233 }
 234
 235 void MyFrame::OnDlg1(wxCommandEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
 236 {
 237     wxDialog dlg;
 238     wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadDialog(&dlg, this, "dlg1");
 239     dlg.ShowModal();
 240 }
 241
 242 void MyFrame::OnDlg2(wxCommandEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
 243 {
 244     wxDialog dlg;
 245     wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadDialog(&dlg, this, "dlg2");
 246     dlg.ShowModal();
 247 }
 248 \end{verbatim}
 249
 250 \subsection{XRC resource file sample}\label{xrcsample}
 251
 252 This is the XML file (resource.xrc) for the XRC sample.
 253
 254 \begin{verbatim}
 255 <?xml version="1.0"?>
 256 <resource>
 257   <object class="wxMenuBar" name="mainmenu">
 258     <style>wxMB_DOCKABLE</style>
 259     <object class="wxMenu" name="menu_file">
 260       <label>$File</label>
 261       <style>wxMENU_TEAROFF</style>
 262       <object class="wxMenuItem" name="menu_about">
 263         <label>$About...</label>
 264         <bitmap>filesave.gif</bitmap>
 265       </object>
 266       <object class="separator"/>
 267       <object class="wxMenuItem" name="menu_dlg1">
 268         <label>Dialog 1</label>
 269       </object>
 270       <object class="wxMenuItem" name="menu_dlg2">
 271         <label>Dialog 2</label>
 272       </object>
 273       <object class="separator"/>
 274       <object class="wxMenuItem" name="menu_quit">
 275         <label>E$xit\tAlt-X</label>
 276       </object>
 277     </object>
 278   </object>
 279   <object class="wxToolBar" name="toolbar">
 280     <style>wxTB_FLAT|wxTB_DOCKABLE</style>
 281     <margins>2,2</margins>
 282     <object class="tool" name="menu_open">
 283       <bitmap>fileopen.gif</bitmap>
 284       <tooltip>Open catalog</tooltip>
 285     </object>
 286     <object class="tool" name="menu_save">
 287       <bitmap>filesave.gif</bitmap>
 288       <tooltip>Save catalog</tooltip>
 289     </object>
 290     <object class="tool" name="menu_update">
 291       <bitmap>update.gif</bitmap>
 292       <tooltip>Update catalog - synchronize it with sources</tooltip>
 293     </object>
 294     <separator/>
 295     <object class="tool" name="menu_quotes">
 296       <bitmap>quotes.gif</bitmap>
 297       <toggle>1</toggle>
 298       <tooltip>Display quotes around the string?</tooltip>
 299     </object>
 300     <object class="separator"/>
 301     <object class="tool" name="menu_fuzzy">
 302       <bitmap>fuzzy.gif</bitmap>
 303       <tooltip>Toggled if selected string is fuzzy translation</tooltip>
 304       <toggle>1</toggle>
 305     </object>
 306   </object>
 307   <object class="wxDialog" name="dlg1">
 308     <object class="wxBoxSizer">
 309       <object class="sizeritem">
 310         <object class="wxBitmapButton">
 311           <bitmap>fuzzy.gif</bitmap>
 312           <focus>fileopen.gif</focus>
 313         </object>
 314       </object>
 315       <object class="sizeritem">
 316         <object class="wxPanel">
 317           <object class="wxStaticText">
 318             <label>fdgdfgdfgdfg</label>
 319           </object>
 320           <style>wxSUNKEN_BORDER</style>
 321         </object>
 322         <flag>wxALIGN_CENTER</flag>
 323       </object>
 324       <object class="sizeritem">
 325         <object class="wxButton">
 326           <label>Buttonek</label>
 327         </object>
 328         <border>10d</border>
 329         <flag>wxALL</flag>
 330       </object>
 331       <object class="sizeritem">
 332         <object class="wxHtmlWindow">
 333           <htmlcode>&lt;h1&gt;Hi,&lt;/h1&gt;man</htmlcode>
 334           <size>100,45d</size>
 335         </object>
 336       </object>
 337       <object class="sizeritem">
 338         <object class="wxNotebook">
 339           <object class="notebookpage">
 340             <object class="wxPanel">
 341               <object class="wxBoxSizer">
 342                 <object class="sizeritem">
 343                   <object class="wxHtmlWindow">
 344                     <htmlcode>Hello, we are inside a &lt;u&gt;NOTEBOOK&lt;/u&gt;...</htmlcode>
 345                     <size>50,50d</size>
 346                   </object>
 347                   <option>1</option>
 348                 </object>
 349               </object>
 350             </object>
 351             <label>Page</label>
 352           </object>
 353           <object class="notebookpage">
 354             <object class="wxPanel">
 355               <object class="wxBoxSizer">
 356                 <object class="sizeritem">
 357                   <object class="wxHtmlWindow">
 358                     <htmlcode>Hello, we are inside a &lt;u&gt;NOTEBOOK&lt;/u&gt;...</htmlcode>
 359                     <size>50,50d</size>
 360                   </object>
 361                 </object>
 362               </object>
 363             </object>
 364             <label>Page 2</label>
 365           </object>
 366           <usenotebooksizer>1</usenotebooksizer>
 367         </object>
 368         <flag>wxEXPAND</flag>
 369       </object>
 370       <orient>wxVERTICAL</orient>
 371     </object>
 372   </object>
 373   <object class="wxDialog" name="dlg2">
 374     <object class="wxBoxSizer">
 375       <orient>wxVERTICAL</orient>
 376       <object class="sizeritem" name="dfgdfg">
 377         <object class="wxTextCtrl">
 378           <size>200,200d</size>
 379           <style>wxTE_MULTILINE|wxSUNKEN_BORDER</style>
 380           <value>Hello, this is an ordinary multiline\n         textctrl....</value>
 381         </object>
 382         <option>1</option>
 383         <flag>wxEXPAND|wxALL</flag>
 384         <border>10</border>
 385       </object>
 386       <object class="sizeritem">
 387         <object class="wxBoxSizer">
 388           <object class="sizeritem">
 389             <object class="wxButton" name="wxID_OK">
 390               <label>Ok</label>
 391               <default>1</default>
 392             </object>
 393           </object>
 394           <object class="sizeritem">
 395             <object class="wxButton" name="wxID_CANCEL">
 396               <label>Cancel</label>
 397             </object>
 398             <border>10</border>
 399             <flag>wxLEFT</flag>
 400           </object>
 401         </object>
 402         <flag>wxLEFT|wxRIGHT|wxBOTTOM|wxALIGN_RIGHT</flag>
 403         <border>10</border>
 404       </object>
 405     </object>
 406     <title>Second testing dialog</title>
 407   </object>
 408 </resource>
 409 \end{verbatim}
 410
 411 \subsection{XRC file format}\label{xrcfileformat}
 412
 413 Please see Technical Note 14 (docs/tech/tn0014.txt) in your wxWindows
 414 distribution.
 415
 416 \subsection{Adding new resource handlers}\label{newresourcehandlers}
 417
 418 Coming soon.
 419