                     #tocTable of Contents  
#toc0Name 
table - Arranges widgets in a table 
#toc1Synopsis 
table
container ?widget index option value?... table arrange container table cget
container ?item? option table configure container ?item?... ?option value?...
table extents container item table forget widget ?widget?... table info containeritem table locate container x y table containers ?switch? ?arg? table save
container  table search container ?switch arg?... 
#toc2Description 
The 
table command
arranges widgets in a table.  The alignment of widgets is detemined by their
row and column positions and the number of rows or columns that they span.
#toc3Introduction 
Probably the most painstaking aspect of building a graphical
application is getting the placement and size of the widgets just right.
It usually takes many iterations to align widgets and adjust their spacing.
That's because managing the geometry of widgets is simply not a packing
problem, but also graphical design problem.  Attributes such as alignment,
symmetry, and balance are more important than minimizing the amount of
space used for packing. 
The 
table geometry manager arranges widgets in a
table.  It's easy to align widgets (horizontally and vertically) or to create
empty space to balance the arrangement of the widgets.  Widgets (called
slaves in the Tk parlance) are arranged inside a containing widget (called
the 
master).  Widgets are positioned at row,column locations and may span
any number of rows or columns.  More than one widget can occupy a single
location. 
The placement of widget windows determines both the size and arrangement
of the table.  The table queries the requested size of each widget.  The
requested size of a widget is the natural size of the widget (before the
widget is shrunk or expanded).  The height of each row and the width of
each column is the largest widget spanning that row or column.  The size
of the table is in turn the sum of the row and column sizes.  This is the
table's 
normal size. The total number of rows and columns in a table is determined
from the indices specified.  The table grows dynamically as windows are
added at larger indices. 
#toc4Example 
The table geometry manager is created by
invoking the 
table command. # Create a table in the root windowtable .
The window . is now the container of the table.  Widgets are packed into
the table and displayed within the confines of the container. 
You add widgets
to the table by row and column location.  Row and column indices start from
zero. 
label .title -text "This is a title"# Add a label to the table
table . .title 0,0 
The label .title is added to the table.  We can add more widgets in the same
way. 
button .ok -text "Ok"button .cancel -text "Cancel"
# Add two buttons
table . .ok 1,0
table . .cancel 1,1
Two buttons .ok and .cancel are now packed into the second row of the table.
 They each occupy one cell of the table.  By default, widgets span only
a single row and column. 
The first column contains two widgets, 
.title and
.ok.  By default, the widest of the two widgets will define the width of
the column.  However, we want 
.title to be centered horizontally along the
top of the table.  We can make 
.title span two columns using the configureoperation. 
# Make the label span both columnstable configure . .title -cspan 2
The label .title will now be centered along the top row of the table.   In
the above example, we've create and arranged the layout for the table invoking
the 
table command several times.  Alternately, we could have used a single
table command. label .title -text "This is a title"button .ok -text "Ok"
button .cancel -text "Cancel"
# Create and pack the table
table . \
    .title  0,0 -cspan 2 \
    .ok     1,0 \
    .cancel 1,1
The table will override the requested width and height of the container
so that the window fits the table exactly.  This also means that any change
to the size of table will be propagated up through the Tk window hierarchy.
 This feature can be turned off using the 
configure operation again. table configure . -propagate noYou can also set the width of height of the table to a specific value. This
supersedes the calculated table size. 
# Make the container 4 inches wide, 3 inches hightable configure . -reqwidth 4i -reqheight 3i
If a widget is smaller than the cell(s) it occupies, the widget will float
within the extra space.  By default, the widget will be centered within
the space, but you can anchor the widget to any side of cell using the
-anchor configuration option. table configure . .ok -anchor wThe -fill option expands the widget to fill the  extra space either vertically
or horizontally (or both). 
# Make the title label fill the entire top rowtable configure . .title -cspan 2 -fill x 
# Each button will be as height of the 2nd row.
table configure . .ok .cancel -fill y
The width of .title will be the combined widths of both columns. Both .okand 
.cancel will become as tall as the second row.   The 
-padx and -pady options
control the amount of padding  around the widget.  Both options take a list
of one or two values. 
# Pad the title by two pixels above and below.table configure . .title -pady 2
# Pad each button 2 pixels on the left, and 4 on the right.
table configure . .ok .cancel -padx { 2 4 }
If the list has only one value, then both exterior sides (top and bottom
or left and right) of the widget are padded by that amount.  If the list
has two elements, the first specifies padding for the top or left side
and the second for the bottom or right side. 
Like the container, you can
also override the requested widths and heights of widgets using the 
-reqwidthand 
-reqheight options.  This is especially useful with character-based widgets
(such as buttons, labels, text, listbox, etc) that let you specify their
size only in units of characters and lines, instead of pixels. 
# Make all buttons one inch widetable configure . .ok .cancel -reqwidth 1i
Each row and column of the table can be configured, again using the configureoperation.  Rows are and columns are designated by 
Ri and Ci respectively,
where 
i is the index of the row or column. For example, you can set the
size of a row or column. 
# Make the 1st column 2 inches widetable configure . c0 -width 2.0i
# Make the 2nd row 1/2 inch high.
table configure . r1 -height 0.5i
The new size for the row or column overrides its calculated size.  If no
widgets span the row or column, its height or width is zero. So you can
use the 
-width and -height options to create empty spaces in the table. # Create an empty row and columntable configure . r2 c2 -width 1i
The -pady option lets you add padding to the top and bottom sides of rows.
 The 
-padx option adds padding to the left and right sides of columns.  Both
options take a list of one or two values. 
# Pad above the title by two pixels table configure . r0 -pady { 2 0 }
# Pad each column 4 pixels on the left, and 2 on the right.
table configure . c* -padx { 2 4 }
Notice that you can configure all the rows and columns using either R*or 
C*. When the container is resized, the rows and columns of the table
are also resized.  Only the rows or columns that contain widgets (a widget
spans the row or column) grow or shrink.  The 
-resize option indicates whether
the row or column can be shrunk or stretched.  If the value is 
shrink, the
row or column can only be resized smaller.  If 
expand, it can only be resized
larger.  If 
none, the row or column is frozen at its requested size. # Let the 1st column get smaller, but not biggertable configure . c0 -resize shrink
# Let the 2nd column get bigger, not smaller
table configure . c1 -resize expand
# Don't resize the first row 
table configure . r0 -resize none
The following example packs a canvas, two scrollbars, and a title. The rows
and columns containing the scrollbars are frozen at their requested size,
so that even if the frame is resized, the scrollbars will remain the same
width. 
table . \    .title   0,0 -cspan 3 \
    .canvas  1,1 -fill both \
    .vscroll 1,2 -fill y \
    .hscroll 2,1 -fill x
# Don't let the scrollbars resize
table configure . c2 r2 -resize none
# Create an empty space to balance the scrollbar
table configure . c0 -width .vscroll
Note that the value of the -width option is the name of a widget window.
 This indicates that the width of the column should be the same as the
requested width of 
.vscroll. Finally, the 
forget operation removes widgets
from the table. 
# Remove the windows from the tabletable forget .quit .frame
It's not necessary to specify the container.  The table command determines
the container from the widget name. 
#toc5Operations 
The following operations are
available for the 
table: 
table container ?widget index option value?...  
Adds the widget widget to the table at index.  Index is a row,column position
in the table.  It must be in the form 
row,column where row and column are
the respective row and column numbers, starting from zero (0,0 is the upper
leftmost position).  
Row and column may also be numeric expressions that
are recursively evaluated.  If a table doesn't exist for 
container, one is
created.  
Widget is the path name of the window, that must already exist,
to be arranged inside of 
container. Option and value are described in the
 
WIDGET  section. 
table arrange container Forces the table to compute its
layout immediately.  Normally, the table geometry manager will wait until
the next idle point, before calculating the size of its rows and columns.
 This is useful for collecting the 
normal sizes of rows and columns, that
are based upon the requested widget sizes. 
table cget container ?item? optionReturns the current value of the configuration option specific to itemgiven by 
option.  Item is either a row or column index, or the path name
of a widget.  
Item can be in any form describe in the configure operation
below. If no 
item argument is provided, then the configuration option is
for the table itself.  
Option may be any one of the options described in
the appropiate section for 
item. table configure container item... ?option
value
?...  Queries or modifies the configuration options specific to item.
If no 
option is specified, this command returns a list describing all of
the available options for 
item  If the argument item is omitted, then the
specified  configuration options are for the table itself.  Otherwise 
itemmust be either a row or column specification, or the path name of a widget.
  The following 
item types are available. Ci Specifies the column of containerto be configured.  
Item must be in the form Cn, where i is the index of
 the column.  See the  
COLUMN  section. 
Ri Specifies the row of containerto be configured. 
Item must be in the form Ri, where i is the index of the
row.  See the 
ROW  section. 
widget  Specifies a widget of container to be
queried.  
Widget is the path name of a widget packed in container.  See the
WIDGET  section. 
No argument Specifies that the table itself is to be queried.
  See the 
TABLE  section for a description of the option-value pairs for
the table. 
The 
option and value pairs are specific to item.  If option is
specified with no 
value, then the command 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-valuepairs are specified, then the command modifies the given option(s) to have
the given value(s); in this case the command returns the empty string. 
table
extents 
container index  Queries the location and dimensions of row and
columns in the table. 
Index can be either a row or column index or a table
index. Returns a list of the x,y coordinates (upperleft corner) and dimensions
(width and height) of the cell, row, or column. 
table forget widget ?widget?...
Requests that widget no longer have its geometry managed. Widget is the
pathname of the window currently  managed by some table. The window will
be unmapped so that it no longer  appears on the screen.  If 
widget is not
currently managed by any table,  an error message is returned, otherwise
the empty string. 
table info container item  Returns a list of the current
configuration options for 
item.   The list returned is exactly in the form
that might be specified to the 
table command.  It can be used to save and
reset table  configurations. 
Item must be one of the following. Ci Specifies
the column of 
container to be queried.  Item must be in the form Cn, where
n is the index of  the column.   Ri  Specifies the row of container to be
queried. 
Item must be in the form Ri, where i is the index of the row.  
widget  Specifies a widget of container to be queried. Widget is the path
name of a widget packed in 
container. No argument Specifies that the table
itself is to be queried.  
table locate container x y Returns the table index
(row,column) of the cell containing the given screen coordinates.  The 
xand 
y arguments represent the x and y coordinates of the sample point to
be tested. 
table containers ?switch arg? Returns a list of all container
windows matching a given criteria (using 
switch and arg).  If no switchand 
arg arguments are given, the names of all container windows (only those
using the 
table command) are returned.  The following are valid switches:
-pattern pattern Returns a list of pathnames of all container windows matching
pattern. -slave window Returns the name of the container window of table
managing 
window. Window must be the path name of widget.  If window is not
managed by any table, the empty string is returned. 
table search container?
switch arg?... Returns the names of all the widgets in container matching
the criteria given by 
switch and arg.  Container is name of the container
window associated with the table to be searched. The name of the widget
is returned if any one 
switch-arg criteria matches. If no switch-arg arguments
are given, the names of all widgets managed by 
container are returned. 
The following are switches are available: 
-pattern pattern Returns the names
of any names of the widgets matching 
pattern.   -span index  Returns the
names of widgets that span 
index. A widget does not need to start at indexto be included. 
Index must be in the form row,column, where row and columnare valid row and column numbers. 
-start index Returns the names of widgets
that start at 
index. Index must be in the form row,column, where row and
column are valid row and column numbers. #toc6Table Options 
To configure the table
itself, you omit the 
item argument  when invoking the configure operation.
table configure container ?option value?...The following options are available for the table: -padx pad Sets how much
padding to add to the left and right exteriors of the table. 
Pad can be
a list of one or two numbers.  If 
pad has two elements, the left side of
the table is padded by the first value and the right side by the second
value.  If 
pad has just one value, both the left and right sides are padded
evenly by the value.  The default is 
0. -pady pad Sets how much padding to
add to the top and bottom exteriors of the table. 
Pad can be a list of one
or two numbers.  If 
pad has two elements, the area above the table is padded
by the first value and the area below by the second value.  If 
pad is just
one number, both the top and bottom areas are padded by the value.  The
default is 
0. -propagate boolean  Indicates if the table should override
the requested width and height of the 
container window.  If boolean is false,
container will not be resized.  Container will be its requested size.  The
default is 
1. #toc7Widget Options 
widgets are configured by specifying the name
of the widget when invoking the 
configure operation.   table configure container widget ?option value?...Widget must be the path name of a window already packed in the table associated
with 
container.  The following options are available for widgets: -anchor
anchor  Anchors widget to a particular edge of the cell(s) it resides. This
option has effect only if the space of the spans surrounding 
widget is
larger than 
widget. Anchor specifies how widget will be positioned in the
space.  For example, if 
anchor is center then the window is centered in
the rows and columns it spans; if 
anchor is w then the window will be aligned
with the leftmost edge of the span. The default is 
center. -columnspan numberSets the number of columns widget will span. The default is 1. -columncontrol
control Specifies how the width of widget should control the width of the
columns it spans. 
Control is  either normal, none, or full.   The default
is 
normal. none The width of widget is not considered.    full Only the width
of 
widget will be considered when computing the widths of the columns. 
normal Indicates that the widest widget spanning the column will determine
 the width of the span. 
-fill fill Specifies if widget should be stretched
to fill any free space in the span surrounding 
widget. Fill is either none,
x, y, both.  The default is none. x The widget can grow horizontally.   yThe widget can grow vertically.   both The widget can grow both vertically
and horizontally.   
none The widget does not grow along with the span.  
-ipadx pixels  Sets how much horizontal padding to add internally on the
left and right sides of 
widget.  Pixels must be a valid screen distance
like 
2 or 0.3i.  The default is 0. -ipady pixels Sets how much vertical padding
to add internally on the top and bottom of 
widget.  Pixels must be a valid
screen distance like 
2 or 0.3i.  The default is 0. -padx pad Sets how much
padding to add to the left and right exteriors of 
widget. Pad can be a list
of one or two numbers.  If 
pad has two elements, the left side of widgetis padded by the first value and the right side by the second value.  If
pad has just one value, both the left and right sides are padded evenly
by the value.  The default is 
0. -pady pad Sets how much padding to add to
the top and bottom exteriors of 
widget.  Pad can be a list of one or two
numbers.  If 
pad has two elements, the area above widget is padded by the
first value and the area below by the second value.  If 
pad is just one
number, both the top and bottom areas are padded by the value.  The default
is 
0. -reqheight height Specifies the limits of the requested height for
widget. Height is a list of bounding values.  See the  BOUNDING  section
for a description of this list.  By default, the height of 
widget is its
requested height with its internal padding (see the 
-ipady option).  The
bounds specified by 
height either override the height completely, or bound
the height between two sizes. The default is 
"". -reqwidth width Specifies
the limits of the requested width for 
widget. Width is a list of bounding
values.  See the  
BOUNDING  section for a description of this list.  By default,
the width of 
widget is its requested width with its internal padding (set
the 
-ipadx option).  The bounds specified by width either override the width
completely, or bound the height between two sizes. The default is 
"". -rowspan
number Sets the number of rows widget will span. The default is 1. -rowcontrol
control Specifies how the height of widget should control the height of
the rows it spans. 
Control is  either normal, none, or full.   The default
is 
normal. none The height of widget is not considered.    full Only the
height of 
widget will be considered when computing the heights of the rows.
 
normal Indicates that the tallest widget spanning the row will determine
 the height of the span. 
#toc8Column Options 
To configure a column in the table,
specify the column index as 
Ci, where i is the index of the column to be
configured. 
table configure container Ci ?option value?...If the index is specified as C*, then all columns of the table will be
configured.  The following options are available for table columns. 
-padx
pad Sets the padding to the left and right of the column. Pad can be a list
of one or two numbers.  If 
pad has two elements, the left side of the column
is padded by the first value and the right side by the second value.  If
pad has just one value, both the left and right sides are padded evenly
by the value.  The default is 
0. -resize mode Indicates that the column can
expand or shrink from its requested width  when the table is resized. 
Modemust be one of the following: 
none, expand, shrink, or both.  If mode is
 
expand the width of the column is expanded if there is extra space in
the container window. If 
mode is shrink its width may be reduced beyond
its requested width if there is not enough space in the container. The default
is 
none. -width width Specifies the limits within that the width of the column
may expand or shrink.  
Width is a list of bounding values.  See the section
BOUNDING  for a description of this list. By default there are no constraints.
#toc9Row Options 
To configure a row in the table, specify the row index as 
Ri,
where 
i is the index of the row to be configured. table configure container Ri ?option value?...If the index is specified as R*, then all rows of the table will be configured.
 The following options are available for table rows. 
-height height Specifies
the limits of the height that the row may expand or shrink to.  
Height is
a list of bounding values.  See the section  
BOUNDING  for a description
of this list. By default there are no constraints. 
-pady pad Sets the padding
above and below the row.  
Pad can be a list of one or two numbers.  If padhas two elements, the area above the row is padded by the first value and
the area below by the second value.  If 
pad is just one number, both the
top and bottom areas are padded by the value.  The default is 
0. -resize modeIndicates that the row can expand or shrink from its requested height 
when the table is resized. 
Mode must be one of the following: none, expand,
shrink, or both.  If mode is  expand the height of the row is expanded if
there is extra space in the container. If 
mode is shrink its height may
be reduced beyond its requested height if there is not enough space in
 the container. The default is 
none. #toc10Bounding Sizes 
Sometimes it's more useful
to limit resizes to an acceptable range, than to fix the size to a particular
value or disallow resizing altogether.  Similar to the way the 
wm command
lets you specify a 
minsize and maxsize for a toplevel window, you can bound
the sizes the container, a widget, row, or column may take. The 
-width, -height,
-reqwidth, and -reqheight options, take a list of one, two, or three values.
We can take a previous example and instead preventing resizing, bound the
size of the scrollbars between two values. 
table . \    .title   0,0 -cspan 3 \
    .canvas  1,1 -fill both \
    .vscroll 1,2 -fill y \
    .hscroll 2,1 -fill x
# Bound the scrollbars between 1/8 and 1/2 inch
table configure . c2 -width { 0.125 0.5 }
table configure . r2 -height { 0.125 0.5 }
table configure . vscroll .hscroll -fill both
The scrollbars will get no smaller than 1/8 of an inch, or bigger than
1/2 inch.  The initial size will be their requested size, so long as it
is within the specified bounds. 
How the elements of the list are interpreted
is dependent upon the number of elements in the list.   
{} Empty list. No
bounds are set. The default sizing is performed. 
{ x }  Fixes the size to
x.  The window or partition cannot grow or shrink. { min max } Sets up minimum
and maximum limits for the size of the window or partition.  The window
or partition can be reduced less than 
min, nor can it be stretched beyond
max. { min max nom } Specifies minimum and maximum size limits, but also
specifies a nominal size 
nom.  This overrides the calculated size of the
window or partition. 
#toc11Miscellaneous 
Another feature is that you can put two
widgets in the same cell of the table.  This is useful when you want to
add decorations around a widget. 
frame .frame -bd 1 -relief sunkenbutton .quit -text "Quit"
# Put both the frame and the button in the same cell.
table . \
    .quit  1,0 -padx 2 -pady 2 \
    .frame 1,0 -fill both
#toc12Limitations 
A long standing bug in Tk (circa 1993), there is no way to detect
if a window is already a container of a different geometry manager. This
is usually done by accident, such as the following where all three widgets
are arranged in the same container ".", but using different geometry managers.
    table .f1    ...    pack .f2
    ...    grid .f3
This leads to bizarre window resizing, as each geometry manager applies
its own brand of layout policies.  When the container is a top level window
(such as "."), your window manager may become locked as it responds to the
never-ending stream of resize requests.   
#toc13Keywords 
frame, geometry manager,
location, table, size 
 
Table of Contents #sect0Name #sect1Synopsis #sect2Description #sect3Introduction #sect4Example #sect5Operations #sect6Table Options #sect7Widget Options #sect8Column Options #sect9Row Options #sect10Bounding Sizes #sect11Miscellaneous #sect12Limitations #sect13Keywords 