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API reference - Class Action

Notation used in Ruby API documentation

Description: The abstraction for an action (i.e. used inside menus)

Class hierarchy: Action

• Public constructors
• Public methods
• Detailed description

Actions act as a generalisation of menu entries. The action provides the appearance of a menu entry such as title, key shortcut etc. and dispatches the menu events. The action can be manipulated to change to appearance of a menu entry and can be attached an observer that receives the events when the menu item is selected.

Multiple action objects can refer to the same action internally, in which case the information and event handler is copied between the incarnations. This way, a single implementation can be provided for multiple places where an action appears, for example inside the toolbar and in addition as a menu entry. Both actions will shared the same icon, text, shortcut etc.

Actions are mainly used for providing new menu items inside the AbstractMenu class. This is some sample Ruby code for that case:

a = RBA::Action.new
a.title = "Push Me!"
a.on_triggered do 
  puts "I was pushed!"
end

app = RBA::Application.instance
mw = app.main_window

menu = mw.menu
menu.insert_separator("@toolbar.end", "name")
menu.insert_item("@toolbar.end", "my_action", a)

This code will register a custom action in the toolbar. When the toolbar button is pushed a message is printed. The toolbar is addressed by a path starting with the pseudo root "@toolbar".

In Version 0.23, the Action class has been merged with the ActionBase class.

Public constructors

Public methods

Detailed description

[const] void assign(const Action other)

Description: Assign the contents of another object to self

This method assigns the contents of another object to self. This is a deep copy that does not only copy the reference but the actual content.

void checkable=(bool checkable)

Description: Make the item(s) checkable or not

void checked=(bool checked)

Description: Check or uncheck

void create

Description: Ensures the C++ object is created

Use this method to ensure the C++ object is created, for example to ensure that resources are allocated. Usually C++ objects are created on demand and not necessarily when the script object is created.

void destroy

Description: Explicitly destroy the object

Explicitly destroy the object on C++ side if it was owned by the Ruby interpreter. Subsequent access to this object will throw an exception. If the object is not owned by Ruby, this method will do nothing.

[const] bool destroyed?

Description: Returns a value indicating whether the object was already destroyed

This method returns true, if the object was destroyed, either explicitly or by the C++ side. The latter may happen, if the object is owned by a C++ object which got destroyed itself.

[const] Action dup

Description: Creates a copy of self

void enabled=(bool enabled)

Description: Enable or disable the action

void icon=(string file)

Description: Set the icon to the given picture

Passing an empty string will reset the icon

[const] string icon_text

Description: Get the icon's text

void icon_text=(string icon_text)

Description: Set the icon's text

If an icon text is set, this will be used for the text below the icon. If no icon text is set, the normal text will be used for the icon. Passing an empty string will reset the icon's text.

[const] bool is_checkable?

Description: "is_checkable" attribute

[const] bool is_checked?

Description: "is_checked" attribute

[const] bool is_const_object?

Description: Returns a value indicating whether the reference is a const reference

This method returns true, if self is a const reference. In that case, only const methods may be called on self.

[const] bool is_enabled?

Description: "is_enabled" attribute

[const] bool is_visible?

Description: "is_visible" attribute

[static] Action new

Description: Creates a new object of this class

[event] void on_triggered

Description: This event is called if the menu item is selected

This event has been introduced in version 0.21.

[const] string shortcut

Description: Get the keyboard shortcut

void shortcut=(string shortcut)

Description: Set the keyboard shortcut

[const] string title

Description: Get the title

void title=(string title)

Description: Set the title

[const] string tool_tip

Description: Get the tool tip text

This method has been added in version 0.22.

void tool_tip=(string text)

Description: Set the tool tip text

The tool tip text is displayed in the tool tip window of the menu entry. This is in particular useful for entries in the tool bar. This method has been added in version 0.22.

void trigger

Description: Trigger the action programmatically

[virtual] void triggered

Description: This method is called if the menu item is selected

void visible=(bool visible)

Description: Show or hide