XmMessageBox(library call) XmMessageBox(library call)

XmMessageBox — The MessageBox widget class

#include <Xm/MessageB.h>

MessageBox is a dialog class used for creating simple message dialogs. Convenience dialogs based on MessageBox are provided for several common interaction tasks, which include giving information, asking questions, and reporting errors.

A MessageBox dialog is typically transient in nature, displayed for the duration of a single interaction. MessageBox is a subclass of BulletinBoard and depends on it for much of its general dialog behavior.

The default value for XmNinitialFocus is the value of XmNdefaultButton.

A typical MessageBox contains a message symbol, a message, and up to three standard default PushButtons: OK, Cancel, and Help. It is laid out with the symbol and message on top and the PushButtons on the bottom. The Help button is positioned to the side of the other push buttons. You can localize the default symbols and button labels for MessageBox convenience dialogs.

The user can specify resources in a resource file for the gadgets created automatically that contain the MessageBox symbol pixmap and separator. The gadget names are Symbol and Separator.

A MessageBox can also be customized by creating and managing new children that are added to the MessageBox children created automatically by the convenience dialogs. In the case of TemplateDialog, only the separator child is created by default. If the callback, string, or pixmap symbol resources are specified, the appropriate child will be created.

Additional children are laid out in the following manner:

The first MenuBar child is placed at the top of the window. The XmQTmenuSystem trait is used to check that it is the first MenuBar child.
All widgets or gadgets are placed after the OK button in the order of their creation (this order is checked using the XmQTactivatable trait).
A child that is not in the above categories is placed above the row of buttons. If a message label exists, the child is placed below the label. If a message pixmap exists, but a message label is absent, the child is placed on the same row as the pixmap. The child behaves as a work area and grows or shrinks to fill the space above the row of buttons. The layout of multiple work area children is undefined.

At initialization, MessageBox looks for the following bitmap files:

xm_error
xm_information
xm_question
xm_working
xm_warning

See XmGetPixmap(3) for a list of the paths that are searched for these files.

MessageBox uses the XmQTactivatable and XmQTmenuSystem traits.

MessageBox automatically creates the descendants shown in the following table. An application can use XtNameToWidget to gain access to the named descendant. In addition, a user or an application can use the named descendant when specifying resource values.

Named Descendant Class Identity






Cancel XmPushButtonGadget Cancel button



Help XmPushButtonGadget Help button



Message XmLabelGadget displayed message



OK XmPushButtonGadget OK button



Separator XmSeparatorGadget dividing line between message and buttons



Symbol XmLabelGadget icon symbolizing message type



MessageBox inherits behavior, resources, and traits from Core, Composite, Constraint, XmManager, and XmBulletinBoard.

The class pointer is xmMessageBoxWidgetClass.

The class name is XmMessageBox.

The following table defines a set of widget resources used by the programmer to specify data. The programmer can also set the resource values for the inherited classes to set attributes for this widget. To reference a resource by name or by class in a .Xdefaults file, remove the XmN or XmC prefix and use the remaining letters. To specify one of the defined values for a resource in a .Xdefaults file, remove the Xm prefix and use the remaining letters (in either lowercase or uppercase, but include any underscores between words). The codes in the access column indicate if the given resource can be set at creation time (C), set by using XtSetValues (S), retrieved by using XtGetValues (G), or is not applicable (N/A).

XmMessageBox Resource Set
Name Class Type Default Access





XmNcancelCallback XmCCallback XtCallbackList NULL C





XmNcancelLabelString XmCCancelLabelString XmString dynamic CSG





XmNdefaultButtonType XmCDefaultButtonType unsigned char XmDIALOG_OK_BUTTON CSG





XmNdialogType XmCDialogType unsigned char XmDIALOG_MESSAGE CSG





XmNhelpLabelString XmCHelpLabelString XmString dynamic CSG





XmNmessageAlignment XmCAlignment unsigned char XmALIGNMENT_BEGINNING CSG





XmNmessageString XmCMessageString XmString "" CSG





XmNminimizeButtons XmCMinimizeButtons Boolean False CSG





XmNokCallback XmCCallback XtCallbackList NULL C





XmNokLabelString XmCOkLabelString XmString dynamic CSG





XmNsymbolPixmap XmCPixmap Pixmap dynamic CSG





Specifies the list of callbacks that is called when the user clicks on the cancel button. The reason sent by the callback is XmCR_CANCEL.
Specifies the string label for the cancel button. The default for this resource depends on the locale. In the C locale the default is Cancel.
Now that some default localized label strings are provided through message catalogs for the children of composite widgets, the labelString resources cannot be set on the child through default resource files. Instead, the resource provided at the parent level must be used.
Specifies the default PushButton. A value of XmDIALOG_NONE means that there should be no default PushButton. The following types are valid:
XmDIALOG_CANCEL_BUTTON
XmDIALOG_OK_BUTTON
XmDIALOG_HELP_BUTTON
XmDIALOG_NONE
Specifies the type of MessageBox dialog, which determines the default message symbol. The following are the possible values for this resource:
Indicates an ErrorDialog.
Indicates an InformationDialog.
Indicates a MessageDialog. This is the default MessageBox dialog type. It does not have an associated message symbol.
Indicates a QuestionDialog.
Indicates a TemplateDialog. The TemplateDialog contains only a separator child. It does not have an associated message symbol.
Indicates a WarningDialog.
Indicates a WorkingDialog.
If this resource is changed with XtSetValues, the symbol bitmap is modified to the new XmNdialogType bitmap unless XmNsymbolPixmap is also being set in the call to XtSetValues. If the dialog type does not have an associated message symbol, then no bitmap will be displayed.
Specifies the string label for the help button. The default for this resource depends on the locale. In the C locale the default is Help.
Now that some default localized label strings are provided through message catalogs for the children of composite widgets, the labelString resources cannot be set on the child through default resource files. Instead, the resource provided at the parent level must be used.
Controls the alignment of the message Label. Possible values include the following:
XmALIGNMENT_BEGINNING (default)
XmALIGNMENT_CENTER
XmALIGNMENT_END
See the description of XmNalignment in the XmLabel reference page for an explanation of these values.
Specifies the string to be used as the message.
Sets the buttons to the width of the widest button and height of the tallest button if False. If this resource is True, button width and height are set to the preferred size of each button.
Specifies the list of callbacks that is called when the user clicks on the OK button. The reason sent by the callback is XmCR_OK.
Specifies the string label for the OK button. The default for this resource depends on the locale. In the C locale the default is OK.
Now that some default localized label strings are provided through message catalogs for the children of composite widgets, the labelString resources cannot be set on the child through default resource files. Instead, the resource provided at the parent level must be used.
Specifies the pixmap label to be used as the message symbol.

MessageBox inherits behavior and resources from the superclasses described in the following tables. For a complete description of each resource, refer to the reference page for that superclass.

XmBulletinBoard Resource Set
Name Class Type Default Access





XmNallowOverlap XmCAllowOverlap Boolean True CSG





XmNautoUnmanage XmCAutoUnmanage Boolean True CG





XmNbuttonFontList XmCButtonFontList XmFontList dynamic CSG





XmNbuttonRenderTable XmCButtonRenderTable XmRenderTable dynamic CSG





XmNcancelButton XmCWidget Widget Cancel button SG





XmNdefaultButton XmCWidget Widget dynamic SG





XmNdefaultPosition XmCDefaultPosition Boolean True CSG





XmNdialogStyle XmCDialogStyle unsigned char dynamic CSG





XmNdialogTitle XmCDialogTitle XmString NULL CSG





XmNfocusCallback XmCCallback XtCallbackList NULL C





XmNlabelFontList XmCLabelFontList XmFontList dynamic CSG





XmNlabelRenderTable XmCLabelRenderTable XmRenderTable dynamic CSG





XmNmapCallback XmCCallback XtCallbackList NULL C





XmNmarginHeight XmCMarginHeight Dimension 10 CSG





XmNmarginWidth XmCMarginWidth Dimension 10 CSG





XmNnoResize XmCNoResize Boolean False CSG





XmNresizePolicy XmCResizePolicy unsigned char XmRESIZE_ANY CSG





XmNshadowType XmCShadowType unsigned char XmSHADOW_OUT CSG





XmNtextFontList XmCTextFontList XmFontList dynamic CSG





XmNtextRenderTable XmCTextRenderTable XmRenderTable dynamic CSG





XmNtextTranslations XmCTranslations XtTranslations NULL C





XmNunmapCallback XmCCallback XtCallbackList NULL C





XmManager Resource Set
Name Class Type Default Access





XmNbottomShadowColor XmCBottomShadowColor Pixel dynamic CSG





XmNbottomShadowPixmap XmCBottomShadowPixmap Pixmap XmUNSPECIFIED_PIXMAP CSG





XmNforeground XmCForeground Pixel dynamic CSG





XmNhelpCallback XmCCallback XtCallbackList NULL C





XmNhighlightColor XmCHighlightColor Pixel dynamic CSG





XmNhighlightPixmap XmCHighlightPixmap Pixmap dynamic CSG





XmNinitialFocus XmCInitialFocus Widget dynamic CSG





XmNlayoutDirection XmCLayoutDirection XmDirection dynamic CG





XmNnavigationType XmCNavigationType XmNavigationType XmTAB_GROUP CSG





XmNpopupHandlerCallback XmCCallback XtCallbackList NULL C





XmNshadowThickness XmCShadowThickness Dimension dynamic CSG





XmNstringDirection XmCStringDirection XmStringDirection dynamic CG





XmNtopShadowColor XmCTopShadowColor Pixel dynamic CSG





XmNtopShadowPixmap XmCTopShadowPixmap Pixmap dynamic CSG





XmNtraversalOn XmCTraversalOn Boolean True CSG





XmNunitType XmCUnitType unsigned char dynamic CSG





XmNuserData XmCUserData XtPointer NULL CSG





Composite Resource Set
Name Class Type Default Access





XmNchildren XmCReadOnly WidgetList NULL G





XmNinsertPosition XmCInsertPosition XtOrderProc NULL CSG





XmNnumChildren XmCReadOnly Cardinal 0 G





Core Resource Set
Name Class Type Default Access





XmNaccelerators XmCAccelerators XtAccelerators dynamic N/A





XmNancestorSensitive XmCSensitive Boolean dynamic G





XmNbackground XmCBackground Pixel dynamic CSG





XmNbackgroundPixmap XmCPixmap Pixmap XmUNSPECIFIED_PIXMAP CSG





XmNborderColor XmCBorderColor Pixel XtDefaultForeground CSG





XmNborderPixmap XmCPixmap Pixmap XmUNSPECIFIED_PIXMAP CSG





XmNborderWidth XmCBorderWidth Dimension 0 CSG





XmNcolormap XmCColormap Colormap dynamic CG





XmNdepth XmCDepth int dynamic CG





XmNdestroyCallback XmCCallback XtCallbackList NULL C





XmNheight XmCHeight Dimension dynamic CSG





XmNinitialResourcesPersistent XmCInitialResourcesPersistent Boolean True C





XmNmappedWhenManaged XmCMappedWhenManaged Boolean True CSG





XmNscreen XmCScreen Screen * dynamic CG





XmNsensitive XmCSensitive Boolean True CSG





XmNtranslations XmCTranslations XtTranslations dynamic CSG





XmNwidth XmCWidth Dimension dynamic CSG





XmNx XmCPosition Position 0 CSG





XmNy XmCPosition Position 0 CSG





A pointer to the following structure is passed to each callback:

typedef struct
{
        int reason;
        XEvent *event;
} XmAnyCallbackStruct;
Indicates why the callback was invoked
Points to the XEvent that triggered the callback

XmMessageBox includes the translations from XmManager.

The XmMessageBox widget has the following additional behavior:

<Key><osfCancel>:
Calls the activate callbacks for the cancel button if it is sensitive.
<Key><osfActivate>:
Calls the activate callbacks for the button with the keyboard focus. If no button has the keyboard focus, calls the activate callbacks for the default button if it is sensitive.
<Ok Button Activated>:
Calls the callbacks for XmNokCallback.
<Cancel Button Activated>:
Calls the callbacks for XmNcancelCallback.
<Help Button Activated>:
Calls the callbacks for XmNhelpCallback.
<FocusIn>:
Calls the callbacks for XmNfocusCallback.
<Map>:
Calls the callbacks for XmNmapCallback if the parent is a DialogShell.
<Unmap>:
Calls the callbacks for XmNunmapCallback if the parent is a DialogShell.

The bindings for virtual keys are vendor specific. For information about bindings for virtual buttons and keys, see VirtualBindings(3).

Composite(3), Constraint(3), Core(3), XmBulletinBoard(3), XmCreateErrorDialog(3), XmCreateInformationDialog(3), XmCreateMessageBox(3), XmCreateMessageDialog(3), XmCreateQuestionDialog(3), XmCreateTemplateDialog(3), XmCreateWarningDialog(3), XmCreateWorkingDialog(3), XmManager(3), XmMessageBoxGetChild(3), XmVaCreateMessageBox(3), and XmVaCreateManagedMessageBox(3).