10.10. Button Boxes

Button Boxes are a convenient way to quickly layout a group of buttons. They come in both horizontal and vertical flavours. You create a new Button Box with one of the following calls, which create a horizontal or vertical box, respectively:

GtkWidget *gtk_hbutton_box_new( void );

GtkWidget *gtk_vbutton_box_new( void );

Buttons are added to a Button Box using the usual function:

    gtk_container_add (GTK_CONTAINER (button_box), child_widget);

Here's an example that illustrates all the different layout settings for Button Boxes.

#include <gtk/gtk.h>

/* Create a Button Box with the specified parameters */
GtkWidget *create_bbox( gint  horizontal,
                        char *title,
                        gint  spacing,
                        gint  child_w,
                        gint  child_h,
                        gint  layout )
{
  GtkWidget *frame;
  GtkWidget *bbox;
  GtkWidget *button;

  frame = gtk_frame_new (title);

  if (horizontal)
    bbox = gtk_hbutton_box_new ();
  else
    bbox = gtk_vbutton_box_new ();

  gtk_container_set_border_width (GTK_CONTAINER (bbox), 5);
  gtk_container_add (GTK_CONTAINER (frame), bbox);

  /* Set the appearance of the Button Box */
  gtk_button_box_set_layout (GTK_BUTTON_BOX (bbox), layout);
  gtk_box_set_spacing (GTK_BOX (bbox), spacing);
  /*gtk_button_box_set_child_size (GTK_BUTTON_BOX (bbox), child_w, child_h);*/

  button = gtk_button_new_from_stock (GTK_STOCK_OK);
  gtk_container_add (GTK_CONTAINER (bbox), button);

  button = gtk_button_new_from_stock (GTK_STOCK_CANCEL);
  gtk_container_add (GTK_CONTAINER (bbox), button);

  button = gtk_button_new_from_stock (GTK_STOCK_HELP);
  gtk_container_add (GTK_CONTAINER (bbox), button);

  return frame;
}

int main( int   argc,
          char *argv[] )
{
  static GtkWidget* window = NULL;
  GtkWidget *main_vbox;
  GtkWidget *vbox;
  GtkWidget *hbox;
  GtkWidget *frame_horz;
  GtkWidget *frame_vert;

  /* Initialize GTK */
  gtk_init (&argc, &argv);

  window = gtk_window_new (GTK_WINDOW_TOPLEVEL);
  gtk_window_set_title (GTK_WINDOW (window), "Button Boxes");

  g_signal_connect (G_OBJECT (window), "destroy",
		    G_CALLBACK (gtk_main_quit),
		    NULL);

  gtk_container_set_border_width (GTK_CONTAINER (window), 10);

  main_vbox = gtk_vbox_new (FALSE, 0);
  gtk_container_add (GTK_CONTAINER (window), main_vbox);

  frame_horz = gtk_frame_new ("Horizontal Button Boxes");
  gtk_box_pack_start (GTK_BOX (main_vbox), frame_horz, TRUE, TRUE, 10);

  vbox = gtk_vbox_new (FALSE, 0);
  gtk_container_set_border_width (GTK_CONTAINER (vbox), 10);
  gtk_container_add (GTK_CONTAINER (frame_horz), vbox);

  gtk_box_pack_start (GTK_BOX (vbox),
	   create_bbox (TRUE, "Spread (spacing 40)", 40, 85, 20, GTK_BUTTONBOX_SPREAD),
		      TRUE, TRUE, 0);

  gtk_box_pack_start (GTK_BOX (vbox),
	   create_bbox (TRUE, "Edge (spacing 30)", 30, 85, 20, GTK_BUTTONBOX_EDGE),
		      TRUE, TRUE, 5);

  gtk_box_pack_start (GTK_BOX (vbox),
           create_bbox (TRUE, "Start (spacing 20)", 20, 85, 20, GTK_BUTTONBOX_START),
		      TRUE, TRUE, 5);

  gtk_box_pack_start (GTK_BOX (vbox),
	   create_bbox (TRUE, "End (spacing 10)", 10, 85, 20, GTK_BUTTONBOX_END),
		      TRUE, TRUE, 5);

  frame_vert = gtk_frame_new ("Vertical Button Boxes");
  gtk_box_pack_start (GTK_BOX (main_vbox), frame_vert, TRUE, TRUE, 10);

  hbox = gtk_hbox_new (FALSE, 0);
  gtk_container_set_border_width (GTK_CONTAINER (hbox), 10);
  gtk_container_add (GTK_CONTAINER (frame_vert), hbox);

  gtk_box_pack_start (GTK_BOX (hbox),
           create_bbox (FALSE, "Spread (spacing 5)", 5, 85, 20, GTK_BUTTONBOX_SPREAD),
		      TRUE, TRUE, 0);

  gtk_box_pack_start (GTK_BOX (hbox),
           create_bbox (FALSE, "Edge (spacing 30)", 30, 85, 20, GTK_BUTTONBOX_EDGE),
		      TRUE, TRUE, 5);

  gtk_box_pack_start (GTK_BOX (hbox),
           create_bbox (FALSE, "Start (spacing 20)", 20, 85, 20, GTK_BUTTONBOX_START),
		      TRUE, TRUE, 5);

  gtk_box_pack_start (GTK_BOX (hbox),
           create_bbox (FALSE, "End (spacing 20)", 20, 85, 20, GTK_BUTTONBOX_END),
		      TRUE, TRUE, 5);

  gtk_widget_show_all (window);

  /* Enter the event loop */
  gtk_main ();
    
  return 0;
}