


menu(n)                Tk Built-In Commands               menu(n)


NAME
       menu - Create and manipulate menu widgets

SYNOPSIS
       (menu                       widget-name                      ?options?)
       :activebackground   :background    :disabledforeground :relief
       :activeborderwidth  :borderwidth   :font     :takefocus
       :activeforeground   :cursor   :foreground

WIDGET-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
       If this option is specified then it provides a STk procedure to execute
       each  time  the  menu  is posted.  The procedure is invoked by the post
       widget procedure before posting the menu. Note that Windows,  all  com-
       mands in a menu systems are executed before any are posted. This is due
       to the limitations in the platform menu manager.  For menu entries that
       are  check buttons or radio buttons, this option specifies the color to
       display in the indicator when the  check  button  or  radio  button  is
       selected.   This  option must have a proper boolean value, which speci-
       fies whether or not the menu should include a  tear-off  entry  at  the
       top.  If so, it will exist as entry 0 of the menu and the other entries
       will number starting at 1.  The default menu bindings arrange  for  the
       menu to be torn off when the tear-off entry is invoked.  If this option
       has a non-empty value, then it specifies  a  STk  procedure  to  invoke
       whenever  the  menu  is  torn off.  The actual procedure will be called
       with two parameters:  the name of the menu window and the name  of  the
       name of the torn off menu window.  The string will be used to title the
       window created when this menu is torn off. If the title  is  the  empty
       string,  then  the  window will have the title of the menubutton or the
       text of the cascade item from which this menu was invoked.  This option
       can  be one of menubar, tearoff, or normal, and is set when the menu is
       created. While the string returned by the configuration  database  will
       change  if  this  option is changed, this does not affect the menu wid-
       get's behavior. This is used by the cloning mechanism and is  not  nor-
       mally set outside of the Tk library.


INTRODUCTION
       The  menu  procedure  creates a new top-level window (given by the wid-
       get-name argument)  and  makes  it  into  a  menu  widget.   Additional
       options,  described above, may be specified on the procedure line or in
       the option database to configure aspects of the menu such as its colors
       and font.  The menu procedure returns its widget-name argument.  At the
       time this procedure is invoked, there must not  exist  a  window  named
       widget-name, but widget-name's parent must exist.

       A  menu  is  a  widget  that  displays a collection of one-line entries
       arranged in one or more columns.  There exist several  different  types
       of entries, each with different properties.  Entries of different types
       may be combined in a single menu.  Menu entries are  not  the  same  as
       entry  widgets.   In  fact, menu entries are not even distinct widgets;
       the entire menu is one widget.

       Menu entries are displayed with up to three separate fields.  The  main
       field  is  a label in the form of a text string, a bitmap, or an image,



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menu(n)                Tk Built-In Commands               menu(n)


       controlled by the :label, :bitmap, and :image options  for  the  entry.
       If  the   :accelerator  option  is specified for an entry then a second
       textual field is displayed to the right of the label.  The  accelerator
       typically  describes  a  keystroke  sequence  that  may be typed in the
       application to cause the same result as invoking the menu  entry.   The
       third  field is an indicator.  The indicator is present only for check-
       button or radiobutton entries.   It  indicates  whether  the  entry  is
       selected or not, and is displayed to the left of the entry's string.

       In  normal  use,  an entry becomes active (displays itself differently)
       whenever the mouse pointer is over the entry.  If  a  mouse  button  is
       released over the entry then the entry is invoked.  The effect of invo-
       cation is different for each type of entry; these effects are described
       below in the sections on individual entries.

       Entries  may be disabled, which causes their labels and accelerators to
       be displayed with dimmer colors.  The default menu  bindings  will  not
       allow  a  disabled  entry to be activated or invoked.  Disabled entries
       may be re-enabled, at which point it becomes possible to  activate  and
       invoke them again.

       Whenever  a  menu's  active  entry is changed, a <<MenuSelect>> virtual
       event is send to the menu. The active item can then be queried from the
       menu,  and  an  action  can be taken, such as setting context-sensitive
       help text for the entry.


PROCEDURE ENTRIES
       The most common kind of menu entry is a procedure entry, which  behaves
       much  like  a  button widget.  When a procedure entry is invoked, a STk
       procedure is executed.  The STk procedure is specified with  the  :com-
       mand option.


SEPARATOR ENTRIES
       A  separator  is  an  entry  that is displayed as a horizontal dividing
       line.  A separator may not be activated  or  invoked,  and  it  has  no
       behavior other than its display appearance.


CHECKBUTTON ENTRIES
       A  checkbutton menu entry behaves much like a checkbutton widget.  When
       it is invoked it toggles back and forth between the selected and  dese-
       lected  states.   When  the  entry  is  selected, a particular value is
       stored in a particular global variable (as determined by  the  :onvalue
       and  :variable  options  for  the entry);  when the entry is deselected
       another value (determined by the :offvalue option)  is  stored  in  the
       global  variable.   An  indicator  box  is displayed to the left of the
       label in a checkbutton entry.  If the entry is selected then the  indi-
       cator's  center  is  displayed  in  the color given by the :selectcolor
       option for the entry; otherwise the indicator's center is displayed  in
       the  background  color for the menu.  If a :command option is specified
       for a checkbutton entry, then its value is evaluated as a STk procedure
       each  time  the  entry  is  invoked;   this  happens after toggling the



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menu(n)                Tk Built-In Commands               menu(n)


       entry's selected state.


RADIOBUTTON ENTRIES
       A radiobutton menu  entry  behaves  much  like  a  radiobutton  widget.
       Radiobutton entries are organized in groups of which only one entry may
       be selected at a time.  Whenever a particular entry becomes selected it
       stores  a particular value into a particular global variable (as deter-
       mined by the :value and :variable options for the entry).  This  action
       causes  any  previously-selected  entry  in  the same group to deselect
       itself.  Once an entry has become selected, any change to  the  entry's
       associated  variable will cause the entry to deselect itself.  Grouping
       of radiobutton entries is determined by their associated variables:  if
       two entries have the same associated variable then they are in the same
       group.  An indicator diamond is displayed to the left of the  label  in
       each  radiobutton entry.  If the entry is selected then the indicator's
       center is displayed in the color given by the :selectcolor  option  for
       the  entry;  otherwise the indicator's center is displayed in the back-
       ground color for the menu.  If a :command option  is  specified  for  a
       radiobutton  entry, then its value is evaluated as a STk procedure each
       time the entry is invoked;  this happens after selecting the entry.


CASCADE ENTRIES
       A cascade entry is one with an associated menu (determined by the :menu
       option).   Cascade  entries  allow the construction of cascading menus.
       The postcascade widget procedure can be used to  post  and  unpost  the
       associated menu just next to of the cascade entry.  The associated menu
       must be a child of the menu  containing  the  cascade  entry  (this  is
       needed in order for menu traversal to work correctly).

       A  cascade  entry posts its associated menu by invoking a STk procedure
       of the form (menu 'post x y) where menu is the path name of the associ-
       ated  menu,  and  x and y are the root-window coordinates of the upper-
       right corner of the cascade entry.  On Unix, the  lower-level  menu  is
       unposted  by  executing  a  STk  procedure with the form (menu 'unpost)
       where menu is the name of the associated menu.  On other platforms, the
       platform's native code takes care of unposting the menu.

       If a :command option is specified for a cascade entry then it is evalu-
       ated as a STk procedure whenever the entry is invoked. This is not sup-
       ported on Windows.


TEAR-OFF ENTRIES
       A  tear-off  entry  appears  at the top of the menu if enabled with the
       tearOff option.  It is not like other menu entries in that it cannot be
       created  with  the  add widget procedure and cannot be deleted with the
       delete widget procedure.  When a tear-off entry is created  it  appears
       as  a  dashed line at the top of the menu.  Under the default bindings,
       invoking the tear-off entry causes a torn-off copy to be  made  of  the
       menu and all of its submenus.





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menu(n)                Tk Built-In Commands               menu(n)


MENUBARS
       Any  menu  can  be set as a menubar for a toplevel window (see toplevel
       command for syntax). This menu's items will be displayed in  a  menubar
       accross the top of the window. These menus will behave according to the
       interface guidelines of their  platforms.  For  every  menu  set  as  a
       menubar, a clone menu is made. See the CLONES section for more informa-
       tion.


SPECIAL MENUS IN MENUBARS
       Certain menus in a menubar will  be  treated  specially.   On  Windows,
       access to the Windows System menu in each window is provided. On X Win-
       dows, a special right-justified help menu is provided.  In  all  cases,
       these  menus  must be created with the command name of the menubar menu
       concatenated with the special name. So for a menubar named .menubar, on
       Windows,  the  special menu would be .menubar.system; on X Windows, the
       help menu would be .menubar.help.

       When Tk sees a System menu on Windows, its items are  appended  to  the
       system menu that the menubar is attached to. This menu has an icon rep-
       resenting a spacebar, and can be invoked with the mouse  or  by  typing
       Alt+Spacebar.  Due to limitations in the Windows API, any font changes,
       colors, images, bitmaps, or tearoff images will not appear in the  sys-
       tem menu.

       When  Tk  see a Help menu on X Windows, the menu is moved to be last in
       the menubar and is right justified.


CLONES
       When a menu is set as a menubar for a toplevel window, or when  a  menu
       is  torn  off, a clone of the menu is made. This clone is a menu widget
       in its own right, but it is a child of the  original.  Changes  in  the
       configuration of the original are reflected in the clone. Additionally,
       any cascades that are pointed to are also cloned so that menu traversal
       will  work  right.  Clones  are  destroyed  when  either the tearoff or
       menubar goes away, or when the original menu is destroyed.


WIDGET PROCEDURE
       The menu procedure creates a new  STk  procedure  whose  name  is  wid-
       get-name.   This  procedure may be used to invoke various operations on
       the widget.  It has the following  general  form:  (widget-name  option
       ?arg arg ...?)  Option and the args determine the exact behavior of the
       procedure.

       Many of the widget procedures for a menu take as one argument an  indi-
       cator  of  which entry of the menu to operate on.  These indicators are
       called indexes and may be specified in any of the following forms:

       number      Specifies the entry numerically, where 0 corresponds to the
                   top-most entry of the menu, 1 to the entry below it, and so
                   on.




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menu(n)                Tk Built-In Commands               menu(n)


       active      Indicates the entry that is currently active.  If no  entry
                   is  active then this form is equivalent to none.  This form
                   may not be abbreviated.

       end         Indicates the bottommost entry in the menu.  If  there  are
                   no  entries  in  the  menu  then this form is equivalent to
                   none.  This form may not be abbreviated.

       last        Same as end.

       none        Indicates ``no entry at all'';  this is used most  commonly
                   with  the  activate option to deactivate all the entries in
                   the menu.  In most cases the specification of  none  causes
                   nothing  to  happen in the widget procedure.  This form may
                   not be abbreviated.

       @number     In this form, number is treated as a  y-coordinate  in  the
                   menu's  window;   the entry closest to that y-coordinate is
                   used.  For example, ``@0'' indicates the top-most entry  in
                   the window.

       pattern     If  the  index  doesn't satisfy one of the above forms then
                   this form is used.  Pattern is pattern-matched against  the
                   label  of  each  entry  in  the menu, in order from the top
                   down, until a  matching  entry  is  found.   The  rules  of
                   Tcl_StringMatch are used.

       The following widget procedures are possible for menu widgets:

       (widget-name 'activate index)
              Change  the  state of the entry indicated by index to active and
              redisplay it using its  active  colors.   Any  previously-active
              entry  is deactivated.  If index is specified as none, or if the
              specified entry is disabled, then  the  menu  ends  up  with  no
              active entry.  Returns an empty string.

       (widget-name add type ?option value option value ...?)
              Add a new entry to the bottom of the menu.  The new entry's type
              is given by type and must be one of cascade,  checkbutton,  com-
              mand, radiobutton, or separator, or a unique abbreviation of one
              of the above.  If additional arguments are present, they specify
              any of the following options:

              :activebackground value
                     Specifies  a  background color to use for displaying this
                     entry when it is active.  If this option is specified  as
                     an  empty string (the default), then the activeBackground
                     option for the overall menu is used.  If the  *tk-strict-
                     Motif* variable has been set to request strict Motif com-
                     pliance, then this option is ignored and the  :background
                     option  is  used in its place.  This option is not avail-
                     able for separator or tear-off entries.





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menu(n)                Tk Built-In Commands               menu(n)


              :activeforeground value
                     Specifies a foreground color to use for  displaying  this
                     entry  when it is active.  If this option is specified as
                     an empty string (the default), then the  activeForeground
                     option  for the overall menu is used.  This option is not
                     available for separator or tear-off entries.

              :accelerator value
                     Specifies a string to display at the right  side  of  the
                     menu  entry.  Normally describes an accelerator keystroke
                     sequence that may be typed to invoke the same function as
                     the menu entry.  This option is not available for separa-
                     tor or tear-off entries.

              :background value
                     Specifies a background color to use for  displaying  this
                     entry  when it is in the normal state (neither active nor
                     disabled).  If this  option  is  specified  as  an  empty
                     string  (the default), then the background option for the
                     overall menu is used.  This option is not  available  for
                     separator or tear-off entries.

              :bitmap value
                     Specifies  a  bitmap  to display in the menu instead of a
                     textual label, in any of the forms  accepted  by  Tk_Get-
                     Bitmap.   This option overrides the :label option but may
                     be reset to an empty string to enable a textual label  to
                     be  displayed.  If a :image option has been specified, it
                     overrides :bitmap.  This option is not available for sep-
                     arator or tear-off entries.

              :columnbreak value
                     When this option is #f, the menu appears below the previ-
                     ous entry. When this option is #f, the  menu  appears  at
                     the top of a new column in the menu.

              :command value
                     Specifies  a STk procedure to execute when the menu entry
                     is invoked.  Not  available  for  separator  or  tear-off
                     entries.

              :environment value
                     Available  only  for checkbutton and radiobutton entries.
                     Specifies the environment in  which  the  checkbutton  or
                     radiobutton  :variable  must  be  taken. By default, this
                     environment is the STk global environment.

              :font value
                     Specifies the font to  use  when  drawing  the  label  or
                     accelerator  string  in  this  entry.   If this option is
                     specified as an empty string (the default) then the  font
                     option  for the overall menu is used.  This option is not
                     available for separator or tear-off entries.




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menu(n)                Tk Built-In Commands               menu(n)


              :foreground value
                     Specifies a foreground color to use for  displaying  this
                     entry  when it is in the normal state (neither active nor
                     disabled).  If this  option  is  specified  as  an  empty
                     string  (the default), then the foreground option for the
                     overall menu is used.  This option is not  available  for
                     separator or tear-off entries.

              :hidemargin value
                     Specifies  whether  the  standard margins should be drawn
                     for this menu entry. This is useful when creating palette
                     with  images  in  them,  i.e.,  color  palettes,  pattern
                     palettes, etc. #t indicates that the margin for the entry
                     is hidden; #f means that the margin is used.

              :image value
                     Specifies  an  image  to display in the menu instead of a
                     text string or bitmap The image must have been created by
                     some  previous  invocation  of image create.  This option
                     overrides the :label and :bitmap options but may be reset
                     to an empty string to enable a textual or bitmap label to
                     be displayed.  This option is not available for separator
                     or tear-off entries.

              :indicatoron value
                     Available  only  for checkbutton and radiobutton entries.
                     Value is a boolean that determines  whether  or  not  the
                     indicator should be displayed.

              :label value
                     Specifies  a string to display as an identifying label in
                     the menu entry.  Not available for separator or  tear-off
                     entries.

              :menu value
                     Available  only  for cascade entries.  Specifies the path
                     name of the submenu associated with this entry.  The sub-
                     menu must be a child of the menu.

              :offvalue value
                     Available  only  for  checkbutton entries.  Specifies the
                     value to store in the entry's  associated  variable  when
                     the entry is deselected.

              :onvalue value
                     Available  only  for  checkbutton entries.  Specifies the
                     value to store in the entry's  associated  variable  when
                     the entry is selected.

              :selectcolor value
                     Available  only  for checkbutton and radiobutton entries.
                     Specifies the color to display in the indicator when  the
                     entry  is selected.  If the value is an empty string (the
                     default)  then  the  selectColor  option  for  the   menu



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menu(n)                Tk Built-In Commands               menu(n)


                     determines the indicator color.

              :selectimage value
                     Available  only  for checkbutton and radiobutton entries.
                     Specifies an image to display in the entry (in  place  of
                     the  :image  option)  when  it is selected.  Value is the
                     name of an image, which must have been  created  by  some
                     previous  invocation  of  image  create.   This option is
                     ignored unless the :image option has been specified.

              :state value
                     Specifies one of three states  for  the  entry:   normal,
                     active,  or  disabled.  In normal state the entry is dis-
                     played using the foreground option for the menu  and  the
                     background option from the entry or the menu.  The active
                     state is typically used when  the  pointer  is  over  the
                     entry.   In active state the entry is displayed using the
                     activeForeground option  for  the  menu  along  with  the
                     activebackground  option  from the entry.  Disabled state
                     means that the entry should be insensitive:  the  default
                     bindings will refuse to activate or invoke the entry.  In
                     this state the entry is displayed according to  the  dis-
                     abledForeground  option  for  the menu and the background
                     option from the entry.  This option is not available  for
                     separator entries.

              :underline value
                     Specifies  the  integer index of a character to underline
                     in the entry.  This option is also queried by the default
                     bindings  and  used  to  implement keyboard traversal.  0
                     corresponds to the first character of the text  displayed
                     in  the  entry, 1 to the next character, and so on.  If a
                     bitmap or image is  displayed  in  the  entry  then  this
                     option is ignored.  This option is not available for sep-
                     arator or tear-off entries.

              :value value
                     Available only for radiobutton  entries.   Specifies  the
                     value  to  store  in the entry's associated variable when
                     the entry is selected.  If an empty string is  specified,
                     then  the  -label  option  for  the entry as the value to
                     store in the variable.

              :variable value
                     Available only for checkbutton and  radiobutton  entries.
                     Specifies  the  name  of  a  global value to set when the
                     entry is selected.  For checkbutton entries the  variable
                     is  also set when the entry is deselected.  For radiobut-
                     ton entries, changing the variable causes the  currently-
                     selected entry to deselect itself.

              The add widget procedure returns an empty list.





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menu(n)                Tk Built-In Commands               menu(n)


       (widget-name 'cget option)
              Returns  the  current value of the configuration option given by
              option.  Option may have any of the values accepted by the  menu
              procedure.

       (widget-name 'clone new-widget-name ?cloneType?)
              Makes  a  clone  of the current menu named new-widget-name. This
              clone is a menu in its own right, but any changes to  the  clone
              are  propogated  to  the original menu and vice versa. cloneType
              can be normal, menubar,  or  tearoff.  Should  not  normally  be
              called  outside  of  the  Tk library. See the CLONES section for
              more information.

       (widget-name 'configure ?option? ?value option value ...?)
              Query or modify the configuration options of the widget.  If  no
              option is specified, returns a list describing all of the avail-
              able options for widget-name (see Tk_ConfigureInfo for  informa-
              tion  on  the format of this list).  If option is specified with
              no value, then the procedure returns a list describing  the  one
              named  option  (this list will be identical to the corresponding
              sublist of the value returned if no option  is  specified).   If
              one or more option-value pairs are specified, then the procedure
              modifies the given widget option(s) to have the given  value(s);
              in  this case the procedure returns an empty string.  Option may
              have any of the values accepted by the menu procedure.

       (widget-name 'delete index1)

       (widget-name 'delete index1 index2)
              Delete all of the menu entries between index1 and index2  inclu-
              sive.   If  index2  is  omitted  then  it  defaults  to  index1.
              Attempts to delete a tear-off menu entry are  ignored  (instead,
              you  should  change  the  tearOff  option to remove the tear-off
              entry).

       (widget-name 'entrycget index option)
              Returns the current value of  a  configuration  option  for  the
              entry  given  by  index.   Option  may  have  any  of the values
              accepted by the add widget procedure.

       (widget-name 'entryconfigure index ?options?)
              This procedure is similar to  the  configure  procedure,  except
              that  it applies to the options for an individual entry, whereas
              configure applies to the  options  for  the  menu  as  a  whole.
              Options  may  have  any of the values accepted by the add widget
              procedure.  If options are specified, options  are  modified  as
              indicated  in  the  procedure and the procedure returns an empty
              string.  If no options are specified, returns a list  describing
              the  current  options  for entry index (see Tk_ConfigureInfo for
              information on the format of this list).

       (widget-name 'index index)
              Returns the numerical index corresponding to index, or "none" if
              index was specified as none.



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menu(n)                Tk Built-In Commands               menu(n)


       (widget-name insert index type ?option value option value ...?)
              Same  as the add widget procedure except that it inserts the new
              entry just before the entry given by index, instead of appending
              to  the  end of the menu.  The type, option, and value arguments
              have the same interpretation as for the  add  widget  procedure.
              It  is  not possible to insert new menu entries before the tear-
              off entry, if the menu has one.

       (widget-name 'invoke index)
              Invoke the action of the menu entry.  See the  sections  on  the
              individual  entries  above  for details on what happens.  If the
              menu entry is disabled then nothing happens.  If the entry has a
              procedure  associated  with it then the result of that procedure
              is returned as the result of the invoke widget procedure.   Oth-
              erwise  the  result  is  an  empty list.  Note:  invoking a menu
              entry does not automatically unpost the menu;  the default bind-
              ings  normally take care of this before invoking the invoke wid-
              get procedure.

       (widget-name 'post x y)
              Arrange for the menu to be displayed on the screen at the  root-
              window  coordinates  given  by  x  and y.  These coordinates are
              adjusted if necessary to guarantee that the entire menu is visi-
              ble  on  the  screen.   This procedure normally returns an empty
              string.  If the postCommand option has been specified,  then  it
              is  called  before  posting the menu.  If an error returns while
              executing the procedure, then  the  error  is  returned  without
              posting the menu.

       (widget-name 'postcascade index)
              Posts  the  submenu  associated  with the cascade entry given by
              index, and unposts any  previously  posted  submenu.   If  index
              doesn't  correspond  to a cascade entry, or if widget-name isn't
              posted, the procedure has no effect except to  unpost  any  cur-
              rently posted submenu.

       (widget-name 'type index)
              Returns  the type of the menu entry given by index.  This is the
              type argument passed to the add widget procedure when the  entry
              was  created, such as "command" or "separator", or "tearoff" for
              a tear-off entry.

       (widget-name 'unpost)
              Unmap the window so that it is no longer displayed.  If a lower-
              level  cascaded  menu  is  posted, unpost that menu.  Returns an
              empty list. This subcommand does not work on Windows,  as  these
              platform has its
               own way of unposting menus.

       (widget-name 'yposition index)
              Returns a decimal string giving the y-coordinate within the menu
              window of the topmost pixel in the entry specified by index.





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menu(n)                Tk Built-In Commands               menu(n)


MENU CONFIGURATIONS
       The default bindings support four different ways of using menus:  Pull-
       down  Menus in Menubar This is the most command case. You create a menu
       widget that will become the menu bar. You then add cascade  entries  to
       this  menu, specifying the pull down menus you wish to use in your menu
       bar. You then create all of the pulldowns. Once  you  have  done  this,
       specify  the  menu using the :menu option of the toplevel's widget com-
       mand. See the toplevel manual entry for details.

       Pulldown Menus in Menu Buttons
              This is the compatable way to do  menu  bars.   You  create  one
              menubutton  widget  for  each  top-level menu, and typically you
              arrange a series of menubuttons in a row in  a  menubar  window.
              You  also  create the top-level menus and any cascaded submenus,
              and tie them together with :menu options in menubuttons and cas-
              cade  menu  entries.   The top-level menu must be a child of the
              menubutton, and each submenu must be a child of  the  menu  that
              refers  to  it.   Once  you have done this, the default bindings
              will allow users to traverse and invoke the tree  of  menus  via
              its menubutton;  see the menubutton manual entry for details.

       Popup Menus
              Popup  menus  typically post in response to a mouse button press
              or keystroke.  You create the popup menus and any cascaded  sub-
              menus,  then  you call the Tk:popup (see popup) procedure at the
              appropriate time to post the top-level menu.

       Option Menus
              An option menu consists of a menubutton with an associated  menu
              that  allows  you  to select one of several values.  The current
              value is displayed in the menubutton and is  also  stored  in  a
              global variable.  Use the Tk:option-menu (see option-menu)
               procedure to create option menubuttons and their menus.

       Torn-off Menus
              You create a torn-off menu by invoking the tear-off entry at the
              top of an existing menu.  The default bindings will create a new
              menu  that  is  a  copy of the original menu and leave it perma-
              nently posted as a top-level window.  The torn-off menu  behaves
              just the same as the original menu.


DEFAULT BINDINGS
       Tk  automatically  creates  class bindings for menus that give them the
       following default behavior:

       [1]    When the mouse enters a menu, the  entry  underneath  the  mouse
              cursor  activates;   as  the  mouse  moves  around the menu, the
              active entry changes to track the mouse.

       [2]    When the mouse leaves a menu all of  the  entries  in  the  menu
              deactivate,  except  in  the  special case where the mouse moves
              from a menu to a cascaded submenu.




STk                            4.0                             11





menu(n)                Tk Built-In Commands               menu(n)


       [3]    When a button is released over a menu, the active entry (if any)
              is invoked.  The menu also unposts unless it is a torn-off menu.

       [4]    The Space and Return keys invoke the active entry and unpost the
              menu.

       [5]    If  any  of  the  entries in a menu have letters underlined with
              with :underline option, then pressing one of the underlined let-
              ters  (or  its upper-case or lower-case equivalent) invokes that
              entry and unposts the menu.

       [6]    The Escape key aborts  a  menu  selection  in  progress  without
              invoking  any  entry.   It  also unposts the menu unless it is a
              torn-off menu.

       [7]    The Up and Down keys activate the next higher or lower entry  in
              the menu.  When one end of the menu is reached, the active entry
              wraps around to the other end.

       [8]    The Left key moves to the next menu to the left.  If the current
              menu is a cascaded submenu, then the submenu is unposted and the
              current menu entry becomes the cascade entry in the parent.   If
              the  current  menu is a top-level menu posted from a menubutton,
              then the current menubutton is unposted and the next  menubutton
              to  the  left  is posted.  Otherwise the key has no effect.  The
              left-right order of menubuttons is determined by their  stacking
              order:   Tk assumes that the lowest menubutton (which by default
              is the first one created) is on the left.

       [9]    The Right key moves to the next menu to the right.  If the  cur-
              rent  entry  is  a cascade entry, then the submenu is posted and
              the  current menu entry becomes the first entry in the  submenu.
              Otherwise,  if  the  current  menu was posted from a menubutton,
              then the current menubutton is unposted and the next  menubutton
              to the right is posted.

       Disabled menu entries are non-responsive:  they don't activate and they
       ignore mouse button presses and releases.

       The behavior of menus can be changed by defining new bindings for indi-
       vidual widgets or by redefining the class bindings.


BUGS
       At present it isn't possible to use the option database to specify val-
       ues for the options to individual entries.


SEE ALSO
       popup option-menu menubutton







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