GuiControl Class Reference
[Core Controls]

Base class for all Gui control objects. More...

Inheritance diagram for GuiControl:

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Public Member Functions
void	addGuiControl (GuiControl control)
	Add the given control as a child to this control.
void	clearFirstResponder (bool ignored=false)
	Clear this control from being the first responder in its hierarchy chain.
bool	controlIsChild (GuiControl control)
	Test whether the given control is a direct or indirect child to this control.
GuiControl	findHitControl (int x, int y)
	Find the topmost child control located at the given coordinates.
string	findHitControls (int x, int y, int width, int height)
	Find all visible child controls that intersect with the given rectangle.
float	getAspect ()
	Get the aspect ratio of the control's extents.
Point2I	getCenter ()
	Get the coordinate of the control's center point relative to its parent.
Point2I	getExtent ()
	Get the width and height of the control.
GuiControl	getFirstResponder ()
	Get the first responder set on this GuiControl tree.
Point2I	getGlobalCenter ()
	Get the coordinate of the control's center point in coordinates relative to the root control in its control hierarchy.
Point2I	getGlobalPosition ()
	Get the position of the control relative to the root of the GuiControl hierarchy it is contained in.
Point2I	getMinExtent ()
	Get the minimum allowed size of the control.
GuiControl	getParent ()
	Get the immediate parent control of the control.
Point2I	getPosition ()
	Get the control's current position relative to its parent.
GuiCanvas	getRoot ()
	Get the canvas on which the control is placed.
bool	isAwake ()
	Test whether the control is currently awake.
bool	isFirstResponder ()
	Test whether the control is the current first responder.
bool	isMouseLocked ()
	Indicates if the mouse is locked in this control.
bool	isVisible ()
	Test whether the control is currently set to be visible.
void	makeFirstResponder (bool isFirst)
bool	pointInControl (int x, int y)
	Test whether the given point lies within the rectangle of the control.
void	resize (int x, int y, int width, int height)
	Resize and reposition the control using the give coordinates and dimensions. Child controls will resize according to their layout behaviors.
void	setActive (bool state=true)
void	setCenter (int x, int y)
	Set the control's position by its center point.
void	setExtent (S32 width, S32 height)
	Resize the control to the given dimensions.
void	setExtent (Point2I p)
	Resize the control to the given dimensions.
void	setFirstResponder ()
	Make this control the current first responder.
void	setPosition (int x, int y)
	Position the control in the local space of the parent control.
void	setPositionGlobal (int x, int y)
	Set position of the control relative to the root of the GuiControl hierarchy it is contained in.
void	setProfile (GuiControlProfile profile)
	Set the control profile for the control to use.
void	setValue (string value)
	Set the value associated with the control.
void	setVisible (bool state=true)
	Set whether the control is visible or not.
Callbacks

void	onAction ()
	Called when the control's associated action is triggered and no 'command' is defined for the control.
void	onActive (bool state)
	Called when the control changes its activeness state, i.e. when going from active to inactive or vice versa.
void	onAdd ()
	Called when the control object is registered with the system after the control has been created.
void	onControlDragEnter (GuiControl control, Point2I dropPoint)
	Called when a drag&drop operation through GuiDragAndDropControl has entered the control. This is only called for topmost visible controls as the GuiDragAndDropControl moves over them.
void	onControlDragExit (GuiControl control, Point2I dropPoint)
	Called when a drag&drop operation through GuiDragAndDropControl has exited the control and moved over a different control. This is only called for topmost visible controls as the GuiDragAndDropControl moves off of them.
void	onControlDragged (GuiControl control, Point2I dropPoint)
	Called when a drag&drop operation through GuiDragAndDropControl is moving across the control after it has entered it. This is only called for topmost visible controls as the GuiDragAndDropControl moves across them.
void	onControlDropped (GuiControl control, Point2I dropPoint)
	Called when a drag&drop operation through GuiDragAndDropControl has completed and is dropping its payload onto the control. This is only called for topmost visible controls as the GuiDragAndDropControl drops its payload on them.
void	onDialogPop ()
	Called when the control is removed as a dialog from the canvas.
void	onDialogPush ()
	Called when the control is pushed as a dialog onto the canvas.
void	onGainFirstResponder ()
	Called when the control gains first responder status on the GuiCanvas.
void	onLoseFirstResponder ()
	Called when the control loses first responder status on the GuiCanvas.
void	onRemove ()
	Called when the control object is removed from the system before it is deleted.
void	onSleep ()
	Called when the control is put to sleep.
void	onVisible (bool state)
	Called when the control changes its visibility state, i.e. when going from visible to invisible or vice versa.
void	onWake ()
	Called when the control is woken up.
Public Attributes
string	getValue
bool	isActive
Control

string	accelerator
	Key combination that triggers the control's primary action when the control is on the canvas.
bool	active
	Whether the control is enabled for user interaction.
string	altCommand
	Command to execute on the secondary action of the control.
string	command
	Command to execute on the primary action of the control.
deprecated	modal
GuiControlProfile	profile
	The control profile that determines fill styles, font settings, etc.
deprecated	setFirstResponder
string	variable
	Name of the variable to which the value of this control will be synchronized.
bool	visible
	Whether the control is visible or hidden.
Layout

Point2I	extent
	The width and height of the control.
GuiHorizontalSizing	horizSizing
	The horizontal resizing behavior.
Point2I	minExtent
	The minimum width and height of the control. The control will not be resized smaller than this.
Point2I	position
	The position relative to the parent control.
GuiVerticalSizing	vertSizing
	The vertical resizing behavior.
ToolTip

int	hovertime
	Time for mouse to hover over control until tooltip is shown (in milliseconds).
string	tooltip
	String to show in tooltip for this control.
GuiControlProfile	tooltipProfile
	Control profile to use when rendering tooltips for this control.
Editing

bool	isContainer
	If true, the control may contain child controls.
Localization

string	langTableMod
	Name of string table to use for lookup of internationalized text.

Detailed Description

Base class for all Gui control objects.

GuiControl is the basis for the Gui system. It represents an individual control that can be placed on the canvas and with which the mouse and keyboard can potentially interact with.

Control Hierarchies

GuiControls are arranged in a hierarchy. All children of a control are placed in their parent's coordinate space, i.e. their coordinates are relative to the upper left corner of their immediate parent. When a control is moved, all its child controls are moved along with it.

Since GuiControl's are SimGroups, hierarchy also implies ownership. This means that if a control is destroyed, all its children are destroyed along with it. It also means that a given control can only be part of a single GuiControl hierarchy. When adding a control to another control, it will automatically be reparented from another control it may have previously been parented to.

Layout System

GuiControls have a two-dimensional position and are rectangular in shape.

Event System

Control Profiles

Common data accessed by GuiControls is stored in so-called "Control Profiles." This includes font, color, and texture information. By pooling this data in shared objects, the appearance of any number of controls can be changed quickly and easily by modifying only the shared profile object.

If not explicitly assigned a profile, a control will by default look for a profile object that matches its class name. This means that the class GuiMyCtrl, for example, will look for a profile called 'GuiMyProfile'. If this profile cannot be found, the control will fall back to GuiDefaultProfile which must be defined in any case for the Gui system to work.

In addition to its primary profile, a control may be assigned a second profile called 'tooltipProfile' that will be used to render tooltip popups for the control.

Triggered Actions

First Responders

At any time, a single control can be what is called the "first responder" on the GuiCanvas is placed on. This control will be the first control to receive keyboard events not bound in the global ActionMap. If the first responder choses to handle a particular keyboard event,

Waking and Sleeping

Visibility and Activeness

By default, a GuiControl is active which means that it

See also:: GuiCanvas; GuiControlProfile

Member Function Documentation

void GuiControl::addGuiControl ( GuiControl control )

Add the given control as a child to this control.

This is synonymous to calling SimGroup::addObject.

Parameters:

control

The control to add as a child.

Note:: The control will retain its current position and size.

See also:: SimGroup::addObject Control Hierarchies

void GuiControl::clearFirstResponder ( bool ignored = false )

Clear this control from being the first responder in its hierarchy chain.

Parameters:

ignored

Ignored. Supported for backwards-compatibility.

bool GuiControl::controlIsChild ( GuiControl control )

Test whether the given control is a direct or indirect child to this control.

Parameters:

control

The potential child control.

Returns:: True if the given control is a direct or indirect child to this control.

GuiControl GuiControl::findHitControl	(	int	x,
		int	y
	)

Find the topmost child control located at the given coordinates.

Note:: Only children that are both visible and have the 'modal' flag set in their profile will be considered in the search.

Parameters:

	x	The X coordinate in the control's own coordinate space.
	y	The Y coordinate in the control's own coordinate space.

Returns:: The topmost child control at the given coordintes or the control on which the method was called if no matching child could be found.

See also:: GuiControlProfile::modal; findHitControls

string GuiControl::findHitControls	(	int	x,
		int	y,
		int	width,
		int	height
	)

Find all visible child controls that intersect with the given rectangle.

Note:: Invisible child controls will not be included in the search.

Parameters:

	x	The X coordinate of the rectangle's upper left corner in the control's own coordinate space.
	y	The Y coordinate of the rectangle's upper left corner in the control's own coordinate space.
	width	The width of the search rectangle in pixels.
	height	The height of the search rectangle in pixels.

Returns:: A space-separated list of the IDs of all visible control objects intersecting the given rectangle.

Example:

// Lock all controls in the rectangle at x=10 and y=10 and the extent width=100 and height=100.
foreach$( %ctrl in %this.findHitControls( 10, 10, 100, 100 ) )
   %ctrl.setLocked( true );

See also:: findHitControl

float GuiControl::getAspect ( )

Get the aspect ratio of the control's extents.

Returns:: The width of the control divided by its height.

See also:: getExtent

Point2I GuiControl::getCenter ( )

Get the coordinate of the control's center point relative to its parent.

Returns:: The coordinate of the control's center point in parent-relative coordinates.

Point2I GuiControl::getExtent ( )

Get the width and height of the control.

Returns:: A point structure containing the width of the control in x and the height in y.

Reimplemented in GuiCanvas.

GuiControl GuiControl::getFirstResponder ( )

Get the first responder set on this GuiControl tree.

Returns:: The first responder set on the control's subtree.

See also:: isFirstResponder; makeFirstResponder; setFirstResponder First Responders

Point2I GuiControl::getGlobalCenter ( )

Get the coordinate of the control's center point in coordinates relative to the root control in its control hierarchy.

the center coordinate of the control in root-relative coordinates.

Point2I GuiControl::getGlobalPosition ( )

Get the position of the control relative to the root of the GuiControl hierarchy it is contained in.

Returns:: The control's current position in root-relative coordinates.

Point2I GuiControl::getMinExtent ( )

Get the minimum allowed size of the control.

Returns:: The minimum size to which the control can be shrunk.

See also:: minExtent

GuiControl GuiControl::getParent ( )

Get the immediate parent control of the control.

Returns:: The immediate parent GuiControl or 0 if the control is not parented to a GuiControl.

Point2I GuiControl::getPosition ( )

Get the control's current position relative to its parent.

Returns:: The coordinate of the control in its parent's coordinate space.

GuiCanvas GuiControl::getRoot ( )

Get the canvas on which the control is placed.

Returns:: The canvas on which the control's hierarchy is currently placed or 0 if the control is not currently placed on a GuiCanvas.

See also:: GuiControl_Hierarchy

bool GuiControl::isAwake ( )

Test whether the control is currently awake.

If a control is awake it means that it is part of the GuiControl hierarchy of a GuiCanvas.

Returns:: True if the control is awake.Waking and Sleeping

bool GuiControl::isFirstResponder ( )

Test whether the control is the current first responder.

Returns:: True if the control is the current first responder.

See also:: makeFirstResponder; setFirstResponder First Responders

bool GuiControl::isMouseLocked ( )

Indicates if the mouse is locked in this control.

Returns:: True if the mouse is currently locked.

bool GuiControl::isVisible ( )

Test whether the control is currently set to be visible.

Returns:: True if the control is currently set to be visible.

Note:: This method does not tell anything about whether the control is actually visible to the user at the moment.

Visibility and Activeness

void GuiControl::makeFirstResponder ( bool isFirst )

void GuiControl::onAction ( )

Called when the control's associated action is triggered and no 'command' is defined for the control.

Triggered Actions

void GuiControl::onActive ( bool state )

Called when the control changes its activeness state, i.e. when going from active to inactive or vice versa.

Parameters:

stat

The new activeness state.

See also:: isActive; setActive Visibility and Activeness

void GuiControl::onAdd ( )

Called when the control object is registered with the system after the control has been created.

void GuiControl::onControlDragEnter	(	GuiControl	control,
		Point2I	dropPoint
	)

Called when a drag&drop operation through GuiDragAndDropControl has entered the control. This is only called for topmost visible controls as the GuiDragAndDropControl moves over them.

Parameters:

	control	The payload of the drag operation.
	dropPoint	The point at which the payload would be dropped if it were released now. Relative to the canvas.

void GuiControl::onControlDragExit	(	GuiControl	control,
		Point2I	dropPoint
	)

Called when a drag&drop operation through GuiDragAndDropControl has exited the control and moved over a different control. This is only called for topmost visible controls as the GuiDragAndDropControl moves off of them.

Parameters:

	control	The payload of the drag operation.
	dropPoint	The point at which the payload would be dropped if it were released now. Relative to the canvas.

void GuiControl::onControlDragged	(	GuiControl	control,
		Point2I	dropPoint
	)

Called when a drag&drop operation through GuiDragAndDropControl is moving across the control after it has entered it. This is only called for topmost visible controls as the GuiDragAndDropControl moves across them.

Parameters:

	control	The payload of the drag operation.
	dropPoint	The point at which the payload would be dropped if it were released now. Relative to the canvas.

void GuiControl::onControlDropped	(	GuiControl	control,
		Point2I	dropPoint
	)

Called when a drag&drop operation through GuiDragAndDropControl has completed and is dropping its payload onto the control. This is only called for topmost visible controls as the GuiDragAndDropControl drops its payload on them.

Parameters:

	control	The control that is being dropped onto this control.
	dropPoint	The point at which the control is being dropped. Relative to the canvas.

void GuiControl::onDialogPop ( )

Called when the control is removed as a dialog from the canvas.

See also:: GuiCanvas::popDialog

void GuiControl::onDialogPush ( )

Called when the control is pushed as a dialog onto the canvas.

See also:: GuiCanvas::pushDialog

void GuiControl::onGainFirstResponder ( )

Called when the control gains first responder status on the GuiCanvas.

See also:: setFirstResponder; makeFirstResponder; isFirstResponder First Responders

void GuiControl::onLoseFirstResponder ( )

Called when the control loses first responder status on the GuiCanvas.

See also:: setFirstResponder; makeFirstResponder; isFirstResponder First Responders

void GuiControl::onRemove ( )

Called when the control object is removed from the system before it is deleted.

void GuiControl::onSleep ( )

Called when the control is put to sleep.

Waking and Sleeping

void GuiControl::onVisible ( bool state )

Called when the control changes its visibility state, i.e. when going from visible to invisible or vice versa.

Parameters:

state

The new visibility state.

See also:: isVisible; setVisible Visibility and Activeness

void GuiControl::onWake ( )

Called when the control is woken up.

Waking and Sleeping

bool GuiControl::pointInControl	(	int	x,
		int	y
	)

Test whether the given point lies within the rectangle of the control.

Parameters:

	x	X coordinate of the point in parent-relative coordinates.
	y	Y coordinate of the point in parent-relative coordinates.

Returns:: True if the point is within the control, false if not.

See also:: getExtent; getPosition

void GuiControl::resize	(	int	x,
		int	y,
		int	width,
		int	height
	)

Resize and reposition the control using the give coordinates and dimensions. Child controls will resize according to their layout behaviors.

Parameters:

	x	The new X coordinate of the control in its parent's coordinate space.
	y	The new Y coordinate of the control in its parent's coordinate space.
	width	The new width to which the control should be resized.
	height	The new height to which the control should be resized.

void GuiControl::setActive ( bool state = true )

void GuiControl::setCenter	(	int	x,
		int	y
	)

Set the control's position by its center point.

Parameters:

	x	The X coordinate of the new center point of the control relative to the control's parent.
	y	The Y coordinate of the new center point of the control relative to the control's parent.

void GuiControl::setExtent	(	S32	width,
		S32	height
	)

Resize the control to the given dimensions.

Child controls will resize according to their layout settings.

Parameters:

	width	The new width of the control in pixels.
	height	The new height of the control in pixels.

void GuiControl::setExtent ( Point2I p )

Resize the control to the given dimensions.

Child controls with resize according to their layout settings.

Parameters:

p

The new ( width, height ) extents of the control.

void GuiControl::setFirstResponder ( )

Make this control the current first responder.

Note:: Only controls with a profile that has canKeyFocus enabled are able to become first responders.

See also:: GuiControlProfile::canKeyFocus; isFirstResponder First Responders

void GuiControl::setPosition	(	int	x,
		int	y
	)

Position the control in the local space of the parent control.

Parameters:

	x	The new X coordinate of the control relative to its parent's upper left corner.
	y	The new Y coordinate of the control relative to its parent's upper left corner.

void GuiControl::setPositionGlobal	(	int	x,
		int	y
	)

Set position of the control relative to the root of the GuiControl hierarchy it is contained in.

Parameters:

	x	The new X coordinate of the control relative to the root's upper left corner.
	y	The new Y coordinate of the control relative to the root's upper left corner.

void GuiControl::setProfile ( GuiControlProfile profile )

Set the control profile for the control to use.

The profile used by a control determines a great part of its behavior and appearance.

Parameters:

profile

The new profile the control should use. Control Profiles

void GuiControl::setValue ( string value )

Set the value associated with the control.

Parameters:

value

The new value for the control.

void GuiControl::setVisible ( bool state = true )