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1 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
2 %% Name: tsamples.tex
3 %% Purpose: Samples description
4 %% Author: Vadim Zeitlin
5 %% Modified by:
6 %% Created: 02.11.99
7 %% RCS-ID: $Id$
8 %% Copyright: (c) wxWindows team
9 %% Licence: wxWindows licence
10 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
11
12 \section{wxWindows samples}\label{samples}
13
14 Probably the best way to learn wxWindows is by reading the source of some 50+
15 samples provided with it. Many aspects of wxWindows programming can be learnt
16 from them, but sometimes it is not simple to just choose the right sample to
17 look at. This overview aims at describing what each sample does/demonstrates to
18 make it easier to find the relevant one if a simple grep through all sources
19 didn't help. They also provide some notes about using the samples and what
20 features of wxWindows are they supposed to test.
21
22 There are currently more than 50 different samples as part of wxWindows and
23 this list is not complete.
24
25 \subsection{Minimal sample}\label{sampleminimal}
26
27 The minimal sample is what most people will know under the term Hello World,
28 i.e. a minimal program that doesn't demonstrate anything apart from what is
29 needed to write a program that will display a "hello" dialog. This is usually
30 a good starting point for learning how to use wxWindows.
31
32 \subsection{Calendar sample}\label{samplecalendar}
33
34 This font shows the \helpref{calendar control}{wxcalendarctrl} in action. It
35 shows how to configure the control (see the different options in the calendar
36 menu) and also how to process the notifications from it.
37
38 \subsection{Checklist sample}\label{samplechecklist}
39
40 This sample demonstrates the use of the \helpref{wxCheckListBox}{wxchecklistbox}
41 class intercepting check, select and double click events. It also tests the
42 use of various methods modifiying the control, such as by deleting items
43 from it or inserting new once (these fucntions are actually implememted in
44 the parent class \helpref{wxListBox}{wxlistbox} so the sample tests that class
45 as well). The layout of the dialog is created using a \helpref{wxBoxSizer}{wxboxsizer}
46 demonstrating a simple dynamic layout.
47
48 \subsection{Config sample}\label{sampleconfig}
49
50 This sample demonstrates the \helpref{wxConfig}{wxconfigbase} classes in a platform
51 indepedent way, i.e. it uses text based files to store a given configuration under
52 Unix and uses the Registry under Windows.
53
54 See \helpref{wxConfig overview}{wxconfigoverview} for the descriptions of all
55 features of this class.
56
57 \subsection{Controls sample}\label{samplecontrols}
58
59 The controls sample is the main test program for most simple controls used in
60 wxWindows. The sample tests their basic functionality, events, placement,
61 modification in terms of colour and font as well as the possibility to change
62 the controls programmatically, such as adding item to a list box etc. Apart
63 from that, the sample uses a \helpref{wxNotebook}{wxnotebook} and tests most
64 fetaures of this special control (using bitmap in the tabs, using
65 \helpref{wxSizers}{wxsizer} and \helpref{constraints}{wxlayoutconstraints} within
66 notebook pages, advanving pages programmatically and vetoing a page change
67 by intercepting the \helpref{wxNotebookEvent}{wxnotebookevent}.
68
69 The various controls tested are listed here:
70 \begin{twocollist}\itemsep=0pt
71 \twocolitem{\helpref{wxButton}{wxbutton}}{Push button control, displaying text}
72 \twocolitem{\helpref{wxBitmapButton}{wxbitmapbutton}}{Push button control, displaying a bitmap}
73 \twocolitem{\helpref{wxCheckBox}{wxcheckbox}}{Checkbox control}
74 \twocolitem{\helpref{wxChoice}{wxchoice}}{Choice control (a combobox without the editable area)}
75 \twocolitem{\helpref{wxComboBox}{wxcombobox}}{A choice with an editable area}
76 \twocolitem{\helpref{wxGauge}{wxgauge}}{A control to represent a varying quantity, such as time remaining}
77 \twocolitem{\helpref{wxStaticBox}{wxstaticbox}}{A static, or group box for visually grouping related controls}
78 \twocolitem{\helpref{wxListBox}{wxlistbox}}{A list of strings for single or multiple selection}
79 \twocolitem{wxSpinCtrl}{A spin ctrl with a text field and a `up-down' control}
80 \twocolitem{\helpref{wxSpinButton}{wxspinbutton}}{A spin or `up-down' control}
81 \twocolitem{\helpref{wxStaticText}{wxstatictext}}{One or more lines of non-editable text}
82 \twocolitem{\helpref{wxStaticBitmap}{wxstaticbitmap}}{A control to display a bitmap}
83 \twocolitem{\helpref{wxRadioBox}{wxradiobox}}{A group of radio buttons}
84 \twocolitem{\helpref{wxRadioButton}{wxradiobutton}}{A round button to be used with others in a mutually exclusive way}
85 \twocolitem{\helpref{wxSlider}{wxslider}}{A slider that can be dragged by the user}
86 \end{twocollist}
87
88 \subsection{Database sample}\label{sampledb}
89
90 The database sample is a small test program showing how to use the ODBC
91 classes written by Remstar Intl. These classes are documented in a separate
92 manual available from the wxWindows homepage. Obviously, this sample
93 requires a database with ODBC support to be correctly installed on your
94 system.
95
96 \subsection{Dialogs sample}\label{sampledialogs}
97
98 This sample shows how to use the common dialogs available from wxWindows. These
99 dialogs are desrcibed in details in the \helpref{Common dialogs overview}{commondialogsoverview}.
100
101 \subsection{Dynamic sample}\label{sampledynamic}
102
103 This sample is a very small sample that demonstrates the use of the
104 \helpref{wxEvtHandler::Connect}{wxevthandlerconnect} method. This method
105 should be used whenever it is not known at compile time, which control
106 will receive which event or which controls are actually going to be in
107 a dialog or frame. This is most typically the case for any scripting
108 languge that would work as a wrapper for wxWindows or programs where
109 forms or similar datagrams can be created by the uses.
110
111 \subsection{Exec sample}\label{sampleexec}
112
113 The exec sample demonstrates the \helpref{wxExecute}{wxexecute} and
114 \helpref{wxShell}{wxshell} functions. Both of them are used to execute the
115 external programs and the sample shows how to do this synchronously (waiting
116 until the program terminates) or asynchronously (notification will come later).
117
118 \subsection{Scroll subwindow sample}\label{samplescrollsub}
119
120 This sample demonstrates the use of the \helpref{wxScrolledWindow}{wxscrolledwindow}
121 class including placing subwindows into it and drawing simple graphics. It uses the
122 \helpref{SetTargetWindow}{wxscrolledwindowsettargetwindow} method and thus the effect
123 of scrolling does not show in the scrolled window itself, but in one of its subwindows.
124
125 Additionally, this samples demonstrates how to optimize drawing operations in wxWindows,
126 in particular using the \helpref{wxWindow::IsExposed}{wxwindowisexposed} method with
127 the aim to prevent unnecessary drawing in the window and thus reducing or removing
128 flicker on screen.
129
130 \subsection{Font sample}\label{samplefont}
131
132 The font sample demonstrates \helpref{wxFont}{wxfont},
133 \helpref{wxFontEnumerator}{wxfontenumerator} and
134 \helpref{wxFontMapper}{wxfontmapper} classes. It allows you to see the fonts
135 available (to wxWindows) on the computer and shows all characters of the
136 chosen font as well.
137
138 \subsection{DnD sample}\label{samplednd}
139
140 This sample shows both clipboard and drag and drop in action. It is quite non
141 trivial and may be safely used as a basis for implementing the clipboard and
142 drag and drop operations in a real-life program.
143
144 When you run the sample, its screen is split in several parts. On the top,
145 there are two listboxes which show the standard derivations of
146 \helpref{wxDropTarget}{wxdroptarget}:
147 \helpref{wxTextDropTarget}{wxtextdroptarget} and
148 \helpref{wxFileDropTarget}{wxfiledroptarget}.
149
150 The middle of the sample window is taken by the log window which shows what is
151 going on (of course, this only works in debug builds) and may be helpful to see
152 the sequence of steps of data transfer.
153
154 Finally, the last part is used for dragging text from it to either one of the
155 listboxes (only one will accept it) or another application. The last
156 functionality available from the main frame is to paste a bitmap from the
157 clipboard (or, in the case of Windows version, also a metafile) - it will be
158 shown in a new frame.
159
160 So far, everything we mentioned was implemented with minimal amount of code
161 using standard wxWindows classes. The more advanced features are demonstrated
162 if you create a shape frame from the main frame menu. A shape is a geometric
163 object which has a position, size and color. It models some
164 application-specific data in this sample. A shape object supports its own
165 private \helpref{wxDataFormat}{wxdataformat} which means that you may cut and
166 paste it or drag and drop (between one and the same or different shapes) from
167 one sample instance to another (or the same). However, chances are that no
168 other program supports this format and so shapes can also be rendered as
169 bitmaps which allows them to be pasted/dropped in many other applications
170 (and, under Windows, also as metafiles which are supported by most of Windows
171 programs as well - try Write/Wordpad, for example).
172
173 Take a look at DnDShapeDataObject class to see how you may use
174 \helpref{wxDataObject}{wxdataobject} to achieve this.
175
176 \subsection{HTML samples}\label{samplehtml}
177
178 Eight HTML samples (you can find them in directory {\tt samples/html})
179 cover all features of HTML sub-library.
180
181 {\bf Test} demonstrates how to create \helpref{wxHtmlWindow}{wxhtmlwindow}
182 and also shows most of supported HTML tags.
183
184 {\bf Widget} shows how you can embed ordinary controls or windows within
185 HTML page. It also nicely explains how to write new tag handlers and extend
186 the library to work with unsupported tags.
187
188 {\bf About} may give you an idea how to write good-looking about boxes.
189
190 {\bf Zip} demonstrates use of virtual file systems in wxHTML. The zip archives
191 handler (ships with wxWindows) allows you to access HTML pages stored
192 in compressed archive as if they were ordinary files.
193
194 {\bf Virtual} is yet another VFS demo. This one generates pages at run-time.
195 You may find it useful if you need to display some reports in your application.
196
197 {\bf Printing} explains use of \helpref{wxHtmlEasyPrinting}{wxhtmleasyprinting}
198 class which serves as as-simple-as-possible interface for printing HTML
199 documents without much work. In fact, only few function calls are sufficient.
200
201 {\bf Help} and {\bf Helpview} are variations on displaying HTML help
202 (compatible with MS HTML Help Workshop). {\it Help} shows how to embed
203 \helpref{wxHtmlHelpController}{wxhtmlhelpcontroller} in your application
204 while {\it Helpview} is simple tool that only pops up help window and
205 displays help books given at command line.
206
207 \subsection{Layout sample}\label{samplelayout}
208
209 The layout sample demonstrates the two different layout systems offered
210 by wxWindows. When starting the program, you will see a frame with some
211 controls and some graphics. The controls will change their size whenever
212 you resize the entire frame and the exact behaviour of the size changes
213 is determined using the \helpref{wxLayoutConstraints}{wxlayoutconstraints}
214 class. See also the \helpref{overview}{constraintsoverview} and the
215 \helpref{wxIndividualLayoutConstraint}{wxindividuallayoutconstraint}
216 class for further information.
217
218 The menu in this sample offers two more tests, one showing how to use
219 a \helpref{wxBoxSizer}{wxboxsizer} in a simple dialog and the other one
220 showing how to use sizers in connection with a \helpref{wxNotebook}{wxnotebook}
221 class. See also \helpref{wxNotebookSizer}{wxnotebooksizer} and
222 \helpref{wxSizer}{wxsizer}.
223
224 \subsection{Image sample}\label{sampleimage}
225
226 The image sample demonstrates the use of the \helpref{wxImage}{wximage} class
227 and shows how to download images in a variety of formats, currently PNG, GIF,
228 TIFF, JPEG, BMP, PNM and PCX. The top of the sample shows to rectangles, one
229 of which is drawn directly in the window, the other one is drawn into a
230 \helpref{wxBitmap}{wxbitmap}, converted to a wxImage, saved as a PNG image
231 and then reloaded from the PNG file again so that conversions between wxImage
232 and wxBitmap as well as loading and save PNG files are tested.
233
234 At the bottom of the main frame is a test for using a mono-chrome bitmap by
235 drawing into a \helpref{wxMemoryDC}{wxmemorydc}. The bitmap is then drawn
236 specifying the foreground and background colours with
237 \helpref{wxDC::SetTextForeground}{wxdcsettextforeground} and
238 \helpref{wxDC::SetTextBackground}{wxdcsettextbackground} (on the left). The
239 bitmap is then converted to a wxImage and the foreground colour (black) is
240 replaced with red using \helpref{wxImage::Replace}{wximagereplace}.
241
242 \subsection{Sockets sample}\label{samplesockets}
243
244 The sockets sample demonstrates how to use the communication facilities
245 provided by \helpref{wxSocket}{wxsocketbase}. There are two different
246 applications in this sample: a server, which is implemented as a
247 \helpref{wxSocketServer}{wxsocketserver} object, and a client, which is
248 implemented with \helpref{wxSocketClient}{wxsocketclient}.
249
250 The server binds to the local address, using TCP port number 3000, sets
251 up an event handler to be notified of incoming connection requests
252 ({\bf wxSOCKET\_CONNECTION} event), and stands there, waiting (listening
253 in the socket parlance) for clients. For each incoming client, a new
254 \helpref{wxSocketBase}{wxsocketbase} object is created, which represents
255 the connection. Connections are independent from the server that created
256 them, so they set up their own event handler, and stay awaiting for
257 {\bf wxSOCKET\_INPUT} (incoming data) or {\bf wxSOCKET\_LOST} (connection
258 closed at the remote end) events. This event handler is the same for all
259 connections, and demonstrates how to determine which socket the event
260 is addressed to by using the \helpref{Socket}{wxsocketeventsocket} function
261 in the \helpref{wxSocketEvent}{wxsocketevent} class.
262
263 Although it might take some time to get used to the event-oriented
264 system upon which wxSocket is built, the benefits are many. See, for
265 example, that the server application, while being single-threaded
266 (and of course without using fork() or ugly select() loops) can handle
267 an arbitrary number of connections.
268
269 The client starts up unconnected, so you can use the Connect... option
270 to specify the address of the server you are going to connect to (the
271 TCP port number is hard-coded as 3000). Once connected, a number of
272 tests are possible. Currently, three tests are implemented. They show
273 how to use the basic IO calls in \helpref{wxSocketBase}{wxsocketbase},
274 such as \helpref{Read}{wxsocketbaseread}, \helpref{Write}{wxsocketbasewrite},
275 \helpref{ReadMsg}{wxsocketbasereadmsg} and \helpref{WriteMsg}{wxsocketbasewritemsg},
276 and how to set up the correct IO flags depending on what you are going to
277 do. See the comments in the code for more information (a lengthy explanation
278 on socket flags is available in \helpref{SetFlags}{wxsocketbasesetflags}).
279 Note that because both clients and connection objects in the server set
280 up an event handler to catch {\bf wxSOCKET\_LOST} events, each one is
281 immediately notified if the other end closes the connection.
282
283 The sockets sample is work in progress. Coming soon:
284
285 \begin{itemize}
286
287 \item More tests for basic socket functionality.
288
289 \item Tests for the recently added datagram socket classes.
290
291 \item Tests for protocol classes (wxProtocol and its descendants).
292
293 \item New samples which actually do something useful (suggestions accepted).
294
295 \end{itemize}
296
297 \subsection{Text sample}\label{sampletext}
298
299 This sample demonstrates four features: firstly the use and many variants of
300 the \helpref{wxTextCtrl}{wxtextctrl} class (single line, multi line, read only,
301 password, ignoring TAB, ignoring ENTER).
302
303 Secondly it shows how to intercept a \helpref{wxKeyEvent}{wxkeyevent} in both
304 the raw form using the {\tt EVT_KEY_UP} and {\tt EVT_KEY_DOWN} macros and the
305 higherlevel from using the {\tt EVT_CHAR} macro. All characters will be logged
306 in a log window at the bottom of the main window. By pressing some of the function
307 keys, you can test some actions in the text ctrl as well as get statitics on the
308 text ctrls, which is useful for testing if these statitics actually are correct.
309
310 Thirdly, on platforms which support it, the sample will offer to copy text to the
311 \helpref{wxClipboard}{wxclipboard} and to paste text from it. The GTK version will
312 use the so called PRIMARY SELECTION, which is the pseudo clipboard under X and
313 best known from pasting text to the XTerm program.
314
315 Last not least: some of the text controls have tooltips and the sample also shows
316 how tooltips can be centrally disabled and their latency controlled.
317
318 \subsection{Thread sample}\label{samplethread}
319
320 This sample demonstrates the use of threads in connection with GUI programs.
321 There are two fundamentally different ways to use threads in GUI programs and
322 either way has to take care of the fact that the GUI library itself usually
323 is not multi-threading safe, i.e. that it might crash if two threads try to
324 access the GUI class simultaneously. One way to prevent that is have a normal
325 GUI program in the main thread and some worker threads which work in the
326 background. In order to make communication between the main thread and the
327 worker threads possible, wxWindows offers the \helpref{wxPostEvent}{wxpostevent}
328 function and this sample makes use of this function.
329
330 The other way to use a so called Mutex (such as those offered in the \helpref{wxMutex}{wxmutex}
331 class) that prevent threads from accessing the GUI classes as long as any other
332 thread accesses them. For this, wxWindows has the \helpref{wxMutexGuiEnter}{wxmutexguienter}
333 and \helpref{wxMutexGuiLeave}{wxmutexguileave} functions, both of which are
334 used and tested in the sample as well.
335
336 See also \helpref{Multithreading overview}{wxthreadoverview} and \helpref{wxThread}{wxthread}.
337
338 \subsection{Toolbar sample}\label{sampletoolbar}
339
340 The toolbar sample shows the \helpref{wxToolBar}{wxtoolbar} class in action.
341
342 The following things are demonstrated:
343
344 \begin{itemize}
345
346 \item Creating the toolbar using \helpref{wxToolBar::AddTool}{wxtoolbaraddtool}
347 and \helpref{wxToolBar::AddControl}{wxtoolbaraddcontrol}: see
348 MyApp::InitToolbar in the sample.
349
350 \item Using {\tt EVT\_UPDATE\_UI} handler for automatically enabling/disabling
351 toolbar buttons without having to explicitly call EnableTool. This is is done
352 in MyFrame::OnUpdateCopyAndCut.
353
354 \item Using \helpref{wxToolBar::DeleteTool}{wxtoolbardeletetool} and
355 \helpref{wxToolBar::InsertTool}{wxtoolbarinserttool} to dynamically update the
356 toolbar.
357
358 \end{itemize}