SFWidgets.PopupMenu service

The PopupMenu service can be used to create popup menus that can be associated with events or executed by scripts. This service provides the following capabilities:

Service invocation

Before using the PopupMenu service the ScriptForge library needs to be loaded or imported:

note

• Basic macros require to load ScriptForge library using the following statement:
GlobalScope.BasicLibraries.loadLibrary("ScriptForge")

• Python scripts require an import from scriptforge module:
from scriptforge import CreateScriptService


In Basic

The PopupMenu service can be instantiated in multiple ways. The example below creates a popup menu without associating it with a mouse or application event.


    Sub ShowPopup
        GlobalScope.BasicLibraries.loadLibrary("ScriptForge")
        Dim myPopup As Object
        Set myPopup = CreateScriptService("SFWidgets.PopupMenu", , 300, 300)
        myPopup.AddItem("Item ~A")
        myPopup.AddItem("Item ~B")
        vResponse = myPopup.Execute()
        MsgBox("Selected item ID: " & vResponse)
        myPopup.Dispose()
    End Sub
  

Running the Sub defined above will create a popup menu with two entries in the position X=300 and Y=300 on the screen.

tip

The prefix SFWidgets can be suppressed while invoking the PopupMenu service.


The following example defines a Sub that can be associated with a mouse event:


    Sub MyPopupClick(Optional poMouseEvent as Object)
        Dim myPopup As Object
        Set myPopup = CreateScriptService("PopupMenu", poMouseEvent)
        ' Populate popupmenu with items
        Dim vResponse As Variant
        vResponse = myPopup.Execute(False)
        ' Do something based on vResponse
        ' ...
        myPopup.Dispose()
    End Sub
  
tip

Use the Dispose method to free resources after executing the popup menu.


It is also possible to associate a popup menu with events triggered by LibreOffice applications, form and dialog controls. Events such as "Mouse button pressed" and "Mouse button released" are commonly associated with popup menus.


    Sub MyPopupClick(Optional poEvent as Object)
        Dim myPopup As Object
        Set myPopup = CreateScriptService("PopupMenu", poEvent)
        ' ...
    End Sub
  
In Python

The examples above can be written in Python as follows:


    from scriptforge import CreateScriptService
    
    def show_popup(args=None):
        my_popup = CreateScriptService("SFWidgets.PopupMenu", None, 300, 300)
        bas = CreateScriptService("Basic")
        my_popup.AddItem("Item ~A")
        my_popup.AddItem("Item ~B")
        response = my_popup.Execute()
        bas.MsgBox(f"Selected item ID: {response}")
        my_popup.Dispose()
  

    def my_popup_click(poEvent=None):
        my_popup = CreateScriptService("SFWidgets.PopupMenu", poEvent)
        # Populate popupmenu with items
        response = my_popup.Execute()
        # Do something based on response
        my_popup.Dispose()
  

Properties

Name

Readonly

Type

Description

ShortcutCharacter

No

String

Character used to define the access key of a menu item. The default character is ~.

SubmenuCharacter

No

String

Character or string that defines how menu items are nested. The default character is >.


Menu and Submenus

To create a popup menu with submenus, use the character defined in the SubmenuCharacter property while creating the menu entry to define where it will be placed. For instance, consider the following menu/submenu hierarchy.


    ' Item A
    ' Item B > Item B.1
    '          Item B.2
    ' ------ (line separator)
    ' Item C > Item C.1 > Item C.1.1
    '                     Item C.1.2
    ' Item C > Item C.2 > Item C.2.1
    '                     Item C.2.2
    '                     ------ (line separator)
    '                     Item C.2.3
    '                     Item C.2.4
  

The code below uses the default submenu character > to create the menu/submenu hierarchy defined above:


    myPopup.AddItem("Item A")
    myPopup.AddItem("Item B>Item B.1")
    myPopup.AddItem("Item B>Item B.2")
    myPopup.AddItem("---")
    myPopup.AddItem("Item C>Item C.1>Item C.1.1")
    myPopup.AddItem("Item C>Item C.1>Item C.1.2")
    myPopup.AddItem("Item C>Item C.2>Item C.2.1")
    myPopup.AddItem("Item C>Item C.2>Item C.2.2")
    myPopup.AddItem("Item C>Item C.2>---")
    myPopup.AddItem("Item C>Item C.2>Item C.2.3")
    myPopup.AddItem("Item C>Item C.2>Item C.2.4")
  
note

The string --- is used to define separator lines in menus or submenus.


Using icons

Items in the menu can have icons, which are specified as arguments in the AddCheckBox, AddItem and AddRadioButton methods.

All icons available in LibreOffice can be used by specifying their path relative to the folder where icon files are located in the installation folder. Icons are located in the following folder:

INSTALLDIR/share/config

tip

Use the InstallFolder property of the FileSystem service to determine where LibreOffice is installed in your system.


This folder contains a series of ZIP files containing the image files of each available icon set. The images inside these ZIP files are organized into folders. To use an icon, specify the icon file with the path to its location inside the ZIP file.

The example below uses the icon "sc_newdoc.svg" that is located inside the "cmd" folder. The forward slash "/" character is used as the path separator regardless of the operating system.

In Basic

      myMenu.AddItem("Item A", Icon := "cmd/sc_newdoc.svg")
    
In Python

      myMenu.AddItem("Item A", icon="cmd/sc_newdoc.svg")
    
note

All icon sets have the same internal structure. The actual icon displayed depends on the icon set currently in use.


Methods

List of Methods in the PopupMenu Service

AddCheckBox
AddItem

AddRadioButton

Execute


AddCheckBox

Inserts a check box in the popup menu. Returns an integer value that identifies the inserted item.

Syntax:

svc.AddCheckBox(menuitem: str, opt name: str, opt status: bool = False, opt icon: str, opt tooltip: str): int

Parameters:

menuitem: Defines the text to be displayed in the menu. This argument also defines the hierarchy of the item inside the menu by using the submenu character.

name: String value to be returned when the item is clicked. By default, the last component of the menu hierarchy is used.

status: Defines whether the item is selected when the menu is created (Default = False).

icon: Path and name of the icon to be displayed without the leading path separator. The actual icon shown depends on the icon set being used.

tooltip: Text to be displayed as tooltip.

Example:

In Basic

      myPopup.AddCheckBox("Option A", Status := True)
    
In Python

      my_popup.AddCheckBox("Option A", status=True)
    

AddItem

Inserts a menu entry in the popup menu. Returns an integer value that identifies the inserted item.

Syntax:

svc.AddItem(menuitem: str, opt name: str, opt icon: str, opt tooltip: str): int

Parameters:

menuitem: Defines the text to be displayed in the menu. This argument also defines the hierarchy of the item inside the menu by using the submenu character.

name: String value to be returned when the item is clicked. By default, the last component of the menu hierarchy is used.

icon: Path and name of the icon to be displayed without the leading path separator. The actual icon shown depends on the icon set being used.

tooltip: Text to be displayed as tooltip.

Example:

In Basic

      myPopup.AddItem("Item A", Tooltip := "A descriptive message")
    
In Python

      my_popup.AddItem("Item A", tooltip = "A descriptive message")
    

AddRadioButton

Inserts a radio button entry in the popup menu. Returns an integer value that identifies the inserted item.

Syntax:

svc.AddRadioButton(menuitem: str, opt name: str, opt status: bool = False, opt icon: str, opt tooltip: str): int

Parameters:

menuitem: Defines the text to be displayed in the menu. This argument also defines the hierarchy of the item inside the menu by using the submenu character.

name: String value to be returned when the item is clicked. By default, the last component of the menu hierarchy is used.

status: Defines whether the item is selected when the menu is created (Default = False).

icon: Path and name of the icon to be displayed without the leading path separator. The actual icon shown depends on the icon set being used.

tooltip: Text to be displayed as tooltip.

Example:

In Basic

      myPopup.AddRadioButton("Option A", Name := "A", Status := True)
    
In Python

      my_popup.AddRadioButton("Option A", name="A", status=True)
    

Execute

Displays the popup menu and waits for a user action. Returns the item clicked by the user.

If the user clicks outside the popup menu or presses the Esc key, then no item is selected. In such cases, the returned value depends on the returnid parameter. If returnid = True and no item is selected, then the value 0 (zero) is returned. Otherwise an empty string "" is returned.

Syntax:

svc.Execute(opt returnid: bool = True): any

Parameters:

returnid: If True the selected item ID is returned. If False the method returns the item's name (Default = True).

Example:

In the examples below, a popup menu is created and the item's name is returned because the returnid argument is set to False.

In Basic

      myPopup.AddItem("Item A", Name := "A")
      myPopup.AddItem("Item B", Name := "B")
      Dim vResponse as Variant
      vResponse = myPopup.Execute(False)
    
In Python

      my_popup.AddItem("Item A", name="A")
      my_popup.AddItem("Item B", name="B")
      response = my_popup.Execute(False)
    
warning

All ScriptForge Basic routines or identifiers that are prefixed with an underscore character "_" are reserved for internal use. They are not meant be used in Basic macros or Python scripts.


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