// Purpose: topic overview
// Author: wxWidgets team
// RCS-ID: $Id$
-// Licence: wxWindows license
+// Licence: wxWindows licence
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
/**
@page overview_xrc XML Based Resource System (XRC)
-Classes: wxXmlResource, wxXmlResourceHandler
+@tableofcontents
The XML-based resource system, known as XRC, allows user interface elements
such as dialogs, menu bars and toolbars, to be stored in text files and loaded
@li The XRC format uses sizers for flexibility, allowing dialogs to be
resizable and highly portable.
@li The XRC format is a wxWidgets standard, and can be generated or
- postprocessed by any program that understands it. As it is basedon the XML
+ postprocessed by any program that understands it. As it is based on the XML
standard, existing XML editors can be used for simple editing purposes.
XRC was written by Vaclav Slavik.
-@li @ref overview_xrc_concepts
-@li @ref overview_xrc_binaryresourcefiles
-@li @ref overview_xrc_embeddedresource
-@li @ref overview_xrc_cppsample
-@li @ref overview_xrc_sample
-@li @ref overview_xrc_cppheader
-@li @ref overview_xrc_newresourcehandlers
+@see wxXmlResource, wxXmlResourceHandler, @ref overview_xrcformat
-See also the separate @ref overview_xrcformat page for details about the XRC file format.
-<hr>
+@section overview_xrc_gettingstarted Getting Started with XRC
-@section overview_xrc_concepts XRC Concepts
+<b> Creating an XRC file </b>
-These are the typical steps for using XRC files in your application.
+You will need to write an XRC file. Though this @e can be done by hand in a
+text editor, for all but the smallest files it is advisable to use a
+specialised tool. Examples of these include:
-@li Include the appropriate headers: normally "wx/xrc/xmlres.h" will suffice.
-@li If you are going to use XRS files (see
- @ref overview_xrc_binaryresourcefiles), install wxFileSystem archive
- handler first with wxFileSystem::AddHandler(new wxArchiveFSHandler);
-@li Call wxXmlResource::Get()->InitAllHandlers() from your wxApp::OnInit
- function, and then call wxXmlResource::Get()->Load("myfile.xrc") to load
- the resource file.
-@li To create a dialog from a resource, create it using the default
- constructor, and then load it. For example:
- wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadDialog(dlg, this, "dlg1");
-@li Set up event tables as usual but use the XRCID(str) macro to translate from
- XRC string names to a suitable integer identifier, for example
- <tt>EVT_MENU(XRCID("quit"), MyFrame::OnQuit)</tt>.
-
-To create an XRC file, you can use one of the following methods.
-
-@li Create the file by hand.
-@li Use wxDesigner <http://www.roebling.de/>, a commercial dialog designer/RAD
- tool.
-@li Use DialogBlocks <http://www.anthemion.co.uk/dialogblocks/>, a commercial
+@e Non-free:
+@li wxDesigner <http://www.wxdesigner-software.de/>, a commercial dialog
+ designer/RAD tool.
+@li DialogBlocks <http://www.anthemion.co.uk/dialogblocks/>, a commercial
dialog editor.
-@li Use XRCed <http://xrced.sf.net/>, a wxPython-based dialog editor that you
+
+@e Free:
+@li XRCed <http://xrced.sf.net/>, a wxPython-based dialog editor that you
can find in the wxPython/tools subdirectory of the wxWidgets SVN archive.
-@li Use wxGlade <http://wxglade.sf.net/>, a GUI designer written in wxPython.
- At the moment it can generate Python, C++ and XRC.
+@li wxFormBuilder <http://wxformbuilder.org/>, a C++-based dialog editor that
+ can output C++, XRC or python.
+
+There's a more complete list at <http://www.wxwidgets.org/wiki/index.php/Tools>
+
+This small demonstration XRC file contains a simple dialog:
+@code
+<?xml version="1.0" ?>
+<resource version="2.3.0.1">
+ <object class="wxDialog" name="SimpleDialog">
+ <title>Simple dialog</title>
+ <object class="wxBoxSizer">
+ <orient>wxVERTICAL</orient>
+ <object class="sizeritem">
+ <object class="wxTextCtrl" name="text"/>
+ <option>1</option>
+ <flag>wxALL|wxEXPAND</flag>
+ <border>10</border>
+ </object>
+ <object class="sizeritem">
+ <object class="wxBoxSizer">
+ <object class="sizeritem">
+ <object class="wxButton" name="clickme_btn">
+ <label>Click</label>
+ </object>
+ <flag>wxRIGHT</flag>
+ <border>10</border>
+ </object>
+ <object class="sizeritem">
+ <object class="wxButton" name="wxID_OK">
+ <label>OK</label>
+ </object>
+ <flag>wxLEFT</flag>
+ <border>10</border>
+ </object>
+ <orient>wxHORIZONTAL</orient>
+ </object>
+ <flag>wxALL|wxALIGN_CENTRE</flag>
+ <border>10</border>
+ </object>
+ </object>
+ </object>
+</resource>
+@endcode
+
+You can keep all your XRC elements together in one file, or split them between
+several.
+
+<b> Loading XRC files </b>
-A complete list of third-party tools that write to XRC can be found at
-<http://www.wxwidgets.org/wiki/index.php/Tools>.
+Before you can use XRC in an app, it must first be loaded. This code fragment
+shows how to load a single XRC file "resource.xrc" from the current working
+directory, plus all the *.xrc files contained in the subdirectory "rc".
+
+@code
+#include "wx/xrc/xmlres.h"
+
+bool MyApp::OnInit()
+{
+ ...
+ wxXmlResource::Get()->InitAllHandlers();
-It is highly recommended that you use a resource editing tool, since it's
-fiddly writing XRC files by hand.
+ wxXmlResource::Get()->Load("resource.xrc");
+ wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadAllFiles("rc");
+ ...
+}
+@endcode
+
+It's normal to load any XRC files at the beginning of an app. Though it is
+possible to unload a file later, it's seldom necessary.
+
+
+<b> Using an XRC item </b>
+
+The XRC file(s) are now loaded into the app's virtual filesystem. From there,
+you must do another sort of load when you want to use an individual object.
+Yes, it's confusingly named, but you first Load() the file, and later load each
+top-level object when its needed.
+
+This is how you would use the above simple dialog in your code.
+
+@code
+void MyClass::ShowDialog()
+{
+ wxDialog dlg;
+ if (wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadDialog(&dlg, NULL, "SimpleDialog"))
+ dlg.ShowModal();
+}
+@endcode
-You can use wxXmlResource::Load in a number of ways. You can pass an XRC file
-(XML-based text resource file) or a zip-compressed file (see
-@ref overview_xrc_binaryresourcefiles), with extension ZIP or XRS, containing
-other XRC.
+See how simple the code is. All the instantiation is done invisibly by the XRC
+system.
-You can also use embedded C++ resources (see
-@ref overview_xrc_embeddedresource).
+Though you'll most often use wxXmlResource::LoadDialog, there are also
+equivalents that load a frame, a menu etc; and the generic
+wxXmlResource::LoadObject. See wxXmlResource for more details.
+<b> Accessing XRC child controls </b>
-@section overview_xrc_binaryresourcefiles Using Binary Resource Files
+The last section showed how to load top-level windows like dialogs, but what
+about child windows like the wxTextCtrl named "text" that the dialog contains?
+You can't 'load' an individual child control in the same way. Instead you use
+the XRCCTRL macro to get a pointer to the child. To expand the previous code:
+
+@code
+void MyClass::ShowDialog()
+{
+ wxDialog dlg;
+ if (!wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadDialog(&dlg, NULL, "SimpleDialog"))
+ return;
+
+ wxTextCtrl* pText = XRCCTRL(dlg, "text", wxTextCtrl);
+ if (pText)
+ pText->ChangeValue("This is a simple dialog");
+
+ dlg.ShowModal();
+}
+@endcode
+
+XRCCTRL takes a reference to the parent container and uses wxWindow::FindWindow
+to search inside it for a wxWindow with the supplied name (here "text"). It
+returns a pointer to that control, cast to the type in the third parameter; so
+a similar effect could be obtained by writing:
+
+@code
+pText = (wxTextCtrl*)(dlg.FindWindowByName("text"));
+@endcode
+
+<b> XRC and IDs </b>
+
+The ID of a control is often needed, e.g. for use in an event table
+or with wxEvtHandler::Bind. It can easily be found by passing the name of the
+control to the XRCID macro:
+
+@code
+void MyClass::ShowDialog()
+{
+ wxDialog dlg;
+ if (!wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadDialog(&dlg, NULL, "SimpleDialog"))
+ return;
+
+ XRCCTRL(dlg, "text", wxTextCtrl)->Bind(wxEVT_COMMAND_TEXT_UPDATED,
+ wxTextEventHandler(MyClass::OnTextEntered), this, XRCID("text"));
+
+ XRCCTRL(dlg, "clickme_btn", wxButton)->Bind(wxEVT_COMMAND_BUTTON_CLICKED,
+ wxCommandEventHandler(MyClass::OnClickme), this, XRCID("clickme_btn"));
+
+ dlg.ShowModal();
+}
+@endcode
+
+A few points to note:
+@li The value of the int returned by XRCID("foo") is guaranteed to be unique
+within an app.
+@li However that value isn't predictable, and you shouldn't rely on it being
+consistent between runs. It certainly won't be the same in different apps.
+@li @ref page_stockitems such as wxID_OK work correctly without requiring XRCID
+(because, internally, XRCID("wxID_OK") is mapped to wxID_OK).
+@li Both XRCID and XRCCTRL use the 'name' of the control (as in
+wxWindow::GetName). This is different from the label that the user sees on
+e.g. a wxButton.
+
+<b> Subclassing in XRC </b>
+
+You will often want to use subclassed wx controls in your code. There are three
+ways to do this from XRC:
+@li Very rarely you might need to
+@ref overview_xrcformat_extending_custom "create your own wxXmlResourceHandler"
+@li Occasionally wxXmlResource::AttachUnknownControl may be best. See
+@ref overview_xrcformat_extending_unknown
+@li Usually though, the simple 'subclass' keyword will suffice.
+
+Suppose you wanted the wxTextCtrl named "text" to be created as your derived
+class MyTextCtrl. The only change needed in the XRC file would be in this line:
+
+@code
+ <object class="wxTextCtrl" name="text" subclass="MyTextCtrl"/>
+@endcode
+
+The only change in your code would be to use MyTextCtrl in XRCCTRL. However for
+the subclass to be created successfully, it's important to ensure that it uses
+wxWidget's RTTI mechanism: see @ref overview_xrcformat_extending_subclass for
+the details.
+
+
+
+@section overview_xrc_xrcsample The XRC sample
+
+A major resource for learning how to use XRC is the @sample{xrc}. This
+demonstrates all of the standard uses of XRC, and some of the less common ones.
+It is strongly suggested that you run it, and look at the well-commented
+source code to see how it works.
+
+
+@section overview_xrc_binaryresourcefiles Binary Resource Files
To compile binary resource files, use the command-line @c wxrc utility. It
takes one or more file parameters (the input XRC files) and the following
@endcode
-@section overview_xrc_cppsample XRC C++ Sample
-
-This is the C++ source file (xrcdemo.cpp) for the XRC sample.
-
-@code
-#include "wx/wx.h"
-#include "wx/image.h"
-#include "wx/xrc/xmlres.h"
-
-// the application icon
-#if defined(__WXGTK__) || defined(__WXMOTIF__) || defined(__WXMAC__)
- #include "rc/appicon.xpm"
-#endif
-
-// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-// private classes
-// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-// Define a new application type, each program should derive a class from wxApp
-class MyApp : public wxApp
-{
-public:
- // override base class virtuals
- // ----------------------------
-
- // this one is called on application startup and is a good place for the
- // app initialization (doing it here and not in the ctor allows to have an
- // error return: if OnInit() returns false, the application terminates)
- virtual bool OnInit();
-};
-
-// Define a new frame type: this is going to be our main frame
-class MyFrame : public wxFrame
-{
-public:
- // ctor(s)
- MyFrame(const wxString& title, const wxPoint& pos, const wxSize& size);
-
- // event handlers (these functions should _not_ be virtual)
- void OnQuit(wxCommandEvent& event);
- void OnAbout(wxCommandEvent& event);
- void OnDlg1(wxCommandEvent& event);
- void OnDlg2(wxCommandEvent& event);
-
-private:
- // any class wishing to process wxWidgets events must use this macro
- DECLARE_EVENT_TABLE()
-};
-
-// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-// event tables and other macros for wxWidgets
-// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-BEGIN_EVENT_TABLE(MyFrame, wxFrame)
- EVT_MENU(XRCID("menu_quit"), MyFrame::OnQuit)
- EVT_MENU(XRCID("menu_about"), MyFrame::OnAbout)
- EVT_MENU(XRCID("menu_dlg1"), MyFrame::OnDlg1)
- EVT_MENU(XRCID("menu_dlg2"), MyFrame::OnDlg2)
-END_EVENT_TABLE()
-
-IMPLEMENT_APP(MyApp)
-
-// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-// the application class
-// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-// 'Main program' equivalent: the program execution "starts" here
-bool MyApp::OnInit()
-{
- wxImage::AddHandler(new wxGIFHandler);
- wxXmlResource::Get()->InitAllHandlers();
- wxXmlResource::Get()->Load("rc/resource.xrc");
-
- MyFrame *frame = new MyFrame("XML resources demo",
- wxPoint(50, 50), wxSize(450, 340));
- frame->Show(true);
- return true;
-}
-
-// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-// main frame
-// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-// frame constructor
-MyFrame::MyFrame(const wxString& title, const wxPoint& pos, const wxSize& size)
-: wxFrame((wxFrame *)NULL, -1, title, pos, size)
-{
- SetIcon(wxICON(appicon));
-
- SetMenuBar(wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadMenuBar("mainmenu"));
- SetToolBar(wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadToolBar(this, "toolbar"));
-}
-
-// event handlers
-void MyFrame::OnQuit(wxCommandEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
-{
- // true is to force the frame to close
- Close(true);
-}
-
-void MyFrame::OnAbout(wxCommandEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
-{
- wxString msg;
- msg.Printf( _T("This is the about dialog of XML resources demo.\n")
- _T("Welcome to %s"), wxVERSION_STRING);
-
- wxMessageBox(msg, "About XML resources demo",
- wxOK | wxICON_INFORMATION, this);
-}
-
-void MyFrame::OnDlg1(wxCommandEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
-{
- wxDialog dlg;
- wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadDialog(&dlg, this, "dlg1");
- dlg.ShowModal();
-}
-
-void MyFrame::OnDlg2(wxCommandEvent& WXUNUSED(event))
-{
- wxDialog dlg;
- wxXmlResource::Get()->LoadDialog(&dlg, this, "dlg2");
- dlg.ShowModal();
-}
-@endcode
-
-
-@section overview_xrc_sample XRC Resource File Sample
-
-This is the XML file (resource.xrc) for the XRC sample.
-
-@code
-<?xml version="1.0"?>
-<resource version="2.3.0.1">
- <object class="wxMenuBar" name="mainmenu">
- <style>wxMB_DOCKABLE</style>
- <object class="wxMenu" name="menu_file">
- <label>_File</label>
- <style>wxMENU_TEAROFF</style>
- <object class="wxMenuItem" name="menu_about">
- <label>_About...</label>
- <bitmap>filesave.gif</bitmap>
- </object>
- <object class="separator"/>
- <object class="wxMenuItem" name="menu_dlg1">
- <label>Dialog 1</label>
- </object>
- <object class="wxMenuItem" name="menu_dlg2">
- <label>Dialog 2</label>
- </object>
- <object class="separator"/>
- <object class="wxMenuItem" name="menu_quit">
- <label>E_xit\tAlt-X</label>
- </object>
- </object>
- </object>
- <object class="wxToolBar" name="toolbar">
- <style>wxTB_FLAT|wxTB_DOCKABLE</style>
- <margins>2,2</margins>
- <object class="tool" name="menu_open">
- <bitmap>fileopen.gif</bitmap>
- <tooltip>Open catalog</tooltip>
- </object>
- <object class="tool" name="menu_save">
- <bitmap>filesave.gif</bitmap>
- <tooltip>Save catalog</tooltip>
- </object>
- <object class="tool" name="menu_update">
- <bitmap>update.gif</bitmap>
- <tooltip>Update catalog - synchronize it with sources</tooltip>
- </object>
- <separator/>
- <object class="tool" name="menu_quotes">
- <bitmap>quotes.gif</bitmap>
- <toggle>1</toggle>
- <tooltip>Display quotes around the string?</tooltip>
- </object>
- <object class="separator"/>
- <object class="tool" name="menu_fuzzy">
- <bitmap>fuzzy.gif</bitmap>
- <tooltip>Toggled if selected string is fuzzy translation</tooltip>
- <toggle>1</toggle>
- </object>
- </object>
- <object class="wxDialog" name="dlg1">
- <object class="wxBoxSizer">
- <object class="sizeritem">
- <object class="wxBitmapButton">
- <bitmap>fuzzy.gif</bitmap>
- <focus>fileopen.gif</focus>
- </object>
- </object>
- <object class="sizeritem">
- <object class="wxPanel">
- <object class="wxStaticText">
- <label>fdgdfgdfgdfg</label>
- </object>
- <style>wxBORDER\_SUNKEN</style>
- </object>
- <flag>wxALIGN_CENTER</flag>
- </object>
- <object class="sizeritem">
- <object class="wxButton">
- <label>Buttonek</label>
- </object>
- <border>10d</border>
- <flag>wxALL</flag>
- </object>
- <object class="sizeritem">
- <object class="wxHtmlWindow">
- <htmlcode><h1>Hi,</h1>man</htmlcode>
- <size>100,45d</size>
- </object>
- </object>
- <object class="sizeritem">
- <object class="wxNotebook">
- <object class="notebookpage">
- <object class="wxPanel">
- <object class="wxBoxSizer">
- <object class="sizeritem">
- <object class="wxHtmlWindow">
- <htmlcode>Hello, we are inside a <u>NOTEBOOK</u>...</htmlcode>
- <size>50,50d</size>
- </object>
- <option>1</option>
- </object>
- </object>
- </object>
- <label>Page</label>
- </object>
- <object class="notebookpage">
- <object class="wxPanel">
- <object class="wxBoxSizer">
- <object class="sizeritem">
- <object class="wxHtmlWindow">
- <htmlcode>Hello, we are inside a <u>NOTEBOOK</u>...</htmlcode>
- <size>50,50d</size>
- </object>
- </object>
- </object>
- </object>
- <label>Page 2</label>
- </object>
- <usenotebooksizer>1</usenotebooksizer>
- </object>
- <flag>wxEXPAND</flag>
- </object>
- <orient>wxVERTICAL</orient>
- </object>
- </object>
- <object class="wxDialog" name="dlg2">
- <object class="wxBoxSizer">
- <orient>wxVERTICAL</orient>
- <object class="sizeritem" name="dfgdfg">
- <object class="wxTextCtrl">
- <size>200,200d</size>
- <style>wxTE_MULTILINE|wxBORDER_SUNKEN</style>
- <value>Hello, this is an ordinary multiline\n textctrl....</value>
- </object>
- <option>1</option>
- <flag>wxEXPAND|wxALL</flag>
- <border>10</border>
- </object>
- <object class="sizeritem">
- <object class="wxBoxSizer">
- <object class="sizeritem">
- <object class="wxButton" name="wxID_OK">
- <label>Ok</label>
- <default>1</default>
- </object>
- </object>
- <object class="sizeritem">
- <object class="wxButton" name="wxID_CANCEL">
- <label>Cancel</label>
- </object>
- <border>10</border>
- <flag>wxLEFT</flag>
- </object>
- </object>
- <flag>wxLEFT|wxRIGHT|wxBOTTOM|wxALIGN_RIGHT</flag>
- <border>10</border>
- </object>
- </object>
- <title>Second testing dialog</title>
- </object>
-</resource>
-@endcode
-
-
@section overview_xrc_cppheader C++ header file generation
Using the @c -e switch together with @c -c, a C++ header file is written
structures out of XRC files using them.
*/
-
projects / wxWidgets.git / blobdiff