new
$obj = Curses::Widgets->new({KEY => 'value'});
The new class method provides a basic constructor for all descendent widget classes. Internally, it
assumes any configuration information to be passed in a hash ref as the sole argument. It dereferences
that ref and passes it to the internal method _conf, which is expected to do any input
validation/initialisation required by your widget. That method should return a 1 or 0, which will
determine if new returns a handle to the new object.
If _conf returns a 1, the _copy is called to back up the initial state information.
If descendent widgets use the methods provided in the class (instead of overriding them) then the
following keys should always be recognised:
Key Description
====================================================
FOREGROUND Foreground colour
BACKGROUND Background colour
BORDERCOL Border (foreground) colour
CAPTIONCOL Caption (foreground) colour
BORDER Whether or not to display a border
CAPTION The string to use as the caption
The colours will default to the terminal foreground/background defaults. Other arguments may have
defaults defined by the descendent classes.
_conf
$obj->_conf(%conf);
This method should be overridden in your descendant class. As mentioned above, it should do any
initialisation and validation required, based on the passed configuration hash. It should return a 1 or
0, depending on whether any critical errors were encountered during instantiation.
Note: your _conf method should call, as a last act, SUPER::_conf. This is important to do, since this
method takes care of some colour initialisation steps for you automatically. The following keys are
known by this module, and are used by certain rendering and initiation methods:
Field Default Description
============================================================
FOREGROUND (terminal default) Default foreground colour
BACKGROUND (terminal default) Default background colour
BORDERCOL (FOREGROUND) Default border colour
CAPTIONCOL (FOREGROUND) Default caption colour
As a final note, here are some rules regarding the structure of your configuration hash. You *must* save
your state information in this hash. Another subroutine will copy that information after object
instantiation in order to support the reset method. Also note that everything stored in this should
*not* be more than one additional level deep (in other words, values can be hash or array refs, but none
of the values in *that* structure should be refs), otherwise those refs will be copied over, instead of
the data inside the structure. This essentially destroys your backup.
If you have special requirements, override the _copy method as well.
_copy
$obj->_copy($href1, $href2);
This method copies the contents of $href1 to $href2. This will only copy two levels of data, so any
reference values deeper than that will be passed by reference, not as a copy of reference's
(dereferenced) value.
reset
$obj->reset;
The reset method resets the object back to the original state by copying the original configuration
information into the working hash.
input_key
$obj->input_key($ch);
The input_key method should be overridden in all descendent classes. This method should accept character
input and update it's internal state information appropriately. This method will be used in both
interactive and non-interactive modes to send keystrokes to the widget.
input
$obj->input($string);
The input method provides a non-interactive method for sending input to the widget. This is essentially
just a wrapper for the input_key method, but will accept any number of string arguments at once. It
splits all of the input into separate characters for feeding to the input_key method.
execute
$obj->execute($mwh);
This method puts the widget into interactive mode, which consists of calling the draw method, scanning
for keyboard input, feeding it to the input_key method, and redrawing.
execute uses the widget's configuration information to allow easy modification of its behavoiur. First,
it checks for the existance of a INPUTFUNC key. Setting its value to a subroutine reference allows you
to substitute any custom keyboard scanning/polling routine in leiu of the default scankey provided by
this module.
Second, it checks the return value of the input function against the regular expression stored in
FOCUSSWITCH, if any. Any matches against that expression will tell this method to exit, returning the
key that matches it. This effectively causes the widget to 'lose focus'.
The only argument is a handle to a valid curses window object.
NOTE: If \t is in your regex, KEY_STAB will also be a trigger for a focus switch.
getField
$value = $obj->getField('VALUE');
The getField method retrieves the value(s) for every field requested that exists in the configuration
hash.
setField
$obj->setField(
'FIELD1' => 1,
'FIELD2' => 'value'
);
The setField method sets the value for every key/value pair passed.
draw
$obj->draw($mwh, 1);
The draw method can be overridden in each descendant class. It is reponsible for the rendering of the
widget, and only that. The first argument is mandatory, being a valid window handle with which to create
the widget's derived window. The second is optional, but if set to true, will tell the widget to draw
itself in an 'active' state. For instance, the TextField widget will also render a cursor, while a
ButtonSet widget will render the selected button in standout mode.
The rendering sequence defined in this class is as follows:
# Get the canvas geometry and create a window handle to it
$dwh = $self->_canvas($mwh, $self->_geometry);
return 0 unless $dwh;
$self->_init($dwh);
$self->_border($dwh);
$self->_caption($dwh);
# Get the content area geometry and create a window handle to it
$cwh = $self->_canvas($dwh, $self->_cgeometry);
unless (defined $cwh) {
$dwh->delwin;
return 0;
}
$self->_content($cwh);
$self->_cursor($cwh) if $active;
_geometry
@geom = $obj->_geometry;
This method returns the size of the canvas, with dimensions adjusted to account for a border (based on
the value of BORDER in the configuration hash).
_cgeometry
@geom = $obj->_cgeometry;
This method returns the size of the content area. The Y and X coordinates are adjusted appropriately for
rendering in a widget canvas. (0, 0) is returned for widgets with no border, and (1, 1) is returned for
widgets with a border (based on the value of BORDER in the configuration hash).
_canvas
$dwh = $obj->_canvas($mwh, @geom);
This method returns a window handle to a derived window in the passed window, using the specified
geometry. This will return undef and produce a warning if the call fails for any reason.
_init
$obj->_init($mwh);
This method erases the window and sets the foreground/background colours as found in the configuration
hash.
_save
$obj->_save($mwh);
This method saves the current attributes and colour pair in the passed window. This method would
typically be called by the draw routine after _init is called on the derived window (though the current
_init method calls this for you).
_restore
$obj->_restore($mwh);
This method restores the last saved attributes and colour pair used in the window. This should be called
at the end of any rendering phase that may alter the default colour and attribute settings.
_border
$obj->_border($mwh);
This method draws the border around the passed window if BORDER is true within the configuration hash.
_caption
$obj->_caption
This method draws a caption on the first line of the passed window if CAPTION is defined within the
configuration hash.
_content
$obj->_content($mwh);
This method should be overridden in all descendent classes, and should render any content in the passed
window. The draw method, as defined in this class, will pass a window the exact size of the content
area, so no adjustments will need to be made to accommodate a border.
_cursor
$obj->_cursor
This method should be overridden in all descendent classes that display a cursor in the content area.
The draw method, as defined in this class, calls this method after the content is rendered, and passes it
a window handle the exact size of the content area.
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