UIL(5X) UIL(5X)
NAME
UIL - The user interface language file format
SYNOPSIS
MODULE module_name
[NAMES = CASE_INSENSITIVE | CASE_SENSITIVE]
[CHARACTER_SET = character_set]
[OBJECTS = {widget_name = GADGET | WIDGET; [...]}]
{[
[value_section] |
[procedure_section] |
[list_section] |
[object_section] |
[identifier_section]
[...]
]} END MODULE;
DESCRIPTION
The UIL language is used for describing the initial state of a user interface for a widget based application. UIL describes the widgets
used in the interface, the resources of those widgets, and the callbacks of those widgets. The UIL file is compiled into a UID file using
the command uil or by the callable compiler Uil(). The contents of the compiled UID file can then by accessed by the various Motif
Resource Management (MRM) functions from within an application program.
FILE FORMAT
UIL is a free-form language. This means that high-level constructs such as object and value declarations do not need to begin in any par-
ticular column and can span any number of lines. Low-level constructs such as keywords and punctuation characters can also begin in any
column; however, except for string literals and comments, they cannot span lines.
The UIL compiler accepts input lines up to 132 characters in length. The name by which the UIL module is known in the UID file. This name
is stored in the UID file for later use in the retrieval of resources by the MRM. This name is always stored in uppercase in the UID file.
Indicates whether names should be treated as case sensitive or case insensitive. The default is case sensitive. The case-sensitivity
clause should be the first clause in the module header, and in any case must precede any statement that contains a name. If names are case
sensitive in a UIL module, UIL keywords in that module must be in lowercase. Each name is stored in the UIL file in the same case as it
appears in the UIL module. If names are case insensitive, then keywords can be in uppercase, lowercase, or mixed case, and the uppercase
equivalent of each name is stored in the UID file. Specifies the default character set for string literals in the module that do not
explicitly set their character set. The default character set, in the absence of this clause is the codeset component of the LANG environ-
ment variable, or the value of XmFALLBACK_CHARSET if LANG is not set or has no codeset component. The value of XmFALLBACK_CHARSET is
defined by UIL supplier, but is usually ISO8859-1 (equivalent to ISO_LATIN1). Use of this clause turns off all localized string literal
processing turned on by the compiler flag -s or the Uil_command_type data structure element use_setlocale_flag. Indicates whether the wid-
get or gadget form of the control specified by widget_name is used by default. By default the widget form is used, so the gadget keyword is
usually the only one used. The specified control should be one that has both a widget and gadget version: XmCascadeButton, XmLabel,
XmPushButton, XmSeparator, and XmToggleButton. The form of more than one control can be specified by delimiting them with semicolons. The
gadget or widget form of an instance of a control can be specified with the GADGET and WIDGET keywords in a particular object declaration.
Provides a way to name a value expression or literal. The value name can then be referred to by declarations that occur elsewhere in the
UIL module in any context where a value can be used. Values can be forward referenced. Value sections are described in more detail later in
the reference page. Defines the callback routines used by a widget and the creation routines for user-defined widgets. These definitions
are used for error checking. Procedure sections are described in more detail later in the reference page. Provides a way to group
together a set of arguments, controls (children), callbacks, or procedures for later use in the UIL module. Lists can contain other lists,
so that you can set up a hierarchy to clearly show which arguments, controls, callbacks, and procedures are common to which widgets. List
sections are described in more detail later in the reference page. Defines the objects that make up the user interface of the application.
You can reference the object names in declarations that occur elsewhere in the UIL module in any context where an object name can be used
(for example, in a controls list, as a symbolic reference to a widget ID, or as the tag_value argument for a callback procedure). Objects
can be forward referenced. Object sections are described in more detail later in the reference page. Defines a run-time binding of data to
names that appear in the UIL module. Identifier sections are described in more detail later in the reference page.
The UIL file can also contain comments and include directives, which are described along with the main elements of the UIL file format in
the following sections.
Comments
Comments can take one of two forms, as follows: The comment is introduced with the sequence /* followed by the text of the comment and ter-
minated with the sequence */. This form of comment can span multiple source lines. The comment is introduced with an ! (exclamation
point), followed by the text of the comment and terminated by the end of the source line.
Neither form of comment can be nested.
Value Sections
A value section consists of the keyword VALUE followed by a sequence of value declarations. It has the following syntax:
VALUE value_name :
[EXPORTED | PRIVATE] value_expression |
IMPORTED value_type;
Where value_expression is assigned to value_name or a value_type is assigned to an imported value name. A value declaration provides a way
to name a value expression or literal. The value name can be referred to by declarations that occur later in the UIL module in any context
where a value can be used. Values can be forward referenced. A value that you define as exported is stored in the UID file as a named
resource, and therefore can be referenced by name in other UID files. When you define a value as exported, MRM looks outside the module in
which the exported value is declared to get its value at run time. A private value is a value that is not imported or exported. A value
that you define as private is not stored as a distinct resource in the UID file. You can reference a private value only in the UIL module
containing the value declaration. The value or object is directly incorporated into anything in the UIL module that references the declara-
tion. A value that you define as imported is one that is defined as a named resource in a UID file. MRM resolves this declaration with
the corresponding exported declaration at application run time.
By default, values and objects are private. The following is a list of the supported value types in UIL. ANY ARGUMENT BOOLEAN COLOR
COLOR_TABLE COMPOUND_STRING FLOAT FONT FONT_TABLE FONTSET ICON INTEGER INTEGER_TABLE KEYSYM REASON SINGLE_FLOAT STRING STRING_TABLE TRANS-
LATION_TABLE WIDE_CHARACTER WIDGET
Procedure sections
A procedure section consists of the keyword PROCEDURE followed by a sequence of procedure declarations. It has the following syntax:
PROCEDURE
procedure_name [([value_type])];
Use a procedure declaration to declare: A routine that can be used as a callback routine for a widget The creation function for a user-
defined widget
You can reference a procedure name in declarations that occur later in the UIL module in any context where a procedure can be used. Proce-
dures can be forward referenced. You cannot use a name you used in another context as a procedure name.
In a procedure declaration, you have the option of specifying that a parameter will be passed to the corresponding callback routine at run
time. This parameter is called the callback tag. You can specify the data type of the callback tag by putting the data type in parenthe-
ses following the procedure name. When you compile the module, the UIL compiler checks that the argument you specify in references to the
procedure is of this type. Note that the data type of the callback tag must be one of the valid UIL data types. You can use a widget as a
callback tag, as long as the widget is defined in the same widget hierarchy as the callback, that is they have a common ancestor that is in
the same UIL hierarchy.
The following list summarizes how the UIL compiler checks argument type and argument count, depending on the procedure declaration: No
argument type or argument count checking occurs. You can supply either 0 or 1 arguments in the procedure reference. Checks that the argu-
ment count is 0. Checks that the argument count is 1. Does not check the argument type. Use the ANY type to prevent type checking on
procedure tags. Checks for one argument of the specified type. Checks for one widget argument of the specified widget class.
While it is possible to use any UIL data type to specify the type of a tag in a procedure declaration, you must be able to represent that
data type in the programming language you are using. Some data types (such as integer, Boolean, and string) are common data types recog-
nized by most programming languages. Other UIL data types (such as string tables) are more complicated and may require you to set up an
appropriate corresponding data structure in the application in order to pass a tag of that type to a callback routine.
You can also use a procedure declaration to specify the creation function for a user-defined widget. In this case, you specify no formal
parameters. The procedure is invoked with the standard three arguments passed to all widget creation functions. (See the Motif Toolkit
documentation for more information about widget creation functions.)
List sections
A list section consists of the keyword LIST followed by a sequence of list declarations. It has the following syntax:
LIST
list_name: {list_item; [...]}
[...]
You can also use list sections to group together a set of arguments, controls (children), callbacks, or procedures for later use in the UIL
module. Lists can contain other lists, so that you can set up a hierarchy to clearly show which arguments, controls, callbacks, and proce-
dures are common to which widgets. You cannot mix the different types of lists; a list of a particular type cannot contain entries of a
different list type or reference the name of a different list type. A list name is always private to the UIL module in which you declare
the list and cannot be stored as a named resource in a UID file.
The additional list types are described in the following sections.
Arguments List Structure
An arguments list defines which arguments are to be specified in the arguments-list parameter when the creation routine for a particular
object is called at run time. An arguments list also specifies the values for those arguments. Argument lists have the following syntax:
LIST
list_name: ARGUMENTS {
argument_name = value_expression;
[...] }
[...]
The argument name must be either a built-in argument name or a user-defined argument name that is specified with the ARGUMENT function.
If you use a built-in argument name as an arguments list entry in an object definition, the UIL compiler checks the argument name to be
sure that it is supported by the type of object that you are defining. If the same argument name appears more than once in a given argu-
ments list, the last entry that uses that argument name supersedes all previous entries with that name, and the compiler issues a message.
Some arguments, such as XmNitems and XmNitemCount, are coupled by the UIL compiler. When you specify one of the arguments, the compiler
also sets the other. The coupled argument is not available to you.
The Motif Toolkit and the X Toolkit (intrinsics) support constraint arguments. A constraint argument is one that is passed to children of
an object, beyond those arguments normally available. For example, the Form widget grants a set of constraint arguments to its children.
These arguments control the position of the children within the Form.
Unlike the arguments used to define the attributes of a particular widget, constraint arguments are used exclusively to define additional
attributes of the children of a particular widget. These attributes affect the behavior of the children within their parent. To supply con-
straint arguments to the children, you include the arguments in the arguments list for the child.
See Appendix B in the OSF/Motif Programmer's Reference for information about which arguments are supported by which widgets. See Appendix
C, also in the OSF/Motif Programmer's Reference for information about what the valid value type is for each built-in argument.
Callbacks List Structure
Use a callbacks list to define which callback reasons are to be processed by a particular widget at run time. Callback lists have the fol-
lowing syntax:
LIST
list_name : CALLBACKS {
reason_name = PROCEDURE procedure_name
[ ([value_expression]) ]; |
reason_name = procedure_list;
[...]}
[...]
For Motif Toolkit widgets, the reason name must be a built-in reason name. For a user-defined widget, you can use a reason name that you
previously specified using the REASON function. If you use a built-in reason in an object definition, the UIL compiler ensures that reason
is supported by the type of object you are defining. Appendix B shows which reasons each object supports.
If the same reason appears more than once in a callbacks list, the last entry referring to that name supersedes all previous entries using
the same reason, and the UIL compiler issues a diagnostic message.
If you specify a named value for the procedure argument (callback tag), the data type of the value must match the type specified for the
callback tag in the corresponding procedure declaration. When specifying a widget name as a procedure value expression you must also spec-
ify the type of the widget and a space before the name of the widget.
Because the UIL compiler produces a UID file rather than an object module (.o), the binding of the UIL name to the address of the entry
point to the procedure is not done by the loader, but is established at run time with the MRM function MrmRegisterNames. You call this
function before fetching any objects, giving it both the UIL names and the procedure addresses of each callback. The name you register
with MRM in the application program must match the name you specified for the procedure in the UIL module.
Each callback procedure receives three arguments. The first two arguments have the same form for each callback. The form of the third
argument varies from object to object.
The first argument is the address of the data structure maintained by the Motif Toolkit for this object instance. This address is called
the widget ID for this object.
The second argument is the address of the value you specified in the callbacks list for this procedure. If you do not specify an argument,
the address is NULL.
The third argument is the reason name you specified in the callbacks list.
Controls List Structure
A controls list defines which objects are children of, or controlled by, a particular object. Each entry in a controls list has the follow-
ing syntax:
LIST
list_name : CONTROLS {
[child_name] [MANAGED | UNMANAGED] object_definition;
[...]}
[...]
If you specify the keyword MANAGED at run time, the object is created and managed; if you specify UNMANAGED at run time, the object is only
created. Objects are managed by default.
You can use child_name to specify resources for the automatically created children of a particular control. Names for automatically cre-
ated children are formed by appending Xm_ to the name of the child widget. This name is specified in the documentation for the parent wid-
get.
Unlike the arguments list and the callbacks list, a controls list entry that is identical to a previous entry does not supersede the previ-
ous entry. At run time, each controls list entry causes a child to be created when the parent is created. If the same object definition
is used for multiple children, multiple instances of the child are created at run time. See Appendix B in the Programmer's Reference for a
list of which widget types can be controlled by which other widget types.
Procedures List Structure
You can specify multiple procedures for a callback reason in UIL by defining a procedures list. Just as with other list types, procedures
lists can be defined in-line or in a list section and referenced by name.
If you define a reason more than once (for example, when the reason is defined both in a referenced procedures list and in the callbacks
list for the object), previous definitions are overridden by the latest definition. The syntax for a procedures list is as follows:
LIST
list_name : PROCEDURES {
procedure_name [([value_expression])];
[...]}
[...]
When specifying a widget name as a procedure value expression you must also specify the type of the widget and a space before the name of
the widget.
Object Sections
An object section consists of the keyword OBJECT followed by a sequence of object declarations. It has the following syntax:
OBJECT object_name :
[EXPORTED | PRIVATE | IMPORTED] object_type
[PROCEDURE creation_function]
[object_name[WIDGET | GADGET] |
{list_definitions}]
Use an object declaration to define the objects that are to be stored in the UID file. You can reference the object name in declarations
that occur elsewhere in the UIL module in any context where an object name can be used (for example, in a controls list, as a symbolic ref-
erence to a widget ID, or as the tag_value argument for a callback procedure). Objects can be forward referenced; that is, you can declare
an object name after you reference it. All references to an object name must be consistent with the type of the object, as specified in
the object declaration. You can specify an object as exported, imported, or private.
The object definition can contain a sequence of lists that define the arguments, hierarchy, and callbacks for the widget. You can specify
only one list of each type for an object. When you declare a user-defined widget, you must include a reference to the widget creation func-
tion for the user-defined widget.
Use the GADGET or WIDGET keyword to specify the object type or to override the default variant for this object type. You can use the Motif
Toolkit name of an object type that has a gadget variant (for example, XmLabelGadget) as an attribute of an object declaration. The
object_type can be any object type, including gadgets. You need to specify the GADGET or WIDGET keyword only in the declaration of an
object, not when you reference the object. You cannot specify the GADGET or WIDGET keyword for a user-defined object; user-defined objects
are always widgets.
Identifier sections
The identifier section allows you to define an identifier, a mechanism that achieves run-time binding of data to names that appear in a UIL
module. The identifier section consists of the reserved keyword IDENTIFIER, followed by a list of names, each name followed by a semi-
colon.
IDENTIFIER identifier_name; [...;]
You can later use these names in the UIL module as either the value of an argument to a widget or the tag value to a callback procedure. At
run time, you use the MRM functions MrmRegisterNames and MrmRegisterNamesInHierarchy to bind the identifier name with the data (or, in the
case of callbacks, with the address of the data) associated with the identifier.
Each UIL module has a single name space; therefore, you cannot use a name you used for a value, object, or procedure as an identifier name
in the same module.
The UIL compiler does not do any type checking on the use of identifiers in a UIL module. Unlike a UIL value, an identifier does not have
a UIL type associated with it. Regardless of what particular type a widget argument or callback procedure tag is defined to be, you can
use an identifier in that context instead of a value of the corresponding type.
To reference these identifier names in a UIL module, you use the name of the identifier wherever you want its value to be used.
Include directives
The include directive incorporates the contents of a specified file into a UIL module. This mechanism allows several UIL modules to share
common definitions. The syntax for the include directive is as follows:
INCLUDE FILE file_name;
The UIL compiler replaces the include directive with the contents of the include file and processes it as if these contents had appeared in
the current UIL source file.
You can nest include files; that is, an include file can contain include directives. The UIL compiler can process up to 100 references
(including the file containing the UIL module). Therefore, you can include up to 99 files in a single UIL module, including nested files.
Each time a file is opened counts as a reference, so including the same file twice counts as two references.
The character expression is a file specification that identifies the file to be included. The rules for finding the specified file are
similar to the rules for finding header, or files using the include directive, #include, with a quoted string in C. The uil uses the -I
option for specifying a search directory for include files. If you do not supply a directory, the UIL compiler searches for the include
file in the directory of the main source file. If the compiler does not find the include file there, the compiler looks in the same direc-
tory as the source file. If you supply a directory, the UIL compiler searches only that directory for the file.
LANGUAGE SYNTAX
Names and Strings
Names can consist of any of the characters A to Z, a to z, 0 to 9, $ (dollar sign), and _ (underscore). Names cannot begin with a digit (0
to 9). The maximum length of a name is 31 characters.
UIL gives you a choice of either case-sensitive or case-insensitive names through a clause in the MODULE header. For example, if names are
case sensitive, the names "sample" and "Sample" are distinct from each other. If names are case insensitive, these names are treated as
the same name and can be used interchangeably. By default, UIL assumes names are case sensitive.
In CASE-INSENSITIVE mode, the compiler outputs all names in the UID file in uppercase form. In CASE-SENSITIVE mode, names appear in the UIL
file exactly as they appear in the source.
The following table list the reserved keywords, which are not available for defining programmer defined names.
-----------------------------------------------
Reserved Keywords
-----------------------------------------------
ARGUMENTS CALLBACKS CONTROLS END
EXPORTED FALSE GADGET IDENTIFIER
INCLUDE LIST MODULE OFF
ON OBJECT PRIVATE PROCEDURE
PROCEDURES TRUE VALUE WIDGET
-----------------------------------------------
The following table list the UIL unreserved keywords. These keywords can be used as programmer defined names, however, if you use any key-
word as a name, you cannot use the UIL-supplied usage of that keyword. Built-in argument names (for example: XmNx, XmNheight) Built-in
reason names (for example: XmNactivateCallback, XmNhelpCallback) Character set names (for example: ISO_LATIN1, ISO_HEBREW_LR) Constant
value names (for example: XmMENU_OPTION, XmBROWSE_SELECT) Object types (for example: XmPushButton, XmBulletinBoard)
------------------------------------------------------------
Unreserved Keywords
------------------------------------------------------------
ANY ARGUMENT ASCIZ_STRING_TABLE
ASCIZ_TABLE BACKGROUND BOOLEAN
CASE_INSENSITIVE CASE_SENSITIVE CHARACTER_SET
COLOR COLOR_TABLE COMPOUND_STRING
COMPOUND_STRING_TABLE FILE FLOAT
FONT FONT_TABLE FONTSET
FOREGROUND ICON IMPORTED
INTEGER INTEGER_TABLE KEYSYM
MANAGED NAMES OBJECTS
REASON RGB RIGHT_TO_LEFT
SINGLE_FLOAT STRING STRING_TABLE
TRANSLATION_TABLE UNMANAGED USER_DEFINED
VERSION WIDE_CHARACTER WIDGET
XBITMAPFILE
------------------------------------------------------------
String literals can be composed of the upper- and lower-case letters, digits, and punctuation characters. Spaces, tabs, and comments are
special elements in the language. They are a means of delimiting other elements, such as two names. One or more of these elements can
appear before or after any other element in the language. However, spaces, tabs, and comments that appear in string literals are treated as
character sequences rather than delimiters.
Data Types
UIL provides literals for several of the value types it supports. Some of the value types are not supported as literals (for example,
pixmaps and string tables). You can specify values for these types by using functions described in the Functions section. UIL directly
supports the following literal types: String literal Integer literal Boolean literal Floating-point literal
UIL also includes the data type ANY, which is used to turn off compile time checking of data types.
String Literals
A string literal is a sequence of zero or more 8-bit or 16-bit characters or a combination delimited by ' (single quotation marks) or "
(double quotation marks). String literals can also contain multibyte characters delimited with double quotation marks. String literals can
be no more than 2000 characters long.
A single-quoted string literal can span multiple source lines. To continue a single-quoted string literal, terminate the continued line
with a (backslash). The literal continues with the first character on the next line.
Double-quoted string literals cannot span multiple source lines. (Because double-quoted strings can contain escape sequences and other spe-
cial characters, you cannot use the backslash character to designate continuation of the string.) To build a string value that must span
multiple source lines, use the concatenation operator described later in this section.
The syntax of a string literal is one of the following:
'[character_string]' [#char_set]"[character_string]"
Both string forms associate a character set with a string value. UIL uses the following rules to determine the character set and storage
format for string literals: A string declared as 'string' is equivalent to #cur_charset"string", where cur_charset will be the codeset por-
tion of the value of the LANG environment variable if it is set or the value of XmFALLBACK_CHARSET if LANG is not set or has no codeset
component. By default XmFALLBACK_CHARSET is ISO8859-1 (equivalent to ISO_LATIN1), but vendors may define a different default. A string
declared as "string" is equivalent to #char_set"string" if you specified char_set as the default character set for the module. If no
default character set has been specified for the module, then if the -s option is provided to the uil command or the use_setlocale_flag is
set for the callable compiler, Uil(), the string will be interpreted to be a string in the current locale. This means that the string is
parsed in the locale of the user by calling setlocale and its charset is XmFONTLIST_DEFAULT_TAG, and that if the string is converted to a
compound string, it is stored as a locale encoded text segment. Otherwise, "string" is equivalent to #cur_charset"string", where
cur_charset is interpreted as described for single quoted strings. A string of the form "string" or #char_set"string" is stored as a null-
terminated string.
The following table lists the character sets supported by the UIL compiler for string literals. Note that several UIL names map to the same
character set. In some cases, the UIL name influences how string literals are read. For example, strings identified by a UIL character
set name ending in _LR are read left-to-right. Names that end in a different number reflect different fonts (for example, ISO_LATIN1 or
ISO_LATIN6). All character sets in this table are represented by 8 bits.
-------------------------------------------------------
Supported Character Sets
UIL Name Description
-------------------------------------------------------
ISO_LATIN1 GL: ASCII, GR: Latin-1 Supplement
ISO_LATIN2 GL: ASCII, GR: Latin-2 Supplement
ISO_ARABIC GL: ASCII, GR: Latin-Arabic Supplement
ISO_LATIN6 GL: ASCII, GR: Latin-Arabic Supplement
ISO_GREEK GL: ASCII, GR: Latin-Greek Supplement
ISO_LATIN7 GL: ASCII, GR: Latin-Greek Supplement
ISO_HEBREW GL: ASCII, GR: Latin-Hebrew Supplement
ISO_LATIN8 GL: ASCII, GR: Latin-Hebrew Supplement
ISO_HEBREW_LR GL: ASCII, GR: Latin-Hebrew Supplement
ISO_LATIN8_LR GL: ASCII, GR: Latin-Hebrew Supplement
JIS_KATAKANA GL: JIS Roman, GR: JIS Katakana
-------------------------------------------------------
Following are the parsing rules for each of the character sets: Character codes in the range 00...1F, 7F, and 80...9F are control charac-
ters including both bytes of 16-bit characters. The compiler flags these as illegal characters. These sets are parsed from left to right.
The escape sequences for null-terminated strings are also supported by these character sets. These sets are parsed from right to left; for
example, the string #ISO_HEBREW"012345" generates a primitive string "543210" with character set ISO_HEBREW. A DDIS descriptor for such a
string has this segment marked as being right_to_left. The escape sequences for null-terminated strings are also supported by these charac-
ter sets, and the characters that compose the escape sequences are in left-to-right order. For example, you type
, not n. These sets
are parsed from left to right; for example, the string #ISO_HEBREW_LR"012345" generates a primitive string "012345" with character set
ISO_HEBREW. A DDIS descriptor for such a string marks this segment as being left_to_right. The escape sequences for null-terminated strings
are also supported by these character sets. This set is parsed from left to right. The escape sequences for null-terminated strings are
also supported by this character set. Note that the (backslash) may be displayed as a yen symbol.
In addition to designating parsing rules for strings, character set information remains an attribute of a compound string. If the string is
included in a string consisting of several concatenated segments, the character set information is included with that string segment. This
gives the Motif Toolkit the information it needs to decipher the compound string and choose a font to display the string.
For an application interface displayed only in English, UIL lets you ignore the distinctions between the two uses of strings. The compiler
recognizes by context when a string must be passed as a null-terminated string or as a compound string.
The UIL compiler recognizes enough about the various character sets to correctly parse string literals. The compiler also issues errors if
you use a compound string in a context that supports only null-terminated strings.
Since the character set names are keywords, you must put them in lowercase if case-sensitive names are in force. If names are case insensi-
tive, character set names can be uppercase, lowercase, or mixed case.
In addition to the built-in character sets recognized by UIL, you can define your own character sets with the CHARACTER_SET function. You
can use the CHARACTER_SET function anywhere a character set can be specified.
String literals can contain characters with the eighth (high-order) bit set. You cannot type control characters (00..1F, 7F, and 80..9F)
directly in a single-quoted string literal. However, you can represent these characters with escape sequences. The following list shows
the escape sequences for special characters: Backspace Form-feed Newline Carriage return Horizontal tab Vertical tab Single quotation mark
Double quotation mark Backslash Character whose internal representation is given by integer (in the range 0 to 255 decimal)
Note that escape sequences are processed literally in strings that are parsed in the current locale (localized strings).
The UIL compiler does not process newline characters in compound strings. The effect of a newline character in a compound string depends
only on the character set of the string, and the result is not guaranteed to be a multiline string.
Compound String Literals
A compound string consists of a string of 8-bit, 16-bit, or multibyte characters, a named character set, and a writing direction. Its UIL
data type is compound_string.
The writing direction of a compound string is implied by the character set specified for the string. You can explicitly set the writing
direction for a compound string by using the COMPOUND_STRING function.
A compound string can consist of a sequence of concatenated compound strings, null-terminated strings, or a combination of both, each of
which can have a different character set property and writing direction. Use the concatenation operator & (ampersand) to create a sequence
of compound strings.
Each string in the sequence is stored, including the character set and writing direction information.
Generally, a string literal is stored in the UID file as a compound string when the literal consists of concatenated strings having differ-
ent character sets or writing directions, or when you use the string to specify a value for an argument that requires a compound string
value. If you want to guarantee that a string literal is stored as a compound string, you must use the COMPOUND_STRING function.
Data Storage Consumption for String Literals
The way a string literal is stored in the UID file depends on how you declare and use the string. The UIL compiler automatically converts
a null-terminated string to a compound string if you use the string to specify the value of an argument that requires a compound string.
However, this conversion is costly in terms of storage consumption.
PRIVATE, EXPORTED, and IMPORTED string literals require storage for a single allocation when the literal is declared; thereafter, storage
is required for each reference to the literal. Literals declared in-line require storage for both an allocation and a reference.
The following table summarizes data storage consumption for string literals. The storage requirement for an allocation consists of a fixed
portion and a variable portion. The fixed portion of an allocation is roughly the same as the storage requirement for a reference (a few
bytes). The storage consumed by the variable portion depends on the size of the literal value (that is, the length of the string). To con-
serve storage space, avoid making string literal declarations that result in an allocation per use.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Data Storage Consumption for String Literals
Declaration Data Type Used As Storage Require-
ments Per Use
--------------------------------------------------------------------
In-line Null-terminated Null-terminated An allocation and
a reference
(within the mod-
ule)
Private Null-terminated Null-terminated A reference
(within the mod-
ule)
Exported Null-terminated Null-terminated A reference
(within the UID
hierarchy)
Imported Null-terminated Null-terminated A reference
(within the UID
hierarchy)
In-line Null-terminated Compound An allocation and
a reference
(within the mod-
ule)
Private Null-terminated Compound An allocation and
a reference
(within the mod-
ule)
Exported Null-terminated Compound A reference
(within the UID
hierarchy)
Imported Null-terminated Compound A reference
(within the UID
hierarchy)
In-line Compound Compound An allocation and
a reference
(within the mod-
ule)
Private Compound Compound A reference
(within the mod-
ule)
Exported Compound Compound A reference
(within the UID
hierarchy)
Imported Compound Compound A reference
(within the UID
hierarchy)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Integer Literals
An integer literal represents the value of a whole number. Integer literals have the form of an optional sign followed by one or more deci-
mal digits. An integer literal must not contain embedded spaces or commas.
Integer literals are stored in the UID file as long integers. Exported and imported integer literals require a single allocation when the
literal is declared; thereafter, a few bytes of storage are required for each reference to the literal. Private integer literals and those
declared in-line require allocation and reference storage per use. To conserve storage space, avoid making integer literal declarations
that result in an allocation per use.
The following table shows data storage consumption for integer literals.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Data Storage Consumption for Integer Literals
Declaration Storage Requirements Per Use
----------------------------------------------------------------
In-line An allocation and a reference (within the module)
Private An allocation and a reference (within the module)
Exported A reference (within the UID hierarchy)
Imported A reference (within the UID hierarchy)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Boolean Literal
A Boolean literal represents the value True (reserved keyword TRUE or On) or False (reserved keyword FALSE or Off). These keywords are sub-
ject to case-sensitivity rules.
In a UID file, TRUE is represented by the integer value 1 and FALSE is represented by the integer value 0.
Data storage consumption for Boolean literals is the same as that for integer literals.
Floating-Point Literal
A floating-point literal represents the value of a real (or float) number. Floating-point literals have the following form:
[+|-][integer].integer[E|e[+|-]exponent]
For maximum portability a floating-point literal can represent values in the range 1.0E-37 to 1.0E+37 with at least 6 significant digits.
On many machines this range will be wider, with more significant digits. A floating-point literal must not contain embedded spaces or com-
mas.
Floating-point literals are stored in the UID file as double-precision, floating-point numbers. The following table gives examples of valid
and invalid floating-point notation for the UIL compiler.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Floating Point Literals
Valid Floating-Point Literals Invalid Floating-Point Literals
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1.0 1e1 (no decimal point)
.1 E-1 (no decimal point or digits)
3.1415E-2 (equals .031415) 2.87 e6 (embedded blanks)
-6.29e7 (equals -62900000) 2.0e100 (out of range)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Data storage consumption for floating-point literals is the same as that for integer literals.
The ANY Data Type
The purpose of the ANY data type is to shut off the data-type checking feature of the UIL compiler. You can use the ANY data type for the
following: Specifying the type of a callback procedure tag Specifying the type of a user-defined argument
You can use the ANY data type when you need to use a type not supported by the UIL compiler or when you want the data-type restrictions
imposed by the compiler to be relaxed. For example, you might want to define a widget having an argument that can accept different types of
values, depending on run-time circumstances.
If you specify that an argument takes an ANY value, the compiler does not check the type of the value specified for that argument; there-
fore, you need to take care when specifying a value for an argument of type ANY. You could get unexpected results at run time if you pass a
value having a data type that the widget does not support for that argument.
Expressions
UIL includes compile-time value expressions. These expressions can contain references to other UIL values, but cannot be forward refer-
enced.
The following table lists the set of operators in UIL that allow you to create integer, real, and Boolean values based on other values
defined with the UIL module. In the table, a precedence of 1 is the highest.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Valid Operators
Operator Operand Types Meaning Precedence
-----------------------------------------------------------
~ Boolean NOT 1
integer One's complement
- float Negate 1
integer Negate
+ float NOP 1
integer NOP
* float,float Multiply 2
integer,integer Multiply
/ float,float Divide 2
integer,integer Divide
+ float,float Add 3
integer,integer Add
- float,float Subtract 3
integer,integer Subtract
>> integer,integer Shift right 4
<< integer,integer Shift left 4
& Boolean,Boolean AND 5
integer,integer Bitwise AND
string,string Concatenate
| Boolean,Boolean OR 6
integer,integer Bitwise OR
^ Boolean,Boolean XOR 6
integer,integer Bitwise XOR
-----------------------------------------------------------
A string can be either a single compound string or a sequence of compound strings. If the two concatenated strings have different proper-
ties (such as writing direction or character set), the result of the concatenation is a multisegment compound string.
The string resulting from the concatenation is a null-terminated string unless one or more of the following conditions exists: One of the
operands is a compound string The operands have different character set properties The operands have different writing directions
Then the resulting string is a compound string. You cannot use imported or exported values as operands of the concatenation operator.
The result of each operator has the same type as its operands. You cannot mix types in an expression without using conversion routines.
You can use parentheses to override the normal precedence of operators. In a sequence of unary operators, the operations are performed in
right-to-left order. For example, - + -A is equivalent to -(+(-A)). In a sequence of binary operators of the same precedence, the opera-
tions are performed in left-to-right order. For example, A*B/C*D is equivalent to ((A*B)/C)*D.
A value declaration gives a value a name. You cannot redefine the value of that name in a subsequent value declaration. You can use a
value containing operators and functions anywhere you can use a value in a UIL module. You cannot use imported values as operands in
expressions.
Several of the binary operators are defined for multiple data types. For example, the operator for multiplication (*) is defined for both
floating-point and integer operands.
For the UIL compiler to perform these binary operations, both operands must be of the same type. If you supply operands of different data
types, the UIL compiler automatically converts one of the operands to the type of the other according to the following conversions rules.
If the operands are an integer and a boolean, the boolean is converted to an integer. If the operands are an integer and a floating-point,
the integer is converted to an floating-point. If the operands are a floating-point and a boolean, the boolean is converted to a floating-
point.
You can also explicitly convert the data type of a value by using one of the conversion functions INTEGER, FLOAT or SINGLE_FLOAT.
Functions
UIL provides functions to generate the following types of values: Character sets Keysyms Colors Pixmaps Single-precision, floating-point
numbers Double-precision, floating-point numbers Fonts Fontsets Font tables Compound strings Compound string tables ASCIZ (null-terminated)
string tables Wide character strings Widget class names Integer tables Arguments Reasons Translation tables
Remember that all examples in the following sections assume case-insensitive mode. Keywords are shown in uppercase letters to distinguish
them from user-specified names, which are shown in lowercase letters. This use of uppercase letters is not required in case-insensitive
mode. In case-sensitive mode, keywords must be in lowercase letters. You can define your own character sets with the CHARACTER_SET func-
tion. You can use the CHARACTER_SET function anywhere a character set can be specified.
The result of the CHARACTER_SET function is a character set with the name string_expression and the properties you specify.
String_expression must be a null-terminated string. You can optionally include one or both of the following clauses to specify
properties for the resulting character set:
RIGHT_TO_LEFT = boolean_expression SIXTEEN_BIT = boolean_expression
The RIGHT_TO_LEFT clause sets the default writing direction of the string from right to left if boolean_expression is True, and
right to left otherwise.
The SIXTEEN_BIT clause allows the strings associated with this character set to be interpreted as 16-bit characters if bool-
ean_expression is True, and 8-bit characters otherwise. The KEYSYM function is used to specify a keysym for a mnemonic resource.
The string_literal must contain exactly one character. The COLOR function supports the definition of colors. Using the COLOR func-
tion, you can designate a value to specify a color and then use that value for arguments requiring a color value. The string
expression names the color you want to define; the optional keywords FOREGROUND and BACKGROUND identify how the color is to be dis-
played on a monochrome device when the color is used in the definition of a color table.
The UIL compiler does not have built-in color names. Colors are a server-dependent attribute of an object. Colors are defined on
each server and may have different red-green-blue (RGB) values on each server. The string you specify as the color argument must be
recognized by the server on which your application runs.
In a UID file, UIL represents a color as a character string. MRM calls X translation routines that convert a color string to the
device-specific pixel value. If you are running on a monochrome server, all colors translate to black or white. If you are on a
color server, the color names translate to their proper colors if the following conditions are met: The color is defined. The color
map is not yet full.
If the color map is full, even valid colors translate to black or white (foreground or background).
Interfaces do not, in general, specify colors for widgets, so that the selection of colors can be controlled by the user through the
file.
To write an application that runs on both monochrome and color devices, you need to specify which colors in a color table (defined
with the COLOR_TABLE function) map to the background and which colors map to the foreground. UIL lets you use the COLOR function to
designate this mapping in the definition of the color. The following example shows how to use the COLOR function to map the color
red to the background color on a monochrome device:
VALUE c: COLOR ( 'red',BACKGROUND );
The mapping comes into play only when the MRM is given a color and the application is to be displayed on a monochrome device. In
this case, each color is considered to be in one of the following three categories: The color is mapped to the background color on
the monochrome device. The color is mapped to the foreground color on the monochrome device. Monochrome mapping is undefined for
this color.
If the color is mapped to the foreground or background color, MRM substitutes the foreground or background color, respectively. If
you do not specify the monochrome mapping for a color, MRM passes the color string to the Motif Toolkit for mapping to the fore-
ground or background color. The three integers define the values for the red, green, and blue components of the color, in that
order. The values of these components can range from 0 to 65,535, inclusive.
In a UID file, UIL represents an RGB value as three integers. MRM calls X translation routines that convert the integers to the
device-specific pixel value. If you are running on a monochrome server, all colors translate to black or white. If you are on a
color server, RGB values translate to their proper colors if the colormap is not yet full. If the colormap is full, values translate
to black or white (foreground or background). The color expression is a previously defined color, a color defined in line with the
COLOR function, or the phrase BACKGROUND COLOR or FOREGROUND COLOR. The character can be any valid UIL character.
The COLOR_TABLE function provides a device-independent way to specify a set of colors. The COLOR_TABLE function accepts either pre-
viously defined UIL color names or in line color definitions (using the COLOR function). A color table must be private because its
contents must be known by the UIL compiler to construct an icon. The colors within a color table, however, can be imported,
exported, or private.
The single letter associated with each color is the character you use to represent that color when creating an icon. Each letter
used to represent a color must be unique within the color table. The color table name must refer to a previously defined color ta-
ble and the row is a character expression giving one row of the icon.
The ICON function describes a rectangular icon that is x pixels wide and y pixels high. The strings surrounded by single quotation
marks describe the icon. Each string represents a row in the icon; each character in the string represents a pixel.
The first row in an icon definition determines the width of the icon. All rows must have the same number of characters as the first
row. The height of the icon is dictated by the number of rows.
The first argument of the ICON function (the color table specification) is optional and identifies the colors that are available in
this icon. By using the single letter associated with each color, you can specify the color of each pixel in the icon. The icon
must be constructed of characters defined in the specified color table.
A default color table is used if you omit the argument specifying the color table. To make use of the default color table, the rows
of your icon must contain only spaces and asterisks. The default color table is defined as follows:
COLOR_TABLE( BACKGROUND COLOR = ' ', FOREGROUND COLOR = '*' )
You can define other characters to represent the background color and foreground color by replacing the space and asterisk in the
BACKGROUND COLOR and FOREGROUND COLOR clauses shown in the previous statement. You can specify icons as private, imported, or
exported. Use the MRM function MrmFetchIconLiteral to retrieve an exported icon at run time. The XBITMAPFILE function is similar
to the ICON function in that both describe a rectangular icon that is x pixels wide and y pixels high. However, XBITMAPFILE allows
you to specify an external file containing the definition of an X bitmap, whereas all ICON function definitions must be coded
directly within UIL. X bitmap files can be generated by many different X applications. UIL reads these files through the XBITMAP-
FILE function, but does not support creation of these files. The X bitmap file specified as the argument to the XBITMAPFILE function
is read at application run time by MRM.
The XBITMAPFILE function returns a value of type pixmap and can be used anywhere a pixmap data type is expected. The SINGLE_FLOAT
function lets you store floating-point literals in UIL files as single-precision, floating-point numbers. Single-precision float-
ing-point numbers can often be stored using less memory than double-precision, floating-point numbers. The real_number_literal can
be either an integer literal or a floating-point literal. A value defined using this function cannot be used in an arithmetic
expression. The FLOAT function lets you store floating-point literals in UIL files as double-precision, floating-point numbers. The
real_number_literal can be either an integer literal or a floating-point literal. You define fonts with the FONT function. Using
the FONT function, you designate a value to specify a font and then use that value for arguments that require a font value. The UIL
compiler has no built-in fonts.
Each font makes sense only in the context of a character set. The FONT function has an additional parameter to let you specify the
character set for the font. This parameter is optional; if you omit it, the default character set depends on the value of the LANG
environment variable if it is set of the value of XmFALLBACK_CHARSET if LANG is not set.
The string expression specifies the name of the font and the clause CHARACTER_SET = char_set specifies the character set for the
font. The string expression used in the FONT function cannot be a compound string. You define fontsets with the FONTSET function.
Using the FONTSET function, you designate a set of values to specify fonts and then use those values for arguments that require a
fontset. The UIL compiler has no built-in fonts.
Each font makes sense only in the context of a character set. The FONTSET function has an additional parameter to let you specify
the character set for the font. This parameter is optional; if you omit it, the default character set depends on the value of the
LANG environment variable if it is set of the value of XmFALLBACK_CHARSET if LANG is not set.
The string expression specifies the name of the font and the clause CHARACTER_SET = char_set specifies the character set for the
font. The string expression used in the FONTSET function cannot be a compound string. A font table is a sequence of pairs of fonts
and character sets. At run time when an object needs to display a string, the object scans the font table for the character set
that matches the character set of the string to be displayed. UIL provides the FONT_TABLE function to let you supply such an argu-
ment. The font expression is created with the FONT and FONTSET functions.
If you specify a single font value to specify an argument that requires a font table, the UIL compiler automatically converts a font
value to a font table. Use the COMPOUND_STRING function to set properties of a null-terminated string and to convert it into a com-
pound string. The properties you can set are the character set, writing direction, and separator.
The result of the COMPOUND_STRING function is a compound string with the string expression as its value. You can optionally include
one or more of the following clauses to specify properties for the resulting compound string:
CHARACTER_SET = character_set RIGHT_TO_LEFT = boolean_expression SEPARATE = boolean_expression
The CHARACTER_SET clause specifies the character set for the string. If you omit the CHARACTER_SET clause, the resulting string has
the same character set as string_expression.
The RIGHT_TO_LEFT clause sets the writing direction of the string from right to left if boolean_expression is True, and left to
right otherwise. Specifying this argument does not cause the value of the string expression to change. If you omit the RIGHT_TO_LEFT
argument, the resulting string has the same writing direction as string_expression.
The SEPARATE clause appends a separator to the end of the compound string if boolean_expression is True. If you omit the SEPARATE
clause, the resulting string does not have a separator.
You cannot use imported or exported values as the operands of the COMPOUND_STRING function. A compound string table is an array of
compound strings. Objects requiring a list of string values, such as the XmNitems and XmNselectedItems arguments for the list wid-
get, use string table values. The COMPOUND_STRING_TABLE function builds the values for these two arguments of the list widget. The
COMPOUND_STRING_TABLE function generates a value of type string_table. The name STRING_TABLE is a synonym for COMPOUND_STRING_TABLE.
The strings inside the string table can be simple strings, which the UIL compiler automatically converts to compound strings. An
ASCIZ string table is an array of ASCIZ (null-terminated) string values separated by commas. This function allows you to pass more
than one ASCIZ string as a callback tag value. The ASCIZ_STRING_TABLE function generates a value of type asciz_table. The name
ASCIZ_TABLE is a synonym for ASCIZ_STRING_TABLE. Use the WIDE_CHARACTER function to generate a wide character string from null-ter-
minated string in the current locale. Use the CLASS_REC_NAME function to generate a widget class name. For a widget class defined
by the toolkit, the string argument is the name of the class. For a user-defined widget, the string argument is the name of the cre-
ation routine for the widget. An integer table is an array of integer values separated by commas. This function allows you to pass
more than one integer per callback tag value. The INTEGER_TABLE function generates a value of type integer_table. The ARGUMENT
function defines the arguments to a user-defined widget. Each of the objects that can be described by UIL permits a set of argu-
ments, listed in Appendix B. For example, XmNheight is an argument to most objects and has integer data type. To specify height
for a user-defined widget, you can use the built-in argument name XmNheight, and specify an integer value when you declare the user-
defined widget. You do not use the ARGUMENT function to specify arguments that are built into the UIL compiler.
The string_expression name is the name the UIL compiler uses for the argument in the UID file. the argument_type is the type of
value that can be associated with the argument. If you omit the second argument, the default type is ANY and no value type checking
occurs. Use one of the following keywords to specify the argument type: ANY ASCIZ_TABLE BOOLEAN COLOR COLOR_TABLE COMPOUND_STRING
FLOAT FONT FONT_TABLE FONTSET ICON INTEGER INTEGER_TABLE REASON SINGLE_FLOAT STRING STRING_TABLE TRANSLATION_TABLE WIDE_CHARACTER
WIDGET
You can use the ARGUMENT function to allow the UIL compiler to recognize extensions to the Motif Toolkit. For example, an existing
widget may accept a new argument. Using the ARGUMENT function, you can make this new argument available to the UIL compiler before
the updated version of the compiler is released. The REASON function is useful for defining new reasons for user-defined widgets.
Each of the objects in the Motif Toolkit defines a set of conditions under which it calls a user-defined function. These conditions
are known as callback reasons. The user-defined functions are termed callback procedures. In a UIL module, you use a callbacks list
to specify which user-defined functions are to be called for which reasons.
Appendix B lists the callback reasons supported by the Motif Toolkit objects.
When you declare a user-defined widget, you can define callback reasons for that widget using the REASON function. The string
expression specifies the argument name stored in the UID file for the reason. This reason name is supplied to the widget creation
routine at run time. Each of the Motif Toolkit widgets has a translation table that maps X events (for example, mouse button 1
being pressed) to a sequence of actions. Through widget arguments, such as the common translations argument, you can specify an
alternate set of events or actions for a particular widget. The TRANSLATION_TABLE function creates a translation table that can be
used as the value of a argument that is of the data type translation_table.
You can use one of the following translation table directives with the TRANSLATION_TABLE function: #override, #augment, or #replace.
The default is #replace. If you specify one of these directives, it must be the first entry in the translation table.
The #override directive causes any duplicate translations to be ignored. For example, if a translation for <Btn1Down> is already
defined in the current translations for a PushButton, the translation defined by new_translations overrides the current definition.
If the #augment directive is specified, the current definition takes precedence. The #replace directive replaces all current trans-
lations with those specified in the XmNtranslations resource.
SEE ALSO
uil(1X), Uil(3X)
UIL(5X)