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 The XML-based resource system, known as XRC, allows user interface elements such as
   6 dialogs, menu bars and toolbars, to be stored in text files and loaded into
   7 the application at run-time. XRC files can also be compiled into binary XRS files or C++
   8 code, so an XML parser does not need to be linked with the application and load times
   9 are faster.
  10
  11 There are several advantages to using XRC resources.
  12
  13 \begin{itemize}\itemsep=0pt
  14 \item Recompiling and linking an application is not necessary if the
  15 resources change.
  16 \item If you use a dialog designers that generates C++ code, it can be hard
  17 to reintegrate this into existing C++ code. Separation of resources and code
  18 is a more elegant solution.
  19 \item You can choose between different alternative resource files at run time, if necessary.
  20 \item The XRC format uses sizers for flexibility, allowing dialogs to be resizable
  21 and highly portable.
  22 \item The XRC format is a wxWindows standard,
  23 and can be generated or postprocessed by any program that understands it. As it is based
  24 on the XML standard, existing XML editors can be used for simple editing purposes.
  25 \end{itemize}
  26
  27 XRC was written by Vaclav Slavik.
  28
  29 \subsection{Compiling and using XRC}\label{compilingxrc}
  30
  31 XRC can be found under the 'contrib' hierarchy, in the following directories:
  32
  33 \begin{verbatim}
  34   contrib/src/xrc           ; XRC source
  35   contrib/include/wx/xrc    ; XRC headers
  36   contrib/samples/xrc       ; XRC sample
  37   contrib/utils/wxrc        ; XRC resource compiler
  38   contrib/utils/wxrcedit    ; XRC editor (in progress)
  39 \end{verbatim}
  40
  41 To compile XRC:
  42
  43 \begin{itemize}\itemsep=0pt
  44 \item Under Windows using VC++, open the contrib/src/xrc/XrcVC.dsw project
  45 and compile. Also compile contrib/utils/wxrc using wxBase if you wish to compile
  46 resource files.
  47 \item Under Unix, XRC should be configured when you configured
  48 wxWindows. Make XRC by changing directory to contrib/src/xrc and
  49 type 'make'.  Similarly compile contrib/utils/wxrc using wxBase if you wish to compile
  50 resource files. {\bf Note:} there is currently a
  51 problem with the wxWindows build system that means that
  52 only the static version of library can be built at present.
  53 \end{itemize}
  54
  55 To use XRC:
  56
  57 \begin{itemize}\itemsep=0pt
  58 \item Under Windows using VC++, link with wxxrc[d].lib.
  59 \item Under Unix, link with libwxxrc[d].a.
  60 \end{itemize}
  61
  62 \subsection{XRC concepts}\label{xrcconcepts}
  63
  64 These are the typical steps for using XRC files in your application.
  65
  66 \begin{itemize}\itemsep=0pt
  67 \item Include the appropriate headers: normally "wx/xrc/xmlres.h" will suffice;
  68 \item call \verb$wxXmlResource::Get()->InitAllHandlers()$ from your wxApp::OnInit function,
  69 and then call \verb$wxXmlResource::Get()->Load("myfile.xrc")$ to load the resource file;
  70 \item to create a dialog from a resource, create it using the default constructor, and then
  71 load using for example \verb$wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadDialog(&dlg, this, "dlg1")$;
  72 \item set up event tables as usual but use the \verb$XMLID(str)$ macro to translate from XRC string names
  73 to a suitable integer identifier, for example \verb$EVT_MENU(XMLID("quit"), MyFrame::OnQuit)$.
  74 \end{itemize}
  75
  76 To create an XRC file, use one of the following methods.
  77
  78 \begin{itemize}\itemsep=0
  79 \item Create the file by hand;
  80 \item use \urlref{wxDesigner}{http://www.roebling.de};
  81 \item use wxWorkshop (not yet available);
  82 \item use wxrcedit (the status of this tool is unknown);
  83 \item convert WIN32 RC files with the tool in contrib/utils/convertrc (the status of this tool is
  84 unknown).
  85 \end{itemize}
  86
  87 It is highly recommended that you use a tool such as wxDesigner, since it's fiddly writing
  88 XRC files by hand.
  89
  90 You can use \helpref{wxXmlResource::Load}{wxxmlresourceload} in a number of ways.
  91 You can pass an XRC file (XML-based text resource file), an XMB file (compiled binary file)
  92 or a zip-compressed file (extension ZIP or RSC) containing other XRC or XMB files.
  93
  94 TODO: is the compiled binary format XMB or XRS? How do you handle a C++ resource file?
  95
  96 \subsection{Using binary resource files}\label{binaryresourcefiles}
  97
  98 To compile binary resource files, use the command-line wxrc utility. It takes a single file parameter (the
  99 input XRC file) and the following switches and options.
 100
 101 \begin{itemize}\itemsep=0
 102 \item -h (--help): show a help message
 103 \item -v (--verbose): show verbose logging information
 104 \item -c (--cpp-code): write C++ source rather than a RSC file
 105 \item -u (--uncompressed): do not compress XML files (C++ only)
 106 \item -g (--gettext): output .po catalog (to stdout, or a file if -o is used)
 107 \item -n (--function) <name>: specify C++ function name (use with -c)
 108 \item -o (--output) <filename>: specify the output file, such as resource.xrs or resource.cpp
 109 \item -l (--list-of-handlers) <filename>: output a list of necessary handlers to this file
 110 \end{itemize}
 111
 112 For example:
 113
 114 \begin{verbatim}
 115   % wxrc resource.wrc
 116   % wxrc resource.wrc -o resource.wrs
 117   % wxrc resource.wrc -v -c -o resource.cpp
 118 \end{verbatim}
 119
 120 \subsection{XRC C++ sample}\label{xrccppsample}
 121
 122 This is the C++ source file (xrcdemo.cpp) for the XRC sample.
 123
 124 \begin{verbatim}
 125 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 126 // Name:        xmldemo.cpp
 127 // Purpose:     XML resources sample
 128 // Author:      Vaclav Slavik
 129 // RCS-ID:      $Id$
 130 // Copyright:   (c) Vaclav Slavik
 131 // Licence:     wxWindows licence
 132 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 133
 134 // ============================================================================
 135 // declarations
 136 // ============================================================================
 137
 138 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 139 // headers
 140 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 141 #ifdef __GNUG__
 142     #pragma implementation "xrcdemo.cpp"
 143     #pragma interface "xrcdemo.cpp"
 144 #endif
 145
 146 // For compilers that support precompilation, includes "wx/wx.h".
 147 #include "wx/wxprec.h"
 148
 149 #ifdef __BORLANDC__
 150     #pragma hdrstop
 151 #endif
 152
 153 // for all others, include the necessary headers (this file is usually all you
 154 // need because it includes almost all "standard" wxWindows headers)
 155 #ifndef WX_PRECOMP
 156     #include "wx/wx.h"
 157 #endif
 158
 159 #include "wx/image.h"
 160 #include "wx/xrc/xmlres.h"
 161
 162 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 163 // resources
 164 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 165 // the application icon
 166 #if defined(__WXGTK__) || defined(__WXMOTIF__) || defined(__WXMAC__)
 167     #include "rc/appicon.xpm"
 168 #endif
 169
 170 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 171 // private classes
 172 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 173
 174 // Define a new application type, each program should derive a class from wxApp
 175 class MyApp : public wxApp
 176 {
 177 public:
 178     // override base class virtuals
 179     // ----------------------------
 180
 181     // this one is called on application startup and is a good place for the app
 182     // initialization (doing it here and not in the ctor allows to have an error
 183     // return: if OnInit() returns false, the application terminates)
 184     virtual bool OnInit();
 185 };
 186
 187 // Define a new frame type: this is going to be our main frame
 188 class MyFrame : public wxFrame
 189 {
 190 public:
 191     // ctor(s)
 192     MyFrame(const wxString& title, const wxPoint& pos, const wxSize& size);
 193
 194     // event handlers (these functions should _not_ be virtual)
 195     void OnQuit(wxCommandEvent& event);
 196     void OnAbout(wxCommandEvent& event);
 197     void OnDlg1(wxCommandEvent& event);
 198     void OnDlg2(wxCommandEvent& event);
 199
 200 private:
 201     // any class wishing to process wxWindows events must use this macro
 202     DECLARE_EVENT_TABLE()
 203 };
 204
 205 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 206 // event tables and other macros for wxWindows
 207 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 208
 209 // the event tables connect the wxWindows events with the functions (event
 210 // handlers) which process them. It can be also done at run-time, but for the
 211 // simple menu events like this the static method is much simpler.
 212 BEGIN_EVENT_TABLE(MyFrame, wxFrame)
 213     EVT_MENU(XMLID("menu_quit"),  MyFrame::OnQuit)
 214     EVT_MENU(XMLID("menu_about"), MyFrame::OnAbout)
 215     EVT_MENU(XMLID("menu_dlg1"), MyFrame::OnDlg1)
 216     EVT_MENU(XMLID("menu_dlg2"), MyFrame::OnDlg2)
 217 END_EVENT_TABLE()
 218
 219 // Create a new application object: this macro will allow wxWindows to create
 220 // the application object during program execution (it's better than using a
 221 // static object for many reasons) and also declares the accessor function
 222 // wxGetApp() which will return the reference of the right type (i.e. MyApp and
 223 // not wxApp)
 224 IMPLEMENT_APP(MyApp)
 225
 226 // ============================================================================
 227 // implementation
 228 // ============================================================================
 229
 230 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 231 // the application class
 232 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 233
 234 // 'Main program' equivalent: the program execution "starts" here
 235 bool MyApp::OnInit()
 236 {
 237     wxImage::AddHandler(new wxGIFHandler);
 238     wxXmlResource::Get()->InitAllHandlers();
 239     wxXmlResource::Get()->Load("rc/resource.xrc");
 240
 241     MyFrame *frame = new MyFrame("XML resources demo",
 242                                  wxPoint(50, 50), wxSize(450, 340));
 243     frame->Show(TRUE);
 244     return TRUE;
 245 }
 246
 247 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 248 // main frame
 249 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 250
 251 // frame constructor
 252 MyFrame::MyFrame(const wxString& title, const wxPoint& pos, const wxSize& size)
 253        : wxFrame((wxFrame *)NULL, -1, title, pos, size)
 254 {
 255     SetIcon(wxICON(appicon));
 256
 257     SetMenuBar(wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadMenuBar("mainmenu"));
 258     SetToolBar(wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadToolBar(this, "toolbar"));
 259 }
 260
 261
 262 // event handlers
 263
 264 void MyFrame::OnQuit(wxCommandEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
 265 {
 266     // TRUE is to force the frame to close
 267     Close(TRUE);
 268 }
 269
 270 void MyFrame::OnAbout(wxCommandEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
 271 {
 272     wxString msg;
 273     msg.Printf( _T("This is the about dialog of XML resources demo.\n")
 274                 _T("Welcome to %s"), wxVERSION_STRING);
 275
 276     wxMessageBox(msg, "About XML resources demo", wxOK | wxICON_INFORMATION, this);
 277 }
 278
 279 void MyFrame::OnDlg1(wxCommandEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
 280 {
 281     wxDialog dlg;
 282     wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadDialog(&dlg, this, "dlg1");
 283     dlg.ShowModal();
 284 }
 285
 286
 287 void MyFrame::OnDlg2(wxCommandEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
 288 {
 289     wxDialog dlg;
 290     wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadDialog(&dlg, this, "dlg2");
 291     dlg.ShowModal();
 292 }
 293 \end{verbatim}
 294
 295 \subsection{XRC resource file sample}\label{xrcsample}
 296
 297 This is the XML file (resource.xrc) for the XRC sample.
 298
 299 \begin{verbatim}
 300 <?xml version="1.0"?>
 301 <resource>
 302   <object class="wxMenuBar" name="mainmenu">
 303     <style>wxMB_DOCKABLE</style>
 304     <object class="wxMenu" name="menu_file">
 305       <label>$File</label>
 306       <style>wxMENU_TEAROFF</style>
 307       <object class="wxMenuItem" name="menu_about">
 308         <label>$About...</label>
 309         <bitmap>filesave.gif</bitmap>
 310       </object>
 311       <object class="separator"/>
 312       <object class="wxMenuItem" name="menu_dlg1">
 313         <label>Dialog 1</label>
 314       </object>
 315       <object class="wxMenuItem" name="menu_dlg2">
 316         <label>Dialog 2</label>
 317       </object>
 318       <object class="separator"/>
 319       <object class="wxMenuItem" name="menu_quit">
 320         <label>E$xit\tAlt-X</label>
 321       </object>
 322     </object>
 323   </object>
 324   <object class="wxToolBar" name="toolbar">
 325     <style>wxTB_FLAT|wxTB_DOCKABLE</style>
 326     <margins>2,2</margins>
 327     <object class="tool" name="menu_open">
 328       <bitmap>fileopen.gif</bitmap>
 329       <tooltip>Open catalog</tooltip>
 330     </object>
 331     <object class="tool" name="menu_save">
 332       <bitmap>filesave.gif</bitmap>
 333       <tooltip>Save catalog</tooltip>
 334     </object>
 335     <object class="tool" name="menu_update">
 336       <bitmap>update.gif</bitmap>
 337       <tooltip>Update catalog - synchronize it with sources</tooltip>
 338     </object>
 339     <separator/>
 340     <object class="tool" name="menu_quotes">
 341       <bitmap>quotes.gif</bitmap>
 342       <toggle>1</toggle>
 343       <tooltip>Display quotes around the string?</tooltip>
 344     </object>
 345     <object class="separator"/>
 346     <object class="tool" name="menu_fuzzy">
 347       <bitmap>fuzzy.gif</bitmap>
 348       <tooltip>Toggled if selected string is fuzzy translation</tooltip>
 349       <toggle>1</toggle>
 350     </object>
 351   </object>
 352   <object class="wxDialog" name="dlg1">
 353     <object class="wxBoxSizer">
 354       <object class="sizeritem">
 355         <object class="wxBitmapButton">
 356           <bitmap>fuzzy.gif</bitmap>
 357           <focus>fileopen.gif</focus>
 358         </object>
 359       </object>
 360       <object class="sizeritem">
 361         <object class="wxPanel">
 362           <object class="wxStaticText">
 363             <label>fdgdfgdfgdfg</label>
 364           </object>
 365           <style>wxSUNKEN_BORDER</style>
 366         </object>
 367         <flag>wxALIGN_CENTER</flag>
 368       </object>
 369       <object class="sizeritem">
 370         <object class="wxButton">
 371           <label>Buttonek</label>
 372         </object>
 373         <border>10d</border>
 374         <flag>wxALL</flag>
 375       </object>
 376       <object class="sizeritem">
 377         <object class="wxHtmlWindow">
 378           <htmlcode>&lt;h1&gt;Hi,&lt;/h1&gt;man</htmlcode>
 379           <size>100,45d</size>
 380         </object>
 381       </object>
 382       <object class="sizeritem">
 383         <object class="wxNotebook">
 384           <object class="notebookpage">
 385             <object class="wxPanel">
 386               <object class="wxBoxSizer">
 387                 <object class="sizeritem">
 388                   <object class="wxHtmlWindow">
 389                     <htmlcode>Hello, we are inside a &lt;u&gt;NOTEBOOK&lt;/u&gt;...</htmlcode>
 390                     <size>50,50d</size>
 391                   </object>
 392                   <option>1</option>
 393                 </object>
 394               </object>
 395             </object>
 396             <label>Page</label>
 397           </object>
 398           <object class="notebookpage">
 399             <object class="wxPanel">
 400               <object class="wxBoxSizer">
 401                 <object class="sizeritem">
 402                   <object class="wxHtmlWindow">
 403                     <htmlcode>Hello, we are inside a &lt;u&gt;NOTEBOOK&lt;/u&gt;...</htmlcode>
 404                     <size>50,50d</size>
 405                   </object>
 406                 </object>
 407               </object>
 408             </object>
 409             <label>Page 2</label>
 410           </object>
 411           <usenotebooksizer>1</usenotebooksizer>
 412         </object>
 413         <flag>wxEXPAND</flag>
 414       </object>
 415       <orient>wxVERTICAL</orient>
 416     </object>
 417   </object>
 418   <object class="wxDialog" name="dlg2">
 419     <object class="wxBoxSizer">
 420       <orient>wxVERTICAL</orient>
 421       <object class="sizeritem" name="dfgdfg">
 422         <object class="wxTextCtrl">
 423           <size>200,200d</size>
 424           <style>wxTE_MULTILINE|wxSUNKEN_BORDER</style>
 425           <value>Hello, this is an ordinary multiline\n         textctrl....</value>
 426         </object>
 427         <option>1</option>
 428         <flag>wxEXPAND|wxALL</flag>
 429         <border>10</border>
 430       </object>
 431       <object class="sizeritem">
 432         <object class="wxBoxSizer">
 433           <object class="sizeritem">
 434             <object class="wxButton" name="wxID_OK">
 435               <label>Ok</label>
 436               <default>1</default>
 437             </object>
 438           </object>
 439           <object class="sizeritem">
 440             <object class="wxButton" name="wxID_CANCEL">
 441               <label>Cancel</label>
 442             </object>
 443             <border>10</border>
 444             <flag>wxLEFT</flag>
 445           </object>
 446         </object>
 447         <flag>wxLEFT|wxRIGHT|wxBOTTOM|wxALIGN_RIGHT</flag>
 448         <border>10</border>
 449       </object>
 450     </object>
 451     <title>Second testing dialog</title>
 452   </object>
 453 </resource>
 454 \end{verbatim}
 455
 456 \subsection{XRC file format}\label{xrcfileformat}
 457
 458 This section to be written.
 459
 460 \subsection{Adding new resource handlers}\label{newresourcehandlers}
 461
 462 This section to be written.
 463
 464