The Interface Kit: Global Variables, Constants, and Defined Types

This section lists the various global variables, constants, and types that the Interface Kit defines to support the work done by its principal classes.

Global Variables

System Fonts

Declared in: be/interface/Font.h

const BFont *be_plain_font
const BFont *be_bold_font
const BFont *be_fixed_font

These global BFont objects are created when the BApplication object is constructed. They encapsulate the three system fonts—the plain font which is used for labels and small stretches of text in the user interface, the bold font which is used for window and group titles, and the fixed font which is used in Terminal windows and other places where a fixed-width font is required.

These objects are const and cannot be modified, nor will they be modified behind your back when the user redefines a system font. The user's changed preferences don't affect applications already running.

See also: the BFont class

Constants

alert_type Constants

Declared in: be/interface/Alert.h

Constant
`B_EMPTY_ALERT`
`B_INFO_ALERT`
`B_IDEA_ALERT`
`B_WARNING_ALERT`
`B_STOP_ALERT`

These constants designate the various types of alert panels that are recognized by the system. The type corresponds to an icon that's displayed in the alert window.

See also: the BAlert constructor

alignment Constants

Declared in: be/interface/InterfaceDefs.h

Constant
`B_ALIGN_LEFT`
`B_ALIGN_RIGHT`
`B_ALIGN_CENTER`

These constants define the alignment data type. They determine how lines of text and labels are aligned by BTextView, BStringView, and BMenuField objects.

See also: BTextView::SetAlignment()

button_width Constants

Declared in: be/interface/Alert.h

Constant
`B_WIDTH_AS_USUAL`
`B_WIDTH_FROM_LABEL`
`B_WIDTH_FROM_WIDEST`

These constants define the button_width type. They determine how the width of the buttons in an alert panel will be set—whether they're set to an standard (minimal) width, a width just sufficient to accommodate the button's own label, or a width sufficient to accommodate the widest label of all the buttons.

See also: the BAlert constructor

border_style Constants

Declared in: be/interface/InterfaceDefs.h

Constant
`B_PLAIN_BORDER`
`B_FANCY_BORDER`
`B_NO_BORDER`

These constants define how BBox objects and BScrollViews are bordered.

See also: the BScrollView and BBox classes

Character Constants

Declared in: be/interface/InterfaceDefs.h

Constant	Character value
`B_BACKSPACE`	0x08 (same as '\\b')
`B_ENTER`	0x0a (same as '\\n')
`B_RETURN`	0x0a (synonym for `B_ENTER`)
`B_SPACE`	0x20 (same as ' ')
`B_TAB`	0x09 (same as '\\t')
`B_ESCAPE`	0x1b
`B_LEFT_ARROW`	0x1c
`B_RIGHT_ARROW`	0x1d
`B_UP_ARROW`	0x1e
`B_DOWN_ARROW`	0x1f
`B_INSERT`	0x05
`B_DELETE`	0x7f
`B_HOME`	0x01
`B_END`	0x04
`B_PAGE_UP`	0x0b
`B_PAGE_DOWN`	0x0c
`B_FUNCTION_KEY`	0x10
`B_UTF8_ELLIPSIS`	"\\xE2\\x80\\xA6"
`B_UTF8_OPEN_QUOTE`	"\\xE2\\x80\\x9C"
`B_UTF8_CLOSE_QUOTE`	"\\xE2\\x80\\x9D"
`B_UTF8_COPYRIGHT`	"\\xC2\\xA9"
`B_UTF8_REGISTERED`	"\\xC2\\xAE"
`B_UTF8_TRADEMARK`	"\\xE2\\x84\\xA2"
`B_UTF8_SMILING_FACE`	"\\xE2\\x98\\xBB"
`B_UTF8_HIROSHI`	"\\xE5\\xBC\\x98"

Constants in the first group stand for the ASCII characters they name. They're defined only for characters that normally don't have visible symbols.

Constants in the second group are Unicode UTF-8 encodings of common characters that have multibyte representations. These constants are strings that can be concatenated with other strings—for example, to set a button label that ends in an ellipsis:

   myButton->SetLablel("Options"B_UTF_ELLIPSIS);

See also: "Function Key Constants" below

color_space Constants

Declared in: be/interface/GraphicDefs.h

Constant	Description
`B_NO_COLOR_SPACE`	Undefined color space
`B_RGB32`	xRGB 8:8:8:8, stored as little endian uint32
`B_RGBA32`	ARGB 8:8:8:8, stored as little endian uint32
`B_RGB24`	Currently unused
`B_RGB16`	RGB 5:6:5, stored as little endian uint16
`B_RGB15`	xRGB 1:5:5:5, stored as little endian uint16
`B_RGBA15`	ARGB 1:5:5:5, stored as little endian uint16
`B_CMAP8`	256-color index into the color table.
`B_GRAY8`	256-color greyscale value.
`B_GRAY1`	Each bit represents a single pixel, where 0 is black and 1 is white.
`B_RGB32_BIG`	xRGB 8:8:8:8, stored as big endian uint32
`B_RGBA32_BIG`	ARGB 8:8:8:8, stored as big endian uint32
`B_RGB24_BIG`	Currently unused
`B_RGB16_BIG`	RGB 5:6:5, stored as big endian uint16
`B_RGB15_BIG`	xRGB 1:5:5:5, stored as big endian uint16
`B_RGBA15_BIG`	ARGB 1:5:5:5, stored as big endian uint16
`B_YUV422`	Currently unused.
`B_YUV411`	Currently unused.
`B_YUV420`	Currently unused.
`B_YUV444`	Currently unused.
`B_YUV9`	Currently unused.
`B_YUV12`	Currently unused.
`B_MONOCHROME_1_BIT`	For compatibility only: use B_GRAY1
`B_GRAYSCALE_8_BIT`	For compatibility only; use B_GRAY8
`B_COLOR_8_BIT`	For compatibility only; use B_CMAP8
`B_RGB_32_BIT`	For compatibility only; use B_RGB32
`B_RGB_16_BIT`	For compatibility only; use B_RGB15
`B_BIG_RGB_32_BIT`	For compatibility only; use B_RGB32_BIG
`B_BIG_RGB_16_BIT`	For compatibility only; use B_RGB15_BIG

These constants define the color_space data type. A color space describes three properties of screens and bitmap images:

How many bits of information there are per pixel (the depth of the image)
How those bits are to be interpreted (whether as colors or on a grayscale, what the color components are, and so on).
How are components are arranged

See the "Color Spaces" section in the "Drawing" section of this chapter for a fuller explanation of these color spaces.

See also: "Colors" in the "Drawing" section of this chapter, the BBitmap and BScreen classes

Control Values

Declared in: be/interface/Control.h

Constant	Value
`B_CONTROL_ON`	1
`B_CONTROL_OFF`	0

These constants define the bipolar states of a typical control device.

See also: BControl::SetValue()

Cursor Transit Constants

Declared in: be/interface/View.h

Constant	Meaning
`B_ENTERED_VIEW`	The cursor has just entered a view.
`B_INSIDE_VIEW`	The cursor has moved within the view.
`B_EXITED_VIEW`	The cursor has left the view

These constants describe the cursor's transit through a view. Each MouseMoved() notification includes one of these constants as an argument, to inform the BView whether the cursor has entered the view, moved while inside the view, or exited the view.

See also: BView::MouseMoved()

Dead-Key Mapping

Declared in: be/interface/InterfaceDefs.h

Constant
`B_CONTROL_TABLE`
`B_OPTION_CAPS_SHIFT_TABLE`
`B_OPTION_CAPS_TABLE`
`B_OPTION_SHIFT_TABLE`
`B_OPTION_TABLE`
`B_CAPS_SHIFT_TABLE`
`B_CAPS_TABLE`
`B_SHIFT_TABLE`
`B_NORMAL_TABLE`

These constants determine which combinations of modifiers can cause a key to be the "dead" member of a two-key combination.

See also: get_key_map()

drawing_mode Constants

Declared in: be/interface/GraphicsDefs.h

Constant	Constant
`B_OP_COPY`	`B_OP_ADD`
`B_OP_OVER`	`B_OP_SUBTRACT`
`B_OP_ERASE`	`B_OP_BLEND`
`B_OP_INVERT`	`B_OP_MIN`
`B_OP_SELECT`	`B_OP_MAX`

These constants define the drawing_mode data type. The drawing mode is a BView graphics parameter that determines how the image being drawn interacts with the image already in place in the area where it's drawn. The various modes are explained under "Drawing Modes" in the "Drawing" section of this chapter.

See also: "Drawing Modes" in the "Drawing" section of this chapter, BView::SetDrawingMode()

font_direction Constants

Declared in: be/interface/Font.h

Constant
`B_FONT_LEFT_TO_RIGHT`
`B_FONT_RIGHT_TO_LEFT`

These constants tell whether a font is used for text that's read left-to-right or right-to-left. Thus is an inherent property of the font.

See also: BFont::Direction()

Font Encodings

Declared in: be/interface/Font.h

Constant
`B_UNICODE_UTF8`
`B_ISO_8859_1`
`B_ISO_8859_2`
`B_ISO_8859_3`
`B_ISO_8859_4`
`B_ISO_8859_5`
`B_ISO_8859_6`
`B_ISO_8859_7`
`B_ISO_8859_8`
`B_ISO_8859_9`
`B_ISO_8859_10`
`B_MACINTOSH_ROMAN`

The constants name the various character encodings that the BeOS supports. B_UNICODE_UTF8 is the default encoding. It matches ASCII values for 7-bit character codes but uses multiple bytes to encode other values in the Unicode standard.

See also: BFont::SetEncoding(), "Character Encoding" in the "Responding to the User" section of this chapter

Font Flags

Declared in: be/interface/Font.h

Constant
`B_DISABLE_ANTIALIASING`
`B_IS_FIXED`
`B_HAS_TUNED_FONT`

The first flag, B_DISABLE_ANTIALIASING, is passed to a BFont object to turn antialiasing off. Antialiasing should be turned off when printing, but should generally be left on when drawing to the screen.

The other two flags enable get_font_family() and get_font_style() to give information about a font. B_IS_FIXED indicates that the font is nonproportional. B_HAS_TUNED_FONT indicates that the family or style has one or more tuned fonts—bitmap fonts that have been adjusted to look good on the screen—for some set of font properties (such as size and shear).

See also: BFont::SetFlags(), get_font_family()

Font Name Lengths

Declared in: be/interface/Font.h

Constant	Value
`B_FONT_FAMILY_NAME_LENGTH`	63
`B_FONT_STYLE_NAME_LENGTH`	63

These constants define the maximum length of names for font families and styles, exclusive of a null terminator. They're used in the definition of the font_family and font_style types.

See also: font_family under "Defined Types" below

Font Properties

Declared in: be/interface/View.h

Constant
`B_FONT_FAMILY_AND_STYLE`
`B_FONT_SIZE`
`B_FONT_SHEAR`
`B_FONT_ROTATION`
`B_FONT_SPACING`
`B_FONT_ENCODING`
`B_FONT_FACE`
`B_FONT_FLAGS`
`B_FONT_ALL`

These constants list the font properites that can be set for a BView individually or in combination. The constants form a mask that's passed, along with a BFont object, to BView's SetFont() and BTextView's SetFontAndColor() functions. For example:

   myView->SetFont(theFont, B_FONT_SIZE | B_FONT_ENCODING);

B_FONT_ALL stands for all properties of the BFont.

See also: BView::SetFont()

Font Spacing Modes

Declared in: be/interface/Font.h

Constant
`B_CHAR_SPACING`
`B_STRING_SPACING`
`B_BITMAP_SPACING`
`B_FIXED_SPACING`

These constants enumerate the four modes for positioning characters in a line of text.

See also: BFont::SetSpacing()

Function Key Constants

Declared in: be/interface/InterfaceDefs.h

Constant	Constant
`B_F1_KEY`	`B_F9_KEY`
`B_F2_KEY`	`B_F10_KEY`
`B_F3_KEY`	`B_F11_KEY`
`B_F4_KEY`	`B_F12_KEY`
`B_F5_KEY`	`B_PRINT_KEY` (the "Print Screen" key)
`B_F6_KEY`	`B_SCROLL_KEY` (the "Scroll Lock" key)
`B_F7_KEY`	`B_PAUSE_KEY`
`B_F8_KEY`

These constants stand for the various keys that are mapped to the B_FUNCTION_KEY character. When the B_FUNCTION_KEY character is reported in a key-down event, the application can determine which key produced the character by testing the key code against these constants. (Control-p also produces the B_FUNCTION_KEY character.)

See also: "Character Mapping" in the Keyboard Information appendix

Interface Messages

Declared in: be/app/AppDefs.h

Constant	Constant
`B_ZOOM`	`B_KEY_DOWN`
`B_MINIMIZE`	`B_KEY_UP`
`B_WINDOW_RESIZED`	`B_MOUSE_DOWN`
`B_WINDOW_MOVED`	`B_MOUSE_UP`
`B_WINDOW_ACTIVATED`	`B_MOUSE_MOVED`
`B_QUIT_REQUESTED`	`B_VIEW_RESIZED`
`B_SCREEN_CHANGED`	`B_VIEW_MOVED`
`B_WORKSPACE_ACTIVATED`	`B_VALUE_CHANGED`
`B_WORKSPACES_CHANGED`	`B_PULSE`

These constants identify interface messages—system messages that are delivered to BWindow objects. Each constant conveys an instruction to do something in particular (B_ZOOM) or names a type of event (B_KEY_DOWN).

See also: "Interface Messages" in the "Responding to the User" section of this chapter

list_view_type Constants

Declared in: be/interface/ListView.h

Constant
`B_SINGLE_SELECTION_LIST`
`B_MULTIPLE_SELECTION_LIST`

These constants distinguish between lists that permit the user to select only one item at a time and those that allow multiple items to be selected.

See also: the BListView class

Main Screen

Declared in: be/interface/Screen.h

const screen_id B_MAIN_SCREEN_ID

This constant stands for the main screen, the screen that has the origin of the screen coordinate system at its left top corner. (Currently only one screen can be attached to the computer and it is the main screen.)

See also: screen_id

menu_bar_border Constants

Declared in: be/interface/MenuBar.h

Constant	Meaning
`B_BORDER_FRAME`	Put a border inside the entire frame rectangle.
`B_BORDER_CONTENTS`	Put a border around the group of items only.
`B_BORDER_EACH_ITEM`	Put a border around each item.

These constants can be passed as an argument to BMenuBar's SetBorder() function.

See also: BMenuBar::SetBorder()

menu_layout Constants

Declared in: be/interface/Menu.h

Constant	Meaning
`B_ITEMS_IN_ROW`	Menu items are arranged horizontally, in a row.
`B_ITEMS_IN_COLUMN`	Menu items are arranged vertically, in a column.
`B_ITEMS_IN_MATRIX`	Menu items are arranged in a custom fashion.

These constants define the menu_layout data type. They distinguish the ways that items can be arranged in a menu or menu bar—they can be laid out from end to end in a row like a typical menu bar, stacked from top to bottom in a column like a typical menu, or arranged in some custom fashion like a matrix.

See also: the BMenu and BMenuBar constructors

Modifier States

Declared in: be/interface/InterfaceDef.h

Constant	Constant
`B_SHIFT_KEY`	`B_OPTION_KEY`
`B_LEFT_SHIFT_KEY`	`B_LEFT_OPTION_KEY`
`B_RIGHT_SHIFT_KEY`	`B_RIGHT_OPTION_KEY`
`B_CONTROL_KEY`	`B_COMMAND_KEY`
`B_LEFT_CONTROL_KEY`	`B_LEFT_COMMAND_KEY`
`B_RIGHT_CONTROL_KEY`	`B_RIGHT_COMMAND_KEY`
`B_CAPS_LOCK`	`B_MENU_KEY`
`B_SCROLL_LOCK`
`B_NUM_LOCK`

These constants designate the Shift, Option, Control, Command, and Menu modifier keys and the lock states set by the Caps Lock, Scroll Lock, and Num Lock keys. They're typically used to form a mask that describes the current, or required, modifier states.

For each variety of modifier key, there are constants that distinguish between the keys that appear at the left and right of the keyboard, as well as one that lumps both together. For example, if the user is holding the left Control key down, both B_CONTROL_KEY and B_LEFT_CONTROL_KEY will be set in the mask.

See also: modifiers(), BWindow::AddShortcut(), the BMenu constructor

Mouse Buttons

Declared in: be/interface/View.h

Constant
`B_PRIMARY_MOUSE_BUTTON`
`B_SECONDARY_MOUSE_BUTTON`
`B_TERTIARY_MOUSE_BUTTON`

These constants name the mouse buttons. Buttons are identified, not by their physical positions on the mouse, but by their roles in the user interface.

See also: BView::GetMouse(), set_mouse_map()

orientation Constants

Declared in: be/interface/InterfaceDef.h

Constant
`B_HORIZONTAL`
`B_VERTICAL`

These constants define the orientation data type that distinguishes between the vertical and horizontal orientation of graphic objects. It's currently used only to differentiate scroll bars.

See also: the BScrollBar and BScrollView classes

Pattern Constants

Declared in: be/interface/GraphicsDef.h

const pattern B_SOLID_HIGH = { 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff,0xff, 0xff, 0xff }

const pattern B_SOLID_LOW = { 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00 }

const pattern B_MIXED_COLORS
= { 0xaa, 0x55, 0xaa, 0x55, 0xaa, 0x55, 0xaa, 0x55 }

These constants name the three standard patterns defined in the Interface Kit.

B_SOLID_HIGH is a pattern that consists of the high color only. It's the default pattern for all BView drawing functions that stroke lines and fill shapes.

B_SOLID_LOW is a pattern with only the low color. It's used mainly to erase images
(to replace them with the background color).

B_MIXED_COLORS alternates pixels between the high and low colors in a checkerboard pattern. The result is a halftone midway between the two colors. This pattern can produce fine gradations of color, especially when the high and low colors are set to two colors that are already quite similar.

See also: "Patterns" in the "Drawing" section of this chapter

Resizing Modes

Declared in: be/interface/View.h

Constants
`B_FOLLOW_LEFT`
`B_FOLLOW_RIGHT`
`B_FOLLOW_LEFT_RIGHT`
`B_FOLLOW_H_CENTER`
`B_FOLLOW_TOP`
`B_FOLLOW_BOTTOM`
`B_FOLLOW_TOP_BOTTOM`
`B_FOLLOW_V_CENTER`
`B_FOLLOW_ALL`
`B_FOLLOW_NONE`

These constants are used to set the behavior of a view when its parent is resized. They're explained under the BView constructor.

See also: the BView constructor, BView::SetResizingMode()

Screen Spaces

Declared in: be/interface/GraphicsDef.h

`B_8_BIT_640x400`
`B_8_BIT_640x480`	`B_15_BIT_640x480`	`B_16_BIT_640x480`	`B_32_BIT_640x480`
`B_8_BIT_800x600`	`B_15_BIT_800x600`	`B_16_BIT_800x600`	`B_32_BIT_800x600`
`B_8_BIT_1024x768`	`B_15_BIT_1024x768`	`B_16_BIT_1024x768`	`B_32_BIT_1024x768`
`B_8_BIT_1152x900`	`B_15_BIT_1152x900`	`B_16_BIT_1152x900`	`B_32_BIT_1152x900`
`B_8_BIT_1280x1024`	`B_15_BIT_1280x1024`	`B_16_BIT_1280x1024`	`B_32_BIT_1280x1024`
`B_8_BIT_1600x1200`	`B_15_BIT_1600x1200`	`B_16_BIT_1600x1200`	`B_32_BIT_1600x1200`

These constants are currently used to configure the screen—to set its depth and the size of the pixel grid it displays—as well as to report which configurations are possible. However, they may not be supported in the future. 15-bit depths are not currently supported

See also: set_screen_space(), get_screen_info()

Scroll Bar Constants

Declared in: be/interface/ScrollBar.h

Constant
`B_H_SCROLL_BAR_HEIGHT`
`B_V_SCROLL_BAR_WIDTH`

These constants record the recommended thickness of scroll bars. They should be used to help define the frame rectangles passed to the BScrollBar constructor.

See also: the BScrollBar class

String Truncation Constants

Declared in: be/interface/Font.h

Constant
`B_TRUNCATE_END`
`B_TRUNCATE_BEGINNING`
`B_TRUNCATE_MIDDLE`
`B_TRUNCATE_SMART`

These constants instruct a BFont where it should remove characters from a set of strings to shorten them.

See also: BFont::GetTruncatedStrings()

Transparency Constants

Declared in: be/interface/GraphicsDefs.h

const uint8 B_TRANSPARENT_8_BIT

const rgb_color B_TRANSPARENT_32_BIT

These constants set transparent pixel values in a bitmap image. B_TRANSPARENT_8_BIT designates a transparent pixel in the B_CMAP8 color space, and B_TRANSPARENT_32_BIT designates a transparent pixel in the B_RGB32 color space.

Transparency is explained in the "Drawing Modes" part of the "Drawing" section of this chapter. Drawing modes other than B_OP_COPY preserve the destination image where a source bitmap is transparent.

See also: "Drawing Modes" in the "Drawing" section of this chapter, the BBitmap class, BView::SetViewColor()

View Flags

Declared in: be/interface/View.h

Constant	Meaning
`B_FULL_UPDATE_ON_RESIZE`	Include the entire view in the clipping region.
`B_WILL_DRAW`	Allow the BView to draw.
`B_PULSE_NEEDED`	Report pulse events to the BView.
`B_FRAME_EVENTS`	Report view-resized and view-moved events.
`B_NAVIGABLE`	Let users navigate to the view with the Tab key.
`B_NAVIGABLE_JUMP`	Mark the view for Control-Tab navigation.

These constants can be combined to form a mask that sets the behavior of a BView object. They're explained in more detail under the class constructor. The mask is passed to the constructor, or to the SetFlags() function.

See also: the BView constructor, BView::SetFlags()

Window Flags

Declared in: be/interface/Window.h

Constant	Constant
`B_NOT_MOVABLE`	`B_NOT_CLOSABLE`
`B_NOT_H_RESIZABLE`	`B_NOT_ZOOMABLE`
`B_NOT_V_RESIZABLE`	`B_NOT_MINIMIZABLE`
`B_NOT_RESIZABLE`	`B_WILL_FLOAT`
`B_WILL_ACCEPT_FIRST_CLICK`

These constants set the behavior of a window. They can be combined to form a mask that's passed to the BWindow constructor.

See also: the BWindow constructor

window_type Constants

Declared in: be/interface/Window.h

Constant	Meaning
`B_MODAL_WINDOW`	The window is a modal window.
`B_BORDERED_WINDOW`	The window has a border but no title tab.
`B_TITLED_WINDOW`	The window has a border and a title tab.
`B_DOCUMENT_WINDOW`	The window has a border, tab and resize knob.

These constants describe the various kinds of windows that can be requested from the Application Server.

See also: the BWindow constructor

Workspace Constants

Declared in: be/interface/Window.h

Constant
`B_CURRENT_WORKSPACE`
`B_ALL_WORKSPACES`

These constants are used—along with designations of specific workspaces—to associate a set of one or more workspaces with a BWindow.

See also: the BWindow constructor, BWindow::SetWorkspaces()

Defined Types

alert_type

Declared in: be/interface/Alert.h

typedef enum {. . .} alert_type

These constants name the various types of alert panel.

See also: "alert_type Constants", the BAlert constructor

alignment

Declared in: be/interface/InterfaceDefs.h

typedef enum {. . .} alignment

Alignment constants determine where lines of text are placed in a view.

See also: "alignment Constants", BTextView::SetAlignment()

button_width

Declared in: be/interface/Alert.h

typedef enum {. . .} button_width

These constants name the methods that can be used to determine how wide to make the buttons in an alert panel.

See also: "button_width Constants", the BAlert constructor

color_map

Declared in: be/interface/GraphicsDefs.h

typedef struct {
         int32 id;
         rgb_color color_list[256];
         uint8 inversion_map[256];
         uint8 index_map[32768];
      } color_map

This structure contains information about the 8-bit color context for a particular screen. All applications that display on the screen share the same color map.

See also: BScreen::ColorMap()

color_space

Declared in: be/interface/GraphicsDefs.h

typedef enum {. . .} color_space

Color space constants determine the depth and interpretation of bitmap images. They're described under "Colors" in the "Drawing" section of this chapter.

See also: "color_space Constants"

drawing_mode

Declared in: be/interface/GraphicsDefs.h

typedef enum {. . .} drawing_mode

The drawing mode determines how source and destination images interact.

See also: "Drawing Modes" in the "Drawing" section of this chapter, "drawing_mode Constants"

edge_info

Declared in: be/interface/Font.h

typedef struct {
         float left;
         float right;
      } edge_info

This structure records information about the location of a character outline within the horizontal space allotted to the character. Edges separate one character from adjacent characters on the left and right. They're explained under the GetEdges() function in the BFont class.

See also: BFont::GetEscapements()

escapement_delta

Declared in: be/interface/Font.h

typedef struct {
         float nonspace;
         float space;
      } escapement_delta

This structure contains values that should be added to the width of each character in a string when the string is drawn.

See also: BView::DrawString(), BFont::GetEscapements()

font_direction

Declared in: be/interface/Font.h

typedef enum {...} font_direction

This type distinguishes between fonts that are read left-to-right (B_FONT_LEFT_TO_RIGHT) and those that are read right-to-left (B_FONT_RIGHT_TO_LEFT).

See also: BFont::Direction()

font_family

Declared in: be/interface/InterfaceDefs.h

typedef char font_family[B_FONT_FAMILY_LENGTH + 1]

This type defines a string long enough to hold the name of a font family—64 characters including the null terminator.

See also: get_font_family()

font_height

Declared in: be/interface/Font.h

typedef struct {
         float ascent;
         float descent;
         float leading;
      } font_height

This type combines the three vertical measurements that determine the height of a line of text.

See also: BFont::GetHeight()

font_style

Declared in: be/interface/InterfaceDefs.h

typedef char font_style[B_FONT_STYLE_LENGTH + 1]

This type defines a string long enough to hold the name of a font style—64 characters including the null terminator.

See also: get_font_style()

key_info

Declared in: be/interface/View.h

typedef struct {
         uint32 modifiers;
         uint8 key_states[16];
      } key_info

This structure is used to get information about the current state of the keyboard in the absence of B_KEY_DOWN messages.

See also: get_key_info()

key_map

Declared in: be/interface/InterfaceDefs.h

typedef struct {
         uint32 version;
         uint32 caps_key;
         uint32 scroll_key;
         uint32 num_key;
         uint32 left_shift_key;
         uint32 right_shift_key;
         uint32 left_command_key;
         uint32 right_command_key;
         uint32 left_control_key;
         uint32 right_control_key;
         uint32 left_option_key;
         uint32 right_option_key;
         uint32 menu_key;
         uint32 lock_settings;
         int32 control_map[128];
         int32 option_caps_shift_map[128];
         int32 option_caps_map[128];
         int32 option_shift_map[128];
         int32 option_map[128];
         int32 caps_shift_map[128];
         int32 caps_map[128];
         int32 shift_map[128];
         int32 normal_map[128];
         int32 acute_dead_key[32];
         int32 grave_dead_key[32];
         int32 circumflex_dead_key[32];
         int32 dieresis_dead_key[32];
         int32 tilde_dead_key[32];
         uint32 acute_tables;
         uint32 grave_tables;
         uint32 circumflex_tables;
         uint32 dieresis_tables;
         uint32 tilde_tables;
      } key_map

This structure maps the physical keys on the keyboard to their functions in the user interface. It holds the tables that assign characters to key codes, set up dead keys, and determine which keys function as modifiers. There's just one key map shared by all applications running on the same machine.

See also: get_key_map()

menu_bar_border

Declared in: be/interface/MenuBar.h

typedef enum {. . .} menu_bar_border

This type enumerates the ways that a menu bar can be bordered.

See also: BMenuBar::SetBorder(), "menu_bar_border Constants" above

menu_info

Declared in: be/interface/Menu.h

typedef struct {
         float font_size;
         font_name font;
         rgb_color background_color;
         int32 separator;
         bool click_to_open;
         bool triggers_always_shown;
      } menu_info

This structure records the user's menu preferences.

See also: set_menu_info() , the BMenu class

menu_layout

Declared in: be/interface/Menu.h

typedef enum {. . .} menu_layout

This type distinguishes the various ways that items can arranged in a menu or menu bar.

See also: the BMenu class, "menu_layout Constants" above

mouse_map

Declared in: be/interface/InterfaceDefs.h

typedef struct {
         uint32 left;
         uint32 right;
         uint32 middle;
      } mouse_map

This structure maps mouse buttons to their roles as the B_PRIMARY_MOUSE_BUTTON, B_SECONDARY_MOUSE_BUTTON, or B_TERTIARY_MOUSE_BUTTON.

See also: set_mouse_map()

orientation

Declared in: be/interface/InterfaceDefs.h

typedef enum {. . .} orientation

This type distinguishes between the B_VERTICAL and B_HORIZONTAL orientation of scroll bars.

See also: the BScrollBar and BScrollView classes

pattern

Declared in: be/interface/GraphicsDefs.h

typedef struct {
uchar data[8];
} pattern

A pattern is a arrangement of two colors—the high color and the low color—in an 8-pixel by 8-pixel square. Pixels are specified in rows, with one byte per row and one bit per pixel. Bits marked 1 designate the high color; those marked 0 designate the low color. An example and an illustration are given under "Patterns" in the "Drawing section of this chapter.

See also: "Pattern Constants" above

print_file_header

Declared in: be/interface/PrintJob.h

typedef struct {
         long version;
         long page_count;
         long _reserved_1_;
         long _reserved_2_;
         long _reserved_3_;
         long _reserved_4_;
         long _reserved_5_;
      } print_file_header

This structure defines the header information for a print job. Although declared publicly, it currently is used only internally by the BPrintJob class.

rgb_color

Declared in: be/interface/GraphicsDefs.h

typedef struct {
         uint8 red;
         uint8 green;
         uint8 blue;
         uint8 alpha;
      } rgb_color

This type specifies a full 32-bit color. Each component can have a value ranging from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 255.

The alpha component, which is designed to specify the coverage of the color (how transparent or opaque it is), is currently ignored. However, an rgb_color can be made completely transparent by assigning it the special value, B_TRANSPARENT_32_BIT.

See also: BView::SetHighColor()

screen_id

Declared in: be/interface/Screen.h

typedef struct {
int32 id;
} screen_id

This type is a unique identifier for a screen. The constant B_MAIN_SCREEN_ID is a screen_id that identifies the main screen.

See also: the BScreen class

screen_info

Declared in: be/interface/InterfaceDefs.h

typedef struct {
         color_space mode;
         BRect frame;
         uint32 spaces;
         float min_refresh_rate;
         float max_refresh_rate;
         float refresh_rate;
         uchar h_position;
         uchar v_position;
         uchar h_size;
         uchar v_size;
      } screen_info

This structure holds information about a screen. Its fields are explained under the get_screen_info() global function.

See also: get_screen_info()

scroll_bar_info

Declared in: be/interface/InterfaceDefs.h

typedef struct {
         bool proportional;
         bool double_arrows;
         int32 knob;
         int32 min_knob_size;
      } scroll_bar_info

This structure captures the user's preferences for how scroll bars should behave and appear.

See also: set_scroll_bar_info(), the BScrollBar class

text_run

Declared in: be/interface/TextView.h

typedef struct {
         int32 offset;
         BFont font;
         rgb_color color;
      } text_run

The BTextView class uses this structure to keep track of a sequence of characters that are displayed in the same font and color.

See also: BTextView::SetRunArray()

text_run_array

Declared in: be/interface/TextView.h

typedef struct {
         int32 count;
         text_run runs[];
      } text_run_array

The BTextView class uses this structure to associate character formats with the text it displays.

See also: BTextView::SetRunArray()

tuned_font_info

Declared in: be/interface/Font.h

typedef struct {
         float size;
         float shear;
         float rotation;
         int32 flags;
         int16 face;
      } tuned_font_info

This structure lists the properties of a font that has a counterpart that's been tuned to improve its appearance on-screen. The tuned counterpart will be used whenever the font is the BView's current font and DrawString() draws to the screen.

See also: BFont::GetTunedInfo(), get_font_family()

window_type

Declared in: be/interface/Window.h

typedef enum {. . .} window_type

This type describes the various kinds of windows that can be requested from the Application Server.

See also: the BWindow constructor, "window_type Constants"

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The Interface Kit: Global Variables, Constants, and Defined Types