\setheader{{\it CHAPTER \thechapter}}{}{}{}{}{{\it CHAPTER \thechapter}}%
\setfooter{\thepage}{}{}{}{}{\thepage}%
-\section{What is wxWindows?}
+\section{What is wxWidgets?}
-wxWindows is a C++ framework providing GUI (Graphical User
+wxWidgets is a C++ framework providing GUI (Graphical User
Interface) and other facilities on more than one platform. Version 2 currently
supports all desktop versions of MS Windows, Unix with GTK+, Unix with Motif,
and MacOS. An OS/2 port is in progress.
-wxWindows was originally developed at the Artificial Intelligence
+wxWidgets was originally developed at the Artificial Intelligence
Applications Institute, University of Edinburgh, for internal use,
and was first made publicly available in 1992.
Version 2 is a vastly improved version written and maintained by
Julian Smart, Robert Roebling, Vadim Zeitlin, Vaclav Slavik and many others.
This manual contains a class reference and topic overviews.
-For a selection of wxWindows tutorials, please see the documentation page on the \urlref{wxWindows web site}{http://www.wxwindows.org}.
+For a selection of wxWidgets tutorials, please see the documentation page on the \urlref{wxWidgets web site}{http://www.wxwidgets.org}.
Please note that in the following, ``MS Windows" often refers to all
platforms related to Microsoft Windows, including 16-bit and 32-bit
\section{Why another cross-platform development tool?}
-wxWindows was developed to provide a cheap and flexible way to maximize
+wxWidgets was developed to provide a cheap and flexible way to maximize
investment in GUI application development. While a number of commercial
class libraries already existed for cross-platform development,
none met all of the following criteria:
\item support for a wide range of compilers.
\end{enumerate}
-Since wxWindows was started, several other free or almost-free
+Since wxWidgets was started, several other free or almost-free
GUI frameworks have emerged. However, none has the range of
features, flexibility, documentation and the well-established
-development team that wxWindows has.
+development team that wxWidgets has.
-As open source software, wxWindows has benefited from comments,
+As open source software, wxWidgets has benefited from comments,
ideas, bug fixes, enhancements and the sheer enthusiasm of
-users. This gives wxWindows a certain advantage over its
+users. This gives wxWidgets a certain advantage over its
commercial competitors (and over free libraries without an
independent development team), plus a robustness against the
transience of one individual or company. This openness and
cannot be overstated, since GUI application development is very
time-consuming, and sustained popularity of particular GUIs
cannot be guaranteed. Code can very quickly become obsolete if
-it addresses the wrong platform or audience. wxWindows helps to
+it addresses the wrong platform or audience. wxWidgets helps to
insulate the programmer from these winds of change. Although
-wxWindows may not be suitable for every application (such as an
+wxWidgets may not be suitable for every application (such as an
OLE-intensive program), it provides access to most of the
functionality a GUI program normally requires, plus many extras
such as network programming, PostScript output, and HTML
rendering; and it can of course be extended as needs dictate.
As a bonus, it provides a far cleaner and easier programming
interface than the native APIs. Programmers may find it
-worthwhile to use wxWindows even if they are developing on only
+worthwhile to use wxWidgets even if they are developing on only
one platform.
-It is impossible to sum up the functionality of wxWindows in a few paragraphs, but
+It is impossible to sum up the functionality of wxWidgets in a few paragraphs, but
here are some of the benefits:
\begin{itemize}\itemsep=0pt
\end{itemize}
\end{comment}
-\section{wxWindows requirements}\label{requirements}
+\section{wxWidgets requirements}\label{requirements}
-To make use of wxWindows, you currently need one of the following setups.
+To make use of wxWidgets, you currently need one of the following setups.
(a) MS-Windows:
\item At least 60 MB of disk space.
\end{enumerate}
-\section{Availability and location of wxWindows}
+\section{Availability and location of wxWidgets}
-\winhelponly{wxWindows is available by anonymous FTP and World Wide Web
-from ftp://biolpc22.york.ac.uk/pub and/or http://www.wxwindows.org.}
-\winhelpignore{wxWindows is available by anonymous FTP and World Wide Web
+\winhelponly{wxWidgets is available by anonymous FTP and World Wide Web
+from ftp://biolpc22.york.ac.uk/pub and/or http://www.wxwidgets.org.}
+\winhelpignore{wxWidgets is available by anonymous FTP and World Wide Web
from \urlref{ftp://biolpc22.york.ac.uk/pub}{ftp://biolpc22.york.ac.uk/pub}
-and/or \urlref{http://www.wxwindows.org}{http://www.wxwindows.org}.}
+and/or \urlref{http://www.wxwidgets.org}{http://www.wxwidgets.org}.}
You can also buy a CD-ROM using the form on the Web site.
\section{Acknowledgements}
Thanks are due to AIAI for being willing to release the original version of
-wxWindows into the public domain, and to our patient partners.
+wxWidgets into the public domain, and to our patient partners.
-We would particularly like to thank the following for their contributions to wxWindows, and the many others who have been involved in
+We would particularly like to thank the following for their contributions to wxWidgets, and the many others who have been involved in
the project over the years. Apologies for any unintentional omissions from this list.
-Yiorgos Adamopoulos, Jamshid Afshar, Alejandro Aguilar-Sierra, AIAI, Patrick Albert, Karsten Ballueder, Michael Bedward, Kai Bendorf, Yura Bidus, Keith
-Gary Boyce, Chris Breeze, Pete Britton, Ian Brown, C. Buckley, Dmitri Chubraev, Robin Corbet, Cecil Coupe, Andrew Davison, Neil Dudman, Robin
-Dunn, Hermann Dunkel, Jos van Eijndhoven, Tom Felici, Thomas Fettig, Matthew Flatt, Pasquale Foggia, Josep Fortiana, Todd Fries, Dominic Gallagher,
-Guillermo Rodriguez Garcia, Wolfram Gloger, Norbert Grotz, Stefan Gunter, Bill Hale, Patrick Halke, Stefan Hammes, Guillaume Helle, Harco de Hilster, Cord Hockemeyer, Markus
-Holzem, Olaf Klein, Leif Jensen, Bart Jourquin, Guilhem Lavaux, Jan Lessner, Nicholas Liebmann, Torsten Liermann, Per Lindqvist, Thomas Runge, Tatu
-M\"{a}nnist\"{o}, Scott Maxwell, Thomas Myers, Oliver Niedung, Stefan Neis, Hernan Otero, Ian Perrigo, Timothy Peters, Giordano Pezzoli, Harri Pasanen, Thomaso Paoletti,
-Garrett Potts, Marcel Rasche, Robert Roebling, Dino Scaringella, Jobst Schmalenbach, Arthur Seaton, Paul Shirley, Vaclav Slavik, Stein Somers, Petr Smilauer, Neil Smith,
-Kari Syst\"{a}, Arthur Tetzlaff-Deas, Jonathan Tonberg, Jyrki Tuomi, David Webster, Janos Vegh, Andrea Venturoli, Vadim Zeitlin, Xiaokun Zhu, Edward Zimmermann.
+Yiorgos Adamopoulos, Jamshid Afshar, Alejandro Aguilar-Sierra, AIAI,
+Patrick Albert, Karsten Ballueder, Mattia Barbon, Michael Bedward,
+Kai Bendorf, Yura Bidus, Keith Gary Boyce, Chris Breeze, Pete Britton,
+Ian Brown, C. Buckley, Marco Cavallini, Dmitri Chubraev, Robin Corbet, Cecil Coupe,
+Stefan Csomor, Andrew Davison, Gilles Depeyrot, Neil Dudman, Robin Dunn,
+Hermann Dunkel, Jos van Eijndhoven, Chris Elliott, David Elliott, Tom Felici,
+Thomas Fettig, Matthew Flatt, Pasquale Foggia, Josep Fortiana, Todd Fries,
+Dominic Gallagher, Guillermo Rodriguez Garcia, Wolfram Gloger, Norbert Grotz,
+Stefan Gunter, Bill Hale, Patrick Halke, Stefan Hammes, Guillaume Helle,
+Harco de Hilster, Cord Hockemeyer, Markus Holzem, Olaf Klein, Leif Jensen,
+Bart Jourquin, Guilhem Lavaux, Ron Lee, Jan Lessner, Nicholas Liebmann,
+Torsten Liermann, Per Lindqvist, Thomas Runge, Tatu M\"{a}nnist\"{o},
+Scott Maxwell, Thomas Myers, Oliver Niedung, Stefan Neis, Hernan Otero,
+Ian Perrigo, Timothy Peters, Giordano Pezzoli, Harri Pasanen, Thomaso Paoletti,
+Garrett Potts, Marcel Rasche, Robert Roebling, Dino Scaringella,
+Jobst Schmalenbach, Arthur Seaton, Paul Shirley, Wlodzimierz `ABX' Skiba,
+Vaclav Slavik, Julian Smart, Stein Somers, Petr Smilauer, Neil Smith,
+Kari Syst\"{a}, George Tasker, Arthur Tetzlaff-Deas, Jonathan Tonberg,
+Jyrki Tuomi, Janos Vegh, Andrea Venturoli, David Webster, Otto Wyss,
+Vadim Zeitlin, Xiaokun Zhu, Edward Zimmermann.
`Graphplace', the basis for the wxGraphLayout library, is copyright Dr. Jos
T.J. van Eijndhoven of Eindhoven University of Technology. The code has
suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided ``as is''
without express or implied warranty.}
-\chapter{Multi-platform development with wxWindows}\label{multiplat}
+\chapter{Multi-platform development with wxWidgets}\label{multiplat}
\setheader{{\it CHAPTER \thechapter}}{}{}{}{}{{\it CHAPTER \thechapter}}%
\setfooter{\thepage}{}{}{}{}{\thepage}%
-This chapter describes the practical details of using wxWindows. Please
+This chapter describes the practical details of using wxWidgets. Please
see the file install.txt for up-to-date installation instructions, and
changes.txt for differences between versions.
\section{Include files}
The main include file is {\tt "wx/wx.h"}; this includes the most commonly
-used modules of wxWindows.
+used modules of wxWidgets.
To save on compilation time, include only those header files relevant to the
source file. If you are using precompiled headers, you should include
the file to use for precompilation. Watcom C++ is automatic apart from the specification of
the .pch file. Watcom C++ is strange in requiring the precompiled header to be used only for
object files compiled in the same directory as that in which the precompiled header was created.
-Therefore, the wxWindows Watcom C++ makefiles go through hoops deleting and recreating
+Therefore, the wxWidgets Watcom C++ makefiles go through hoops deleting and recreating
a single precompiled header file for each module, thus preventing an accumulation of many
multi-megabyte .pch files.
\section{Libraries}
-Most ports of wxWindows can create either a static library or a shared
-library. wxWindows can also be built in multilib and monolithic variants.
+Most ports of wxWidgets can create either a static library or a shared
+library. wxWidgets can also be built in multilib and monolithic variants.
See the \helpref{libraries list}{librarieslist} for more
information on these.
\section{Configuration}
-When using project files and makefiles directly to build wxWindows,
+When using project files and makefiles directly to build wxWidgets,
options are configurable in the file
\rtfsp{\tt "wx/XXX/setup.h"} where XXX is the required platform (such as msw, motif, gtk, mac). Some
settings are a matter of taste, some help with platform-specific problems, and
others can be set to minimize the size of the library. Please see the setup.h file
and {\tt install.txt} files for details on configuration.
-When using the 'configure' script to configure wxWindows (on Unix and other platforms where
+When using the 'configure' script to configure wxWidgets (on Unix and other platforms where
configure is available), the corresponding setup.h files are generated automatically
along with suitable makefiles. When using the RPM packages
-for installing wxWindows on Linux, a correct setup.h is shipped in the package and
+for installing wxWidgets on Linux, a correct setup.h is shipped in the package and
this must not be changed.
\section{Makefiles}
-On Microsoft Windows, wxWindows has a different set of makefiles for each
+On Microsoft Windows, wxWidgets has a different set of makefiles for each
compiler, because each compiler's 'make' tool is slightly different.
Popular Windows compilers that we cater for, and the corresponding makefile
extensions, include: Microsoft Visual C++ (.vc), Borland C++ (.bcc),
OpenWatcom C++ (.wat) and MinGW/Cygwin (.gcc). Makefiles are provided
-for the wxWindows library itself, samples, demos, and utilities.
+for the wxWidgets library itself, samples, demos, and utilities.
On Linux, Mac and OS/2, you use the 'configure' command to
generate the necessary makefiles. You should also use this method when
We also provide project files for some compilers, such as
Microsoft VC++. However, we recommend using makefiles
-to build the wxWindows library itself, because makefiles
+to build the wxWidgets library itself, because makefiles
can be more powerful and less manual intervention is required.
On Windows using a compiler other than MinGW/Cygwin, you would
-build the wxWindows library from the build/msw directory
+build the wxWidgets library from the build/msw directory
which contains the relevant makefiles.
On Windows using MinGW/Cygwin, and on Unix, MacOS X and OS/2, you invoke
-'configure' (found in the top-level of the wxWindows source hierarchy),
+'configure' (found in the top-level of the wxWidgets source hierarchy),
from within a suitable empty directory for containing makefiles, object files and
libraries.
\section{Windows-specific files}
-wxWindows application compilation under MS Windows requires at least two
+wxWidgets application compilation under MS Windows requires at least two
extra files, resource and module definition files.
\subsection{Resource file}\label{resources}
#include "wx/msw/wx.rc"
\end{verbatim}
-which includes essential internal wxWindows definitions. The resource script
+which includes essential internal wxWidgets definitions. The resource script
may also contain references to icons, cursors, etc., for example:
\begin{verbatim}
so programs that search your executable for icons (such
as the Program Manager) find your application icon first.}
-\section{Allocating and deleting wxWindows objects}
+\section{Allocating and deleting wxWidgets objects}
In general, classes derived from wxWindow must dynamically allocated
with {\it new} and deleted with {\it delete}. If you delete a window,
so you don't need to delete these descendants explicitly.
When deleting a frame or dialog, use {\bf Destroy} rather than {\bf delete} so
-that the wxWindows delayed deletion can take effect. This waits until idle time
+that the wxWidgets delayed deletion can take effect. This waits until idle time
(when all messages have been processed) to actually delete the window, to avoid
problems associated with the GUI sending events to deleted windows.
with delayed deletion.
If you decide to allocate a C++ array of objects (such as wxBitmap) that may
-be cleaned up by wxWindows, make sure you delete the array explicitly
-before wxWindows has a chance to do so on exit, since calling {\it delete} on
+be cleaned up by wxWidgets, make sure you delete the array explicitly
+before wxWidgets has a chance to do so on exit, since calling {\it delete} on
array members will cause memory problems.
wxColour can be created statically: it is not automatically cleaned
the basic C types are not defined the same on all platforms. This holds true
for both the length in bits of the standard types (such as int and long) as
well as their byte order, which might be little endian (typically
-on Intel computers) or big endian (typically on some Unix workstations). wxWindows
+on Intel computers) or big endian (typically on some Unix workstations). wxWidgets
defines types and macros that make it easy to write architecture independent
code. The types are:
\section{Conditional compilation}
-One of the purposes of wxWindows is to reduce the need for conditional
+One of the purposes of wxWidgets is to reduce the need for conditional
compilation in source code, which can be messy and confusing to follow.
However, sometimes it is necessary to incorporate platform-specific
features (such as metafile use under MS Windows). The symbols
\subsection{Templates}
-wxWindows does not use templates (except for some advanced features that
+wxWidgets does not use templates (except for some advanced features that
are switched off by default) since it is a notoriously unportable feature.
\subsection{RTTI}
-wxWindows does not use C++ run-time type information since wxWindows provides
+wxWidgets does not use C++ run-time type information since wxWidgets provides
its own run-time type information system, implemented using macros.
\subsection{Type of NULL}
\end{verbatim}
}%
-It is recommended to adhere to this in all code using wxWindows as
+It is recommended to adhere to this in all code using wxWidgets as
this make the code (a bit) more portable.
\subsection{Precompiled headers}
Some compilers, such as Borland C++ and Microsoft C++, support
precompiled headers. This can save a great deal of compiling time. The
recommended approach is to precompile {\tt "wx.h"}, using this
-precompiled header for compiling both wxWindows itself and any
-wxWindows applications. For Windows compilers, two dummy source files
+precompiled header for compiling both wxWidgets itself and any
+wxWidgets applications. For Windows compilers, two dummy source files
are provided (one for normal applications and one for creating DLLs)
to allow initial creation of the precompiled header.
is that to take advantage of the facility, you often need to include
more header files than would normally be the case. This means that
changing a header file will cause more recompilations (in the case of
-wxWindows, everything needs to be recompiled since everything includes {\tt "wx.h"}!)
+wxWidgets, everything needs to be recompiled since everything includes {\tt "wx.h"}!)
A related problem is that for compilers that don't have precompiled
headers, including a lot of header files slows down compilation
See also the File Functions section of the reference manual for
descriptions of miscellaneous file handling functions.
-\chapter{Utilities and libraries supplied with wxWindows}\label{utilities}
+\chapter{Utilities and libraries supplied with wxWidgets}\label{utilities}
\setheader{{\it CHAPTER \thechapter}}{}{}{}{}{{\it CHAPTER \thechapter}}%
\setfooter{\thepage}{}{}{}{}{\thepage}%
-In addition to the core wxWindows library, a number of further
+In addition to the core wxWidgets library, a number of further
libraries and utilities are supplied with each distribution.
Some are under the 'contrib' hierarchy which mirrors the
-structure of the main wxWindows hierarchy. See also the 'utils'
+structure of the main wxWidgets hierarchy. See also the 'utils'
hierarchy. The first place to look for documentation about
-these tools and libraries is under the wxWindows 'docs' hierarchy,
+these tools and libraries is under the wxWidgets 'docs' hierarchy,
for example {\tt docs/htmlhelp/fl.chm}.
For other user-contributed packages, please see the Contributions page
-on the \urlref{wxWindows Web site}{http://www.wxwindows.org}.
+on the \urlref{wxWidgets Web site}{http://www.wxwidgets.org}.
\begin{description}\itemsep=0pt
\item[{\bf Helpview}]
-Helpview is a program for displaying wxWindows HTML
-Help files. In many cases, you may wish to use the wxWindows HTML
+Helpview is a program for displaying wxWidgets HTML
+Help files. In many cases, you may wish to use the wxWidgets HTML
Help classes from within your application, but this provides a
handy stand-alone viewer. See \helpref{wxHTML Notes}{wxhtml} for more details.
You can find it in {\tt samples/html/helpview}.
\item[{\bf Tex2RTF}]
-Supplied with wxWindows is a utility called Tex2RTF for converting\rtfsp
+Supplied with wxWidgets is a utility called Tex2RTF for converting\rtfsp
\LaTeX\ manuals HTML, MS HTML Help, wxHTML Help, RTF, and Windows
-Help RTF formats. Tex2RTF is used for the wxWindows manuals and can be used independently
+Help RTF formats. Tex2RTF is used for the wxWidgets manuals and can be used independently
by authors wishing to create on-line and printed manuals from the same\rtfsp
\LaTeX\ source. Please see the separate documentation for Tex2RTF.
You can find it under {\tt utils/tex2rtf}.
systems, the Xnest window does not synchronise with the
'skin' window. This program can be found in {\tt utils/emulator}.
\item[{\bf Configuration Tool}]
-The wxWindows Configuration Tool is a work in progress
-intended to make it easier to configure wxWindows
+The wxWidgets Configuration Tool is a work in progress
+intended to make it easier to configure wxWidgets
features in detail. It exports setup.h configurations and will
eventually generate makefile config files. Invoking compilers is
also on the cards. Since configurations are
\setfooter{\thepage}{}{}{}{}{\thepage}%
This chapter is intended to list strategies that may be useful when
-writing and debugging wxWindows programs. If you have any good tips,
+writing and debugging wxWidgets programs. If you have any good tips,
please submit them for inclusion here.
\section{Strategies for reducing programming errors}
\subsection{Use ASSERT}
-Although I haven't done this myself within wxWindows, it is good
+Although I haven't done this myself within wxWidgets, it is good
practice to use ASSERT statements liberally, that check for conditions that
should or should not hold, and print out appropriate error messages.
-These can be compiled out of a non-debugging version of wxWindows
+These can be compiled out of a non-debugging version of wxWidgets
and your application. Using ASSERT is an example of `defensive programming':
it can alert you to problems later on.
very differently sized panel items. Consider using the constraint system, although this
can be complex to program.
-Alternatively, you could use alternative .wrc (wxWindows resource files) on different
+Alternatively, you could use alternative .wrc (wxWidgets resource files) on different
platforms, with slightly different dimensions in each. Or space your panel items out
to avoid problems.
-\subsection{Use wxWindows resource files}
+\subsection{Use wxWidgets resource files}
-Use .xrc (wxWindows resource files) where possible, because they can be easily changed
+Use .xrc (wxWidgets resource files) where possible, because they can be easily changed
independently of source code.
\section{Strategies for debugging}\label{debugstrategies}
in some circumstances (such as when your debugger doesn't support a lot
of debugging code, or you wish to print a bunch of variables).
-\subsection{Use the wxWindows debugging facilities}
+\subsection{Use the wxWidgets debugging facilities}
You can use wxDebugContext to check for
-memory leaks and corrupt memory: in fact in debugging mode, wxWindows will
-automatically check for memory leaks at the end of the program if wxWindows is suitably
+memory leaks and corrupt memory: in fact in debugging mode, wxWidgets will
+automatically check for memory leaks at the end of the program if wxWidgets is suitably
configured. Depending on the operating system and compiler, more or less
specific information about the problem will be logged.
projects / wxWidgets.git / blobdiff