WML(5X)WML(5X)NAMEWML - The widget meta-language file format for creating uil compilers
DESCRIPTION
The widget meta-language facility (WML) is used to generate the compo‐
nents of the user interface language (UIL) compiler that can change
depending on the widget set. Using WML you can add support in UIL for
new widgets to the 1/Motif widget set or for a totally new widget set.
FILE FORMATWML files are ASCII files that you can modify with any standard text
editor. They are accessed in the tools/wml directory by WML. By con‐
vention WML files have the suffix The Motif widget set is described in
the motif.wml file. This is also the default WML file when using the
WML facility.
When adding new widgets or changing widget characteristics, you should
start with a copy of the motif.wml file. If you are creating a new wid‐
get set for use with UIL, you should start from scratch. In either case
the motif.wml file is a good example of WML syntax, and you should
familiarize yourself with it before writing your own WML file.
WML files have a simple syntax, similar in structure to UIL. It is made
up of the following elements: Comments Data Type Definitions Character
Set Definitions Enumeration Set Definitions Control List Definitions
Class Definitions Child Definitions Resource Definitions
You can use space, tabs, or newlines anywhere in the syntax, as long as
you do not split up keywords or strings, except that comments end at a
newline. The order of elements is not important to the syntax.
This description uses the following additional conventions to describe
the syntax of the widget meta-language: Indicates optional elements.
Indicates where an element of syntax can be repeated. Indicates a
choice among multiple items.
Comments
You can include comments in the WML file. Comments have the following
syntax:
[any.element]!any.comment
Comments begin with an exclamation point and extend to the end of the
line. A comment can begin on a line by itself or follow any part of
another element. A comment does not change the meaning of any other
element. For example:
!This is a comment ! that spans two lines. DataType !This is a
comment following code.
Data Type Definitions
Data type definitions register all the resource data types used in the
file. You must register all the data types used in your WML file. Data
type definitions have the following syntax:
DataType
any.datatype[{ InternalLiteral = internal.name |
DocName = "string";[...]}];
[...]
A data type definition begins with the keyword DataType. Following the
DataType keyword is a list of data types that can be further modified
with: This forces the value of the internal symbol table literal defi‐
nition of the data type name. This modifier is only used to get around
symbol table definitions hard coded into the UIL compiler. It should
rarely be used. which gives an arbitrary string for use in the docu‐
mentation. This string is meant to supply a different name for the
data type for use in the documentation, or a single name for the data
type if the data type has aliases.
For example:
DataType OddNumber {DocName="OddNumber";};
NewString;
Character Set Definitions
Character set definitions register the Motif Toolkit name and other
information for the character set names used in UIL. Character set def‐
initions have the following syntax:
CharacterSet
any.character.set
{[FontListElementTag | XmStringCharsetName]="string";
[Alias = "string" ...; |
Direction =[LeftToRight | RightToLeft]; |
ParseDirection =[LeftToRight | RightToLeft]; |
CharacterSize =[OneByte | TwoByte];]
[...]};
[...]
A character set definition begins with the keyword CharacterSet. Fol‐
lowing the CharacterSet keyword is a list of character sets that can be
further modified with: Specifies the name of the character set, which
will become the character set component of a compound string segment
created using this character set. This modifier is required. Specifies
one or more aliases for the character set name. Each alias can be used
within UIL to refer to the same character set. Specifies the direction
of a compound string segment created using this character set. The
default is LeftToRight. Specifies the direction in which an input
string is parsed when a compound string segment is created using this
character set. The default is whatever Direction is specified. Speci‐
fies the number of bytes in each character of a compound string segment
created using this character set. The default is OneByte.
For example:
CharacterSet
iso_latin1
{ XmStringCharsetName = "ISO8859-1";
Alias = "ISOLatin1"; };
iso_hebrew_lr
{ XmStringCharsetName = "ISO8859-8";
Alias = "iso_latin8_lr";
Direction = RightToLeft;
ParseDirection = LeftToRight; };
ksc_korean
{ XmStringCharsetName = "KSC5601.1987-0";
CharacterSize = TwoByte; };
Enumeration Set Definitions
Enumeration set definitions register the named constants used in the
Motif Toolkit to specify some resource values. Enumeration set defini‐
tions have the following syntax:
EnumerationSet
resource.name : resource.type
{ enum.value.name ; [...] } ;
An enumeration set definition begins with the keyword EnumerationSet.
For each enumeration set defined, the name and type of the resource are
listed. The resource name is the Motif Toolkit resource name, with the
beginning XmN removed and with the initial letter capitalized. For
example, the name of the Motif Toolkit resource XmNrowColumnType is
RowColumnType. The resource type is the data type for the resource; for
most resources, this is integer. Following the resource name and type
is a list of names of enumeration values that can be used as settings
for the resource. These names are the same as those in the Motif Tool‐
kit.
For example:
EnumerationSet
RowColumnType: integer
{ XmWORK_AREA; XmMENU_BAR; XmMENU_POPUP;
XmMENU_PULLDOWN; XmMENU_OPTION; };
Control List Definitions
Control list definitions assign a name to groups of controls. You can
use these control lists later in class definitions to simplify the
structure of your WML file. Control list definitions have the following
syntax:
ControlList
any.control.list[{any.control; [...]}];
A control list definition starts with the ControlList keyword. Follow‐
ing the ControlList keyword are any number of control list definitions.
Control list definitions are made up of a control list name followed by
the set of controls it represents. For example:
ControlList
Buttons {PushButton;
RadioButton;
CascadeButton;
NewCascadebutton;};
Each control specified in the control list must be defined as a class
in the file.
Class Definitions
Class definitions describe a particular widget class including its
position in the class hierarchy, toolkit convenience function,
resources, and controls. There should be one class definition for each
widget or gadget in the widget set you want to support in UIL. Class
definitions have the following syntax:
Class class.name : MetaClass | Widget | Gadget
[{[
SuperClass = class.name; |
ParentClass = parent.class.name; |
InternalLiteral = internal.name; |
Alias = alias; |
ConvenienceFunction = convenience.function; |
WidgetClass = widget.class; |
DocName = "string"; |
DialogClass = True | False; |
Resources { any.resource.name [{
Default = new.default.value; |
Exclude = True |
False;
[...]} ];
[...]}; |
Controls { any.control.name; [...] };
Children { any.child.name; [...] };
[...]
]}];
Class definitions start with the Class keyword. For each class defined,
the name of the class and whether the class is a metaclass, widget, or
gadget is listed. Each class definition can be further modified with
the following keywords: This indicates the name of the parent class.
Only the root of the hierarchy does not specify a SuperClass. This
indicates the name of the widgets automatically created parent class if
one exists. This allows resources for that automatically created class
to be used in instances of this class. For example, XmBulletinBoardDia‐
log creates both an XmBulletinBoard and an XmDialogShell. To access
the resources of the XmDialogShell parent class it must be specified
here. This forces the value of the internal symbol table literal defi‐
nition of the class name. This modifier is only used to get around
symbol table definitions hard coded into the UIL compiler. It should
rarely be used. This indicates alternate names for the class for use
in a UIL specification. This indicates the name of the creation conve‐
nience function for this class. All widget and gadget classes must
have a ConvenienceFunction. This indicates the associated widget class
of gadget type classes. Presently, nothing is done with this value.
This defines an arbitrary string for use in the documentation.
Presently, nothing is done with this value. This indicates whether the
class is a dialog class. Presently, nothing is done with this value.
This lists the resources of the widget class. This keyword can be fur‐
ther modified with: This specifies a new default value for this
resource. Resource default values are usually set in the resource def‐
inition. If an inherited resource's default value is changed by the
class, the new default value should be noted here. This specifies
whether an inherited resource should be excluded from the resource list
of the class. Exclude is False by default. This lists the names of
the automatically created children of this class, so that those chil‐
dren can be accessed in the UIL file. This lists the controls that the
widget class allows. The controls can be other classes or a control
list from the control list definition.
The example below uses the examples from the data type definitions and
control list definitions above.
Class
TopLevelWidget : MetaClass
{
Resources
{
XtbNfirstResource;
XtbNsecondResource;
};
};
NewWidget : Widget
{
SuperClass = TopLevelWidget;
ConvenienceFunction =
XtbCreateNewWidget;
Resources
{
XtbNnewResource;
XtbNfirstResource
{Default="XtbNEW_VALUE";};
XtbNsecondResource
{Exclude=True;};
};
Controls
{
NewWidget;
Buttons;
};
};
Child Definitions
Child definitions register the classes of automatically created chil‐
dren. Automatically created children are referenced elsewhere in a uil
file using the Children keyword within a class definition. Child defi‐
nitions have the following syntax:
Child
child.name : class.name;
[...]
The child.name argument is the name of the automatically created child
and class.name is the name of the class of that child.
Resource Definitions
Resource definitions describe a particular resource including its type,
and default value. There should be a resource definition for each new
resource referenced in the class definitions. Resource definitions have
the following syntax:
Resource
resource.name : Argument | Reason | Constraint
| SubResource
[{[
Type = type ; |
ResourceLiteral = resource.literal ; |
InternalLiteral = internal.name; |
Alias = alias ; |
Related = related ; |
Default = default ; |
DocName = doc.name ; ]
[...]}]
[...]
Resource definitions start with the Resource keyword. For each
resource definition, the name of the resource and whether the resource
is an argument, reason, constraint, or subresource is listed. Indi‐
cates a standard resource. Indicates a callback resource. Indicates a
constraint resource. Presently, nothing is done with this value.
The resource definition can be further modified with the following key‐
words: This indicates the data type of the resource. It must be listed
in the data type definition. This indicates the keyword used in the
UIL file to reference the resource. In Motif, the resource name is the
same as the ResourceLiteral. which forces the value of the internal
symbol table literal definition of the resource name. This modifier is
only used to get around symbol table definitions hard coded into the
UIL compiler. It should rarely be used. This indicates alternate names
for the resource for use in a UIL specification. This is a special
purpose field that allows resources that act as a counter for the cur‐
rent resources to be related to the resource. UIL automatically sets
the value of this related resource to the number of items in the com‐
piled instance of type resource.name. This indicates the default value
of the resource. This defines an arbitrary string for use in the docu‐
mentation. Presently, nothing is done with this value.
The example below uses the examples from the data type definitions,
control list definitions and class definitions above.
Resource
XtbNfirstResource : Argument
{ Type = OddNumber;
Default = "XtbOLD_VALUE";};
XtbNsecondResource : Argument
{ Type = NewString;
Default = "XtbNEW_STRING"; };
XtbNnewResource : Argument
{ Type = OddNumber;
Default = "XtbODD_NUMBER"; };
WML(5X)
