formsvbt/src/FormsVBT.i3


 Copyright 1989 Digital Equipment Corporation.               
 Distributed only by permission.                             
 Last modified on Sun Mar 17 09:29:21 PST 1996 by mhb        
      modified on Wed Aug 17 15:55:06 PDT 1994 by bharat     
      modified on Wed Jun  9 20:44:43 PDT 1993 by meehan     
      modified on Tue Oct 22 10:36:46 PDT 1991 by steveg     
      modified on Mon Jan 15 16:48:10 PST 1990 by brooks     
      modified on Sun May 21 17:17:10 PDT 1989 by gidi       
<* PRAGMA LL *>
<* PRAGMA SUBTYPE *>
FormsVBT is a system for building graphical user interfaces. FormsVBT provides a special-purpose language for describing user interfaces, an interface-builder that allows editing of such descriptions, and a runtime library for applications to make use of the user interfaces.

The locking level for any procedure in this interface that may alter an installed VBT is LL.sup = VBT.mu. (See the {\it Trestle Reference Manual\/} for a complete description of locking levels~\cite{TrestleTutorial}.) Most applications don't need to worry about VBT.mu because their event-handlers don't fork any threads that call FormsVBT.

INTERFACE FormsVBT;

IMPORT AnyEvent, Color, Filter, Rd, Rsrc, Sx, Thread, VBT,
       Wr, ZSplit;

EXCEPTION
  Error (TEXT);
  Unimplemented;
  Mismatch;
\section{Creation, allocation, and initialization}

An object fv of type FormsVBT.T (or simply, a {\it form}) is created by parsing an S-expression. These expressions are usually stored in files with the suffix .fv. One way of creating a form is to call the procedure NewFromFile, or the method fv.initFromFile, with the name of such a file; the expression is parsed, and if there are no errors, a new VBT is created and stored in the form, which is returned.

It is also possible for a program to generate a description ``on the fly'' and then use it to create a form. The methods fv.init, fv.initFromRd, and fv.initFromSx support these options. Forms can also be stored in resources (fv.initFromRsrc) and in URLs (fv.initFromURL).

TYPE
  T <: Public;
  <* SUBTYPE T <: MultiFilter.T *> (* ... *)
  Public = Filter.T OBJECT
           METHODS
             <* LL.sup <= VBT.mu *>
             init (description : TEXT;
                   raw         : BOOLEAN   := FALSE;
                   path        : Rsrc.Path := NIL    ): T
                   RAISES {Error};

             initFromFile (filename : TEXT;
                           raw      : BOOLEAN   := FALSE;
                           path     : Rsrc.Path := NIL    ): T
                 RAISES {Error, Rd.Failure, Thread.Alerted};

             initFromRd (rd   : Rd.T;
                         raw  : BOOLEAN   := FALSE;
                         path : Rsrc.Path := NIL    ): T
                 RAISES {Error, Rd.Failure, Thread.Alerted};

             initFromSx (sx   : Sx.T;
                         raw  : BOOLEAN   := FALSE;
                         path : Rsrc.Path := NIL    ): T
                 RAISES {Error};

             initFromRsrc (name : TEXT;
                           path : Rsrc.Path;
                           raw  : BOOLEAN    := FALSE): T
                 RAISES {Error, Rd.Failure,
                         Rsrc.NotFound, Thread.Alerted};

             initFromURL(baseURL : TEXT;
                         raw     : BOOLEAN := FALSE): T
                 RAISES {Error, Rd.Failure, Thread.Alerted};

             realize (type, name: TEXT): VBT.T RAISES {Error};

             <* LL.sup = VBT.mu *>
             snapshot (wr: Wr.T) RAISES {Error};
             restore  (rd: Rd.T) RAISES {Mismatch, Error};

           END;
The call fv.init(description, raw, path) initializes fv as a form and returns fv. It creates a VBT, {\it v}, from description, which must contain a single, valid S-expression. The methods initFromFile, initFromRd, initFromSx, initFromRsrc, and initFromURL provide analogous support for files, readers, S-expressions, and named resources.

The raw parameter is used to control that actual internal structure fv. Regardless of the value of raw, fv is a multi-filter and MultiFilter.Child(fv) will always return {\it v}. Internally, fv is a filter; if raw is TRUE, then the filter's child is {\it v}. Otherwise, fv is ``cooked'', which means there are several filters inserted between {\it v} and fv, so that the filter's child has the following structure:

      (ZSplit
        (Filter
          (HighlightVBT
            (Filter {\it v}))))
The filter above {\it v} supports the common case of making an entire form passive without requiring an explicit Filter interactor in the description. It also functions to restore the keyboard focus to whichever of the form's descendant-VBTs had most recently acquired the keyboard focus. The ZSplit supports menus and other pop-up operations, even if there is no ZSplit explicitly mentioned in the description. To get the ZSplit that is inserted, use GetZSplit. Clients should not traverse a cooked form directly. We reserve the right to change the filters that are inserted.

The path parameter is used for looking up all resources that are mentioned in the form: the name of a Pixmap or Image; a file for Insert; the ItemFromFile property on Browser and MultiBrowser; and the From property on Text, TypeIn, and TextEdit. (The initFromURL looks up resources as URLs, relative to baseURL.)

Briefly, the description of a form is an S-expression whose first element is the name of a component (e.g., HBox), and whose other elements are either properties (e.g., Color), or other components, typically describing the VBT-children of the outer component.

The VBT-tree is created during a depth-first traversal of the S-expression. On the way down, each VBT is {\it allocated}, typically with a call to NEW(...). Then the subexpressions, if any, are traversed. On the way back up, each VBT is {\it initialized}, typically with a call to v.init(...). The result is returned to the caller, where it is typically an argument to the parent's init method.

In other words, allocation occurs top-down, and initialization occurs bottom-up. (For more details on allocation, see Section~\ref{realize}.)

For each subexpression, the parser produces a VBT whose type is defined in the FVTypes interface, and whose name corresponds to the first element of the subexpression. For example, from the S-expression (HBox ...), the parser creates an object of type FVTypes.FVHBox.

PROCEDURE NewFromFile (filename: TEXT;
                       raw                 := FALSE;
                       path    : Rsrc.Path := NIL    ): T
  RAISES {Error, Rd.Failure, Thread.Alerted};
Create a new form from the description in the file. Rd.EndOfFile is signalled as Error.

Equivalent to NEW(T).initFromFile (name, raw, path)


PROCEDURE GetZSplit (fv: T): ZSplit.T RAISES {Error};
Return the ZSplit that ``cooked'' mode inserts. An exception is raised if fv was created with raw = TRUE.

\section{Events and Symbols} \label{sec:programming-events} \subsection{Attaching event-handlers}

Most interactive components in the user interface generate events. (See the Appendix~\ref{ap:longcatalog} for a description of all components.) To register an event-handler for such a component, the component must be named, and the client must call Attach or AttachProc, giving the name of the component and a procedure to be called when an event occurs in that component.

PROCEDURE Attach (fv: T; name: TEXT; cl: Closure) RAISES {Error};
Attach an event-handler (``callback'') to the component of fv whose name is given by name. If there is no such component, or if that component does not generate events (e.g., Text), then Error will be raised. If cl is NIL, then any existing event-handler for that component is removed. Otherwise, when an event occurs in the named component, the implementation calls
         cl.apply(fv, name, {\it time})
   

TYPE
  Closure = OBJECT
            METHODS
              apply (fv: T; name: TEXT; time: VBT.TimeStamp);
            END;

PROCEDURE AttachProc (fv       : T;
                      name     : TEXT;
                      p        : Proc;
                      eventData: REFANY := NIL) RAISES {Error};
This is an alternate, somewhat simpler way to attach an event-handler. When an event occurs in the named component, the implementation calls
      p(fv, name, eventData, {\it time})
   

TYPE
  Proc = PROCEDURE (fv       : T;
                    name     : TEXT;
                    eventData: REFANY;
                    time     : VBT.TimeStamp);
These event-handlers do not provide any other details, such as what key or mouse button was pressed, or whether it was a double-click. If such information is needed, call GetTheEvent to retrieve it.

PROCEDURE AttachEditOps (fv        : T;
                         editorName: TEXT;
                         cut, copy, paste, clear,
                         selectAll, undo, redo,
                         findFirst, findNext, findPrev: TEXT := NIL)
  RAISES {Error};                <* LL.sup = VBT.mu *>
Create and attach event-handlers for common editing operations.
 editorName must be the name of a text-editing component:
   TextEdit, TypeIn, Numeric, or Typescript. If cut is not
   NIL, then it must be the name of a component (typically a
   menu-button), and AttachEditOps will create an event-handler for
   it that will invoke the {\bf Cut} operation on the text-editing
   component.  Similarly, if copy is not NIL, then it should name
   a component for which AttachEditOps will create an event-handler
   that invokes the {\bf Copy} operation on the text-editing
   component. Likewise for paste, clear, and so on. 

\subsection{Access to the current event}

PROCEDURE GetTheEvent     (fv: T): AnyEvent.T    RAISES {Error};
PROCEDURE GetTheEventTime (fv: T): VBT.TimeStamp RAISES {Error};
Retrieve the details of the event that is currently in progress. These routines may be called only during the dynamic extent of an event-handler attached to some component via Attach or AttachProc.

PROCEDURE MakeEvent (fv: T; name: TEXT; time: VBT.TimeStamp)
  RAISES {Error};
MakeEvent invokes the event-handler for the component of fv whose name is name. A component has an event-handler if attached via Attach or AttachProc, or if the component is a PopButton, PopMButton, PageButton, PageMButton, LinkButton, or LinkMButton.
 MakeEvent is useful when one part of a large program wishes to
   communicate with another part, by pretending that the named event
   occurred. For example, a client might want typing a particular
   control-character in a text-editing component to have
   the same effect as selecting a menu-item such as ``Quit.''
   MakeEvent provides a way to link the two events to the same
   handler. 

VAR MakeEventMiscCodeType: VBT.MiscCodeType; (* CONST *)
The exact type of the result of GetTheEvent depends on the user action that caused the event to be generated, a key, a mouse-click, etc. If the event was actually caused by a call to MakeEvent, the type of the result will be AnyEvent.Misc, and the value of its type field will be MakeEventMiscCodeType.
 \subsection{Symbol management} 

PROCEDURE AddSymbol (fv: T; name: TEXT) RAISES {Error};
Add a ``virtual'' component to fv with the given name. The form will behave as if there was a component called name (i.e., the call GetVBT(fv, name) will return a valid VBT).

This procedure is most useful as a means to communicate between distant parts of a large program. One part of the program would use AddSymbol to create a new symbol; another part would call MakeEvent to invoke an event-handler for the symbol.

Error is raised if name is already defined in fv.


PROCEDURE AddUniqueSymbol (fv: T): TEXT;
Just like AddSymbol, but finds a name that has not been used yet. The name is returned.
 \section{Reading and Changing State}

\label{sec:programming-state}

In response to an event or other occurrence, a program may want to read or change the state of various interactors in the form. This is handled by the various Get and Put procedures. Get procedures take the form and the name of the interactor, and return its value. Put procedures take the form, the name of the interactor, and the new value to be set.

There are several Get procedures and several Put procedures, for convenient handling of various Modula-3 types. These should be used as appropriate to the type of the interactor: GetText for a TypeIn, GetInteger for a Numeric, GetBoolean for a Boolean or Choice, etc. However, some conversions are supported: PutInteger to a TypeIn will convert the integer into text; GetInteger will likewise attempt to convert the text of the TypeIn to an integer (and return 0 in case of failure). All Get and Put procedures, however, will raise Error if applied to a component that does not have a value.

\subsection{Access to the {\tt Main} and {\tt Value} properties}

PROCEDURE GetText (fv: T; name: TEXT): TEXT
  RAISES {Error, Unimplemented};
This is implemented for Browser, FileBrowser, Numeric, Text, Typescript, and the text-interactors: TextEdit, TypeIn, and TextArea.

PROCEDURE PutText (fv: T; name: TEXT; t: TEXT; append := FALSE)
  RAISES {Error, Unimplemented};
This is implemented for Browser, FileBrowser, Pixmap, Text, Typescript, and the text-interactors: TextEdit, TypeIn, and TextArea. For Text and the text-interactors, if append is true, then t is added to the end of the current text, rather than replacing it.

PROCEDURE GetInteger (fv: T; name: TEXT): INTEGER
  RAISES {Error, Unimplemented};
PROCEDURE PutInteger (fv: T; name: TEXT; n: INTEGER)
  RAISES {Error, Unimplemented};
These are implemented for Browser, Numeric, Scroller, and TSplit. PutInteger only is implemented for Audio.
 If you use PutInteger to select the nth child of a TSplit and
   that child has a text-editing component that has the FirstFocus
   property, then the text-editor will acquire the keyboard focus, and
   if it's a TypeIn, its text will be selected in replace-mode. 

PROCEDURE GetBoolean (fv: T; name: TEXT): BOOLEAN
  RAISES {Error, Unimplemented};
PROCEDURE PutBoolean (fv: T; name: TEXT; val: BOOLEAN)
  RAISES {Error, Unimplemented};
These are implemented for Boolean and Choice.
 \subsection{Access to arbitrary properties}

FormsVBT provides access to properties other than Main and Value. The intention is to provide access to all the inherited and class properties. For example, the Scroller component has an integer-valued property named Min, so it should be possible to call

      GetIntegerProperty(fv, name, "Min")
   
to retrieve that value, or
      PutIntegerProperty(fv, name, "Min", 6)
   
to change the value to 6.

\vspace {5mm} {\bf WARNING: The current implementation provides access only to the inherited properties, and even that access is limited.} \vspace {5mm}

Note also that changing the value of a property in a component will not affect its subcomponents.

PROCEDURE GetTextProperty (fv: T; name, propertyName: TEXT): TEXT
  RAISES {Error, Unimplemented};
This is implemented for the Font and LabelFont properties for all components, as well as the Items and Select properties of Browsers, and the ActiveTarget property of Sources.

PROCEDURE PutTextProperty (fv: T; name, propertyName: TEXT; value: TEXT)
  RAISES {Error, Unimplemented};
This is implemented for the Color, BgColor, Font, and LabelFont properties for all components, as well as the Items and Select properties of Browsers.

PROCEDURE GetIntegerProperty (fv: T; name, propertyName: TEXT):
  INTEGER RAISES {Error, Unimplemented};
PROCEDURE PutIntegerProperty (fv                : T;
                              name, propertyName: TEXT;
                              value             : INTEGER)
  RAISES {Error, Unimplemented};
This is implemented for the Min and Max properties of Numerics; the Min, Max, Step, and Thumb properties of Scrollers; and the Quality, ImageWidth, ImageHeight and MSecs properties of Videos, and the NorthEdge, SouthEdge, EastEdge and WestEdge properties of all VBTs.

PROCEDURE GetRealProperty (fv: T; name, propertyName: TEXT): REAL
  RAISES {Error, Unimplemented};
PROCEDURE PutRealProperty (fv                : T;
                           name, propertyName: TEXT;
                           value             : REAL  )
  RAISES {Error, Unimplemented};
This is implemented for the HScale and VScale properties of Scales.

PROCEDURE GetColorProperty (fv: T; name, property: TEXT): Color.T
  RAISES {Error, Unimplemented};
Return the color used by the named component. property must be one of Color, BgColor, LightShadow, or DarkShadow.

PROCEDURE PutColorProperty (         fv            : T;
                                     name, property: TEXT;
                            READONLY color         : Color.T)
  RAISES {Error, Unimplemented};
Set the color used by the named component. property must be Color or BgColor.

PROCEDURE GetBooleanProperty (fv: T; name, propertyName: TEXT):
  BOOLEAN RAISES {Error, Unimplemented};
PROCEDURE PutBooleanProperty (fv                : T;
                              name, propertyName: TEXT;
                              value             : BOOLEAN)
  RAISES {Error, Unimplemented};
 (* This is implemented for the "ReadOnly" property of
   "TextEdit"s, and the shadow styles of "Frame"s.  The
   "PutBooleanProperty" is implemented for the "Synchronous",
   "Paused" and "FixedSize" properties of "Video", and for the
   "Mute" and "MuteWhenUnmapped" properties of "Audio" *)
\subsection{Access to the underlying {\tt VBT}s}

PROCEDURE GetVBT (fv: T; name: TEXT): VBT.T RAISES {Error};
Return the VBT corresponding to a named interactor in fv. Error is raised if there is no such VBT.

PROCEDURE GetName (vbt: VBT.T): TEXT RAISES {Error};
If vbt is the VBT corresponding to a named interactor in some form, returns the name given to that interactor. Otherwise, raisses Error.
 \subsection{Radios and Choices} 

PROCEDURE GetChoice (fv: T; radioName: TEXT): TEXT
  RAISES {Error, Unimplemented};
PROCEDURE PutChoice (fv: T; radioName, choiceName: TEXT)
  RAISES {Error, Unimplemented};
Get/Put the name of the selected Choice in a radio-button group. If there is no selection, GetChoice returns NIL. If choiceName is NIL, the radio-group will have no selection.

PROCEDURE MakeSelected (fv: T; choiceName: TEXT) RAISES {Error};
PROCEDURE IsSelected (fv: T; choiceName: TEXT): BOOLEAN
  RAISES {Error};
Set/test a Choice-button without referring to its group.
 \subsection{Generic interactors} 

PROCEDURE GetGeneric (fv: T; genericName: TEXT): VBT.T
  RAISES {Error};
Retrieve the VBT used by the named Generic interactor.

PROCEDURE PutGeneric (fv: T; genericName: TEXT; vbt: VBT.T)
  RAISES {Error};
Replace the named Generic interactor with vbt, which may be NIL. When NIL is specified, a default (and initial) VBT is used: a TextureVBT with 0 size and 0 stretch in each dimension.
 \subsection{Special controls for Filters}

The (Filter ...) expression in FormsVBT supports a feature called {\em reactivity}.\index{reactivity} This has one of four states: Active, Passive, Dormant, or Vanished. The state can be specified in the description and changed by the application at runtime. The default state is Active. In the Passive state, the component and its descendants, if any, are unresponsive to mouse clicks. The Dormant state is like Passive, but the component and descendants are ``grayed out.'' Dormant is often to be preferred over Passive, because it provide additional feedback to the user. In the Vanished state, the component becomes unreactive and disappears entirely.

A cursor is specified when the state is set, and the name is interpretted by the Trestle implementation. An empty string (the default value) indicates that you don't care about the cursor shape.

Standard X screentypes support the cursors named in {\it X Window System} by Scheifler et. al. \cite{XSpec} Appendix B. Therefore, for example, XC_arrow returns a cursor that behaves like the X arrow cursor on X screentypes, and like the default cursor on screentypes that have no cursor named XC_arrow.

PROCEDURE MakeActive  (fv: T; name: TEXT; cursor:= "") RAISES {Error};
PROCEDURE MakePassive (fv: T; name: TEXT; cursor:= "") RAISES {Error};
PROCEDURE MakeDormant (fv: T; name: TEXT; cursor:= "") RAISES {Error};
PROCEDURE MakeVanish  (fv: T; name: TEXT; cursor:= "") RAISES {Error};
Find the nearest ancestor of the named component that is of type FVFilter, and set its state and cursor as indicated. The exception is raised if no such ancestor can be found.

PROCEDURE IsActive   (fv: T; name: TEXT): BOOLEAN RAISES {Error};
PROCEDURE IsPassive  (fv: T; name: TEXT): BOOLEAN RAISES {Error};
PROCEDURE IsDormant  (fv: T; name: TEXT): BOOLEAN RAISES {Error};
PROCEDURE IsVanished (fv: T; name: TEXT): BOOLEAN RAISES {Error};
Find the nearest ancestor of the named component that is of type FVFilter, and test its state as indicated. The exception is raised if no such ancestor can be found.
 \subsection{Access to Subwindows} 

PROCEDURE PopUp (fv        : T;
                 name      : TEXT;
                 forcePlace: BOOLEAN         := FALSE;
                 time      : VBT.TimeStamp := 0   )
  RAISES {Error};
Pop up the named subwindow.
 Assuming that name is the name of an element of fv that
   can be popped up, pop it up.  That is, the named element must
   be a non-background child of a ZSplit, or some descendant
   thereof.  In the latter case, the ancestor that is a direct
   child of the ZSplit will be the thing popped up.  Call this
   ancestor {\it zchild}.  PopUp is equivalent to activating

      (PopButton (For {\it zchild}) ...)
If the target {\it zchild} is already open or has been opened before and has been moved by the user (to a location that is now visible), it will normally be left where the user left it. The forcePlace option will force it instead to be returned to its canonical place.

If the subwindow contains a text-editing component that has the FirstFocus property, then that component will acquire the keyboard focus, and if it's a TypeinVBT.T, its text will be selected in replace-mode.

PROCEDURE PopDown (fv: T; name: TEXT) RAISES {Error};
The inverse of PopUp: make the named element (or suitable ancestor) invisible. This is implemented using ZSplit's unmapping. (Unfortunately, this doesn't cause the keyboard focus to be lost.) The exception is raised if name is not the name of an element of fv.
 \subsection{Special controls for text-interactors} 

PROCEDURE TakeFocus (fv       : T;
                     name     : TEXT;
                     eventTime: VBT.TimeStamp;
                     select                     := FALSE)
  RAISES {Error};
Give the keyboard focus to a specified interactor. An exception is raised if the interactor is not of a suitable class to take it; however, no exception is raised if the keyboard focus cannot be taken because of a timeout, i.e., an invalid eventTime. If select is TRUE and the focus was taken, then select the entire contents of the interactor's TextPort as a primary selection in replace-mode.
 \section{Saving and restoring state} \label{sec:programming-snapshot} 

FormsVBT allows clients to save and restore the entire state of a form.

A {\em snapshot\/} is an S-expression that captures the state of components in a form. The call fv.snapshot(wr) writes a snapshot of fv to the writer wr, and the call fv.restore(rd) reads a snapshot from the reader rd and restores the components of fv to the state in the snapshot.

A snapshot produced by the default method contains only those named components that have a modifiable value. More precisely, a component is part of a snapshot if (1) it has a name and (2) the call to GetText, GetInteger, GetReal, GetBoolean, or GetChoice does not raise an exception. If you want to include a component into the snapshot that has state but does not respond to GetText, GetInteger, etc., then you need to override the defaults methods.

The snapshot method raises the Error exception if there is a problem writing the snapshot to the writer.

The restore method raises the Error exception if there is a syntax error in the S-expression or if there is any type of problem with the reader.

When restoring, the snapshot need not precisely match the set of interactors in the form. If the snapshot lacks values for some fields that the form contains, those fields will be left alone. If the snapshot has values for some fields that the form does not contain, the restore method should raise Mismatch, but only after restoring all the values that do match. If the snapshot has a value for a field that the form contains, but the types do not agree, this is a show-stopping error; the restore method should raise Error. Catching Mismatch is useful when you want to continue to tolerate snapshots from old versions of a form.

The default snapshot and restore methods write S-expressions in the following format:

         ((name1 value1)
          (name2 value2) ...)

\section{Dynamic Alteration of Forms} \label{sec:programming-dynamicforms}

FormsVBT provides facilities for modifying a form while a program is running. For example, one might want to add or delete items in a menu.

The procedure Insert parses a description of new form in the context of an existing form, and Delete removes a component and all of its descendents.

The procedure InsertVBT is used for forms within forms, where the subforms are independent from the forms containing them to avoid name clashes. You need to use DeleteVBT to delete a subform inserted this way.

Any resizing that may be appropriate after the modifications to the form is performed automatically. For the common case of modifying menus, this is not an issue because the menu is (almost certainly) not visible at the time the alteration takes place.

PROCEDURE Insert (fv         : T;
                  parent     : TEXT;
                  description: TEXT;
                  n          : CARDINAL := LAST(CARDINAL)): VBT.T
  RAISES {Error};
<* LL.sup = VBT.mu *>
Insert parses a description in the context of an existing form, that is, in fv's namespace, so that names already defined in fv are visible while the description is being parsed, and with the state (color, resource-path, etc.) that was in effect for parent.

Once the new VBT is created, it is inserted into the named component, which must be a Split, as the nth child. It is also returned.


PROCEDURE InsertFromFile (fv      : T;
                          parent  : TEXT;
                          filename: TEXT;
                          n       : CARDINAL := LAST(CARDINAL)): VBT.T
  RAISES {Error, Rd.Failure, Thread.Alerted};
  <* LL.sup = VBT.mu *>

PROCEDURE InsertFromRsrc (fv    : T;
                          parent: TEXT;
                          name  : TEXT;
                          path  : Rsrc.Path;
                          n     : CARDINAL    := LAST(CARDINAL)): VBT.T
  RAISES {Error, Rd.Failure, Rsrc.NotFound, Thread.Alerted};
<* LL.sup = VBT.mu *>
InsertFromFile and InsertFromRsrc read a description from a file or named resource, and then call Insert.

PROCEDURE Delete (fv    : T;
                  parent: TEXT;
                  n     : CARDINAL;
                  count : CARDINAL   := 1) RAISES {Error};
  <* LL.sup = VBT.mu *>
Delete the children whose indices are in the range [n .. (n + count - 1)] from the named component, which must be a Split. The names of the n components, as well as the names of all of the desendants of those components, are removed from fv's namespace.

PROCEDURE InsertVBT (fv    : T;
                     name  : TEXT;
                     child : VBT.T;
                     n     : CARDINAL := LAST (CARDINAL))
  RAISES {Error};
  <* LL.sup = VBT.mu *>
Insert child as the nth child of the named component, which must be a Split. The names of components in child are not added to fv's namespace. Thus, InsertVBT is typically used for ``forms within forms.''

PROCEDURE DeleteVBT (fv    : T;
                     name  : TEXT;
                     n : CARDINAL;
                     count    : CARDINAL := 1)
  RAISES {Error};
  <* LL.sup = VBT.mu *>
Like Delete, this procedure deletes the children whose indices are in the range [n .. (n + count - 1)] from the named component, which must be a Split. Unlinke Delete, the names of the n components, as well as the names of all of the desendants of those components, are {\it not} removed from fv's namespace. Thus, DeleteVBT is typically only used with children that were inserted using InsertVBT.

END FormsVBT.
\section{Subclasses of components} \label{realize}

As the subexpressions describing the form fv are being parsed, the VBT-components are created (allocated) by calling

      fv.realize({\it type}, {\it name})
   
where {\it type} is the name of the first element of the subexpression, and {\it name} is the Name property specified in the subexpression, or the empty string if no such property was specified. For example, if the description contains the expression
      (Menu %mainMenu ...)
   
then the FormsVBT parser will call
      fv.realize("Menu", "mainMenu")
   
to create the VBT.

By overriding the realize method of fv, the client can create subtypes for any or all of the components. For each kind of form, there is a corresponding type in the FVTypes interface. For example, the result of parsing (Menu ...) is an object that is a subtype of FVTypes.FVMenu. The realize method must allocate and return a VBT that is a subtype of the corresponding type in FVTypes.

For example, suppose you wanted the form to keep a count of the number of menus it contains, and for each menu to store its own index.

      TYPE
        MyForm = FormsVBT.T OBJECT
                   count: CARDINAL := 0
                 OVERRIDES
                   realize := Realize
                 END;
        MyMenu = FVTypes.FVMenu OBJECT
                     index: CARDINAL
                 END;
      
      PROCEDURE Realize (fv: MyForm; type, name: TEXT):
        VBT.T RAISES {FormsVBT.Error} =
        BEGIN
          IF Text.Equal (type, "Menu") THEN
            WITH m = NEW (MyMenu, index := fv.count) DO
              INC (fv.count);
              RETURN m
            END
          ELSE                     (* use the default 

|       RETURN FormsVBT.T.realize (fv, type, name)
|     END
|   END Realize;

   Note that the "realize" method does not {\it initialize} the
   "VBT" that it allocates.  Actually, it may initialize any {\it
   private} fields, such as the "index" field in this example,
   but the "VBT"'s "init" method should not be called inside the
   call to "fv.realize", since it will be called later during
   a ``bottom-up'' initialization phase.  Of course, the
   client may also override the "init" method to control what
   happens in that phase.

   A more complicated case arises with text-editing components.
   Textports are {\em contained} in three forms: "TextEdit",
   "Typescript", and "Numeric".  In a "TextEdit" components, the
   textport is in an exported field, "TextEditVBT.T.tp". If the
   "realize" method allocates a "TextPort.T", even a private subtype
   of "TextPort.T", it should not call the textport's "init" method,
   since FormsVBT will do that in the initialization phase, passing
   some of the current state information (such as background color and
   the width of the ``turn margin'') to the textport's "init" method.
   The same applies to "Typescript" components, since
   "TypescriptVBT.T" is a subtype of "TextEditVBT.T".  Similarly, the
   textport in a "Numeric" component is in an exported field,
   "NumericVBT.T.typein"; again, it may be allocated but not
   initialized in the "realize" method.

   If you wish to redefine the interpretation of keystrokes, you do so
   by overriding the "filter" method of the textports.  The following
   code illustrates how to do this.

| TYPE
|   MyForm = FormsVBT.T OBJECT
|               OVERRIDES realize := Realize END;
|
| PROCEDURE Realize (fv: MyForm; type, name: TEXT): VBT.T
|   RAISES {FormsVBT.Error} =
|   BEGIN
|     IF Text.Equal (type, "TextEdit") THEN
|       RETURN
|         NEW (FVTypes.FVTextEdit,
|              tp := NEW (TextPort.T, filter := MyFilter))
|     ELSIF Text.Equal (type, "Numeric") THEN
|       RETURN NEW (FVTypes.FVNumeric,
|                   typein := NEW (NumericVBT.Typein,
|                                  filter := MyFilter))
|     ELSIF Text.Equal (type, "Typescript") THEN
|       RETURN NEW (FVTypes.FVTypescript,
|                   tp := NEW (TypescriptVBT.Port,
|                              filter := MyFilter))
|     ELSIF Text.Equal (type, "TypeIn") THEN
|       RETURN NEW (FVTypes.FVTypein, filter := MyFilter)
|     ELSE                         (* use the default *)
|       RETURN FormsVBT.T.realize (fv, type, name)
|     END
|   END Realize;

   The "realize" method can also be used to integrate any VBT,
   including leafs and filters into a form. The components "Any",
   "AnyFilter", and "AnySplit" are defined to be "VBT.Leaf",
   "VBT.Filter", and "VBT.Split" respectively.
*)

FormsVBT's implementation is in: