1. Chapter 1 Hello, Perl/Tk

   1. Perl/Tk Concepts

   2. Some Perl/Tk History

   3. Getting Started with Perl/Tk

   4. Hello World Example

   5. Unsolicited Advice

   6. Debugging and PrototypingPerl/Tk Programs

2. Chapter 2 Geometry Management

   1. The pack Geometry Manager

   2. The grid Geometry Manager

   3. The place Geometry Manager

   4. The form Geometry Manager

   5. Geometry Management Summary

3. Chapter 3 Fonts

   1. Experimenting with Fonts

   2. Dissecting a Font

   3. Using Fonts

   4. Using Fonts Dynamically

   5. Font Manipulation Methods

4. Chapter 4 Button, Checkbutton, and Radiobutton Widgets

   1. Creating Button Widgets

   2. Standard Options for Each Button Type

   3. Table of Options for Button-Type Widgets

   4. Displaying Text on Buttons

   5. Displaying an Image or Bitmap

   6. Checkbutton and Radiobutton Indicator Status

   7. On and Off Values for a Checkbutton

   8. Radiobutton Values

   9. The -command Option

   10. Disabling a Button

   11. Text Manipulation

   12. Altering the Button's Style

   13. Changing the Size of a Button

   14. Adding a Keyboard Mapping

   15. Color Options

   16. Indicator Colors

   17. Hiding the Indicator

   18. Focus Options

   19. Altering the Highlight Rectangle

   20. Configuring a Button

   21. Flashing the Button

   22. Invoking the Button

   23. Turning a Checkbutton/Radiobutton On and Off

5. Chapter 5 Label and Entry Widgets

   1. The Label Widget

   2. The Entry Widget

   3. The Perl/Tk LabEntry Mega-Widget

6. Chapter 6 The Scrollbar Widget

   1. Defining Scrollbar Parts

   2. The Scrolled Method

   3. The Scrollbar Widget

   4. Examples

7. Chapter 7 The Listbox Widget

   1. Creating and Filling a Listbox

   2. Listbox Options

   3. Selection Modes

   4. Colors

   5. Listbox Style

   6. Configuring a Listbox

   7. Inserting Items

   8. Deleting Items

   9. Retrieving Elements

   10. Selection Methods

   11. Moving to a Specific Index

   12. Translating Indexes

   13. Counting Items

   14. Active Versus Selected

   15. Bounding Box

   16. Finding an Index by y Coordinate

   17. Scrolling Methods

   18. Listbox Virtual Events

   19. Listbox Example

8. Chapter 8 The Text, TextUndo,and ROText Widgets

   1. Creating and Using a Text Widget

   2. Text Widget Options

   3. A Short Break for a Simple Example

   4. Text Indexes

   5. Text Tags

   6. Inserting Text

   7. Deleting Text

   8. Retrieving Text

   9. Translating Index Values

   10. Comparing Index Values

   11. Showing an Index

   12. Getting the Size of a Character

   13. Getting Line Information

   14. Searching the Contents of a Text Widget

   15. Scrolling

   16. Marks

   17. Embedding Widgets

   18. Internal Debug Flag

   19. The Perl/Tk Text Widget Extended Methods

   20. The TextUndo Widget

   21. The ROText Widget

9. Chapter 9 The Canvas Widget

   1. Creating a Canvas

   2. The Canvas Coordinate System

   3. The Scrollable Region

   4. Using bind with a Canvas

   5. Canvas Options

   6. Creating Items in a Canvas

   7. Configuring the Canvas Widget

   8. Configuring Items in the Canvas Widget

   9. Tags

   10. Retrieving Bounding Box Coordinates

   11. Translating Coordinates

   12. Moving Items Around

   13. Changing the Display List

   14. Deleting Items

   15. Deleting Tags

   16. Determining Item Type

   17. Setting Keyboard Focus

   18. Rendering the Canvas as PostScript

   19. Scaling the Canvas

   20. Scanning

   21. A Drawing Program Example

10. Chapter 10 The Scale Widget

    1. Creating a Scale

    2. Assigning a Callback

    3. Orientation

    4. Minimum and Maximum Values

    5. Displayed Versus Stored Value

    6. Adding a Label

    7. Displaying Value Increments

    8. Changing the Size of the Scale

    9. Options You'll Probably Never Need

    10. Configuring a Scale

    11. Getting the Value of a Scale

    12. Setting the Value of a Scale

    13. Determining Coordinates

    14. Identifying Parts of a Scale

11. Chapter 11 Frame, MainWindow,and Toplevel Widgets

    1. Creating a Frame

    2. Creating a Toplevel Widget

    3. Options

    4. Frame Methods

    5. Toplevel Methods

    6. Creating Multiple MainWindows

    7. Putting Two MainWindows to Work

12. Chapter 12 The Menu System

    1. Menu System Components

    2. Menubars and Pulldown Menus

    3. The Win32 System Menu Item

    4. Classical Menubars

    5. Popup Menus

    6. Option Menus

    7. Menu Virtual Events

    8. Pie Menus

13. Chapter 13 Miscellaneous Perl/Tk Methods

    1. Managing Widgets with configure and cget

    2. Building a Family Tree

    3. Widget's ID

    4. Color-Related Methods

    5. The Application's Name

    6. Widget Existence

    7. Is the Widget Mapped?

    8. Converting Screen Distances

    9. Size of Widget

    10. Widget Position

    11. Screen Information

    12. Atom Methods

    13. Ringing a Bell

    14. Clipboard and Selection Methods

    15. Destroying a Widget

    16. Focus Methods

    17. Grab Methods

    18. Marking a Widget Busy and Unbusy

    19. Widget Mapping and Layering

    20. Interapplication Communication

    21. Waiting for Events to Happen

    22. Time Delays

    23. Parsing Command-Line Options

    24. Really Miscellaneous Methods

14. Chapter 14 Creating Custom Widgets in Pure Perl/Tk

    1. A Mega-Widget Quick-Start

    2. The Perl/Tk Class Hierarchy

    3. Mega-Widget Implementation Details

    4. Composite Mega-Widgets

    5. Derived Mega-Widgets

    6. Packaging a Mega-Widget for Public Distribution

15. Chapter 15 Anatomy of the MainLoop

    1. Creating a Callback

    2. Binding to Events

    3. The bindtags Command

    4. Executing Nonblocking System Commands

    5. Tracing Perl/Tk Variables

    6. Nonblocking Wait Activities

    7. Splash Screens

    8. Synthesizing Virtual Events

    9. Coexisting with Other GUI Main Loops

16. Chapter 16 User Customization

    1. Using the Command Line

    2. Using the Option Database

17. Chapter 17 Images and Animations

    1. An Overview of Perl/Tk Image Types

    2. Methods Common to All Image Types

    3. Bitmap Primitives

    4. DefineBitmap

    5. The Bitmap Image Type

    6. The Pixmap Image Type

    7. The Photo Image Type

    8. The Compound Image Type

    9. Tk::Animation

    10. tkneko—Animating the Neko on a Canvas

    11. Tile and Transparent Images

    12. Miscellaneous Image Methods

    13. Simple Photo Rotations

18. Chapter 18 A Tk Interface Extension Tour

    1. Display Items

    2. Item Styles

    3. The TList Widget

    4. The HList Family of Widgets

    5. Tix Images

19. Chapter 19 Interprocess Communicationwith Pipes and Sockets

    1. Handling Unsolicited Media Changes

    2. IPADM Design Considerations

    3. The Perl/Tk IPADM Client, ipadm

    4. The IPADM Helper, ipadmh

    5. The IPADM Daemon, ipadmd

    6. Polling Win32 Sockets

20. Chapter 20 IPC with send

    1. Security and Inter-Language Considerations

    2. Computing π with Parallel Message Passing

    3. TclRobots

21. Chapter 21 C Widget Internals

    1. The Tk::Square Widget

    2. Interfacing tkSquare.c with Perl/Tk

    3. Building and Testing Tk::Square

    4. How Not to Port Tk::Square

22. Chapter 22 Perl/Tk and the Web

    1. Library for WWW Access in Perl

    2. The PerlPlus Browser Plug-in

23. Chapter 23 Plethora of pTk Potpourri

    1. pTk Special Variables and Exporter Symbols

    2. Manipulating the Cursor

    3. Dialog Boxes

    4. The Adjuster Widget

    5. The Balloon Widget

    6. The BrowseEntry Widget

    7. The LabFrame Widget

    8. The NoteBook Widget

    9. The Pane Widget

    10. The ProgressBar Widget

    11. Widgets Not in the Perl/Tk Distribution

1. Appendix A Installing Perl/Tk

   1. Installing Perl/Tk for Unix

   2. Installing Perl/Tk for Win32

2. Appendix B Options and Default Valuesfor Each Widget

   1. Adjuster

   2. Balloon

   3. Bitmap

   4. BrowseEntry

   5. Button

   6. Canvas

   7. Checkbutton

   8. ColorEditor

   9. Dialog

   10. DirTree

   11. Entry

   12. ErrorDialog

   13. FileSelect

   14. Frame

   15. HList

   16. Label

   17. LabEntry

   18. LabFrame

   19. Listbox

   20. MainWindow

   21. Menu

   22. Menubutton

   23. Message

   24. NoteBook

   25. Optionmenu

   26. Pane

   27. Photo

   28. ProgressBar

   29. Radiobutton

   30. ROText

   31. Scale

   32. Scrollbar

   33. Table

   34. Text

   35. TextUndo

   36. Tiler

   37. TList

   38. Toplevel

   39. Tree

3. Appendix C Complete Program Listings

   1. Tk::CollapsableFrame

   2. Tk::MacCopy

   3. Tk::ExecuteCommand

   4. Proc::Killfam

   5. tkmpg123

   6. Tk::Trace

   7. tkhp16c

   8. Tk::MacProgressBar

   9. TclRobots.pm

   10. Robot Control Program complex.ptr

   11. clock-bezier.ppl

   12. tkhanoi.ppl

4. Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The bird on the cover of Mastering Perl/Tk is an emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae). This large, flightless bird is found throughout the Australian bush steppes. The emu is one of the largest birds in existence, second only to its cousin, the ostrich. Adult emus stand about 5 feet high and weigh up to 120 pounds. The grayish-brown emu's small wings contain only six or seven feathers. They are hidden by the long, hairlike rump plumage. Emus have extremely long legs, which they use as defensive and offensive weapons when fighting. A human limb can be broken by a kick from an emu. Their powerful legs make emus strong swimmers and fast runners; they can reach speeds of up to 50 kilometers per hour.

Male emus, which are slightly smaller than females, tend to the incubation of eggs and the raising of the young. An emu nest contains as much as fifteen to twenty-five deep green eggs, laid by several hens. Incubation of the eggs takes from twenty-five to sixty days. The large discrepancy in incubation time occurs because the male needs to leave the nest periodically to find food and drink. The length of time he is away affects the time for incubation. Newly hatched emus weigh about 15 ounces. They are fully grown at two to three years.

The relationship between emus and Australian farmers has always been adversarial; three coastal subspecies of emu have been exterminated. Because emus can jump over high fences, it is difficult to keep them out of fields, where they eat and trample crops. In the arid Australian bush, emus also compete with cattle and sheep for grass and water. On the other hand, emus eat many insects that would otherwise eat crops. In 1932, Australian farmers declared war on the emus, making an all-out effort to eradicate them. Fortunately, the effort failed. The battle between emus and farmers continues to this day. Linley Dolby was the production editor and copyeditor for Mastering Perl/Tk. Sada Preisch was the proofreader. Jeffrey Holcomb and Claire Cloutier provided quality control. Lucie Haskins wrote the index. Phil Dangler, Derek Di Matteo, Edie Shapiro, and Sarah Sherman provided production support.

Pam Spremulli designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is a 19th-century engraving from Johnson's Natural History II. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with QuarkXPress 4.1, using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.

Melanie Wang designed the interior layout, based on a series design by David Futato. Neil Walls implemented the design in FrameMaker 5.5.6, using tools created by Mike Sierra. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Jessamyn Read, using Macromedia FreeHand 9 and Adobe Photoshop 6. This colophon was written by Clairemarie Fisher O'Leary.

Whenever possible, our books use a durable and flexible lay-flat binding.