haiku/docs/user/interface/Layout.dox

/*
 * Copyright 2010, Haiku, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
 * Distributed under the terms of the MIT License.
 *
 * Documentation by:
 *  Alex Wilson <yourpalal2@gmail.com>
 * Corresponds to:
 *   /trunk/headers/os/interface/Layout.h  rev 38207
 *   /trunk/src/kits/interface/Layout.cpp  rev 38207
 */


/*!
\file Layout.h
\brief Defines the BLayout class.
*/


/*! \class BLayout
	\ingroup interface
	\ingroup layout
	\ingroup libbe
	\brief The BLayout class provides an interface, and some basic
		implementation to manage the positioning and sizing of BLayoutItems.

	BLayouts can be attached to a BView, managing the BLayoutItems and BViews
	that reside in that view, or can be nested within another BLayout as a
	BLayoutItem.

	Before adding a BLayoutItem to a BLayout, that layout must have a target
	view. When a BLayout is attached directly to a BView via BView::SetLayout()
	then that BView becomes the target of the layout. When a BLayout is nested
	in another BLayout (via BLayout::AddItem()) the nested BLayout inherits the
	target of the layout it's nested in, if it does not have a target already.
	You can retrieve the target view for a layout with the TargetView() method.
	When adding a BLayoutItem to a BLayout, the item's view (as returned by
	BLayoutItem::View()) is added to the layout's target view.

\code
BView* topView = new BGroupView();
BLayout* topLayout = topView->GetLayout();

BLayout* nestedLayout = new BGroupLayout(B_HORIZONTAL);
topLayout->AddItem(nestedLayout);

BLayout* veryNestedLayout = new BGroupLayout(B_VERTICAL);
nestedLayout->AddItem(veryNestedLayout);
\endcode

	After executing this code, \c veryNestedLayout, \c nestedLayout, and
	\c topLayout all have the same target view: \c topView.

	Continuing with the same objects...

\code
BLayout* nestedLayoutWithView = (new BGroupView())->GetLayout();
topLayout->AddItem(nestedLayoutWithView);
\endcode

	\c nestedLayoutWithView does have a target view of \c topView. This is
	because \c nestedLayoutWithView is attached directly to a BView.

	\warning This class is not yet finalized, if you use it in your software
	assume that it will break some time in the future.
*/

								
/*! \fn BLayout::BLayout()
	\brief Default constructor.

	After this constructor has finished, this BLayout holds no BLayoutItems and
	does not have a target BView.
	
	\warning Because a new BLayout does not have a target BView, calls to the
		AddItem() and AddView() will fail methods will fail.
*/


/*! \fn BLayout::BLayout(BMessage* archive)
	\brief Archive constructor.
*/


/*! \fn BLayout::~BLayout()
	\brief Destructor, deletes all BLayoutItems that this layout manages,
		and detaches from this BLayout's owner view if there is one.

	Each BLayoutItem's BView (as returned by BLayoutItem::View()) is also
	removed from their parent.

	\note Because nested BLayouts are treated as BLayoutItems, any layouts
	nested in this BLayout will be deleted.
*/


/*!
	\name BView targeting and attachment information.

	@{
*/


/*! \fn BView* BLayout::Owner() const
	\brief Returns the Owner of this layout, i.e. the view this layout manages.
*/


/*! \fn BView* BLayout::TargetView() const
	\brief Returns the target view of this layout.

	The target view of a layout becomes the parent of any BViews in this layout,
	as well as the BViews returned by BLayoutItem::View() for each BLayoutItem
	in this layout.
*/


/*! \fn BView* BLayout::View()
	\brief Returns the same BView* as BLayout::Owner(), this method is inherited
		 from BLayoutItem.
*/


//@}


/*!
	\name Adding, removing, counting and accessing BViews and BLayoutItems in \
		this BLayout.

	@{
*/


/*!
	\fn BLayoutItem* BLayout::AddView(BView* child)
	\brief Creates a BLayoutItem to represent a BView, and adds that item to
		this layout.
		
	\a child is added to this layout's target view.
	
	\returns The BLayoutItem created to represent \a child is, or NULL if there
		was an error.

	\param child The BView to be added to this BLayout. 
*/


/*! \fn	BLayoutItem* BLayout::AddView(int32 index, BView* child)
	\brief Creates a BLayoutItem to represent \a child, and adds that item at
		\a index to	this layout. \a child is added to this layout's target view.
*/


/*!
	\fn bool BLayout::AddItem(BLayoutItem* item)
	\brief Adds a BLayoutItem to this layout, and adds the BView it represents
		to this layout's target view.

	\param item The BLayoutItem to be added.
	\retval true success
	\retval false failure
*/


/*!
	\fn bool BLayout::AddItem(int32 index, BLayoutItem* item)
	\brief Adds \a item to this layout, and adds the BView \a item represents
		to this layout's target view.

	\param item The BLayoutItem to be added.
	\param index The index at which to add \c item.

	If \a index is out of bounds, \a item will be added at the end. If \a index
	is somewhere between the first and last indices, then items from \a index
	to the end will be shuffled over by one.

	\retval true success
	\retval false failure
*/


/*!
	\fn bool BLayout::RemoveView(BView* child)
	\brief Removes and deletes all BLayoutItems representing a BView from this
		layout.

	\param child The BView to be removed.

	\retval true success
	\retval false failure
*/


/*!
	\fn	bool BLayout::RemoveItem(BLayoutItem* item)
	\brief Removes a BLayoutITem from this layout, and also removes the view 
		it represents from this layout's target view.

	\param item The BLayoutitem to be removed
	
	\warning \a item is not deleted, you must delete it manually, or add it	to
		another BLayout.

	\retval true success
	\retval false failure
*/


/*! \fn BLayoutItem* BLayout::RemoveItem(int32 index)
	\brief Remove the BLayoutItem at \a index.

	\see RemoveItem(BLayoutItem*)

	\returns The BLayoutItem that was removed.
*/


/*!
	\fn BLayoutItem* BLayout::ItemAt(int32 index) const
	\brief Get the BLayoutItem at \a index. Returns \c NULL if \a index is
		out of bounds.
*/


/*!
	\fn int32 BLayout::CountItems() const
	\brief Get the number of BLayoutItems in this layout.
*/


/*!
	\fn int32 BLayout::IndexOfItem(const BLayoutItem* item) const
	\brief Get the index of a BLayoutItem in this layout.

	\param item The BLayoutItem whose index you want.

	\retval -1 \a item was not found in this BLayout.
*/


/*!
	\fn int32 BLayout::IndexOfView(BView* child) const
	\brief Get the index of \a child in this layout.
	
	\note This finds the index of views added through BLayout::AddView(), not
		the index of an item which represents \a child that was added through
		BLayout::AddItem().
*/


//@}


/*!
	\name Subclass helpers.
	\brief These methods are meant to ease the development of BLayout
		subclasses.

	@{
*/


/*! \fn bool BLayout::AncestorsVisible()
	\brief Get the visibility of the ancestors of this layout.

	If a BLayout is connected to a BView, this will always return \c true.
	If a BLayout is nested in another layout (it was passed to AddItem()), then
	this will reflect the visibility of this layout's parent layout. If any
	layout is hidden (by BLayout::SetVisible()) between this layout and its
	target view's layout, then this method will return \c false.
*/


/*!
	\fn BRect BLayout::LayoutArea()
	\brief Returns the on-screen area this layout has received to lay out its
		items in.

	The return value is in the coordinate space of this layout's target view.
	If this BLayout is attached directly to a BView, then
	<tt> LayoutArea().LeftTop() == B_ORIGIN </tt>.
*/


/*!
	\fn void BLayout::VisibilityChanged(bool show)
	\brief Method to be called by derived classes in their SetVisible()
		implementation. Calls AncestorVisibilityChanged() on the items in this
		BLayout.
*/


//@}


/*!
	\name Methods triggering or related to laying out this BLayout.

//@{
*/


/*!	\fn void BLayout::Relayout(bool immediate = false)
	\brief Request this BLayout to reposition and resize its items as required.

	If \a immediate is \c false, and there is already a request to have the
	window this layout resides in re-laid-out, then the layout will happen at
	that time. If \a immediate is \c true, and there is no such pending
	request, nor is this layout's parent layout in the process of laying out
	its items, then this BLayout will now layout its items.
*/


/*!
	\fn void BLayout::LayoutItems(bool force = false)
	\brief If there is no layout currently ongoing, and \a force is \c false,
		creates a new BLayoutContext and calls the DerivedLayoutItems() method
		of this BLayout and any BLayouts nested in this BLayout.
	
	If method also guarantees that the owner view of this layout (as returned
	by BLayout::Owner()) performs a layout as well (if it is suitable to do so).
*/


/*!
	\fn BLayoutContext* BLayout::LayoutContext()
	\brief Returns the BLayoutContext this BLayout is currently operating in,
		or \c NULL.
*/


//@}


/*!
	\name Invalidation and state mutators and accessors.

	@{
*/


/*!
	\fn void BLayout::RequireLayout()
	\brief Flag this layout as stale, i.e. any cached data may still be valid,
		but the items need to be repositioned or resized.
*/


/*!
	\fn void BLayout::InvalidateLayout(bool children = false)
	\brief Invalidate this layout and any cached data this layout has relating
		to positioning and sizing of its items.

	Invalidating a BLayout also invalidates the view it is connected to
	(if there is one) and the BLayout this layout (or this layout's view)
	resides in.

	This method should be called whenever the layout becomes invalid. This might
	happen if the size constraints of an item in this layout change, this layout
	is given more or less space than it previously had, or an object in this
	layout has had its InvalidateLayout() method called.

	\see BView::InvalidateLayout() BLayoutItem::InvalidateLayout()
*/


/*!
	\fn bool BLayout::IsValid()
	\brief Returns whether this layout has been invalidated (via
		BLayout::InvalidateLayout()) and has not yet been validated (by doing a
		layout, or by its ResetLayoutInvalidation() method.
*/


/*!
	\fn void BLayout::EnableLayoutInvalidation()
	\brief Re-enable layout invalidation after a call to
		DisableLayoutInvalidation().
*/


/*! \fn void BLayout::DisableLayoutInvalidation()
	\brief Disable layout invalidation notifications, i.e. calls to
		this object's InvalidateLayout() method.
*/


/*!
	\fn void BLayout::ResetLayoutInvalidation()
	\brief Reset layout invalidation, causing InvalidateLayout calls to proceed
		again. This method should be called once any cached data has been
		validated, or updated to valid values.
*/


//@}


/*!
	\name Archiving methods
	\brief These methods relate to the archiving or unarchiving of this object
		and the BLayoutItems it contains

	@{
*/

	
/*!
	\fn status_t BLayout::Archive(BMessage* archive, bool deep = true) const
	\brief Archives this layout into \a archive. If deep is true, also archives
		the items in this layout, calling ItemArchived() for each one.
*/


/*!
	\fn status_t BLayout::AllUnarchived(const BMessage* from)
	\brief Unarchives the BLayoutItems for this layout, calling ItemUnarchived()
		for each one.
*/


/*!
	\fn status_t BLayout::ItemArchived(BMessage* into, BLayoutItem* item,
		int32 index) const
	\brief Hook for derived classes to add data specific to \a item to the
		\a into BMessage. \a item resides at \a index.

	\note The same archive is passed to BLayout::ItemArchived() for all items,
	so any data added for each item will be stored in an array.
*/


/*!
	\fn status_t BLayout::ItemUnarchived(const BMessage* from,
		BLayoutItem* item, int32 index)
	\brief Hook for derived classes to retrieve data specific to \a item from
		the \a from BMessage. \a item resides at \a index.

	\note The same archive is passed to BLayout::ItemArchived() for all items,
	so any data added for each item will be stored in an array. You should pass
	\a index to the BMessage methods you will be using in this method.
*/


//@}


/*!
	\name BLayout Hook methods

	@{
*/


/*!
	\fn bool BLayout::ItemAdded(BLayoutItem* item, int32 atIndex)
	\brief Hook method called when \a item is added to this layout.

	\param item The BLayoutItem that is being added.
	\param atIndex The index of the BLayoutItem.

	\retval true success
	\retval false failure, \a item will not be added.

	\note This is a good time to allocate data for a BLayoutItem and attach it
	to \a item via BLayoutItem::SetLayoutData().
*/


/*!
	\fn void BLayout::ItemRemoved(BLayoutItem* item, int32 fromIndex)
	\brief Hook method called when \a item is removed from this layout.

	\param item The BLayoutItem being removed.
	\param fromIndex The index where \a item used to reside.

	\note This is a good time to delete the data you've attached to \a item
	via BLayoutItem::SetLayoutData().
*/


/*!
	\fn void BLayout::DerivedLayoutItems() = 0
	\brief Implemented by derived classes to position and resize the items in
		this layout.
*/


/*!
	\fn void BLayout::OwnerChanged(BView* was)
	\brief Hook method called when this layout is attached to a BView.

	\param was The previous owner of this BLayout, for new BLayouts, this will
	be NULL.
*/


/*!
	\fn void BLayout::AttachedToLayout()
	\brief Hook method inherited from BLayoutItem, classes derived from BLayout
		must include the BLayout version of this method in their
		implementation.
*/


/*!
	\fn void BLayout::DetachedFromLayout(BLayout* layout)
	\brief Hook method inherited from BLayoutItem, classes derived from BLayout
		must include the BLayout version of this method in their
		implementation.

	\param layout The BLayout that this BLayout was detached from.
*/


/*!
	\fn void BLayout::AncestorVisibilityChanged(bool shown)
	\brief Hook method inherited from BLayoutItem, classes derived from BLayout
		must include the BLayout version of this method in their
		implementation.
*/


//@}