'\"
'\" Copyright (c) 2008 Arnulf Wiedemann
'\"
'\" See the file "license.terms" for information on usage and redistribution
'\" of this file, and for a DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES.
'\"
.TH option n 4.0 itcl "[incr\ Tcl]"
.so man.macros
.BS
'\" Note:  do not modify the .SH NAME line immediately below!
.SH NAME
itcl::option \- define options for extendedclass, widget or widgetadaptor
.PP
Parts of this description are "borrowed" from Tcl extension [snit], as the functionality is mostly identical.
.SH WARNING!
This is new functionality in [incr Tcl] where the API can still change!!
.SH SYNOPSIS
.nf
\fBoption \fIoptionSpec\fR ?\fIdefaultValue\fR?
\fBoption \fIoptionSpec\fR ?\fIoptions\fR?
.fi
.BE

.SH DESCRIPTION
.PP
The \fBoption\fR command is used inside an \fB[incr\ Tcl]\fR
extendedclass/widget/widgetadaptor definition to define options.
.PP
In the first form defines an option for instances of this type, and optionally
gives it an initial value. The initial value defaults to the empty string if
no defaultValue is specified.
.PP
An option defined in this way is said to be locally defined.
The optionSpec is a list defining the option's name, resource name, and class
name, e.g.:
.PP
.CS
    option {-font font Font} {Courier 12}
.CE
.PP
The option name must begin with a hyphen, and must not contain any upper case
letters. The resource name and class name are optional; if not specified,
the resource name defaults to the option name, minus the hyphen, and the class
name defaults to the resource name with the first letter capitalized. Thus, the
following statement is equivalent to the previous example:
.PP
.CS
    option -font {Courier 12}
.CE
.PP
See The Tk Option Database for more information about resource and class names.
.PP
Options are normally set and retrieved using the standard instance methods
configure and cget; within instance code (method bodies, etc.), option values
are available through the options array:
.PP
.CS
    set myfont $itcl_options(-font)
.CE
.PP
In the second form you can define option handlers (e.g., -configuremethod),
then it should probably use configure and cget to access its options to avoid
subtle errors.
.PP
The option statement may include the following options:
.TP
\fB-default\fI defvalue\fR
.
Defines the option's default value; the option's default value will be ""
otherwise. 
.TP
\fB-readonly\fR
.
The option is handled read-only -- it can only be set using configure at
creation time, i.e., in the type's constructor. 
.TP
\fB-cgetmethod\fI methodName\fR
.
Every locally-defined option may define a -cgetmethod; it is called when the
option's value is retrieved using the cget method. Whatever the method's body
returns will be the return value of the call to cget.
.RS
.PP
The named method must take one argument, the option name. For example, this
code is equivalent to (though slower than) Itcl's default handling of cget:
.PP
.CS
        option -font -cgetmethod GetOption
        method GetOption {option} {
            return $itcl_options($option)
        }
.CE
.PP
Note that it's possible for any number of options to share a -cgetmethod. 
.RE
.TP
\fB-cgetmethodvar\fI varName\fR
.
That is very similar to -cgetmethod, the only difference is, one can define
a variable, where to find the cgetmethod during runtime.
.TP
\fB-configuremethod\fI methodName\fR
.
Every locally-defined option may define a -configuremethod; it is called
when the option's value is set using the configure or configurelist
methods. It is the named method's responsibility to save the option's
value; in other words, the value will not be saved to the itcl_options()
array unless the method saves it there.
.RS
.PP
The named method must take two arguments, the option name and its new value.
For example, this code is equivalent to (though slower than) Itcl's default
handling of configure:
.PP
.CS
        option -font -configuremethod SetOption
        method SetOption {option value} {
            set itcl_options($option) $value
        }
.CE
.PP
Note that it's possible for any number of options to share a single -configuremethod. 
.RE
.TP
\fB-configuremethodvar\fI varName\fR
.
That is very similar to -configuremethod, the only difference is, one can define
a variable, where to find the configuremethod during runtime.
.TP
\fB-validatemethod\fI methodName\fR
.
Every locally-defined option may define a -validatemethod; it is called when
the option's value is set using the configure or configurelist methods, just
before the -configuremethod (if any). It is the named method's responsibility
to validate the option's new value, and to throw an error if the value is
invalid.
.RS
.PP
The named method must take two arguments, the option name and its new value.
For example, this code verifies that -flag's value is a valid Boolean value:
.PP
.CS
        option -font -validatemethod CheckBoolean
        method CheckBoolean {option value} {
            if {![string is boolean -strict $value]} {
                error "option $option must have a boolean value."
            }
        }
.CE
.PP
Note that it's possible for any number of options to share a single -validatemethod. 
.RE
.TP
\fB-validatemethodvar\fI varName\fR
.
That is very similar to -validatemethod, the only difference is, one can define
a variable, where to find the validatemethod during runtime.

.SH KEYWORDS
option, widget, widgetadaptor, extendedclass
