[fxruby-users] Data Targets and message handlers [was: Defaultdouble-click in FXTable?]

[Lyle Johnson]

On Oct 12, 2006, at 1:07 AM, Philippe Lang wrote:

> Unless I'M misunderstanding something (probably!), I see things  
> this way:
>
> 1) An object, let's say an FXTextField, can have a target, for  
> example an FXDataTarget. This is fine. Something happens in the  
> widget, and the target is called.

Correct.

> 2) This same FXTextField should also be able to process messages in  
> the same time, when it is the target of another object. The  
> solution is to use the "connect" method, and add the handler to the  
> object.

No, this is not correct. Calling connect() on an FXTextField doesn't  
make it the target of some other object. Calling connect() on an  
FXTextField, like this:

	textfield.connect(SEL_KEYPRESS) do |sender, sel, data|
		# ... handle key press event ...
	end

  is *roughly* equivalent to this:

	class FXPseudoTarget < FXObject
		def initialize
			FXMAPFUNC(SEL_KEYPRESS, 0, :onKeyPress)
		end
		def onKeyPress(sender, sel, data)
			# ... handle key press event ...
		end
	end

	textfield.target = FXPseudoTarget.new
	textfield.selector = 0

In other words, the result of calling connect() on the FXTextField is  
to assign a new target to it (thus replacing the text field's  
previous target). Subsequent calls to connect() for the same text  
field will just add new message handlers to the existing FXPseudoTarget.

> Unfortunately, under FXRuby, both options are not possible in the  
> same time: connect changes the target of the FXTextField, and sets  
> it to a new object, called "PseudoTarget". This is a pure FXRuby  
> thing, as far as I know.
>
> So I was wondering if we could not get rid of this Pseudo Target,  
> so an object can independently HAVE a target, and BE a target  
> (process messages). This is possible under Fox C++, right?

Per the previous discussion, there's nothing in FOX (or FXRuby) that  
prevents an object from both being a target and having a target. But  
I think I understand what you're getting at, and that is that you  
want to have the text field's content tied to some variable in your  
application, but you'd also like to be able to catch certain messages  
(like SEL_KEYPRESS and SEL_KEYRELEASE) generated by the text field.  
Is that right?

If that's the case, I don't think you'll be able to use FXDataTarget  
directly, but that's not a big tragedy. You would instead do  
something like this:

	textfield.connect(SEL_UPDATE) {
		# Update the text field's content from a variable
		textfield.text = my_variable
	}
	textfield.connect(SEL_COMMAND) {
		# Update the variable based on new text field content
		my_variable = textfield.text
	}
	textfield.connect(SEL_KEYPRESS) {
		# ... handle key press event ...
	}

Hope this helps,

Lyle