NAME
selection - Manipulate the X selection
SYNOPSIS
selection option ?arg arg ...?
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DESCRIPTION
This command provides a Tcl interface to the X selection
mechanism and implements the full selection functionality
described in the X Inter-Client Communication Conventions
Manual (ICCCM).
The first argument to selection determines the format of
the rest of the arguments and the behavior of the command.
The following forms are currently supported:
selection clear ?-displayof window? ?-selection selection?
If selection exists anywhere on window's display,
clear it so that no window owns the selection any
more. Selection specifies the X selection that
should be cleared, and should be an atom name such
as PRIMARY or CLIPBOARD; see the Inter-Client Com
munication Conventions Manual for complete details.
Selection defaults to PRIMARY and window defaults
to ``.''. Returns an empty string.
selection get ?-displayof window? ?-selection selection?
?-type type?
Retrieves the value of selection from window's dis
play and returns it as a result. Selection
defaults to PRIMARY and window defaults to ``.''.
Type specifies the form in which the selection is
to be returned (the desired ``target'' for conver
sion, in ICCCM terminology), and should be an atom
name such as STRING or FILE_NAME; see the Inter-
Client Communication Conventions Manual for com
plete details. Type defaults to STRING. The
selection owner may choose to return the selection
in any of several different representation formats,
such as STRING, ATOM, INTEGER, etc. (this format is
different than the selection type; see the ICCCM
for all the confusing details). If the selection
is returned in a non-string format, such as INTEGER
or ATOM, the selection command converts it to
string format as a collection of fields separated
by spaces: atoms are converted to their textual
names, and anything else is converted to hexadeci
mal integers.
?-format format? window command
Creates a handler for selection requests, such that
command will be executed whenever selection is
owned by window and someone attempts to retrieve it
in the form given by type (e.g. type is specified
in the selection get command). Selection defaults
to PRIMARY, type defaults to STRING, and format
defaults to STRING. If command is an empty string
then any existing handler for window, type, and
selection is removed.
When selection is requested, window is the selec
tion owner, and type is the requested type, command
will be executed as a Tcl command with two addi
tional numbers appended to it (with space separa
tors). The two additional numbers are offset and |
maxChars: offset specifies a starting character |
position in the selection and maxChars gives the |
maximum number of characters to retrieve. The com |
mand should return a value consisting of at most |
maxChars of the selection, starting at position |
offset. For very large selections (larger than |
maxChars) the selection will be retrieved using |
several invocations of command with increasing off |
set values. If command returns a string whose |
length is less than maxChars, the return value is |
assumed to include all of the remainder of the |
selection; if the length of command's result is |
equal to maxChars then command will be invoked |
again, until it eventually returns a result shorter |
than maxChars. The value of maxChars will always |
be relatively large (thousands of characters).
If command returns an error then the selection
retrieval is rejected just as if the selection
didn't exist at all.
The format argument specifies the representation
that should be used to transmit the selection to
the requester (the second column of Table 2 of the
ICCCM), and defaults to STRING. If format is
STRING, the selection is transmitted as 8-bit ASCII
characters (i.e. just in the form returned by com
mand). If format is ATOM, then the return value
from command is divided into fields separated by
white space; each field is converted to its atom
value, and the 32-bit atom value is transmitted
instead of the atom name. For any other format,
the return value from command is divided into
fields separated by white space and each field is
converted to a 32-bit integer; an array of inte
gers is transmitted to the selection requester.
ity with selection requesters that don't use Tk.
If Tk is being used to retrieve the selection then
the value is converted back to a string at the
requesting end, so format is irrelevant.
selection own ?-displayof window? ?-selection selection?
selection own ?-command command? ?-selection selection?
window
The first form of selection own returns the path
name of the window in this application that owns
selection on the display containing window, or an
empty string if no window in this application owns
the selection. Selection defaults to PRIMARY and
window defaults to ``.''.
The second form of selection own causes window to become
the new owner of selection on window's display, returning
an empty string as result. The existing owner, if any, is
notified that it has lost the selection. If command is
specified, it is a Tcl script to execute when some other
window claims ownership of the selection away from window.
Selection defaults to PRIMARY.
KEYWORDS
clear, format, handler, ICCCM, own, selection, target,
type
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