# Widget Menu

The widget menu provides operations which allow you to configure the currently selected widget.

Resources - displays the resource panel for the currently selected widget. You can also pop-up the resource panel by clicking on the selected widget in the Design Area. The displayed resource panel will contain all the resources which are specific to the type of the currently selected widget.

Core Resources - displays the Core Resources Panel for the currently selected widget. This lets you set those resources that are available for most of the Motif widgets. These resources are those of the Motif Core class, from which all widgets are derived. Primitive and Manager widget resources are also provided here, so that background and foreground color, for instance, are available together.

Loose Bindings - Displays the Loose Bindings Dialog. This allows you to control the way in which resources are generated in the resource file so that widgets can share resources.

Layout - displays the Layout Editor which allows you to graphically position and attach widgets relative to one another. It can be used on BulletinBoards, Forms and DrawingAreas.

The Layout Editor only allows you to arrange widgets which are direct children of the currently selected widget.

Constraints - allows you to set constraints for widgets which are children of a form or paned window. For children of a form, this is sometimes useful as an alternative to the Layout Editor, particularly when you have set attachments which force a widget to zero size and you need to break them. For children of a paned window, this allows you to set the maximum and minimum size of each pane.

Translations - allows you to specify translations for a widget. Translations provide a means of mapping user events onto widget behavior. The option provides a panel which allows you to specify the widget Actions which are to be invoked in response to user input sequences.

Code Preludes - displays the code preludes dialog which allows you to insert your own fragments of code into specific locations in the generated output stream. The fragments you insert are not checked in any way - they can be whatever you want them to be.

Methods Declaration - allows you to insert declarations for application-defined methods into a C++ class.

Reset - destroys the currently selected widget (and children) then re-creates them. This option is provided because changing a resource (or changing back to the default value) sometimes appears to have no affect. The Reset option should create the effect you require.

Edit Links - is a means of adding active links to your window design, so that, for instance, pressing a button in one window will cause another window to pop up. You can use this to prototype the behavior of your application.

Fold/Unfold - causes the children of the currently selected widget to be folded into their parent. This is useful when the window design becomes complex - you can fold the completed parts of it to reduce clutter in the design area.

To make the children visible, select the widget and use Fold/unfold again.

Definition - provides the means of turning a hierarchy of widgets into a reusable object definition. The definition can be inserted into the widget palette and then selected just like other palette message

See also:

- Core Resources panel
- Loose Bindings
- Form Constraints
- Paned Window Constraints
- Translations
- Code Preludes
- Links
- Definitions
- About WorkShop Visual