Previous: Label widgets
Up: Widgets
Next: Entry widgets
Previous Page: Label widgets
Next Page: Entry widgets

Message widgets

Message widgets are similar to label widgets, since they display text, but the text may extend over several lines:

message .msg -text "When the lights turn 
     green you may proceed with caution - when the 
     lights are red you must stop - when 
     the lights turn  to red you should stop, unless 
     it is dangerous to do so, and would endanger 
     following traffic - when the lights are amber, you 
     should prepare to stop, and when the 
     red and amber lights are on, you may prepare to 
     move off.

     If the lights remain in the same state for several 
     minutes they are probably faulty, and assistance 
     should be called if possible.
     Under these circumstances you may proceed across
     the junction with extreme caution."
     pack .msg

It is allowable to insert continuation characters
, tabs (
t) and end of line characters (
n) within message text to provide better control over layout, as in:

message .msg -width 400  -text "The following actions  
     apply to traffic lights in the United Kingdom.\n
     When the lights turn \n 
     \t * green \t\t proceed with caution 
     \t * red \t\t stop if safe to do so
     \t * amber \t\t prepare to stop if safe to do so
     \t * red and amber \t prepare to  
     move off when safe. \n
     If the lights remain in the same state for several  
     minutes they are probably faulty, and assistance  
     should be called if possible. 
     Under these circumstances you may proceed across  
     the junction with extreme caution." 
     pack .msg

As with label widgets, message widgets have very largely the same set of configuration options, such as -relief sunken etc. It is useful to have explicit control over the width and height of message widgets, which would help to overcome the ragged appearance of the previous example, but this widget does not have a height option!

#Note: the value of width for this widget is 
     #      NOT given in characters.

     message .msg2 -width 200 text "This is a warning: 
     Please do not lean out of the window."
     pack .msg2