1 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
3 // Purpose: topic overview
4 // Author: wxWidgets team
6 // Licence: wxWindows license
7 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
11 @page dnd_overview Drag and drop overview
13 Classes: #wxDataObject,
19 Note that wxUSE_DRAG_AND_DROP must be defined in setup.h in order
20 to use drag and drop in wxWidgets.
21 See also: @ref dataobject_overview and @ref samplednd_overview
22 It may be noted that data transfer to and from the clipboard is quite
23 similar to data transfer with drag and drop and the code to implement
24 these two types is almost the same. In particular, both data transfer
25 mechanisms store data in some kind of #wxDataObject
26 and identify its format(s) using the #wxDataFormat
28 To be a @e drag source, i.e. to provide the data which may be dragged by
29 the user elsewhere, you should implement the following steps:
32 @b Preparation: First of all, a data object must be created and
33 initialized with the data you wish to drag. For example:
36 wxTextDataObject my_data("This text will be dragged.");
39 @b Drag start: To start the dragging process (typically in response to a
40 mouse click) you must call wxDropSource::DoDragDrop
44 wxDropSource dragSource( this );
45 dragSource.SetData( my_data );
46 wxDragResult result = dragSource.DoDragDrop( TRUE );
49 @b Dragging: The call to DoDragDrop() blocks the program until the user releases the
50 mouse button (unless you override the #GiveFeedback function
51 to do something special). When the mouse moves in a window of a program which understands the
52 same drag-and-drop protocol (any program under Windows or any program supporting the
53 XDnD protocol under X Windows), the corresponding #wxDropTarget methods
54 are called - see below.
55 @b Processing the result: DoDragDrop() returns an @e effect code which
56 is one of the values of @c wxDragResult enum (explained #here):
61 case wxDragCopy: /* copy the data */ break;
62 case wxDragMove
: /* move the data */
64 default: /* do nothing */
71 To be a @e drop target
, i
.e
. to receive the data dropped by the user you should
72 follow the instructions below
:
75 @b Initialization
: For a window to be a drop target
, it needs to have
76 an associated
#wxDropTarget object. Normally, you will
77 call
wxWindow::SetDropTarget during window
78 creation associating your drop target with it
. You must derive a
class from
79 wxDropTarget
and override its pure
virtual methods
. Alternatively
, you may
80 derive from
#wxTextDropTarget or
81 #wxFileDropTarget and override their OnDropText()
82 or OnDropFiles() method
.
83 @b Drop
: When the user releases the mouse over a window
, wxWidgets
84 asks the associated wxDropTarget object
if it accepts the data
. For
this,
85 a
#wxDataObject must be associated with the drop target
86 and this data object will be responsible
for the format negotiation between
87 the drag source
and the drop target
. If all goes well
, then
#OnData
88 will get called
and the wxDataObject belonging to the drop target can get
90 @b The end
: After processing the data
, DoDragDrop() returns either
91 wxDragCopy
or wxDragMove depending on the state of the keys Ctrl
, Shift
92 and Alt at the moment of the drop
. There is currently no way
for the drop
93 target to change
this return code
.