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$XMLID(str)$ macro to translate from XRC string names
  77 to a suitable integer identifier, for example \verb$EVT_MENU(XMLID("quit"), MyFrame::OnQuit)$.
  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};
  85 \item use wxWorkshop (not yet available);
  86 \item use wxrcedit (the status of this tool is unknown);
  87 \item convert WIN32 RC files with the tool in contrib/utils/convertrc (the status of this tool is
  88 unknown).
  89 \end{itemize}
  90
  91 It is highly recommended that you use a tool such as wxDesigner, since it's fiddly writing
  92 XRC files by hand.
  93
  94 You can use \helpref{wxXmlResource::Load}{wxxmlresourceload} in a number of ways.
  95 You can pass an XRC file (XML-based text resource file), an XMB file (compiled binary file)
  96 or a zip-compressed file (extension ZIP or RSC) containing other XRC or XMB files.
  97
  98 TODO: is the compiled binary format XMB or XRS? How do you handle a C++ resource file?
  99
 100 \subsection{Using binary resource files}\label{binaryresourcefiles}
 101
 102 To compile binary resource files, use the command-line wxrc utility. It takes a single file parameter (the
 103 input XRC file) and the following switches and options.
 104
 105 \begin{itemize}\itemsep=0
 106 \item -h (--help): show a help message
 107 \item -v (--verbose): show verbose logging information
 108 \item -c (--cpp-code): write C++ source rather than a RSC file
 109 \item -u (--uncompressed): do not compress XML files (C++ only)
 110 \item -g (--gettext): output .po catalog (to stdout, or a file if -o is used)
 111 \item -n (--function) <name>: specify C++ function name (use with -c)
 112 \item -o (--output) <filename>: specify the output file, such as resource.xrs or resource.cpp
 113 \item -l (--list-of-handlers) <filename>: output a list of necessary handlers to this file
 114 \end{itemize}
 115
 116 For example:
 117
 118 \begin{verbatim}
 119   % wxrc resource.wrc
 120   % wxrc resource.wrc -o resource.wrs
 121   % wxrc resource.wrc -v -c -o resource.cpp
 122 \end{verbatim}
 123
 124 \subsection{XRC C++ sample}\label{xrccppsample}
 125
 126 This is the C++ source file (xrcdemo.cpp) for the XRC sample.
 127
 128 \begin{verbatim}
 129 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 130 // Name:        xmldemo.cpp
 131 // Purpose:     XML resources sample
 132 // Author:      Vaclav Slavik
 133 // RCS-ID:      $Id$
 134 // Copyright:   (c) Vaclav Slavik
 135 // Licence:     wxWindows licence
 136 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 137
 138 // ============================================================================
 139 // declarations
 140 // ============================================================================
 141
 142 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 143 // headers
 144 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 145 #ifdef __GNUG__
 146     #pragma implementation "xrcdemo.cpp"
 147     #pragma interface "xrcdemo.cpp"
 148 #endif
 149
 150 // For compilers that support precompilation, includes "wx/wx.h".
 151 #include "wx/wxprec.h"
 152
 153 #ifdef __BORLANDC__
 154     #pragma hdrstop
 155 #endif
 156
 157 // for all others, include the necessary headers (this file is usually all you
 158 // need because it includes almost all "standard" wxWindows headers)
 159 #ifndef WX_PRECOMP
 160     #include "wx/wx.h"
 161 #endif
 162
 163 #include "wx/image.h"
 164 #include "wx/xrc/xmlres.h"
 165
 166 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 167 // resources
 168 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 169 // the application icon
 170 #if defined(__WXGTK__) || defined(__WXMOTIF__) || defined(__WXMAC__)
 171     #include "rc/appicon.xpm"
 172 #endif
 173
 174 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 175 // private classes
 176 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 177
 178 // Define a new application type, each program should derive a class from wxApp
 179 class MyApp : public wxApp
 180 {
 181 public:
 182     // override base class virtuals
 183     // ----------------------------
 184
 185     // this one is called on application startup and is a good place for the app
 186     // initialization (doing it here and not in the ctor allows to have an error
 187     // return: if OnInit() returns false, the application terminates)
 188     virtual bool OnInit();
 189 };
 190
 191 // Define a new frame type: this is going to be our main frame
 192 class MyFrame : public wxFrame
 193 {
 194 public:
 195     // ctor(s)
 196     MyFrame(const wxString& title, const wxPoint& pos, const wxSize& size);
 197
 198     // event handlers (these functions should _not_ be virtual)
 199     void OnQuit(wxCommandEvent& event);
 200     void OnAbout(wxCommandEvent& event);
 201     void OnDlg1(wxCommandEvent& event);
 202     void OnDlg2(wxCommandEvent& event);
 203
 204 private:
 205     // any class wishing to process wxWindows events must use this macro
 206     DECLARE_EVENT_TABLE()
 207 };
 208
 209 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 210 // event tables and other macros for wxWindows
 211 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 212
 213 // the event tables connect the wxWindows events with the functions (event
 214 // handlers) which process them. It can be also done at run-time, but for the
 215 // simple menu events like this the static method is much simpler.
 216 BEGIN_EVENT_TABLE(MyFrame, wxFrame)
 217     EVT_MENU(XMLID("menu_quit"),  MyFrame::OnQuit)
 218     EVT_MENU(XMLID("menu_about"), MyFrame::OnAbout)
 219     EVT_MENU(XMLID("menu_dlg1"), MyFrame::OnDlg1)
 220     EVT_MENU(XMLID("menu_dlg2"), MyFrame::OnDlg2)
 221 END_EVENT_TABLE()
 222
 223 // Create a new application object: this macro will allow wxWindows to create
 224 // the application object during program execution (it's better than using a
 225 // static object for many reasons) and also declares the accessor function
 226 // wxGetApp() which will return the reference of the right type (i.e. MyApp and
 227 // not wxApp)
 228 IMPLEMENT_APP(MyApp)
 229
 230 // ============================================================================
 231 // implementation
 232 // ============================================================================
 233
 234 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 235 // the application class
 236 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 237
 238 // 'Main program' equivalent: the program execution "starts" here
 239 bool MyApp::OnInit()
 240 {
 241     wxImage::AddHandler(new wxGIFHandler);
 242     wxXmlResource::Get()->InitAllHandlers();
 243     wxXmlResource::Get()->Load("rc/resource.xrc");
 244
 245     MyFrame *frame = new MyFrame("XML resources demo",
 246                                  wxPoint(50, 50), wxSize(450, 340));
 247     frame->Show(TRUE);
 248     return TRUE;
 249 }
 250
 251 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 252 // main frame
 253 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 254
 255 // frame constructor
 256 MyFrame::MyFrame(const wxString& title, const wxPoint& pos, const wxSize& size)
 257        : wxFrame((wxFrame *)NULL, -1, title, pos, size)
 258 {
 259     SetIcon(wxICON(appicon));
 260
 261     SetMenuBar(wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadMenuBar("mainmenu"));
 262     SetToolBar(wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadToolBar(this, "toolbar"));
 263 }
 264
 265
 266 // event handlers
 267
 268 void MyFrame::OnQuit(wxCommandEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
 269 {
 270     // TRUE is to force the frame to close
 271     Close(TRUE);
 272 }
 273
 274 void MyFrame::OnAbout(wxCommandEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
 275 {
 276     wxString msg;
 277     msg.Printf( _T("This is the about dialog of XML resources demo.\n")
 278                 _T("Welcome to %s"), wxVERSION_STRING);
 279
 280     wxMessageBox(msg, "About XML resources demo", wxOK | wxICON_INFORMATION, this);
 281 }
 282
 283 void MyFrame::OnDlg1(wxCommandEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
 284 {
 285     wxDialog dlg;
 286     wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadDialog(&dlg, this, "dlg1");
 287     dlg.ShowModal();
 288 }
 289
 290
 291 void MyFrame::OnDlg2(wxCommandEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
 292 {
 293     wxDialog dlg;
 294     wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadDialog(&dlg, this, "dlg2");
 295     dlg.ShowModal();
 296 }
 297 \end{verbatim}
 298
 299 \subsection{XRC resource file sample}\label{xrcsample}
 300
 301 This is the XML file (resource.xrc) for the XRC sample.
 302
 303 \begin{verbatim}
 304 <?xml version="1.0"?>
 305 <resource>
 306   <object class="wxMenuBar" name="mainmenu">
 307     <style>wxMB_DOCKABLE</style>
 308     <object class="wxMenu" name="menu_file">
 309       <label>$File</label>
 310       <style>wxMENU_TEAROFF</style>
 311       <object class="wxMenuItem" name="menu_about">
 312         <label>$About...</label>
 313         <bitmap>filesave.gif</bitmap>
 314       </object>
 315       <object class="separator"/>
 316       <object class="wxMenuItem" name="menu_dlg1">
 317         <label>Dialog 1</label>
 318       </object>
 319       <object class="wxMenuItem" name="menu_dlg2">
 320         <label>Dialog 2</label>
 321       </object>
 322       <object class="separator"/>
 323       <object class="wxMenuItem" name="menu_quit">
 324         <label>E$xit\tAlt-X</label>
 325       </object>
 326     </object>
 327   </object>
 328   <object class="wxToolBar" name="toolbar">
 329     <style>wxTB_FLAT|wxTB_DOCKABLE</style>
 330     <margins>2,2</margins>
 331     <object class="tool" name="menu_open">
 332       <bitmap>fileopen.gif</bitmap>
 333       <tooltip>Open catalog</tooltip>
 334     </object>
 335     <object class="tool" name="menu_save">
 336       <bitmap>filesave.gif</bitmap>
 337       <tooltip>Save catalog</tooltip>
 338     </object>
 339     <object class="tool" name="menu_update">
 340       <bitmap>update.gif</bitmap>
 341       <tooltip>Update catalog - synchronize it with sources</tooltip>
 342     </object>
 343     <separator/>
 344     <object class="tool" name="menu_quotes">
 345       <bitmap>quotes.gif</bitmap>
 346       <toggle>1</toggle>
 347       <tooltip>Display quotes around the string?</tooltip>
 348     </object>
 349     <object class="separator"/>
 350     <object class="tool" name="menu_fuzzy">
 351       <bitmap>fuzzy.gif</bitmap>
 352       <tooltip>Toggled if selected string is fuzzy translation</tooltip>
 353       <toggle>1</toggle>
 354     </object>
 355   </object>
 356   <object class="wxDialog" name="dlg1">
 357     <object class="wxBoxSizer">
 358       <object class="sizeritem">
 359         <object class="wxBitmapButton">
 360           <bitmap>fuzzy.gif</bitmap>
 361           <focus>fileopen.gif</focus>
 362         </object>
 363       </object>
 364       <object class="sizeritem">
 365         <object class="wxPanel">
 366           <object class="wxStaticText">
 367             <label>fdgdfgdfgdfg</label>
 368           </object>
 369           <style>wxSUNKEN_BORDER</style>
 370         </object>
 371         <flag>wxALIGN_CENTER</flag>
 372       </object>
 373       <object class="sizeritem">
 374         <object class="wxButton">
 375           <label>Buttonek</label>
 376         </object>
 377         <border>10d</border>
 378         <flag>wxALL</flag>
 379       </object>
 380       <object class="sizeritem">
 381         <object class="wxHtmlWindow">
 382           <htmlcode>&lt;h1&gt;Hi,&lt;/h1&gt;man</htmlcode>
 383           <size>100,45d</size>
 384         </object>
 385       </object>
 386       <object class="sizeritem">
 387         <object class="wxNotebook">
 388           <object class="notebookpage">
 389             <object class="wxPanel">
 390               <object class="wxBoxSizer">
 391                 <object class="sizeritem">
 392                   <object class="wxHtmlWindow">
 393                     <htmlcode>Hello, we are inside a &lt;u&gt;NOTEBOOK&lt;/u&gt;...</htmlcode>
 394                     <size>50,50d</size>
 395                   </object>
 396                   <option>1</option>
 397                 </object>
 398               </object>
 399             </object>
 400             <label>Page</label>
 401           </object>
 402           <object class="notebookpage">
 403             <object class="wxPanel">
 404               <object class="wxBoxSizer">
 405                 <object class="sizeritem">
 406                   <object class="wxHtmlWindow">
 407                     <htmlcode>Hello, we are inside a &lt;u&gt;NOTEBOOK&lt;/u&gt;...</htmlcode>
 408                     <size>50,50d</size>
 409                   </object>
 410                 </object>
 411               </object>
 412             </object>
 413             <label>Page 2</label>
 414           </object>
 415           <usenotebooksizer>1</usenotebooksizer>
 416         </object>
 417         <flag>wxEXPAND</flag>
 418       </object>
 419       <orient>wxVERTICAL</orient>
 420     </object>
 421   </object>
 422   <object class="wxDialog" name="dlg2">
 423     <object class="wxBoxSizer">
 424       <orient>wxVERTICAL</orient>
 425       <object class="sizeritem" name="dfgdfg">
 426         <object class="wxTextCtrl">
 427           <size>200,200d</size>
 428           <style>wxTE_MULTILINE|wxSUNKEN_BORDER</style>
 429           <value>Hello, this is an ordinary multiline\n         textctrl....</value>
 430         </object>
 431         <option>1</option>
 432         <flag>wxEXPAND|wxALL</flag>
 433         <border>10</border>
 434       </object>
 435       <object class="sizeritem">
 436         <object class="wxBoxSizer">
 437           <object class="sizeritem">
 438             <object class="wxButton" name="wxID_OK">
 439               <label>Ok</label>
 440               <default>1</default>
 441             </object>
 442           </object>
 443           <object class="sizeritem">
 444             <object class="wxButton" name="wxID_CANCEL">
 445               <label>Cancel</label>
 446             </object>
 447             <border>10</border>
 448             <flag>wxLEFT</flag>
 449           </object>
 450         </object>
 451         <flag>wxLEFT|wxRIGHT|wxBOTTOM|wxALIGN_RIGHT</flag>
 452         <border>10</border>
 453       </object>
 454     </object>
 455     <title>Second testing dialog</title>
 456   </object>
 457 </resource>
 458 \end{verbatim}
 459
 460 \subsection{XRC file format}\label{xrcfileformat}
 461
 462 This section to be written.
 463
 464 \subsection{Adding new resource handlers}\label{newresourcehandlers}
 465
 466 This section to be written.
 467
 468