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phoenix_title wx.TextCtrl

A text control allows text to be displayed and edited.

It may be single line or multi-line. Notice that a lot of methods of the text controls are found in the base wx.TextEntry class which is a common base class for wx.TextCtrl and other controls using a single line text entry field (e.g. wx.ComboBox).

styles Window Styles

This class supports the following styles:

  • wx.TE_PROCESS_ENTER: The control will generate the event wxEVT_TEXT_ENTER (otherwise pressing Enter key is either processed internally by the control or used for navigation between dialog controls).
  • wx.TE_PROCESS_TAB: The control will receive wxEVT_CHAR events for TAB pressed - normally, TAB is used for passing to the next control in a dialog instead. For the control created with this style, you can still use Ctrl-Enter to pass to the next control from the keyboard.
  • wx.TE_MULTILINE: The text control allows multiple lines. If this style is not specified, line break characters should not be used in the controls value.
  • wx.TE_PASSWORD: The text will be echoed as asterisks.
  • wx.TE_READONLY: The text will not be user-editable.
  • wx.TE_RICH: Use rich text control under Win32, this allows to have more than 64KB of text in the control even under Win9x. This style is ignored under other platforms.
  • wx.TE_RICH2: Use rich text control version 2.0 or 3.0 under Win32, this style is ignored under other platforms
  • wx.TE_AUTO_URL: Highlight the URLs and generate the TextUrlEvents when mouse events occur over them. This style is only supported for wx.TE_RICH Win32 and multi-line wxGTK2 text controls.
  • wx.TE_NOHIDESEL: By default, the Windows text control doesn’t show the selection when it doesn’t have focus - use this style to force it to always show it. It doesn’t do anything under other platforms.
  • wx.HSCROLL: A horizontal scrollbar will be created and used, so that text won’t be wrapped. No effect under GTK1.
  • wx.TE_NO_VSCROLL: For multiline controls only: vertical scrollbar will never be created. This limits the amount of text which can be entered into the control to what can be displayed in it under MSW but not under GTK2. Currently not implemented for the other platforms.
  • wx.TE_LEFT: The text in the control will be left-justified (default).
  • wx.TE_CENTRE: The text in the control will be centered (currently wxMSW and wxGTK2 only).
  • wx.TE_RIGHT: The text in the control will be right-justified (currently wxMSW and wxGTK2 only).
  • wx.TE_DONTWRAP: Same as wx.HSCROLL style: don’t wrap at all, show horizontal scrollbar instead.
  • wx.TE_CHARWRAP: Wrap the lines too long to be shown entirely at any position (wxUniv and wxGTK2 only).
  • wx.TE_WORDWRAP: Wrap the lines too long to be shown entirely at word boundaries (wxUniv and wxGTK2 only).
  • wx.TE_BESTWRAP: Wrap the lines at word boundaries or at any other character if there are words longer than the window width (this is the default).
  • TE_CAPITALIZE: On PocketPC and Smartphone, causes the first letter to be capitalized.

Note that alignment styles (wx``wx.TE_LEFT``, wx.TE_CENTRE and wx.TE_RIGHT) can be changed dynamically after control creation on wxMSW and wxGTK. wx.TE_READONLY, wx.TE_PASSWORD and wrapping styles can be dynamically changed under wxGTK but not wxMSW. The other styles can be only set during control creation.

phoenix_title TextCtrl Text Format

The multiline text controls always store the text as a sequence of lines separated by '\n' characters, i.e. in the Unix text format even on non-Unix platforms. This allows the user code to ignore the differences between the platforms but at a price: the indices in the control such as those returned by GetInsertionPoint or GetSelection can not be used as indices into the string returned by GetValue as they’re going to be slightly off for platforms using "\\r\\n" as separator (as Windows does). Instead, if you need to obtain a substring between the 2 indices obtained from the control with the help of the functions mentioned above, you should use GetRange And the indices themselves can only be passed to other methods, for example SetInsertionPoint or SetSelection To summarize: never use the indices returned by (multiline) wx.TextCtrl as indices into the string it contains, but only as arguments to be passed back to the other wx.TextCtrl methods. This problem doesn’t arise for single-line platforms however where the indices in the control do correspond to the positions in the value string.

phoenix_title TextCtrl Styles

Multi-line text controls support styling, i.e. provide a possibility to set colours and font for individual characters in it (note that under Windows TE_RICH style is required for style support). To use the styles you can either call SetDefaultStyle before inserting the text or call SetStyle later to change the style of the text already in the control (the first solution is much more efficient). In either case, if the style doesn’t specify some of the attributes (for example you only want to set the text colour but without changing the font nor the text background), the values of the default style will be used for them. If there is no default style, the attributes of the text control itself are used. So the following code correctly describes what it does: the second call to SetDefaultStyle doesn’t change the text foreground colour (which stays red) while the last one doesn’t change the background colour (which stays grey):

text.SetDefaultStyle(wx.TextAttr(wx.RED))
text.AppendText("Red text\n")
text.SetDefaultStyle(wx.TextAttr(wx.NullColour, wx.LIGHT_GREY))
text.AppendText("Red on grey text\n")
text.SetDefaultStyle(wx.TextAttr(wx.BLUE))
text.AppendText("Blue on grey text\n")

phoenix_title TextCtrl and C++ Streams

This class multiply-inherits from std::streambuf (except for some really old compilers using non-standard iostream library), allowing code such as the following:

# C++-style stream support is not implemented for Python.

Note that even if your compiler doesn’t support this (the symbol HAS_TEXT_WINDOW_STREAM has value of 0 then) you can still use wx.TextCtrl itself in a stream-like manner:

# C++-style stream support is not implemented for Python.

However the possibility to create a std::ostream associated with wx.TextCtrl may be useful if you need to redirect the output of a function taking a std::ostream as parameter to a text control. Another commonly requested need is to redirect std::cout to the text control. This may be done in the following way:

# C++-style stream support is not implemented for Python.

But wxWidgets provides a convenient class to make it even simpler so instead you may just do

# C++-style stream support is not implemented for Python.

See StreamToTextRedirector for more details.

phoenix_title Event Handling

The following commands are processed by default event handlers in wx.TextCtrl: ID_CUT , ID_COPY , ID_PASTE , ID_UNDO , ID_REDO . The associated UI update events are also processed automatically, when the control has the focus.

events Events Emitted by this Class

Handlers bound for the following event types will receive one of the wx.CommandEvent parameters.

  • EVT_TEXT: Respond to a wxEVT_TEXT event, generated when the text changes. Notice that this event will be sent when the text controls contents changes wx.TextCtrl.SetValue is called); see wx.TextCtrl.ChangeValue for a function which does not send this event. This event is however not sent during the control creation.
  • EVT_TEXT_ENTER: Respond to a wxEVT_TEXT_ENTER event, generated when enter is pressed in a text control which must have wx.TE_PROCESS_ENTER style for this event to be generated.
  • EVT_TEXT_URL: A mouse event occurred over an URL in the text control (wxMSW and wxGTK2 only currently).
  • EVT_TEXT_MAXLEN: This event is generated when the user tries to enter more text into the control than the limit set by wx.TextCtrl.SetMaxLength , see its description.

See also

wx.TextCtrl.Create , wx.Validator


class_hierarchy Class Hierarchy

Inheritance diagram for class TextCtrl:

appearance Control Appearance


wxMSW

wxMSW

wxMAC

wxMAC

wxGTK

wxGTK


sub_classes Known Subclasses

wx.SearchCtrl


method_summary Methods Summary

__init__ Default constructor.
Create Creates the text control for two-step construction.
DiscardEdits Resets the internal modified flag as if the current changes had been saved.
EmulateKeyPress This function inserts into the control the character which would have been inserted if the given key event had occurred in the text control.
GetDefaultStyle Returns the style currently used for the new text.
GetLineLength Gets the length of the specified line, not including any trailing newline character(s).
GetLineText Returns the contents of a given line in the text control, not including any trailing newline character(s).
GetNumberOfLines Returns the number of lines in the text control buffer.
GetStyle Returns the style at this position in the text control.
HideNativeCaret Turn off the widget’s native caret on Windows.
HitTestPos Finds the position of the character at the specified point.
HitTest Finds the row and column of the character at the specified point.
IsModified Returns True if the text has been modified by user.
IsMultiLine Returns True if this is a multi line edit control and False otherwise.
IsSingleLine Returns True if this is a single line edit control and False otherwise.
LoadFile Loads and displays the named file, if it exists.
MacCheckSpelling Turn on the native spell checking for the text widget on
MarkDirty Mark text as modified (dirty).
PositionToCoords Converts given text position to client coordinates in pixels.
PositionToXY Converts given position to a zero-based column, line number pair.
SaveFile Saves the contents of the control in a text file.
SetDefaultStyle Changes the default style to use for the new text which is going to be added to the control using WriteText or AppendText .
SetModified Marks the control as being modified by the user or not.
SetStyle Changes the style of the given range.
ShowNativeCaret Turn on the widget’s native caret on Windows.
ShowPosition Makes the line containing the given position visible.
XYToPosition Converts the given zero based column and line number to a position.
flush NOP, for file-like compatibility.
write Append text to the textctrl, for file-like compatibility.

api Class API


class wx.TextCtrl(Control, TextEntry)

Possible constructors:

TextCtrl()

TextCtrl(parent, id=ID_ANY, value="", pos=DefaultPosition,
         size=DefaultSize, style=0, validator=DefaultValidator,
         name=TextCtrlNameStr)

A text control allows text to be displayed and edited.


Methods


__init__(self, *args, **kw)

overload Overloaded Implementations:


__init__ (self)

Default constructor.


__init__ (self, parent, id=ID_ANY, value=””, pos=DefaultPosition, size=DefaultSize, style=0, validator=DefaultValidator, name=TextCtrlNameStr)

Constructor, creating and showing a text control.

Parameters:
  • parent (wx.Window) – Parent window. Should not be None.
  • id (wx.WindowID) – Control identifier. A value of -1 denotes a default value.
  • value (string) – Default text value.
  • pos (wx.Point) – Text control position.
  • size (wx.Size) – Text control size.
  • style (long) – Window style. See wx.TextCtrl.
  • validator (wx.Validator) – Window validator.
  • name (string) – Window name.

Note

The horizontal scrollbar (wx``wx.HSCROLL`` style flag) will only be created for multi-line text controls. Without a horizontal scrollbar, text lines that don’t fit in the control’s size will be wrapped (but no newline character is inserted). Single line controls don’t have a horizontal scrollbar, the text is automatically scrolled so that the insertion point is always visible.

See also

Create , wx.Validator



Create(self, parent, id=ID_ANY, value="", pos=DefaultPosition, size=DefaultSize, style=0, validator=DefaultValidator, name=TextCtrlNameStr)

Creates the text control for two-step construction.

This method should be called if the default constructor was used for the control creation. Its parameters have the same meaning as for the non-default constructor.

Parameters:
Return type:

bool

DiscardEdits(self)

Resets the internal modified flag as if the current changes had been saved.


EmulateKeyPress(self, event)

This function inserts into the control the character which would have been inserted if the given key event had occurred in the text control.

The event object should be the same as the one passed to EVT_KEY_DOWN handler previously by wxWidgets. Please note that this function doesn’t currently work correctly for all keys under any platform but MSW.

Parameters:event (wx.KeyEvent) –
Return type:bool
Returns:True if the event resulted in a change to the control, False otherwise.

GetDefaultStyle(self)

Returns the style currently used for the new text.

Return type: wx.TextAttr

See also

SetDefaultStyle


GetLineLength(self, lineNo)

Gets the length of the specified line, not including any trailing newline character(s).

Parameters:lineNo (long) – Line number (starting from zero).
Return type:int
Returns:The length of the line, or -1 if lineNo was invalid.

GetLineText(self, lineNo)

Returns the contents of a given line in the text control, not including any trailing newline character(s).

Parameters:lineNo (long) – The line number, starting from zero.
Return type:string
Returns:The contents of the line.

GetNumberOfLines(self)

Returns the number of lines in the text control buffer.

The returned number is the number of logical lines, i.e. just the count of the number of newline characters in the control + 1, for wxGTK and OSX/Cocoa ports while it is the number of physical lines, i.e. the count of lines actually shown in the control, in wxMSW and OSX/Carbon. Because of this discrepancy, it is not recommended to use this function.

Return type:int

Note

Note that even empty text controls have one line (where the insertion point is), so GetNumberOfLines never returns 0.


GetStyle(self, position, style)

Returns the style at this position in the text control.

Not all platforms support this function.

Parameters:
Return type:

bool
Returns:

True on success, False if an error occurred (this may also mean that the styles are not supported under this platform).

See also

SetStyle , wx.TextAttr


HideNativeCaret(self)
Turn off the widget’s native caret on Windows. Ignored on other platforms.
Return type:bool

HitTestPos(self, pt)

Finds the position of the character at the specified point.

If the return code is not TE_HT_UNKNOWN the row and column of the character closest to this position are returned, otherwise the output parameters are not modified.

Please note that this function is currently only implemented in Univ, wxMSW and wxGTK2 ports and always returns TE_HT_UNKNOWN in the other ports.


HitTest(self, pt)

Finds the row and column of the character at the specified point.

If the return code is not TE_HT_UNKNOWN the row and column of the character closest to this position are returned, otherwise the output parameters are not modified.

Please note that this function is currently only implemented in Univ, wxMSW and wxGTK2 ports and always returns TE_HT_UNKNOWN in the other ports.


IsModified(self)

Returns True if the text has been modified by user.

Note that calling SetValue doesn’t make the control modified.

Return type:bool

See also

MarkDirty


IsMultiLine(self)

Returns True if this is a multi line edit control and False otherwise.

Return type:bool

See also

IsSingleLine


IsSingleLine(self)

Returns True if this is a single line edit control and False otherwise.

Return type:bool

See also

IsSingleLine , IsMultiLine


LoadFile(self, filename, fileType=TEXT_TYPE_ANY)

Loads and displays the named file, if it exists.

Parameters:
  • filename (string) – The filename of the file to load.
  • fileType (int) – The type of file to load. This is currently ignored in wx.TextCtrl.
Return type:

bool
Returns:

True if successful, False otherwise.

MacCheckSpelling(self, check)

Turn on the native spell checking for the text widget on OSX. Ignored on other platforms.


MarkDirty(self)

Mark text as modified (dirty).

See also

IsModified


PositionToCoords(self, pos)

Converts given text position to client coordinates in pixels.

This function allows to find where is the character at the given position displayed in the text control.

Parameters:pos (long) – Text position in 0 to GetLastPosition range (inclusive).
Return type: wx.Point
Returns:On success returns a wx.Point which contains client coordinates for the given position in pixels, otherwise returns wx.DefaultPosition .

New in version 2.9.3.

Availability

Only available for MSW, GTK . Additionally, wxGTK only implements this method for multiline controls and wx.DefaultPosition is always returned for the single line ones.

See also

XYToPosition , PositionToXY


PositionToXY(self, pos)

Converts given position to a zero-based column, line number pair.

Parameters:pos (long) – Position.
Return type:tuple

SaveFile(self, filename="", fileType=TEXT_TYPE_ANY)

Saves the contents of the control in a text file.

Parameters:
  • filename (string) – The name of the file in which to save the text.
  • fileType (int) – The type of file to save. This is currently ignored in wx.TextCtrl.
Return type:

bool
Returns:

True if the operation was successful, False otherwise.

SetDefaultStyle(self, style)

Changes the default style to use for the new text which is going to be added to the control using WriteText or AppendText .

If either of the font, foreground, or background colour is not set in style, the values of the previous default style are used for them. If the previous default style didn’t set them neither, the global font or colours of the text control itself are used as fall back.

However if the style parameter is the default wx.TextAttr, then the default style is just reset (instead of being combined with the new style which wouldn’t change it at all).

Parameters:style (wx.TextAttr) – The style for the new text.
Return type:bool
Returns:True on success, False if an error occurred (this may also mean that the styles are not supported under this platform).

See also

GetDefaultStyle


SetModified(self, modified)

Marks the control as being modified by the user or not.

Parameters:modified (bool) –

See also

MarkDirty , DiscardEdits


SetStyle(self, start, end, style)

Changes the style of the given range.

If any attribute within style is not set, the corresponding attribute from GetDefaultStyle is used.

Parameters:
  • start (long) – The start of the range to change.
  • end (long) – The end of the range to change.
  • style (wx.TextAttr) – The new style for the range.
Return type:

bool
Returns:

True on success, False if an error occurred (this may also mean that the styles are not supported under this platform).

See also

GetStyle , wx.TextAttr


ShowNativeCaret(self, show=True)
Turn on the widget’s native caret on Windows. Ignored on other platforms.
Return type:bool

ShowPosition(self, pos)

Makes the line containing the given position visible.

Parameters:pos (long) – The position that should be visible.

XYToPosition(self, x, y)

Converts the given zero based column and line number to a position.

Parameters:
  • x (long) – The column number.
  • y (long) – The line number.
Return type:

long
Returns:

The position value, or -1 if x or y was invalid.

flush(self)

NOP, for file-like compatibility.


write(self, text)

Append text to the textctrl, for file-like compatibility.


Properties


DefaultStyle

See GetDefaultStyle and SetDefaultStyle


NumberOfLines

See GetNumberOfLines