Ascii Source Object and Multi Source Object
Application Header file <X11/Xaw/AsciiSrc.h> or <X11/Xaw/MultiSrc.h>
Class Header file <X11/Xaw/AsciiSrcP.h> or <X11/Xaw/MultiSrcP.h>
Class asciiSrcObjectClass or multiSrcObjectClass
Class Name AsciiSrc or MultiSrc
Superclass TextSource
The AsciiSrc or MultiSrc object is used by a text widget to read the text from a
file or string in memory. Depending on its international resource, an
AsciiText widget will create one or the other of these when the AsciiText
itself is created. Both types are nearly identical; the following discussion
applies to both, with MultiSrc differences noted only as they occur.
The AsciiSrc understands all Latin1 characters plus Tab
and Carriage Return. \fIThe MultiSrc understands any set of character sets that
the underlying X implementation's internationalization handles.\fP
The AsciiSrc can be either of two types: XawAsciiFile
or XawAsciiString.
AsciiSrc objects of type XawAsciiFile read the text from a file and
store it
into an internal buffer. This buffer may then be modified, provided the
text widget is in the correct edit mode, just as if it were a source of
type XawAsciiString. Unlike R3 and earlier versions of the AsciiSrc,
it is now possible to specify an editable disk source. The file is not
updated, however, until a call to XawAsciiSave is made. When the
source is in this mode the useStringInPlace resource is ignored.
AsciiSrc objects of type XawAsciiString have the text buffer
implemented as a string.
\fIMultiSrc objects of type XawAsciiString have the text buffer
implemented as a wide character string.\fP
The string owner is responsible for allocating and managing storage for the
string.
In the default case for AsciiSrc objects of type XawAsciiString,
the resource useStringInPlace is false,
and the widget owns the string. The initial value of the
string resource, and any update made by the application
programmer to the string resource with XtSetValues, is copied
into memory private to the widget, and managed internally by the widget.
The application writer
does not need to worry about running out of buffer space
(subject to the total memory available to the application).
The performance does not decay linearly as the buffer grows
large, as is necessarily the case when the text buffer is used
in place. The application writer must use XtGetValues to
determine the contents of the text buffer, which will return
a copy of the widget's text buffer as
it existed at the time of the XtGetValues call. This copy
is not affected by subsequent updates to the text buffer, i.e.,
it is not updated as the user types input into the text buffer.
This copy is freed upon the next call to XtGetValues to
retrieve the string resource; however, to conserve memory,
there is a convenience routine, XawAsciiSourceFreeString, allowing the
application programmer to direct the widget to free the copy.
When the resource useStringInPlace is true and the AsciiSrc object
is of type XawAsciiString, the application
is the string owner. The widget will take the value
of the string resource as its own text buffer, and the length
resource indicates the buffer size. In this case
the buffer contents change as the user types at the widget;
it is not necessary to call XtGetValues on the string
resource to determine the contents of the buffer-it will
simply return the address of the application's implementation
of the text buffer.
Resources
When creating an AsciiSrc object instance, the following resources are
retrieved from the argument list or from the resource database:
Name
Class
Type
Notes
Default Value
callback
Callback
XtCallbackList
NULL
dataCompression
DataCompression
Boolean
True
destroyCallback
Callback
Callback
NULL
editType
EditType
EditMode
XawtextRead
length
Length
Int
A
length of string
pieceSize
PieceSize
Int
BUFSIZ
string
String
String
NULL
type
Type
AsciiType
XawAsciiString
useStringInPlace
UseStringInPlace
Boolean
False
_
Convenience Routines
The AsciiSrc has a few convenience routines that allow the
application programmer quicker or easier access to some of the
commonly used functionality of the AsciiSrc.
Conserving Memory
When the AsciiSrc widget is not in useStringInPlace mode
space must be allocated whenever the file is saved, or the string is
requested with a call to XtGetValues. This memory is allocated on the
fly, and remains valid until the next time a string needs to be allocated.
You may save memory by freeing this string as soon as you are done
with it by calling XawAsciiSourceFreeString.
void XawAsciiSourceFreeString
Widget w
w
Specifies the AsciiSrc object.
This function will free the memory that contains the string pointer returned
by XtGetValues. This will normally happen automatically when
the next call to XtGetValues occurs, or when the widget is destroyed.
Saving Files
To save the changes made in the current text source into a file use
XawAsciiSave.
Boolean XawAsciiSave
Widget w
w
Specifies the AsciiSrc object.
XawAsciiSave returns True if the save was successful.
It will update the file named in the string resource.
If the buffer has not been changed, no action will be taken. This function
only works on an AsciiSrc of type XawAsciiFile.
To save the contents of the current text buffer into a named file use
XawAsciiSaveAsFile.
Boolean XawAsciiSaveAsFile
Widget w
String name
w
Specifies the AsciiSrc object.
name
The name of the file to save the current buffer into.
This function returns True if the save was successful.
XawAsciiSaveAsFile will work with a buffer of either type
XawAsciiString or type XawAsciiFile.
Seeing if the Source has Changed
To find out if the text buffer in an AsciiSrc object has changed
since the last time it was saved with XawAsciiSave or queried
use XawAsciiSourceChanged.
Boolean XawAsciiSourceChanged
Widget w
w
Specifies the AsciiSrc object.
This function will return True if the source has changed since
the last time it was saved or queried. The internal change flag is
reset whenever the string is queried via XtGetValues or the
buffer is saved via XawAsciiSave.