Palette Menus

The Palette menu bar contains the following three options:

Palette menu options

· Palette

Displays a view menu that allows you to control how to display the Palette objects, or create a new Palette.

· Catalog

Displays a file menu that allows you to load, save, and edit the catalog file associated with a Palette.

· Edit

Allows you to cut and paste an object and create new palette groups.

Palette Menu

Select Palette from the Palette menu bar, either with the mouse or with a mnemonic, to display the following menu:

Palette Menu

The following sections describe the Palette menu items:

New

Creates a new Palette. You can display any number of Palettes simultaneously. Once you create a new Palette, you can use the new Palette's Catalog menu to load a catalog file, or you can cut and paste items and groups from other Palettes.

Tabbed/ Outline View

Allows you to display the Palette icons in tabbed or outline format. The default is Outline view. Click on Tabbed View to display the Palette Collections in tabbed format. Click on a tab to display the pixmap icons of a particular Palette group:

Example of a Palette in Tabbed View

Labels Only

Displays only the name of each Palette widget, class, or collection. By default, user collections are assigned the unique names Collection000, Collection001, etc. in the order of their creation.

Pixmaps Only

Displays only the pixmap icon for each Palette widget, class, or collection. User collections are assigned a default pixmap. Edit Palette collection pixmap names from the Edit Properties dialog by selecting Properties from the Catalog menu of the Palette.

Note: Pixmaps Only is on by default.

Both

Displays all pixmap icons labeled with their respective widget collection names.

Catalog Menu

Select Catalog from the Palette menu bar to display the Catalog menu:

Palette Catalog Menu

Load/Include

Loads a catalog file into a Palette. If this item is labelled "Include" the selected catalog file is appended to the currently loaded file.

Save

Saves the Palette catalog file.

Save As

Displays the Save Catalog dialog box. Enter the directory and new filename into which you want to save the Palette catalog.

Properties

Displays the Edit Properties dialog box:

Edit Properties Dialog Box

Identity

Shows the name that identifies the Palette within Builder Xcessory.

Display Name

Shows the display name of the Palette. Click MB1 inside the Display Name text field and enter the new name for the Palette. The new Display Name will appear in the Palette's window manager title bar ad on any menu labels referring to the new Display Name.

Cancel

Click on the Cancel button to dismiss the dialog without making changes.

Edit Menu

Select Edit from the Palette menu bar to display the Palette Edit menu:

Palette Edit Menu

Paste

Allows you to paste the object or group currently in the paste buffer. Pasting a group will nest it within the group where the cursor is positioned. Pasting an item will insert the item immediately before the item under the cursor or at the end of the group if the cursor is over the Group Label.

New Group

Displays the System Catalog dialog:

System Catalog Dialog

To create a new Palette group, enter the new name in the text field.

MB3 Quick Access Menu

To invoke the MB3 Quick Access Menu, press MB3 while the mouse pointer is in the Palette window.

Note: The MB3 convenience menu is active only when the pointer is positioned over a Palette icon or a Palette group name.

The MB3 menu enhances functions of the Catalog and Edit menu as follows:

Cut

Allows you to place the selected Palette object or group into a paste buffer.

Paste

Allows you to paste the object or group currently in the paste buffer. Pasting a group will nest it within the group where the cursor is positioned. Pasting an item will insert the item immediately before the item under the cursor or at the end of the group if the cursor is over the Group Label.

Delete

Deletes the selected Palette object or Palette group.

New Group

Displays the System Catalog dialog:

System Catalog Dialog

To create a new Palette group, enter the new name in the text field.

Properties

Displays the Edit Properties dialog box. Depending on the object or group you select, displays several editable text fields. In the following example, the Motif Primitives group is selected:

Edit Properties Dialog Box with Motif Primitives Group Selected

Identity

Shows the name that identifies the Palette group or Palette object, in this example motif_primitive (this field is not editable).

Display Name

Shows the name of the Palette object or Palette group as displayed on the Palette, in this example, Motif Primitive. Click MB1 inside the Display Name text field and enter a new name for the Palette group.

Conditions

Shows the conditions required for the Palette Group. Both the item and the group can optionally name conditions under which they should appear on the Palette.

The valid conditions for the Items name attributes of the system on which Builder Xcessory is running and what other software it is using. You can specify a value SystemAttribute(tag), where "tag" is one of the following values:

Tag

Explanation

DXm

Digital enhanced OSF/Motif

EPak

ICS EnhancementPak widget set

IrisGL

SGI IrisGL library

OpenGL

SGI OpenGL library

You can join multiple uses of SystemAttribute with "&&" (logical AND) and "||" (logical OR) and group them in parentheses.

The valid conditions for the Groups tag name similar attributes of the system on which Builder Xcessory is running, with additional possibilities of the form "tag operator string-value", where tag is one of the following values:

Tag

Explanation

DatabaseName

Test value of resource databaseName

Env(var)

Test value of environment variable "var"

Language

Test language BX is using

Platform

Test operating system BX is running on, using function uname(2V)

Version

Test operating system version (release), using function uname(2V)

Operators

You can use the following operators;

· ==

· !=

· <

· >

· >=

· <=

The operators that test greater-than (>) or less-than (<) are appropriate only for tests of Version. You can join multiple uses of these expressions, along with uses of SystemAttribute, with the logical operators in this list. The catalog file should be in the {BX}/xcessory/package/ directory.

Default State

Toggle buttons that define whether the Palette Group is displayed when initially loaded into a Palette.

Adding User-defined Widgets and Objects

You can add your own Xt Intrinsics-based Motif 1.2.x/, C++ classes, or ViewKit components to Builder Xcessory. User-defined widgets and objects appear on the Palette, and you can access and manipulate user-defined widgets and objects as you would any other Palette collection.

 

Documentation: