State:		Final
Type:		Project
Tcl-Version:	8.5
Vote:		Done
Post-History:	
Author:		Brian Griffin <bgriffin@model.com>
Created:	22-Mar-2004
Keywords:	Tk

Abstract

This TIP proposes adding a paneconfigure option to panedwindows that will control pane visibility.

Rationale

Adding control over individual pane visibility to the panedwindow widget would simplify the construction and control of complex user interfaces. For example, look at applications such as Komodo, or MS Visual Studio, where the U/I contains 4-7 panes in 2 or more nested panedwindows. Both of these applications as well as many others allow user controlled visibility of individual panes. Trying to manage the visibility and placement of these panes requires much additional code and adds complexity to the U/I implementation. Alternatively, if the panedwindow allowed control of visibility while maintaining pane position and configure options (as does the grid remove method), the U/I code is essentially reduced to a simple one line [$w configure -hide].

Proposed Change

This TIP will add a -hide option to the paneconfigure for individual panes. The option will control the visibility of the pane. When set to true (as interpreted by Tcl_GetBooleanFromObj()), the pane will be unmapped and will not be considered when arranging the remaining panes for display. Hidden panes will still be reported by the [$w panes] method and can be referenced when adding panes with the -after or -before options.

The advantage of a paneconfigure option over the remove method of the grid command is that the pane is still query-able and configurable.

Draft Implementation

An implementation of this enhancement is available [ftp://ftp.model.com/pub/tcl/pwhideTIP.tgz].

Copyright

This document has been placed in the public domain.