grab(n) 						       Tk Built-In Commands							   grab(n)

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NAME

       grab - Confine pointer and keyboard events to a window sub-tree

SYNOPSIS

       grab ?-global? window

       grab option ?arg arg ...?
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DESCRIPTION

       This command implements simple pointer and keyboard grabs for Tk.  Tk's grabs are different than the grabs described in the Xlib documenta-
       tion.  When a grab is set for a particular window, Tk restricts all pointer events to the grab window and its descendants  in  Tk's  window
       hierarchy.  Whenever the pointer is within the grab window's subtree, the pointer will behave exactly the same as if there had been no grab
       at all and all events will be reported in the normal fashion.  When the pointer is outside window's tree, button presses and  releases  and
       mouse  motion events are reported to window, and window entry and window exit events are ignored. The grab subtree "owns" the pointer: win-
       dows outside the grab subtree will be visible on the screen but they will be insensitive until the grab is released.  The tree  of  windows
       underneath  the grab window can include top-level windows, in which case all of those top-level windows and their descendants will continue
       to receive mouse events during the grab.

       Two forms of grabs are possible:  local and global.  A local grab affects only the grabbing application:  events will be reported to  other
       applications  as  if  the grab had never occurred.  Grabs are local by default.	A global grab locks out all applications on the screen, so
       that only the given subtree of the grabbing application will be sensitive to pointer events (mouse button presses, mouse  button  releases,
       pointer motions, window entries, and window exits).  During global grabs the window manager will not receive pointer events either.

       During  local  grabs, keyboard events (key presses and key releases) are delivered as usual:  the window manager controls which application
       receives keyboard events, and if they are sent to any window in the grabbing application then they are  redirected  to  the  focus  window.
       During  a  global grab Tk grabs the keyboard so that all keyboard events are always sent to the grabbing application.  The focus command is
       still used to determine which window in the application receives the keyboard events.  The keyboard grab  is  released  when  the  grab	is
       released.

       Grabs  apply to particular displays.  If an application has windows on multiple displays then it can establish a separate grab on each dis-
       play.  The grab on a particular display affects only the windows on that display.  It is possible for different applications  on  a  single
       display to have simultaneous local grabs, but only one application can have a global grab on a given display at once.

       The grab command can take any of the following forms:

       grab ?-global? window
	      Same as grab set, described below.

       grab current ?window?
	      If  window is specified, returns the name of the current grab window in this application for window's display, or an empty string if
	      there is no such window.	If window is omitted, the command returns a list whose elements are all of the	windows  grabbed  by  this
	      application for all displays, or an empty string if the application has no grabs.

       grab release window
	      Releases the grab on window if there is one, otherwise does nothing.  Returns an empty string.

       grab set ?-global? window
	      Sets a grab on window.  If -global is specified then the grab is global, otherwise it is local.  If a grab was already in effect for
	      this application on window's display then it is automatically released.  If there is already a grab on window and it  has  the  same
	      global/local form as the requested grab, then the command does nothing.  Returns an empty string.

       grab status window
	      Returns none if no grab is currently set on window, local if a local grab is set on window, and global if a global grab is set.

WARNING

       It  is  very easy to use global grabs to render a display completely unusable (e.g. by setting a grab on a widget which does not respond to
       events and not providing any mechanism for releasing the grab).	Take extreme care when using them!

BUGS

       It took an incredibly complex and gross implementation to produce the simple grab effect described above.  Given  the  current  implementa-
       tion, it is not safe for applications to use the Xlib grab facilities at all except through the Tk grab procedures.  If applications try to
       manipulate X's grab mechanisms directly, things will probably break.

       If a single process is managing several different Tk applications, only one of those applications can have a local grab for a given display
       at any given time.  If the applications are in different processes, this restriction does not exist.

EXAMPLE

       Set  a grab so that only one button may be clicked out of a group.  The other buttons are unresponsive to the mouse until the middle button
       is clicked.
	      pack [button .b1 -text "Click me! #1" -command {destroy .b1}]
	      pack [button .b2 -text "Click me! #2" -command {destroy .b2}]
	      pack [button .b3 -text "Click me! #3" -command {destroy .b3}]
	      grab .b2

KEYWORDS

       grab, keyboard events, pointer events, window

Tk																	   grab(n)