Interface Kit

API for displaying a graphical user interface. More...

Modules
	Layout API
	Provides classes for automatically laying out UIs.

Files
file	Alert.h
	BAlert class definition and support enums.
file	Bitmap.h
	Defines the BBitmap class and global operators and functions for handling bitmaps.
file	CheckBox.h
	Defines the BCheckBox class.
file	ColorControl.h
	BColorControl class definition and support enums.
file	Control.h
	BControl class definition and support enums.
file	Font.h
	BFont class definition, unicode_block class definition, and font-related struct and enum definitions.
file	GraphicsDefs.h
	Graphics-related functions and variables used by the Interface Kit.
file	IconUtils.h
	Vector icon handling utility class.
file	InterfaceDefs.h
	Defines standard interface definitions for controls.
file	ListItem.h
	ListItem class definition.
file	ListView.h
	ListView class definition.
file	Menu.h
	BMenu class definition and support structures.
file	MenuBar.h
	BMenuBar class definition and support structures.
file	MenuField.h
	BMenuField class definition and support structures.
file	MenuItem.h
	BMenuItem class definition.
file	OptionPopUp.h
	BOptionPopUp class definition.
file	OutlineListView.h
	Provides the BOutlineListView class.
file	Picture.h
	BPicture class definition.
file	PictureButton.h
	BPictureButton class definition and support structures.
file	Point.h
	BPoint class definition.
file	Polygon.h
	BPolygon class definition.
file	PopUpMenu.h
	BPopUpMenu class definition and support structures.
file	RadioButton.h
	BRadioButton class definition.
file	Rect.h
	BRect class definition.
file	Region.h
	BRegion class definition.
file	Screen.h
	Defines the BScreen class and support structures.
file	ScrollBar.h
	BScrollBar class definition.
file	ScrollView.h
	BScrollView class definition.
file	SeparatorItem.h
	BSeparatorItem class definition.
file	Shape.h
	BShape and BShapeIterator class definitions.
file	Size.h
	BSize class definition and related enum definition.
file	StringItem.h
	BStringItem class definition.
file	StringView.h
	BStringView class definition.
file	TabView.h
	Provides the BTab and BTabView classes.
file	TextControl.h
	Provides the BTextControl class.
file	TextView.h
	Provides the BTextView class and associated structs.
file	ToolTip.h
	Provides the BToolTip class.
file	View.h
	BView class definition and support data structures.
file	Window.h
	BWindow class definition and support data structures.

Classes
class	BAlert
	The BAlert class defines a modal alert dialog which displays a short message and provides a set of labeled buttons that allow the user to respond. More...
class	BBitmap
	Access and manipulate digital images commonly known as bitmaps. More...
class	BBox
	A rectangular view with a border and an optional label to group related subviews visually. More...
class	BButton
	A control used to initiate an action. More...
class	BCheckBox
	A user interface element used to make a binary decision. More...
class	BColorControl
	BColorControl displays an on-screen color picker. More...
class	BControl
	BControl is the base class for user-event handling objects. More...
class	BDragger
	A view that allows the user drag and drop a target view. More...
class	BFont
	Represents a typeface including its family, style and size. More...
class	BIconUtils
	The BIconUtils class provide utility methods for managing and drawing vector icons. More...
class	BListItem
	A list item, a member of a BListView or BOutlineListView. More...
class	BListView
	Displays a list of items that the user can select and invoke. More...
class	BMenu
	Displays a list of menu items including additional menus arranged hierarchically. More...
class	BMenuBar
	A window's root menu. More...
class	BMenuField
	A labeled pop-up menu. More...
class	BMenuItem
	Display item for the BMenu class. More...
class	BOptionPopUp
	A BMenuField based BControl implementation. More...
class	BOutlineListView
	Expands upon BListView to display a hierarchical list of items. More...
class	BPicture
	Records a series of drawing instructions that can be "replayed" later. More...
class	BPictureButton
	A button draw with a BPicture image instead of a text label. More...
class	BPoint
	A point on a two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system. More...
class	BPolygon
	A closed, many-sided figure which defines an area in a two-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system. More...
class	BPopUpMenu
	Displays a pop-up menu. More...
class	BRadioButton
	A user interface control used to select between a set of mutually exclusive options. More...
class	BRect
	Defines a rectangular area aligned along pixel dimensions. More...
class	BRegion
	An area composed of rectangles. More...
class	BScreen
	The BScreen class provides methods to retrieve and change display settings. More...
class	BScrollBar
	User interface element used to scroll a target view vertically or horizontally. More...
class	BScrollView
	A convenience class used to add scrolling to a target view. More...
class	BSeparatorItem
	Display separator item for BMenu class. More...
class	BShape
	Encapsulates a Postscript-style "path". More...
class	BShapeIterator
	Allows you to iterate through BShape operations. More...
class	BSize
	A two-dimensional size. More...
class	BStringItem
	A list item of a text string used as a member of a BListView or BOutlineListView. More...
class	BStringView
	Draws a non-editable single-line text string, most commonly used as a label. More...
class	BTab
	A tab that goes in a BTabView. More...
class	BTabView
	A container for BTab objects to display all tabs. More...
class	BTextControl
	Displays a labeled text view control. More...
class	BTextView
	Displays and manipulates styled text. More...
class	BToolTip
	Displays help text on hover. More...
class	BView
	View base class. More...
class	BWindow
	Window base class. More...
struct	edge_info
	The distance that a character outline is inset from its escapement boundaries. More...
struct	escapement_delta
	A struct that allows you to specify extra horizontal space to surround each character with. More...
struct	font_cache_info
	Font cache parameters. More...
struct	font_height
	The amount of vertical space surrounding a character. More...
struct	menu_info
	Information about a menu such as font size and family, background color, and flags. More...
struct	pattern
	A pattern to use when drawing. More...
struct	text_run
	text run struct More...
struct	text_run_array
	text run array struct More...
struct	tuned_font_info
	Tuning information of fonts used to make it look better when displayed on-screen. More...
class	unicode_block
	Describes the blocks of Unicode characters supported by a font. More...

Enumerations
enum	alert_type {   B_EMPTY_ALERT = 0,   B_INFO_ALERT,   B_IDEA_ALERT,   B_WARNING_ALERT,   B_STOP_ALERT }
enum	alpha_function {   B_ALPHA_OVERLAY = 0,   B_ALPHA_COMPOSITE }
enum	border_style {   B_PLAIN_BORDER,   B_FANCY_BORDER,   B_NO_BORDER }
enum	button_spacing {   B_EVEN_SPACING = 0,   B_OFFSET_SPACING }
enum	color_control_layout {   B_CELLS_4x64 = 4,   B_CELLS_8x32 = 8,   B_CELLS_16x16 = 16,   B_CELLS_32x8 = 32,   B_CELLS_64x4 = 64 }
enum	font_direction {   B_FONT_LEFT_TO_RIGHT = 0,   B_FONT_RIGHT_TO_LEFT = 1 }
enum	font_file_format {   B_TRUETYPE_WINDOWS = 0,   B_POSTSCRIPT_TYPE1_WINDOWS = 1 }
enum	menu_bar_border {   B_BORDER_FRAME,   B_BORDER_CONTENTS,   B_BORDER_EACH_ITEM }
enum	menu_layout {   B_ITEMS_IN_ROW = 0,   B_ITEMS_IN_COLUMN,   B_ITEMS_IN_MATRIX }
enum	source_alpha {   B_PIXEL_ALPHA = 0,   B_CONSTANT_ALPHA }
enum	tab_position {   B_TAB_FIRST = 999,   B_TAB_FRONT,   B_TAB_ANY }
enum	undo_state {   B_UNDO_UNAVAILABLE,   B_UNDO_TYPING,   B_UNDO_CUT,   B_UNDO_PASTE,   B_UNDO_CLEAR,   B_UNDO_DROP }
enum	window_alignment {   B_BYTE_ALIGNMENT = 0,   B_PIXEL_ALIGNMENT = 1 }
enum	window_feel {   B_NORMAL_WINDOW_FEEL = 0,   B_MODAL_SUBSET_WINDOW_FEEL = 2,   B_MODAL_APP_WINDOW_FEEL = 1,   B_MODAL_ALL_WINDOW_FEEL = 3,   B_FLOATING_SUBSET_WINDOW_FEEL = 5,   B_FLOATING_APP_WINDOW_FEEL = 4,   B_FLOATING_ALL_WINDOW_FEEL = 6 }
enum	window_look {   B_BORDERED_WINDOW_LOOK = 20,   B_NO_BORDER_WINDOW_LOOK = 19,   B_TITLED_WINDOW_LOOK = 1,   B_DOCUMENT_WINDOW_LOOK = 11,   B_MODAL_WINDOW_LOOK = 3,   B_FLOATING_WINDOW_LOOK = 7 }
enum	window_type {   B_UNTYPED_WINDOW = 0,   B_TITLED_WINDOW = 1,   B_MODAL_WINDOW = 3,   B_DOCUMENT_WINDOW = 11,   B_BORDERED_WINDOW = 20,   B_FLOATING_WINDOW = 21 }

Detailed Description

API for displaying a graphical user interface.

The Interface Kit holds all the classes you'll need to develop a GUI. Building on the messaging facilities provided by the Application Kit, the Interface Kit can be used to create a responsive and attractive graphical user interface.

The most important class in the Interface Kit is the BView class, which handles drawing and user interaction. Pointer and keyboard events are processed in this class.

Another important class is the BWindow class, which holds BViews and makes them visible to the user. The BWindow class also handles BView focusing and BMessage dispatching, among other things.

A new addition Haiku has added over the BeOS API is the Layout API, which is based around the BLayoutItem and BLayout classes. These classes will take care of making sure all your GUI widgets end up where you want them, with enough space to be useful. You can start learning the Layout API by reading the introduction .

Enumeration Type Documentation

alert_type

enum alert_type

Determines which icon (if any) is displayed in the alert dialog. Choose one option. If the constructor doesn't include an alert_type argument than B_EMPTY_ALERT is used.

Since

BeOS R3

Enumerator
B_EMPTY_ALERT	No icon Since BeOS R3
B_INFO_ALERT	Info icon Since BeOS R3
B_IDEA_ALERT	Idea icon Since BeOS R3
B_WARNING_ALERT	Warning icon Since BeOS R3
B_STOP_ALERT	Stop icon Since BeOS R3

alpha_function

enum alpha_function

Blending alpha function constants.

Since

BeOS R3

Enumerator
B_ALPHA_OVERLAY	Used for drawing a image with transparency over an opaque background. Since BeOS R3
B_ALPHA_COMPOSITE	Used to composite two or more transparent images together offscreen to produce a new image drawn using B_ALPHA_OVERLAY mode. Since BeOS R3

border_style

enum border_style

Collection of flags that determine the border style drawn around a BBox.

Since

BeOS R3

Enumerator
B_PLAIN_BORDER	The right and bottom sides of the box are darker than the top and left sides to produce a shadow effect and make the box look like it is raised slightly above the surrounding surface. Since BeOS R3
B_FANCY_BORDER	The border is a bevelled to give it a 3D effect. The border is uniform in appearance on all four sides. This is the default appearance. Since BeOS R3
B_NO_BORDER	No border. Since BeOS R3

button_spacing

enum button_spacing

Determines how the buttons on the alert dialog are spaced relative to each other. Choose one option. If the constructor doesn't include a button_spacing argument than B_EVEN_SPACING is used.

Since

BeOS R3

Enumerator
B_EVEN_SPACING	If the alert dialog has more than one button than the buttons are spaced evenly across the bottom of the alert dialog. Since BeOS R3
B_OFFSET_SPACING	If the alert dialog has more than one button than the leftmost button is offset to the left-hand side of the dialog while the rest of the buttons are grouped on the right. This is useful to separate off a leftmost "Cancel" or "Delete" button. Since BeOS R3

color_control_layout

enum color_control_layout

Enumeration of the color control layout options.

Since

BeOS R3

Enumerator
B_CELLS_4x64	Cells are arranged in 4 columns, 64 rows. Since BeOS R3
B_CELLS_8x32	Cells are arranged in 8 columns, 32 rows. Since BeOS R3
B_CELLS_16x16	Cells are arranged in 16 columns, 16 rows. Since BeOS R3
B_CELLS_32x8	Cells are arranged in 32 columns, 8 rows. Since BeOS R3
B_CELLS_64x4	Cells are arranged in 64 columns, 4 rows. Since BeOS R3

font_direction

enum font_direction

Determines the direction of the text rendered by the font, left-to-right or right-to-left.

Since

BeOS R3

Enumerator
B_FONT_LEFT_TO_RIGHT	Left to right. Since BeOS R3
B_FONT_RIGHT_TO_LEFT	Right to left. Since BeOS R3

font_file_format

enum font_file_format

Font file format, TrueType™ or PostScript™ Type1.

See also

BFont::FileFormat()

Since

BeOS R4

Enumerator
B_TRUETYPE_WINDOWS	TrueType™ font file format. Since BeOS R4
B_POSTSCRIPT_TYPE1_WINDOWS	PostScript™ Type1 font file format. Since BeOS R4

menu_bar_border

enum menu_bar_border

Menu bar border style constants.

See also

BMenuBar::SetBorder()

Since

BeOS R3

Enumerator
B_BORDER_FRAME	The border is drawn around the entire menu bar. Since BeOS R3
B_BORDER_CONTENTS	The border is drawn around the list of items. Since BeOS R3
B_BORDER_EACH_ITEM	The border is drawn around each individual item. Since BeOS R3

menu_layout

enum menu_layout

Constants to define the layout of the menu items in a menu.

Since

BeOS R3

Enumerator
B_ITEMS_IN_ROW	Items are arranged in a row, one next to the other. Since BeOS R3
B_ITEMS_IN_COLUMN	Items are arranged in a column, one on top of the other. Since BeOS R3
B_ITEMS_IN_MATRIX	Items are arranged in a matrix, a free-form arrangement that you create. Since BeOS R3

source_alpha

enum source_alpha

Blending alpha mode constants.

Since

BeOS R3

Enumerator
B_PIXEL_ALPHA	Use the alpha value of each pixel when drawing a bitmap. Since BeOS R3
B_CONSTANT_ALPHA	Use the alpha channel of the view's high color. Since BeOS R3

tab_position

enum tab_position

Tab position flags

Since

BeOS R3

Enumerator
B_TAB_FIRST	First tab in the tab view. Since BeOS R3
B_TAB_FRONT	Front most tab in the tab view. Since BeOS R3
B_TAB_ANY	Any tab in the tab view. Since BeOS R3

undo_state

enum undo_state

Undo state flags.

Since

BeOS R3

Enumerator
B_UNDO_UNAVAILABLE	Since BeOS R3
B_UNDO_TYPING	Since BeOS R3
B_UNDO_CUT	Since BeOS R3
B_UNDO_PASTE	Since BeOS R3
B_UNDO_CLEAR	Since BeOS R3
B_UNDO_DROP	Since BeOS R3

window_alignment

enum window_alignment

Define window alignment.

Since

BeOS R3

Enumerator
B_BYTE_ALIGNMENT	Aligns window in terms of frame buffer offsets. Affects only horizontal origin and width, can't align right and bottom edges in this mode. Since BeOS R3
B_PIXEL_ALIGNMENT	Aligns window in pixel coordinates. Since BeOS R3

window_feel

enum window_feel

Window feel constants, define window behavior.

Since

BeOS R3

Enumerator
B_NORMAL_WINDOW_FEEL	Behaves like a normal, non-modal, non-floating window. Since BeOS R3
B_MODAL_SUBSET_WINDOW_FEEL	Blocks all windows in its subset when displayed. Visible only if a window in its subset is visible. Since BeOS R3
B_MODAL_APP_WINDOW_FEEL	Blocks all windows in its app when displayed. Visible only if a window in its app is visible. Since BeOS R3
B_MODAL_ALL_WINDOW_FEEL	Blocks all windows across the entire system when displayed. Always visible in all workspaces. Since BeOS R3
B_FLOATING_SUBSET_WINDOW_FEEL	Floats above all windows in its subset when displayed. Visible only if a window in its subset is the frontmost window. Since BeOS R3
B_FLOATING_APP_WINDOW_FEEL	Floats above all windows in its app when displayed. Visible only if a window in its app is the frontmost window. Since BeOS R3
B_FLOATING_ALL_WINDOW_FEEL	Floats above all windows across the entire system when displayed. Always visible in all workspaces. Since BeOS R3

window_look

enum window_look

Window look constants, define window appearance.

Since

BeOS R3

Enumerator
B_BORDERED_WINDOW_LOOK	No title bar, thin border, no resize control. Since BeOS R3
B_NO_BORDER_WINDOW_LOOK	A borderless rectangle with no provisions to move or close the window. Since BeOS R5
B_TITLED_WINDOW_LOOK	Like B_DOCUMENT_WINDOW_LOOK, but with a resize corner instead of a resize thumb. Since BeOS R3
B_DOCUMENT_WINDOW_LOOK	Large title bar, thick border, draggable resize corner thumb. Since BeOS R3
B_MODAL_WINDOW_LOOK	For modal dialogs: no title bar, thick border, resize corner depending on the B_NOT_RESIZABLE flag. Since BeOS R3
B_FLOATING_WINDOW_LOOK	For floating sub windows: small title bar, thin border, resize corner. Since BeOS R3

window_type

enum window_type

Combined window look and feel constants. Define both the appearance and behavior of a window.

Since

BeOS R3

Enumerator
B_UNTYPED_WINDOW	A window of unknown or undefined type. Since BeOS R3
B_TITLED_WINDOW	B_TITLED_WINDOW_LOOK and B_NORMAL_WINDOW_FEEL. Since BeOS R3
B_MODAL_WINDOW	B_MODAL_WINDOW_LOOK and B_MODAL_APP_WINDOW_FEEL. Since BeOS R3
B_DOCUMENT_WINDOW	B_DOCUMENT_WINDOW_LOOK and B_NORMAL_WINDOW_FEEL. Since BeOS R3
B_BORDERED_WINDOW	B_BORDERED_WINDOW_LOOK and B_NORMAL_WINDOW_FEEL. Since BeOS R3
B_FLOATING_WINDOW	B_FLOATING_WINDOW_LOOK and B_FLOATING_APP_WINDOW_FEEL. Since BeOS R3