This page describes the format and contents of each reference page in Section 4, which covers the widget class methods for all the Intrinsics widget classes.

NAME

Method − a brief description of the purpose of the method. 

SYNOPSIS

This section shows the signature of the method: the names and types of the arguments, and the type of the return value.  Each method is of one of the function types documented in Section 2 of this book. 

Inputs

This subsection describes each of the arguments that pass information to the method. 

Outputs

This subsection describes any of the arguments that are used to return information from the method.  These arguments are always of some pointer type, so you must remember to dereference them correctly in your function, and must store the appropriate information at the address they specify.  The names of these arguments are usually suffixed with _return to indicate that values are returned in them.  Some arguments both supply and return a value; they will be listed in this section and in the "Inputs" section above.  Finally, note that because the list of function arguments is broken into "Input" and "Output" sections, they do not always appear in the same order that they are passed to the function.  See the function signature for the actual calling order. 

Returns

This subsection explains the return value of the method, if any. 

AVAILABILITY

This section appears for methods that were added in Release 4 or Release 5, and also for methods that are now obsolete. 

DESCRIPTION

This section explains how this method is registered in an widget class structure, what the method should do, and the method’s arguments and return value.  It also explains how to inherit the method from a superclass, if it is an inheritable method, or how the method is chained, if it is a chained method. 

USAGE

This section appears for most methods and provides less formal information about the method: typical tasks for the method, tips on implementation, things to watch out for, and related methods that you might want to look into. 

EXAMPLE

This section provides an example of most of the widget methods.  Important features of each example are noted.  These examples are generally taken from the Xaw widget set. 

BACKGROUND

This section presents detailed technical material related to the method.  It is usually derived directly from the Xt specification, and is therefore definitive.  You should not often have to refer to this section, but the material here is necessary for a complete understanding of the workings of the Intrinsics. 

STRUCTURES

This section shows the definition of any structures, enumerated types, typedefs, or symbolic constants used by the method. 

SEE ALSO

This section refers you to related functions, prototype procedures, Intrinsics widget classes, or widget methods.  The numbers in parenthesis following each reference refer to the sections of this book in which they are found.