## wxWindow

wxWindow is the base class for all windows and represents any visible object on screen. All controls, top level windows and so on are windows. Sizers and device contexts are not, however, as they don't appear on screen themselves.

Please note that all children of the window will be deleted automatically by the destructor before the window itself is deleted which means that you don't have to worry about deleting them manually. Please see the window deletion overview for more information.

Also note that in this, and many others, wxWidgets classes some `GetXXX()` methods may be overloaded (as, for example, GetSize or GetClientSize). In this case, the overloads are non-virtual because having multiple virtual functions with the same name results in a virtual function name hiding at the derived class level (in English, this means that the derived class has to override all overloaded variants if it overrides any of them). To allow overriding them in the derived class, wxWidgets uses a unique protected virtual `DoGetXXX()` method and all `GetXXX()` ones are forwarded to it, so overriding the former changes the behaviour of the latter.

Derived from

wxEvtHandler
wxObject

Include files

<wx/window.h>

Window styles

The following styles can apply to all windows, although they will not always make sense for a particular window class or on all platforms.

wxSIMPLE_BORDER | Displays a thin border around the window. wxBORDER is the old name for this style.
wxDOUBLE_BORDER | Displays a double border. Windows and Mac only.
wxSUNKEN_BORDER | Displays a sunken border.
wxRAISED_BORDER | Displays a raised border.
wxSTATIC_BORDER | Displays a border suitable for a static control. Windows only.
wxNO_BORDER | Displays no border, overriding the default border style for the window.
wxTRANSPARENT_WINDOW | The window is transparent, that is, it will not receive paint events. Windows only.
wxTAB_TRAVERSAL | Use this to enable tab traversal for non-dialog windows.
wxWANTS_CHARS | Use this to indicate that the window wants to get all char/key events for all keys - even for keys like TAB or ENTER which are usually used for dialog navigation and which wouldn't be generated without this style. If you need to use this style in order to get the arrows or etc., but would still like to have normal keyboard navigation take place, you should create and send a wxNavigationKeyEvent in response to the key events for Tab and Shift-Tab.
wxNO_FULL_REPAINT_ON_RESIZE | On Windows, this style used to disable repainting the window completely when its size is changed. Since this behaviour is now the default, the style is now obsolete and no longer has an effect.
wxVSCROLL | Use this style to enable a vertical scrollbar.
wxHSCROLL | Use this style to enable a horizontal scrollbar.
wxALWAYS_SHOW_SB | If a window has scrollbars, disable them instead of hiding them when they are not needed (i.e. when the size of the window is big enough to not require the scrollbars to navigate it). This style is currently only implemented for wxMSW and wxUniversal and does nothing on the other platforms.
wxCLIP_CHILDREN | Use this style to eliminate flicker caused by the background being repainted, then children being painted over them. Windows only.
wxFULL_REPAINT_ON_RESIZE | Use this style to force a complete redraw of the window whenever it is resized instead of redrawing just the part of the window affected by resizing. Note that this was the behaviour by default before 2.5.1 release and that if you experience redraw problems with code which previously used to work you may want to try this. Currently this style applies on GTK+ 2 and Windows only, and full repainting is always done on other platforms.

See also window styles overview.

Extra window styles

The following are extra styles, set using wxWindow::SetExtraStyle.

wxWS_EX_VALIDATE_RECURSIVELY | By default, Validate/TransferDataTo/FromWindow() only work on direct children of the window (compatible behaviour). Set this flag to make them recursively descend into all subwindows.
wxWS_EX_BLOCK_EVENTS | wxCommandEvents and the objects of the derived classes are forwarded to the parent window and so on recursively by default. Using this flag for the given window allows to block this propagation at this window, i.e. prevent the events from being propagated further upwards. Dialogs have this flag on by default.
wxWS_EX_TRANSIENT | Don't use this window as an implicit parent for the other windows: this must be used with transient windows as otherwise there is the risk of creating a dialog/frame with this window as a parent which would lead to a crash if the parent is destroyed before the child.
wxWS_EX_PROCESS_IDLE | This window should always process idle events, even if the mode set by wxIdleEvent::SetMode is wxIDLE_PROCESS_SPECIFIED.
wxWS_EX_PROCESS_UI_UPDATES | This window should always process UI update events, even if the mode set by wxUpdateUIEvent::SetMode is wxUPDATE_UI_PROCESS_SPECIFIED.

See also

Event handling overview

Members

wxWindow::wxWindow
wxWindow::~wxWindow
wxWindow::AddChild
wxWindow::CacheBestSize
wxWindow::CaptureMouse
wxWindow::Center
wxWindow::CenterOnParent
wxWindow::CenterOnScreen
wxWindow::Centre
wxWindow::CentreOnParent
wxWindow::CentreOnScreen
wxWindow::ClearBackground
wxWindow::ClientToScreen
wxWindow::Close
wxWindow::ConvertDialogToPixels
wxWindow::ConvertPixelsToDialog
wxWindow::Destroy
wxWindow::DestroyChildren
wxWindow::Disable
wxWindow::DoGetBestSize
wxWindow::DoUpdateWindowUI
wxWindow::DragAcceptFiles
wxWindow::Enable
wxWindow::FindFocus
wxWindow::FindWindow
wxWindow::FindWindowById
wxWindow::FindWindowByName
wxWindow::FindWindowByLabel
wxWindow::Fit
wxWindow::FitInside
wxWindow::Freeze
wxWindow::GetAcceleratorTable
wxWindow::GetAccessible
wxWindow::GetAdjustedBestSize
wxWindow::GetBackgroundColour
wxWindow::GetBackgroundStyle
wxWindow::GetBestFittingSize
wxWindow::GetBestSize
wxWindow::GetCaret
wxWindow::GetCapture
wxWindow::GetCharHeight
wxWindow::GetCharWidth
wxWindow::GetChildren
wxWindow::GetClassDefaultAttributes
wxWindow::GetClientSize
wxWindow::GetConstraints
wxWindow::GetContainingSizer
wxWindow::GetCursor
wxWindow::GetDefaultAttributes
wxWindow::GetDropTarget
wxWindow::GetEventHandler
wxWindow::GetExtraStyle
wxWindow::GetFont
wxWindow::GetForegroundColour
wxWindow::GetGrandParent
wxWindow::GetHandle
wxWindow::GetHelpText
wxWindow::GetId
wxWindow::GetLabel
wxWindow::GetMaxSize
wxWindow::GetMinSize
wxWindow::GetName
wxWindow::GetParent
wxWindow::GetPosition
wxWindow::GetRect
wxWindow::GetScrollPos
wxWindow::GetScrollRange
wxWindow::GetScrollThumb
wxWindow::GetSize
wxWindow::GetSizer
wxWindow::GetTextExtent
wxWindow::GetTitle
wxWindow::GetToolTip
wxWindow::GetUpdateRegion
wxWindow::GetValidator
wxWindow::GetVirtualSize
wxWindow::GetWindowStyleFlag
wxWindow::GetWindowVariant
wxWindow::HasCapture
wxWindow::HasScrollbar
wxWindow::HasTransparentBackground
wxWindow::Hide
wxWindow::InheritAttributes
wxWindow::InitDialog
wxWindow::InvalidateBestSize
wxWindow::IsEnabled
wxWindow::IsExposed
wxWindow::IsRetained
wxWindow::IsShown
wxWindow::IsTopLevel
wxWindow::Layout
wxWindow::LineDown
wxWindow::LineUp
wxWindow::Lower
wxWindow::MakeModal
wxWindow::Move
wxWindow::MoveAfterInTabOrder
wxWindow::MoveBeforeInTabOrder
wxWindow::Navigate
wxWindow::OnInternalIdle
wxWindow::PageDown
wxWindow::PageUp
wxWindow::PopEventHandler
wxWindow::PopupMenu
wxWindow::PushEventHandler
wxWindow::Raise
wxWindow::Refresh
wxWindow::RefreshRect
wxWindow::RegisterHotKey
wxWindow::ReleaseMouse
wxWindow::RemoveChild
wxWindow::RemoveEventHandler
wxWindow::Reparent
wxWindow::ScreenToClient
wxWindow::ScrollLines
wxWindow::ScrollPages
wxWindow::ScrollWindow
wxWindow::SetAcceleratorTable
wxWindow::SetAccessible
wxWindow::SetAutoLayout
wxWindow::SetBackgroundColour
wxWindow::SetBackgroundStyle
wxWindow::SetBestFittingSize
wxWindow::SetCaret
wxWindow::SetClientSize
wxWindow::SetContainingSizer
wxWindow::SetCursor
wxWindow::SetConstraints
wxWindow::SetInitialBestSize
wxWindow::SetMaxSize
wxWindow::SetMinSize
wxWindow::SetOwnBackgroundColour
wxWindow::SetOwnFont
wxWindow::SetOwnForegroundColour
wxWindow::SetDropTarget
wxWindow::SetEventHandler
wxWindow::SetExtraStyle
wxWindow::SetFocus
wxWindow::SetFocusFromKbd
wxWindow::SetFont
wxWindow::SetForegroundColour
wxWindow::SetHelpText
wxWindow::SetId
wxWindow::SetLabel
wxWindow::SetName
wxWindow::SetPalette
wxWindow::SetScrollbar
wxWindow::SetScrollPos
wxWindow::SetSize
wxWindow::SetSizeHints
wxWindow::SetSizer
wxWindow::SetSizerAndFit
wxWindow::SetTitle
wxWindow::SetThemeEnabled
wxWindow::SetToolTip
wxWindow::SetValidator
wxWindow::SetVirtualSize
wxWindow::SetVirtualSizeHints
wxWindow::SetWindowStyle
wxWindow::SetWindowStyleFlag
wxWindow::SetWindowVariant
wxWindow::ShouldInheritColours
wxWindow::Show
wxWindow::Thaw
wxWindow::TransferDataFromWindow
wxWindow::TransferDataToWindow
wxWindow::UnregisterHotKey
wxWindow::Update
wxWindow::UpdateWindowUI
wxWindow::Validate
wxWindow::WarpPointer

### wxWindow::wxWindow

wxWindow()

Default constructor.

wxWindow(wxWindow* parent, wxWindowID id, const wxPoint& pos = wxDefaultPosition, const wxSize& size = wxDefaultSize, long style = 0, const wxString& name = wxPanelNameStr)

Constructs a window, which can be a child of a frame, dialog or any other non-control window.

Parameters

parent

Pointer to a parent window.

id

Window identifier. If -1, will automatically create an identifier.

pos

Window position. wxDefaultPosition is (-1, -1) which indicates that wxWidgets should generate a default position for the window. If using the wxWindow class directly, supply an actual position.

size

Window size. wxDefaultSize is (-1, -1) which indicates that wxWidgets should generate a default size for the window. If no suitable size can be found, the window will be sized to 20x20 pixels so that the window is visible but obviously not correctly sized.

style

Window style. For generic window styles, please see wxWindow.

name

Window name.

### wxWindow::~wxWindow

~wxWindow()

Destructor. Deletes all subwindows, then deletes itself. Instead of using the delete operator explicitly, you should normally use wxWindow::Destroy so that wxWidgets can delete a window only when it is safe to do so, in idle time.

See also

Window deletion overview, wxWindow::Destroy, wxCloseEvent

### wxWindow::AddChild

virtual void AddChild(wxWindow* child)

Adds a child window. This is called automatically by window creation functions so should not be required by the application programmer.

Notice that this function is mostly internal to wxWidgets and shouldn't be called by the user code.

Parameters

child

Child window to add.

### wxWindow::CacheBestSize

void CacheBestSize(const wxSize& size) const

Sets the cached best size value.

### wxWindow::CaptureMouse

virtual void CaptureMouse()

Directs all mouse input to this window. Call wxWindow::ReleaseMouse to release the capture.

Note that wxWidgets maintains the stack of windows having captured the mouse and when the mouse is released the capture returns to the window which had had captured it previously and it is only really released if there were no previous window. In particular, this means that you must release the mouse as many times as you capture it.

See also

wxWindow::ReleaseMouse

### wxWindow::Center

void Center(int direction)

A synonym for Centre.

### wxWindow::CenterOnParent

void CenterOnParent(int direction)

A synonym for CentreOnParent.

### wxWindow::CenterOnScreen

void CenterOnScreen(int direction)

A synonym for CentreOnScreen.

### wxWindow::Centre

void Centre(int direction = wxBOTH)

Centres the window.

Parameters

direction

Specifies the direction for the centering. May be `wxHORIZONTAL`, `wxVERTICAL` or `wxBOTH`. It may also include `wxCENTRE_ON_SCREEN` flag if you want to center the window on the entire screen and not on its parent window.

The flag `wxCENTRE_FRAME` is obsolete and should not be used any longer (it has no effect).

Remarks

If the window is a top level one (i.e. doesn't have a parent), it will be centered relative to the screen anyhow.

See also

wxWindow::Center

### wxWindow::CentreOnParent

void CentreOnParent(int direction = wxBOTH)

Centres the window on its parent. This is a more readable synonym for Centre.

Parameters

direction

Specifies the direction for the centering. May be `wxHORIZONTAL`, `wxVERTICAL` or `wxBOTH`.

Remarks

This methods provides for a way to center top level windows over their parents instead of the entire screen. If there is no parent or if the window is not a top level window, then behaviour is the same as wxWindow::Centre.

See also

wxWindow::CentreOnScreen

### wxWindow::CentreOnScreen

void CentreOnScreen(int direction = wxBOTH)

Centres the window on screen. This only works for top level windows - otherwise, the window will still be centered on its parent.

Parameters

direction

Specifies the direction for the centering. May be `wxHORIZONTAL`, `wxVERTICAL` or `wxBOTH`.

See also

wxWindow::CentreOnParent

### wxWindow::ClearBackground

void ClearBackground()

Clears the window by filling it with the current background colour. Does not cause an erase background event to be generated.

### wxWindow::ClientToScreen

virtual void ClientToScreen(int* x, int* y) const

wxPerl note: In wxPerl this method returns a 2-element list instead of modifying its parameters.

virtual wxPoint ClientToScreen(const wxPoint& pt) const

Converts to screen coordinates from coordinates relative to this window.

x

A pointer to a integer value for the x coordinate. Pass the client coordinate in, and a screen coordinate will be passed out.

y

A pointer to a integer value for the y coordinate. Pass the client coordinate in, and a screen coordinate will be passed out.

pt

The client position for the second form of the function.

wxPython note: In place of a single overloaded method name, wxPython implements the following methods:

ClientToScreen(point) | Accepts and returns a wxPoint
ClientToScreenXY(x, y) | Returns a 2-tuple, (x, y)

### wxWindow::Close

bool Close(bool force = `false`)

This function simply generates a wxCloseEvent whose handler usually tries to close the window. It doesn't close the window itself, however.

Parameters

force

`false` if the window's close handler should be able to veto the destruction of this window, `true` if it cannot.

Remarks

Close calls the close handler for the window, providing an opportunity for the window to choose whether to destroy the window. Usually it is only used with the top level windows (wxFrame and wxDialog classes) as the others are not supposed to have any special OnClose() logic.

The close handler should check whether the window is being deleted forcibly, using wxCloseEvent::CanVeto, in which case it should destroy the window using wxWindow::Destroy.

Note that calling Close does not guarantee that the window will be destroyed; but it provides a way to simulate a manual close of a window, which may or may not be implemented by destroying the window. The default implementation of wxDialog::OnCloseWindow does not necessarily delete the dialog, since it will simply simulate an wxID_CANCEL event which is handled by the appropriate button event handler and may do anything at all.

To guarantee that the window will be destroyed, call wxWindow::Destroy instead

See also

Window deletion overview, wxWindow::Destroy, wxCloseEvent

### wxWindow::ConvertDialogToPixels

wxPoint ConvertDialogToPixels(const wxPoint& pt)

wxSize ConvertDialogToPixels(const wxSize& sz)

Converts a point or size from dialog units to pixels.

For the x dimension, the dialog units are multiplied by the average character width and then divided by 4.

For the y dimension, the dialog units are multiplied by the average character height and then divided by 8.

Remarks

Dialog units are used for maintaining a dialog's proportions even if the font changes.

You can also use these functions programmatically. A convenience macro is defined:

    #define wxDLG_UNIT(parent, pt) parent->ConvertDialogToPixels(pt)

See also

wxWindow::ConvertPixelsToDialog

wxPython note: In place of a single overloaded method name, wxPython implements the following methods:

ConvertDialogPointToPixels(point) | Accepts and returns a wxPoint
ConvertDialogSizeToPixels(size) | Accepts and returns a wxSize

Additionally, the following helper functions are defined:

wxDLG_PNT(win, point) | Converts a wxPoint from dialog units to pixels
wxDLG_SZE(win, size) | Converts a wxSize from dialog units to pixels

### wxWindow::ConvertPixelsToDialog

wxPoint ConvertPixelsToDialog(const wxPoint& pt)

wxSize ConvertPixelsToDialog(const wxSize& sz)

Converts a point or size from pixels to dialog units.

For the x dimension, the pixels are multiplied by 4 and then divided by the average character width.

For the y dimension, the pixels are multiplied by 8 and then divided by the average character height.

Remarks

Dialog units are used for maintaining a dialog's proportions even if the font changes.

See also

wxWindow::ConvertDialogToPixels

wxPython note: In place of a single overloaded method name, wxPython implements the following methods:

ConvertDialogPointToPixels(point) | Accepts and returns a wxPoint
ConvertDialogSizeToPixels(size) | Accepts and returns a wxSize

### wxWindow::Destroy

virtual bool Destroy()

Destroys the window safely. Use this function instead of the delete operator, since different window classes can be destroyed differently. Frames and dialogs are not destroyed immediately when this function is called -- they are added to a list of windows to be deleted on idle time, when all the window's events have been processed. This prevents problems with events being sent to non-existent windows.

Return value

`true` if the window has either been successfully deleted, or it has been added to the list of windows pending real deletion.

### wxWindow::DestroyChildren

virtual void DestroyChildren()

Destroys all children of a window. Called automatically by the destructor.

### wxWindow::Disable

bool Disable()

Disables the window, same as Enable(`false`).

Return value

Returns `true` if the window has been disabled, `false` if it had been already disabled before the call to this function.

### wxWindow::DoGetBestSize

virtual wxSize DoGetBestSize() const

Gets the size which best suits the window: for a control, it would be the minimal size which doesn't truncate the control, for a panel - the same size as it would have after a call to Fit().

### wxWindow::DoUpdateWindowUI

virtual void DoUpdateWindowUI(wxUpdateUIEvent& event)

Does the window-specific updating after processing the update event. This function is called by wxWindow::UpdateWindowUI in order to check return values in the wxUpdateUIEvent and act appropriately. For example, to allow frame and dialog title updating, wxWidgets implements this function as follows:

    // do the window-specific processing after processing the update event
    void wxTopLevelWindowBase::DoUpdateWindowUI(wxUpdateUIEvent& event)
    {
        if ( event.GetSetEnabled() )
            Enable(event.GetEnabled());

        if ( event.GetSetText() )
        {
            if ( event.GetText() != GetTitle() )
                SetTitle(event.GetText());
        }
    }

### wxWindow::DragAcceptFiles

virtual void DragAcceptFiles(bool accept)

Enables or disables eligibility for drop file events (OnDropFiles).

Parameters

accept

If `true`, the window is eligible for drop file events. If `false`, the window will not accept drop file events.

Remarks

Windows only.

### wxWindow::Enable

virtual bool Enable(bool enable = `true`)

Enable or disable the window for user input. Note that when a parent window is disabled, all of its children are disabled as well and they are reenabled again when the parent is.

Parameters

enable

If `true`, enables the window for input. If `false`, disables the window.

Return value

Returns `true` if the window has been enabled or disabled, `false` if nothing was done, i.e. if the window had already been in the specified state.

See also

wxWindow::IsEnabled, wxWindow::Disable, wxRadioBox::Enable

### wxWindow::FindFocus

static wxWindow* FindFocus()

Finds the window or control which currently has the keyboard focus.

Remarks

Note that this is a static function, so it can be called without needing a wxWindow pointer.

See also

wxWindow::SetFocus

### wxWindow::FindWindow

wxWindow* FindWindow(long id) const

Find a child of this window, by identifier.

wxWindow* FindWindow(const wxString& name) const

Find a child of this window, by name.

wxPython note: In place of a single overloaded method name, wxPython implements the following methods:

FindWindowById(id) | Accepts an integer
FindWindowByName(name) | Accepts a string

### wxWindow::FindWindowById

static wxWindow* FindWindowById(long id, wxWindow* parent = NULL)

Find the first window with the given id.

If parent is NULL, the search will start from all top-level frames and dialog boxes; if non-NULL, the search will be limited to the given window hierarchy. The search is recursive in both cases.

See also

FindWindow

### wxWindow::FindWindowByName

static wxWindow* FindWindowByName(const wxString& name, wxWindow* parent = NULL)

Find a window by its name (as given in a window constructor or Create function call). If parent is NULL, the search will start from all top-level frames and dialog boxes; if non-NULL, the search will be limited to the given window hierarchy. The search is recursive in both cases.

If no window with such name is found, FindWindowByLabel is called.

See also

FindWindow

### wxWindow::FindWindowByLabel

static wxWindow* FindWindowByLabel(const wxString& label, wxWindow* parent = NULL)

Find a window by its label. Depending on the type of window, the label may be a window title or panel item label. If parent is NULL, the search will start from all top-level frames and dialog boxes; if non-NULL, the search will be limited to the given window hierarchy. The search is recursive in both cases.

See also

FindWindow

### wxWindow::Fit

virtual void Fit()

Sizes the window so that it fits around its subwindows. This function won't do anything if there are no subwindows and will only really work correctly if the sizers are used for the subwindows layout. Also, if the window has exactly one subwindow it is better (faster and the result is more precise as Fit adds some margin to account for fuzziness of its calculations) to call

        window->SetClientSize(child->GetSize());

instead of calling Fit.

### wxWindow::FitInside

virtual void FitInside()

Similar to Fit, but sizes the interior (virtual) size of a window. Mainly useful with scrolled windows to reset scrollbars after sizing changes that do not trigger a size event, and/or scrolled windows without an interior sizer. This function similarly won't do anything if there are no subwindows.

### wxWindow::Freeze

virtual void Freeze()

Freezes the window or, in other words, prevents any updates from taking place on screen, the window is not redrawn at all. Thaw must be called to reenable window redrawing. Calls to these two functions may be nested.

This method is useful for visual appearance optimization (for example, it is a good idea to use it before doing many large text insertions in a row into a wxTextCtrl under wxGTK) but is not implemented on all platforms nor for all controls so it is mostly just a hint to wxWidgets and not a mandatory directive.

### wxWindow::GetAcceleratorTable

wxAcceleratorTable* GetAcceleratorTable() const

Gets the accelerator table for this window. See wxAcceleratorTable.

### wxWindow::GetAccessible

wxAccessible* GetAccessible()

Returns the accessible object for this window, if any.

See also wxAccessible.

### wxWindow::GetAdjustedBestSize

wxSize GetAdjustedBestSize() const

This method is similar to GetBestSize, except in one thing. GetBestSize should return the minimum untruncated size of the window, while this method will return the largest of BestSize and any user specified minimum size. ie. it is the minimum size the window should currently be drawn at, not the minimal size it can possibly tolerate.

### wxWindow::GetBackgroundColour

virtual wxColour GetBackgroundColour() const

Returns the background colour of the window.

See also

wxWindow::SetBackgroundColour, wxWindow::SetForegroundColour, wxWindow::GetForegroundColour

### wxWindow::GetBackgroundStyle

virtual wxBackgroundStyle GetBackgroundStyle() const

Returns the background style of the window. The background style indicates whether background colour should be determined by the system (wxBG_STYLE_SYSTEM), be set to a specific colour (wxBG_STYLE_COLOUR), or should be left to the application to implement (wxBG_STYLE_CUSTOM).

On GTK+, use of wxBG_STYLE_CUSTOM allows the flicker-free drawing of a custom background, such as a tiled bitmap. Currently the style has no effect on other platforms.

See also

wxWindow::SetBackgroundColour, wxWindow::GetForegroundColour, wxWindow::SetBackgroundStyle

### wxWindow::GetBestFittingSize

wxSize GetBestFittingSize() const

Merges the window's best size into the min size and returns the result.

See also

wxWindow::GetBestSize, wxWindow::SetBestFittingSize, wxWindow::SetSizeHints

### wxWindow::GetBestSize

wxSize GetBestSize() const

This functions returns the best acceptable minimal size for the window. For example, for a static control, it will be the minimal size such that the control label is not truncated. For windows containing subwindows (typically wxPanel), the size returned by this function will be the same as the size the window would have had after calling Fit.

### wxWindow::GetCaret

wxCaret * GetCaret() const

Returns the caret associated with the window.

### wxWindow::GetCapture

static wxWindow * GetCapture()

Returns the currently captured window.

See also

wxWindow::HasCapture, wxWindow::CaptureMouse, wxWindow::ReleaseMouse, wxMouseCaptureChangedEvent

### wxWindow::GetCharHeight

virtual int GetCharHeight() const

Returns the character height for this window.

### wxWindow::GetCharWidth

virtual int GetCharWidth() const

Returns the average character width for this window.

### wxWindow::GetChildren

wxList& GetChildren()

Returns a reference to the list of the window's children.

### wxWindow::GetClassDefaultAttributes

static wxVisualAttributes GetClassDefaultAttributes(wxWindowVariant variant = `wxWINDOW_VARIANT_NORMAL`)

Returns the default font and colours which are used by the control. This is useful if you want to use the same font or colour in your own control as in a standard control -- which is a much better idea than hard coding specific colours or fonts which might look completely out of place on the users system, especially if it uses themes.

The variant parameter is only relevant under Mac currently and is ignore under other platforms. Under Mac, it will change the size of the returned font. See wxWindow::SetWindowVariant for more about this.

This static method is "overridden'' in many derived classes and so calling, for example, wxButton::GetClassDefaultAttributes() will typically return the values appropriate for a button which will be normally different from those returned by, say, wxListCtrl::GetClassDefaultAttributes().

The `wxVisualAttributes` structure has at least the fields `font`, `colFg` and `colBg`. All of them may be invalid if it was not possible to determine the default control appearance or, especially for the background colour, if the field doesn't make sense as is the case for `colBg` for the controls with themed background.

See also

InheritAttributes

### wxWindow::GetClientSize

void GetClientSize(int* width, int* height) const

wxPerl note: In wxPerl this method takes no parameter and returns a 2-element list `(width, height)`.

wxSize GetClientSize() const

This gets the size of the window 'client area' in pixels. The client area is the area which may be drawn on by the programmer, excluding title bar, border, scrollbars, etc.

Parameters

width

Receives the client width in pixels.

height

Receives the client height in pixels.

wxPython note: In place of a single overloaded method name, wxPython implements the following methods:

GetClientSizeTuple() | Returns a 2-tuple of (width, height)
GetClientSize() | Returns a wxSize object

See also

GetSize, GetVirtualSize

### wxWindow::GetConstraints

wxLayoutConstraints* GetConstraints() const

Returns a pointer to the window's layout constraints, or NULL if there are none.

### wxWindow::GetContainingSizer

const wxSizer * GetContainingSizer() const

Return the sizer that this window is a member of, if any, otherwise `NULL`.

### wxWindow::GetCursor

const wxCursor& GetCursor() const

Return the cursor associated with this window.

See also

wxWindow::SetCursor

### wxWindow::GetDefaultAttributes

virtual wxVisualAttributes GetDefaultAttributes() const

Currently this is the same as calling GetClassDefaultAttributes(GetWindowVariant()).

One advantage of using this function compared to the static version is that the call is automatically dispatched to the correct class (as usual with virtual functions) and you don't have to specify the class name explicitly.

The other one is that in the future this function could return different results, for example it might return a different font for an "Ok'' button than for a generic button if the users GUI is configured to show such buttons in bold font. Of course, the down side is that it is impossible to call this function without actually having an object to apply it to whereas the static version can be used without having to create an object first.

### wxWindow::GetDropTarget

wxDropTarget* GetDropTarget() const

Returns the associated drop target, which may be NULL.

See also

wxWindow::SetDropTarget, Drag and drop overview

### wxWindow::GetEventHandler

wxEvtHandler* GetEventHandler() const

Returns the event handler for this window. By default, the window is its own event handler.

See also

wxWindow::SetEventHandler, wxWindow::PushEventHandler, wxWindow::PopEventHandler, wxEvtHandler::ProcessEvent, wxEvtHandler

### wxWindow::GetExtraStyle

long GetExtraStyle() const

Returns the extra style bits for the window.

### wxWindow::GetFont

wxFont GetFont() const

Returns the font for this window.

See also

wxWindow::SetFont

### wxWindow::GetForegroundColour

virtual wxColour GetForegroundColour()

Returns the foreground colour of the window.

Remarks

The interpretation of foreground colour is open to interpretation according to the window class; it may be the text colour or other colour, or it may not be used at all.

See also

wxWindow::SetForegroundColour, wxWindow::SetBackgroundColour, wxWindow::GetBackgroundColour

### wxWindow::GetGrandParent

wxWindow* GetGrandParent() const

Returns the grandparent of a window, or NULL if there isn't one.

### wxWindow::GetHandle

void* GetHandle() const

Returns the platform-specific handle of the physical window. Cast it to an appropriate handle, such as HWND for Windows, Widget for Motif, GtkWidget for GTK or WinHandle for PalmOS.

wxPython note: This method will return an integer in wxPython.

wxPerl note: This method will return an integer in wxPerl.

### wxWindow::GetHelpText

virtual wxString GetHelpText() const

Gets the help text to be used as context-sensitive help for this window.

Note that the text is actually stored by the current wxHelpProvider implementation, and not in the window object itself.

See also

SetHelpText, wxHelpProvider

### wxWindow::GetId

int GetId() const

Returns the identifier of the window.

Remarks

Each window has an integer identifier. If the application has not provided one (or the default Id -1) an unique identifier with a negative value will be generated.

See also

wxWindow::SetId, Window identifiers

### wxWindow::GetLabel

virtual wxString GetLabel() const

Generic way of getting a label from any window, for identification purposes.

Remarks

The interpretation of this function differs from class to class. For frames and dialogs, the value returned is the title. For buttons or static text controls, it is the button text. This function can be useful for meta-programs (such as testing tools or special-needs access programs) which need to identify windows by name.

### wxWindow::GetMaxSize

wxSize GetMaxSize() const

Returns the maximum size of the window, an indication to the sizer layout mechanism that this is the maximum possible size.

### wxWindow::GetMinSize

wxSize GetMinSize() const

Returns the minimum size of the window, an indication to the sizer layout mechanism that this is the minimum required size.

### wxWindow::GetName

virtual wxString GetName() const

Returns the window's name.

Remarks

This name is not guaranteed to be unique; it is up to the programmer to supply an appropriate name in the window constructor or via wxWindow::SetName.

See also

wxWindow::SetName

### wxWindow::GetParent

virtual wxWindow* GetParent() const

Returns the parent of the window, or NULL if there is no parent.

### wxWindow::GetPosition

virtual void GetPosition(int* x, int* y) const

wxPoint GetPosition() const

This gets the position of the window in pixels, relative to the parent window for the child windows or relative to the display origin for the top level windows.

Parameters

x

Receives the x position of the window.

y

Receives the y position of the window.

wxPython note: In place of a single overloaded method name, wxPython implements the following methods:

GetPosition() | Returns a wxPoint
GetPositionTuple() | Returns a tuple (x, y)

wxPerl note: In wxPerl there are two methods instead of a single overloaded method:

GetPosition() | Returns a Wx::Point
GetPositionXY() | Returns a 2-element list `( x, y )`

### wxWindow::GetRect

virtual wxRect GetRect() const

Returns the size and position of the window as a wxRect object.

### wxWindow::GetScrollPos

virtual int GetScrollPos(int orientation)

Returns the built-in scrollbar position.

See also

See wxWindow::SetScrollbar

### wxWindow::GetScrollRange

virtual int GetScrollRange(int orientation)

Returns the built-in scrollbar range.

See also

wxWindow::SetScrollbar

### wxWindow::GetScrollThumb

virtual int GetScrollThumb(int orientation)

Returns the built-in scrollbar thumb size.

See also

wxWindow::SetScrollbar

### wxWindow::GetSize

void GetSize(int* width, int* height) const

wxSize GetSize() const

This gets the size of the entire window in pixels, including title bar, border, scrollbars, etc.

Parameters

width

Receives the window width.

height

Receives the window height.

wxPython note: In place of a single overloaded method name, wxPython implements the following methods:

GetSize() | Returns a wxSize
GetSizeTuple() | Returns a 2-tuple (width, height)

wxPerl note: In wxPerl there are two methods instead of a single overloaded method:

GetSize() | Returns a Wx::Size
GetSizeWH() | Returns a 2-element list `( width, height )`

See also

GetClientSize, GetVirtualSize

### wxWindow::GetSizer

wxSizer * GetSizer() const

Return the sizer associated with the window by a previous call to SetSizer() or `NULL`.

### wxWindow::GetTextExtent

virtual void GetTextExtent(const wxString& string, int* x, int* y, int* descent = NULL, int* externalLeading = NULL, const wxFont* font = NULL, bool use16 = `false`) const

Gets the dimensions of the string as it would be drawn on the window with the currently selected font.

Parameters

string

String whose extent is to be measured.

x

Return value for width.

y

Return value for height.

descent

Return value for descent (optional).

externalLeading

Return value for external leading (optional).

font

Font to use instead of the current window font (optional).

use16

If `true`, string contains 16-bit characters. The default is `false`.

wxPython note: In place of a single overloaded method name, wxPython implements the following methods:

GetTextExtent(string) | Returns a 2-tuple, (width, height)
GetFullTextExtent(string, font=NULL) | Returns a 4-tuple, (width, height, descent, externalLeading)

wxPerl note: In wxPerl this method takes only the `string` and optionally `font` parameters, and returns a 4-element list `( x, y, descent, externalLeading )`.

### wxWindow::GetTitle

virtual wxString GetTitle()

Gets the window's title. Applicable only to frames and dialogs.

See also

wxWindow::SetTitle

### wxWindow::GetToolTip

wxToolTip* GetToolTip() const

Get the associated tooltip or NULL if none.

### wxWindow::GetUpdateRegion

virtual wxRegion GetUpdateRegion() const

Returns the region specifying which parts of the window have been damaged. Should only be called within an wxPaintEvent handler.

See also

wxRegion, wxRegionIterator

### wxWindow::GetValidator

wxValidator* GetValidator() const

Returns a pointer to the current validator for the window, or NULL if there is none.

### wxWindow::GetVirtualSize

void GetVirtualSize(int* width, int* height) const

wxSize GetVirtualSize() const

This gets the virtual size of the window in pixels. By default it returns the client size of the window, but after a call to SetVirtualSize it will return that size.

Parameters

width

Receives the window virtual width.

height

Receives the window virtual height.

GetSize, GetClientSize

### wxWindow::GetWindowStyleFlag

long GetWindowStyleFlag() const

Gets the window style that was passed to the constructor or Create method. GetWindowStyle() is another name for the same function.

### wxWindow::GetWindowVariant

wxWindowVariant GetWindowVariant() const

Returns the value previously passed to wxWindow::SetWindowVariant.

### wxWindow::HasCapture

virtual bool HasCapture() const

Returns `true` if this window has the current mouse capture.

See also

wxWindow::CaptureMouse, wxWindow::ReleaseMouse, wxMouseCaptureChangedEvent

### wxWindow::HasScrollbar

virtual bool HasScrollbar(int orient) const

Returns `true` if this window has a scroll bar for this orientation.

Parameters

orient

Orientation to check, either `wxHORIZONTAL` or `wxVERTICAL`.

### wxWindow::HasTransparentBackground

virtual bool HasTransparentBackground() const

Returns `true` if this window background is transparent (as, for example, for wxStaticText) and should show the parent window background.

This method is mostly used internally by the library itself and you normally shouldn't have to call it. You may, however, have to override it in your wxWindow-derived class to ensure that background is painted correctly.

### wxWindow::Hide

bool Hide()

Equivalent to calling Show(`false`).

### wxWindow::InheritAttributes

void InheritAttributes()

This function is (or should be, in case of custom controls) called during window creation to intelligently set up the window visual attributes, that is the font and the foreground and background colours.

By "intelligently'' the following is meant: by default, all windows use their own default attributes. However if some of the parents attributes are explicitly (that is, using SetFont and not SetOwnFont) changed and if the corresponding attribute hadn't been explicitly set for this window itself, then this window takes the same value as used by the parent. In addition, if the window overrides ShouldInheritColours to return `false`, the colours will not be changed no matter what and only the font might.

This rather complicated logic is necessary in order to accommodate the different usage scenarios. The most common one is when all default attributes are used and in this case, nothing should be inherited as in modern GUIs different controls use different fonts (and colours) than their siblings so they can't inherit the same value from the parent. However it was also deemed desirable to allow to simply change the attributes of all children at once by just changing the font or colour of their common parent, hence in this case we do inherit the parents attributes.

### wxWindow::InitDialog

void InitDialog()

Sends an `wxEVT_INIT_DIALOG` event, whose handler usually transfers data to the dialog via validators.

### wxWindow::InvalidateBestSize

void InvalidateBestSize()

Resets the cached best size value so it will be recalculated the next time it is needed.

### wxWindow::IsEnabled

virtual bool IsEnabled() const

Returns `true` if the window is enabled for input, `false` otherwise.

See also

wxWindow::Enable

### wxWindow::IsExposed

bool IsExposed(int x, int y) const

bool IsExposed(wxPoint &pt) const

bool IsExposed(int x, int y, int w, int h) const

bool IsExposed(wxRect &rect) const

Returns `true` if the given point or rectangle area has been exposed since the last repaint. Call this in an paint event handler to optimize redrawing by only redrawing those areas, which have been exposed.

wxPython note: In place of a single overloaded method name, wxPython implements the following methods:

IsExposed(x,y, w=0,h=0) |
IsExposedPoint(pt) |
IsExposedRect(rect) |

### wxWindow::IsRetained

virtual bool IsRetained() const

Returns `true` if the window is retained, `false` otherwise.

Remarks

Retained windows are only available on X platforms.

### wxWindow::IsShown

virtual bool IsShown() const

Returns `true` if the window is shown, `false` if it has been hidden.

### wxWindow::IsTopLevel

bool IsTopLevel() const

Returns `true` if the given window is a top-level one. Currently all frames and dialogs are considered to be top-level windows (even if they have a parent window).

### wxWindow::Layout

void Layout()

Invokes the constraint-based layout algorithm or the sizer-based algorithm for this window.

See wxWindow::SetAutoLayout: when auto layout is on, this function gets called automatically when the window is resized.

### wxWindow::LineDown

This is just a wrapper for ScrollLines(1).

### wxWindow::LineUp

This is just a wrapper for ScrollLines(-1).

### wxWindow::Lower

void Lower()

Lowers the window to the bottom of the window hierarchy.

See also

Raise

### wxWindow::MakeModal

virtual void MakeModal(bool flag)

Disables all other windows in the application so that the user can only interact with this window.

Parameters

flag

If `true`, this call disables all other windows in the application so that the user can only interact with this window. If `false`, the effect is reversed.

### wxWindow::Move

void Move(int x, int y)

void Move(const wxPoint& pt)

Moves the window to the given position.

Parameters

x

Required x position.

y

Required y position.

pt

wxPoint object representing the position.

Remarks

Implementations of SetSize can also implicitly implement the wxWindow::Move function, which is defined in the base wxWindow class as the call:

      SetSize(x, y, -1, -1, wxSIZE_USE_EXISTING);

See also

wxWindow::SetSize

wxPython note: In place of a single overloaded method name, wxPython implements the following methods:

Move(point) | Accepts a wxPoint
MoveXY(x, y) | Accepts a pair of integers

### wxWindow::MoveAfterInTabOrder

void MoveAfterInTabOrder(wxWindow *win)

Moves this window in the tab navigation order after the specified win. This means that when the user presses `TAB` key on that other window, the focus switches to this window.

Default tab order is the same as creation order, this function and MoveBeforeInTabOrder() allow to change it after creating all the windows.

Parameters

win

A sibling of this window which should precede it in tab order, must not be NULL

### wxWindow::MoveBeforeInTabOrder

void MoveBeforeInTabOrder(wxWindow *win)

Same as MoveAfterInTabOrder except that it inserts this window just before win instead of putting it right after it.

### wxWindow::Navigate

bool Navigate(int flags = wxNavigationKeyEvent::IsForward)

Does keyboard navigation from this window to another, by sending a wxNavigationKeyEvent.

Parameters

flags

A combination of wxNavigationKeyEvent::IsForward and wxNavigationKeyEvent::WinChange.

Remarks

You may wish to call this from a text control custom keypress handler to do the default navigation behaviour for the tab key, since the standard default behaviour for a multiline text control with the wxTE_PROCESS_TAB style is to insert a tab and not navigate to the next control.

### wxWindow::OnInternalIdle

virtual void OnInternalIdle()

This virtual function is normally only used internally, but sometimes an application may need it to implement functionality that should not be disabled by an application defining an OnIdle handler in a derived class.

This function may be used to do delayed painting, for example, and most implementations call wxWindow::UpdateWindowUI in order to send update events to the window in idle time.

### wxWindow::PageDown

This is just a wrapper for ScrollPages()(1).

### wxWindow::PageUp

This is just a wrapper for ScrollPages()(-1).

### wxWindow::PopEventHandler

wxEvtHandler* PopEventHandler(bool deleteHandler = `false`) const

Removes and returns the top-most event handler on the event handler stack.

Parameters

deleteHandler

If this is `true`, the handler will be deleted after it is removed. The default value is `false`.

See also

wxWindow::SetEventHandler, wxWindow::GetEventHandler, wxWindow::PushEventHandler, wxEvtHandler::ProcessEvent, wxEvtHandler

### wxWindow::PopupMenu

bool PopupMenu(wxMenu* menu, const wxPoint& pos = wxDefaultPosition)

bool PopupMenu(wxMenu* menu, int x, int y)

Pops up the given menu at the specified coordinates, relative to this window, and returns control when the user has dismissed the menu. If a menu item is selected, the corresponding menu event is generated and will be processed as usually. If the coordinates are not specified, current mouse cursor position is used.

Parameters

menu

Menu to pop up.

pos

The position where the menu will appear.

x

Required x position for the menu to appear.

y

Required y position for the menu to appear.

See also

wxMenu

Remarks

Just before the menu is popped up, wxMenu::UpdateUI is called to ensure that the menu items are in the correct state. The menu does not get deleted by the window.

It is recommended to not explicitly specify coordinates when calling PopupMenu in response to mouse click, because some of the ports (namely, wxGTK) can do a better job of positioning the menu in that case.

wxPython note: In place of a single overloaded method name, wxPython implements the following methods:

PopupMenu(menu, point) | Specifies position with a wxPoint
PopupMenuXY(menu, x, y) | Specifies position with two integers (x, y)

### wxWindow::PushEventHandler

void PushEventHandler(wxEvtHandler* handler)

Pushes this event handler onto the event stack for the window.

Parameters

handler

Specifies the handler to be pushed.

Remarks

An event handler is an object that is capable of processing the events sent to a window. By default, the window is its own event handler, but an application may wish to substitute another, for example to allow central implementation of event-handling for a variety of different window classes.

wxWindow::PushEventHandler allows an application to set up a chain of event handlers, where an event not handled by one event handler is handed to the next one in the chain. Use wxWindow::PopEventHandler to remove the event handler.

See also

wxWindow::SetEventHandler, wxWindow::GetEventHandler, wxWindow::PopEventHandler, wxEvtHandler::ProcessEvent, wxEvtHandler

### wxWindow::Raise

void Raise()

Raises the window to the top of the window hierarchy.

In current version of wxWidgets this works both for manage and child windows.

See also

Lower

### wxWindow::Refresh

virtual void Refresh(bool eraseBackground = `true`, const wxRect* rect = NULL)

Causes this window, and all of its children recursively (except under wxGTK1 where this is not implemented), to be repainted. Note that repainting doesn't happen immediately but only during the next event loop iteration, if you need to update the window immediately you should use Update instead.

Parameters

eraseBackground

If `true`, the background will be erased.

rect

If non-NULL, only the given rectangle will be treated as damaged.

See also

wxWindow::RefreshRect

### wxWindow::RefreshRect

void RefreshRect(const wxRect& rect, bool eraseBackground = `true`)

Redraws the contents of the given rectangle: only the area inside it will be repainted.

This is the same as Refresh but has a nicer syntax as it can be called with a temporary wxRect object as argument like this `RefreshRect(wxRect(x, y, w, h))`.

### wxWindow::RegisterHotKey

bool RegisterHotKey(int hotkeyId, int modifiers, int virtualKeyCode)

Registers a system wide hotkey. Every time the user presses the hotkey registered here, this window will receive a hotkey event. It will receive the event even if the application is in the background and does not have the input focus because the user is working with some other application.

Parameters

hotkeyId

Numeric identifier of the hotkey. For applications this must be between 0 and 0xBFFF. If this function is called from a shared DLL, it must be a system wide unique identifier between 0xC000 and 0xFFFF. This is a MSW specific detail.

modifiers

A bitwise combination of `wxMOD_SHIFT`, `wxMOD_CONTROL`, `wxMOD_ALT` or `wxMOD_WIN` specifying the modifier keys that have to be pressed along with the key.

virtualKeyCode

The virtual key code of the hotkey.

Return value

`true` if the hotkey was registered successfully. `false` if some other application already registered a hotkey with this modifier/virtualKeyCode combination.

Remarks

Use EVT_HOTKEY(hotkeyId, fnc) in the event table to capture the event. This function is currently only implemented under Windows. It is used in the Windows CE port for detecting hardware button presses.

See also

wxWindow::UnregisterHotKey

### wxWindow::ReleaseMouse

virtual void ReleaseMouse()

Releases mouse input captured with wxWindow::CaptureMouse.

See also

wxWindow::CaptureMouse, wxWindow::HasCapture, wxWindow::ReleaseMouse, wxMouseCaptureChangedEvent

### wxWindow::RemoveChild

virtual void RemoveChild(wxWindow* child)

Removes a child window. This is called automatically by window deletion functions so should not be required by the application programmer.

Notice that this function is mostly internal to wxWidgets and shouldn't be called by the user code.

Parameters

child

Child window to remove.

### wxWindow::RemoveEventHandler

bool RemoveEventHandler(wxEvtHandler *handler)

Find the given handler in the windows event handler chain and remove (but not delete) it from it.

Parameters

handler

The event handler to remove, must be non-`NULL` and must be present in this windows event handlers chain

Return value

Returns `true` if it was found and `false` otherwise (this also results in an assert failure so this function should only be called when the handler is supposed to be there).

See also

PushEventHandler, PopEventHandler

### wxWindow::Reparent

virtual bool Reparent(wxWindow* newParent)

Reparents the window, i.e the window will be removed from its current parent window (e.g. a non-standard toolbar in a wxFrame) and then re-inserted into another. Available on Windows and GTK.

Parameters

newParent

New parent.

### wxWindow::ScreenToClient

virtual void ScreenToClient(int* x, int* y) const

virtual wxPoint ScreenToClient(const wxPoint& pt) const

Converts from screen to client window coordinates.

Parameters

x

Stores the screen x coordinate and receives the client x coordinate.

y

Stores the screen x coordinate and receives the client x coordinate.

pt

The screen position for the second form of the function.

wxPython note: In place of a single overloaded method name, wxPython implements the following methods:

ScreenToClient(point) | Accepts and returns a wxPoint
ScreenToClientXY(x, y) | Returns a 2-tuple, (x, y)

### wxWindow::ScrollLines

virtual bool ScrollLines(int lines)

Scrolls the window by the given number of lines down (if lines is positive) or up.

Return value

Returns `true` if the window was scrolled, `false` if it was already on top/bottom and nothing was done.

Remarks

This function is currently only implemented under MSW and wxTextCtrl under wxGTK (it also works for wxScrolledWindow derived classes under all platforms).

See also

ScrollPages

### wxWindow::ScrollPages

virtual bool ScrollPages(int pages)

Scrolls the window by the given number of pages down (if pages is positive) or up.

Return value

Returns `true` if the window was scrolled, `false` if it was already on top/bottom and nothing was done.

Remarks

This function is currently only implemented under MSW and wxTextCtrl under wxGTK (it also works for wxScrolledWindow derived classes under all platforms).

See also

ScrollLines

### wxWindow::ScrollWindow

virtual void ScrollWindow(int dx, int dy, const wxRect* rect = NULL)

Physically scrolls the pixels in the window and move child windows accordingly.

Parameters

dx

Amount to scroll horizontally.

dy

Amount to scroll vertically.

rect

Rectangle to invalidate. If this is NULL, the whole window is invalidated. If you pass a rectangle corresponding to the area of the window exposed by the scroll, your painting handler can optimize painting by checking for the invalidated region. This parameter is ignored under GTK.

Remarks

Use this function to optimise your scrolling implementations, to minimise the area that must be redrawn. Note that it is rarely required to call this function from a user program.

### wxWindow::SetAcceleratorTable

virtual void SetAcceleratorTable(const wxAcceleratorTable& accel)

Sets the accelerator table for this window. See wxAcceleratorTable.

### wxWindow::SetAccessible

void SetAccessible(wxAccessible* accessible)

Sets the accessible for this window. Any existing accessible for this window will be deleted first, if not identical to accessible.

See also wxAccessible.

### wxWindow::SetAutoLayout

void SetAutoLayout(bool autoLayout)

Determines whether the wxWindow::Layout function will be called automatically when the window is resized. It is called implicitly by wxWindow::SetSizer but if you use wxWindow::SetConstraints you should call it manually or otherwise the window layout won't be correctly updated when its size changes.

Parameters

autoLayout

Set this to `true` if you wish the Layout function to be called from within wxWindow::OnSize functions.

See also

wxWindow::SetConstraints

### wxWindow::SetBackgroundColour

virtual bool SetBackgroundColour(const wxColour& colour)

Sets the background colour of the window.

Please see InheritAttributes for explanation of the difference between this method and SetOwnBackgroundColour.

Parameters

colour

The colour to be used as the background colour, pass `wxNullColour` to reset to the default colour.

Remarks

The background colour is usually painted by the default wxEraseEvent event handler function under Windows and automatically under GTK.

Note that setting the background colour does not cause an immediate refresh, so you may wish to call wxWindow::ClearBackground or wxWindow::Refresh after calling this function.

Using this function will disable attempts to use themes for this window, if the system supports them. Use with care since usually the themes represent the appearance chosen by the user to be used for all applications on the system.

See also

wxWindow::GetBackgroundColour, wxWindow::SetForegroundColour, wxWindow::GetForegroundColour, wxWindow::ClearBackground, wxWindow::Refresh, wxEraseEvent

### wxWindow::SetBackgroundStyle

virtual void SetBackgroundStyle(wxBackgroundStyle style)

Sets the background style of the window. The background style indicates whether background colour should be determined by the system (wxBG_STYLE_SYSTEM), be set to a specific colour (wxBG_STYLE_COLOUR), or should be left to the application to implement (wxBG_STYLE_CUSTOM).

On GTK+, use of wxBG_STYLE_CUSTOM allows the flicker-free drawing of a custom background, such as a tiled bitmap. Currently the style has no effect on other platforms.

See also

wxWindow::SetBackgroundColour, wxWindow::GetForegroundColour, wxWindow::GetBackgroundStyle

### wxWindow::SetBestFittingSize

void SetBestFittingSize(const wxSize& size = wxDefaultSize)

A smart SetSize that will fill in default size components with the window's best size values. Also sets the window's minsize to the value passed in for use with sizers. This means that if a full or partial size is passed to this function then the sizers will use that size instead of the results of GetBestSize to determine the minimum needs of the window for layout.

See also

wxWindow::SetSize, wxWindow::GetBestSize, wxWindow::GetBestFittingSize, wxWindow::SetSizeHints

### wxWindow::SetCaret

void SetCaret(wxCaret *caret) const

Sets the caret associated with the window.

### wxWindow::SetClientSize

virtual void SetClientSize(int width, int height)

virtual void SetClientSize(const wxSize& size)

This sets the size of the window client area in pixels. Using this function to size a window tends to be more device-independent than wxWindow::SetSize, since the application need not worry about what dimensions the border or title bar have when trying to fit the window around panel items, for example.

Parameters

width

The required client area width.

height

The required client area height.

size

The required client size.

wxPython note: In place of a single overloaded method name, wxPython implements the following methods:

SetClientSize(size) | Accepts a wxSize
SetClientSizeWH(width, height) |

### wxWindow::SetContainingSizer

void SetContainingSizer(wxSizer* sizer)

This normally does not need to be called by user code. It is called when a window is added to a sizer, and is used so the window can remove itself from the sizer when it is destroyed.

### wxWindow::SetCursor

virtual void SetCursor(const wxCursor&cursor)

Sets the window's cursor. Notice that the window cursor also sets it for the children of the window implicitly.

The cursor may be `wxNullCursor` in which case the window cursor will be reset back to default.

Parameters

cursor

Specifies the cursor that the window should normally display.

See also

::wxSetCursor, wxCursor

### wxWindow::SetConstraints

void SetConstraints(wxLayoutConstraints* constraints)

Sets the window to have the given layout constraints. The window will then own the object, and will take care of its deletion. If an existing layout constraints object is already owned by the window, it will be deleted.

Parameters

constraints

The constraints to set. Pass NULL to disassociate and delete the window's constraints.

Remarks

You must call wxWindow::SetAutoLayout to tell a window to use the constraints automatically in OnSize; otherwise, you must override OnSize and call Layout() explicitly. When setting both a wxLayoutConstraints and a wxSizer, only the sizer will have effect.

### wxWindow::SetInitialBestSize

virtual void SetInitialBestSize(const wxSize& size)

Sets the initial window size if none is given (i.e. at least one of the components of the size passed to ctor/Create() is wxDefaultCoord).

### wxWindow::SetMaxSize

void SetMaxSize(const wxSize& size)

Sets the maximum size of the window, to indicate to the sizer layout mechanism that this is the maximum possible size.

### wxWindow::SetMinSize

void SetMinSize(const wxSize& size)

Sets the minimum size of the window, to indicate to the sizer layout mechanism that this is the minimum required size. You may need to call this if you change the window size after construction and before adding to its parent sizer.

### wxWindow::SetOwnBackgroundColour

void SetOwnBackgroundColour(const wxColour& colour)

Sets the background colour of the window but prevents it from being inherited by the children of this window.

See also

SetBackgroundColour, InheritAttributes

### wxWindow::SetOwnFont

void SetOwnFont(const wxFont& font)

Sets the font of the window but prevents it from being inherited by the children of this window.

See also

SetFont, InheritAttributes

### wxWindow::SetOwnForegroundColour

void SetOwnForegroundColour(const wxColour& colour)

Sets the foreground colour of the window but prevents it from being inherited by the children of this window.

See also

SetForegroundColour, InheritAttributes

### wxWindow::SetDropTarget

void SetDropTarget(wxDropTarget* target)

Associates a drop target with this window.

If the window already has a drop target, it is deleted.

See also

wxWindow::GetDropTarget, Drag and drop overview

### wxWindow::SetEventHandler

void SetEventHandler(wxEvtHandler* handler)

Sets the event handler for this window.

Parameters

handler

Specifies the handler to be set.

Remarks

An event handler is an object that is capable of processing the events sent to a window. By default, the window is its own event handler, but an application may wish to substitute another, for example to allow central implementation of event-handling for a variety of different window classes.

It is usually better to use wxWindow::PushEventHandler since this sets up a chain of event handlers, where an event not handled by one event handler is handed to the next one in the chain.

See also

wxWindow::GetEventHandler, wxWindow::PushEventHandler, wxWindow::PopEventHandler, wxEvtHandler::ProcessEvent, wxEvtHandler

### wxWindow::SetExtraStyle

void SetExtraStyle(long exStyle)

Sets the extra style bits for the window. The currently defined extra style bits are:

wxWS_EX_VALIDATE_RECURSIVELY | TransferDataTo/FromWindow() and Validate() methods will recursively descend into all children of the window if it has this style flag set.
wxWS_EX_BLOCK_EVENTS | Normally, the command events are propagated upwards to the window parent recursively until a handler for them is found. Using this style allows to prevent them from being propagated beyond this window. Notice that wxDialog has this style on by default for the reasons explained in the event processing overview.
wxWS_EX_TRANSIENT | This can be used to prevent a window from being used as an implicit parent for the dialogs which were created without a parent. It is useful for the windows which can disappear at any moment as creating children of such windows results in fatal problems.
wxFRAME_EX_CONTEXTHELP | Under Windows, puts a query button on the caption. When pressed, Windows will go into a context-sensitive help mode and wxWidgets will send a wxEVT_HELP event if the user clicked on an application window. This style cannot be used together with wxMAXIMIZE_BOX or wxMINIMIZE_BOX, so you should use the style of `wxDEFAULT_FRAME_STYLE & ``(wxMINIMIZE_BOX | wxMAXIMIZE_BOX)` for the frames having this style (the dialogs don't have minimize nor maximize box by default)
wxWS_EX_PROCESS_IDLE | This window should always process idle events, even if the mode set by wxIdleEvent::SetMode is wxIDLE_PROCESS_SPECIFIED.
wxWS_EX_PROCESS_UI_UPDATES | This window should always process UI update events, even if the mode set by wxUpdateUIEvent::SetMode is wxUPDATE_UI_PROCESS_SPECIFIED.

### wxWindow::SetFocus

virtual void SetFocus()

This sets the window to receive keyboard input.

See also

wxFocusEvent wxPanel::SetFocus wxPanel::SetFocusIgnoringChildren

### wxWindow::SetFocusFromKbd

virtual void SetFocusFromKbd()

This function is called by wxWidgets keyboard navigation code when the user gives the focus to this window from keyboard (e.g. using `TAB` key). By default this method simply calls SetFocus but can be overridden to do something in addition to this in the derived classes.

### wxWindow::SetFont

void SetFont(const wxFont& font)

Sets the font for this window. This function should not be called for the parent window if you don't want its font to be inherited by its children, use SetOwnFont instead in this case and see InheritAttributes for more explanations.

Parameters

font

Font to associate with this window, pass `wxNullFont` to reset to the default font.

See also

wxWindow::GetFont,
InheritAttributes

### wxWindow::SetForegroundColour

virtual void SetForegroundColour(const wxColour& colour)

Sets the foreground colour of the window.

Please see InheritAttributes for explanation of the difference between this method and SetOwnForegroundColour.

Parameters

colour

The colour to be used as the foreground colour, pass `wxNullColour` to reset to the default colour.

Remarks

The interpretation of foreground colour is open to interpretation according to the window class; it may be the text colour or other colour, or it may not be used at all.

Using this function will disable attempts to use themes for this window, if the system supports them. Use with care since usually the themes represent the appearance chosen by the user to be used for all applications on the system.

See also

wxWindow::GetForegroundColour, wxWindow::SetBackgroundColour, wxWindow::GetBackgroundColour, wxWindow::ShouldInheritColours

### wxWindow::SetHelpText

virtual void SetHelpText(const wxString& helpText)

Sets the help text to be used as context-sensitive help for this window.

Note that the text is actually stored by the current wxHelpProvider implementation, and not in the window object itself.

See also

GetHelpText, wxHelpProvider

### wxWindow::SetId

void SetId(int id)

Sets the identifier of the window.

Remarks

Each window has an integer identifier. If the application has not provided one, an identifier will be generated. Normally, the identifier should be provided on creation and should not be modified subsequently.

See also

wxWindow::GetId, Window identifiers

### wxWindow::SetLabel

virtual void SetLabel(const wxString& label)

Sets the window's label.

Parameters

label

The window label.

See also

wxWindow::GetLabel

### wxWindow::SetName

virtual void SetName(const wxString& name)

Sets the window's name.

Parameters

name

A name to set for the window.

See also

wxWindow::GetName

### wxWindow::SetPalette

virtual void SetPalette(wxPalette* palette)

Obsolete - use wxDC::SetPalette instead.

### wxWindow::SetScrollbar

virtual void SetScrollbar(int orientation, int position, int thumbSize, int range, bool refresh = `true`)

Sets the scrollbar properties of a built-in scrollbar.

Parameters

orientation

Determines the scrollbar whose page size is to be set. May be wxHORIZONTAL or wxVERTICAL.

position

The position of the scrollbar in scroll units.

thumbSize

The size of the thumb, or visible portion of the scrollbar, in scroll units.

range

The maximum position of the scrollbar.

refresh

`true` to redraw the scrollbar, `false` otherwise.

Remarks

Let's say you wish to display 50 lines of text, using the same font. The window is sized so that you can only see 16 lines at a time.

You would use:

      SetScrollbar(wxVERTICAL, 0, 16, 50);

Note that with the window at this size, the thumb position can never go above 50 minus 16, or 34.

You can determine how many lines are currently visible by dividing the current view size by the character height in pixels.

When defining your own scrollbar behaviour, you will always need to recalculate the scrollbar settings when the window size changes. You could therefore put your scrollbar calculations and SetScrollbar call into a function named AdjustScrollbars, which can be called initially and also from your wxSizeEvent handler function.

See also

Scrolling overview, wxScrollBar, wxScrolledWindow, wxScrollWinEvent

### wxWindow::SetScrollPos

virtual void SetScrollPos(int orientation, int pos, bool refresh = `true`)

Sets the position of one of the built-in scrollbars.

Parameters

orientation

Determines the scrollbar whose position is to be set. May be wxHORIZONTAL or wxVERTICAL.

pos

Position in scroll units.

refresh

`true` to redraw the scrollbar, `false` otherwise.

Remarks

This function does not directly affect the contents of the window: it is up to the application to take note of scrollbar attributes and redraw contents accordingly.

See also

wxWindow::SetScrollbar, wxWindow::GetScrollPos, wxWindow::GetScrollThumb, wxScrollBar, wxScrolledWindow

### wxWindow::SetSize

virtual void SetSize(int x, int y, int width, int height, int sizeFlags = wxSIZE_AUTO)

virtual void SetSize(const wxRect& rect)

Sets the size and position of the window in pixels.

virtual void SetSize(int width, int height)

virtual void SetSize(const wxSize& size)

Sets the size of the window in pixels.

Parameters

x

Required x position in pixels, or -1 to indicate that the existing value should be used.

y

Required y position in pixels, or -1 to indicate that the existing value should be used.

width

Required width in pixels, or -1 to indicate that the existing value should be used.

height

Required height position in pixels, or -1 to indicate that the existing value should be used.

size

wxSize object for setting the size.

rect

wxRect object for setting the position and size.

sizeFlags

Indicates the interpretation of other parameters. It is a bit list of the following:

wxSIZE_AUTO_WIDTH: a -1 width value is taken to indicate a wxWidgets-supplied default width.
wxSIZE_AUTO_HEIGHT: a -1 height value is taken to indicate a wxWidgets-supplied default width.
wxSIZE_AUTO: -1 size values are taken to indicate a wxWidgets-supplied default size.
wxSIZE_USE_EXISTING: existing dimensions should be used if -1 values are supplied.
wxSIZE_ALLOW_MINUS_ONE: allow dimensions of -1 and less to be interpreted as real dimensions, not default values. wxSIZE_FORCE: normally, if the position and the size of the window are already the same as the parameters of this function, nothing is done. but with this flag a window resize may be forced even in this case (supported in wx 2.6.2 and later and only implemented for MSW and ignored elsewhere currently)

Remarks

The second form is a convenience for calling the first form with default x and y parameters, and must be used with non-default width and height values.

The first form sets the position and optionally size, of the window. Parameters may be -1 to indicate either that a default should be supplied by wxWidgets, or that the current value of the dimension should be used.

See also

wxWindow::Move

wxPython note: In place of a single overloaded method name, wxPython implements the following methods:

SetDimensions(x, y, width, height, sizeFlags=wxSIZE_AUTO) |
SetSize(size) |
SetPosition(point) |

### wxWindow::SetSizeHints

virtual void SetSizeHints(int minW, int minH, int maxW=-1, int maxH=-1, int incW=-1, int incH=-1)

void SetSizeHints(const wxSize& minSize, const wxSize& maxSize=wxDefaultSize, const wxSize& incSize=wxDefaultSize)

Allows specification of minimum and maximum window sizes, and window size increments. If a pair of values is not set (or set to -1), the default values will be used.

Parameters

minW

Specifies the minimum width allowable.

minH

Specifies the minimum height allowable.

maxW

Specifies the maximum width allowable.

maxH

Specifies the maximum height allowable.

incW

Specifies the increment for sizing the width (Motif/Xt only).

incH

Specifies the increment for sizing the height (Motif/Xt only).

minSize

Minimum size.

maxSize

Maximum size.

incSize

Increment size (Motif/Xt only).

Remarks

If this function is called, the user will not be able to size the window outside the given bounds.

The resizing increments are only significant under Motif or Xt.

### wxWindow::SetSizer

void SetSizer(wxSizer* sizer, bool deleteOld=true)

Sets the window to have the given layout sizer. The window will then own the object, and will take care of its deletion. If an existing layout constraints object is already owned by the window, it will be deleted if the deleteOld parameter is true.

Note that this function will also call SetAutoLayout implicitly with `true` parameter if the sizer is non-NULL and `false` otherwise.

Parameters

sizer

The sizer to set. Pass NULL to disassociate and conditionally delete the window's sizer. See below.

deleteOld

If true (the default), this will delete any prexisting sizer. Pass false if you wish to handle deleting the old sizer yourself.

Remarks

SetSizer now enables and disables Layout automatically, but prior to wxWidgets 2.3.3 the following applied:

You must call wxWindow::SetAutoLayout to tell a window to use the sizer automatically in OnSize; otherwise, you must override OnSize and call Layout() explicitly. When setting both a wxSizer and a wxLayoutConstraints, only the sizer will have effect.

### wxWindow::SetSizerAndFit

void SetSizerAndFit(wxSizer* sizer, bool deleteOld=true)

The same as SetSizer, except it also sets the size hints for the window based on the sizer's minimum size.

### wxWindow::SetTitle

virtual void SetTitle(const wxString& title)

Sets the window's title. Applicable only to frames and dialogs.

Parameters

title

The window's title.

See also

wxWindow::GetTitle

### wxWindow::SetThemeEnabled

virtual void SetThemeEnabled(bool enable)

This function tells a window if it should use the system's "theme" code to draw the windows' background instead if its own background drawing code. This does not always have any effect since the underlying platform obviously needs to support the notion of themes in user defined windows. One such platform is GTK+ where windows can have (very colourful) backgrounds defined by a user's selected theme.

Dialogs, notebook pages and the status bar have this flag set to true by default so that the default look and feel is simulated best.

### wxWindow::SetToolTip

void SetToolTip(const wxString& tip)

void SetToolTip(wxToolTip* tip)

Attach a tooltip to the window.

See also: GetToolTip, wxToolTip

### wxWindow::SetValidator

virtual void SetValidator(const wxValidator& validator)

Deletes the current validator (if any) and sets the window validator, having called wxValidator::Clone to create a new validator of this type.

### wxWindow::SetVirtualSize

void SetVirtualSize(int width, int height)

void SetVirtualSize(const wxSize& size)

Sets the virtual size of the window in pixels.

### wxWindow::SetVirtualSizeHints

virtual void SetVirtualSizeHints(int minW,int minH, int maxW=-1, int maxH=-1)

void SetVirtualSizeHints(const wxSize& minSize=wxDefaultSize, const wxSize& maxSize=wxDefaultSize)

Allows specification of minimum and maximum virtual window sizes. If a pair of values is not set (or set to -1), the default values will be used.

Parameters

minW

Specifies the minimum width allowable.

minH

Specifies the minimum height allowable.

maxW

Specifies the maximum width allowable.

maxH

Specifies the maximum height allowable.

minSize

Minimum size.

maxSize

Maximum size.

Remarks

If this function is called, the user will not be able to size the virtual area of the window outside the given bounds.

### wxWindow::SetWindowStyle

void SetWindowStyle(long style)

Identical to SetWindowStyleFlag.

### wxWindow::SetWindowStyleFlag

virtual void SetWindowStyleFlag(long style)

Sets the style of the window. Please note that some styles cannot be changed after the window creation and that Refresh() might be called after changing the others for the change to take place immediately.

See Window styles for more information about flags.

See also

GetWindowStyleFlag

### wxWindow::SetWindowVariant

void SetWindowVariant(wxWindowVariantvariant)

This function can be called under all platforms but only does anything under Mac OS X 10.3+ currently. Under this system, each of the standard control can exist in several sizes which correspond to the elements of wxWindowVariant enum:

    enum wxWindowVariant
    {
        wxWINDOW_VARIANT_NORMAL,        // Normal size
        wxWINDOW_VARIANT_SMALL,         // Smaller size (about 25 % smaller than normal )
        wxWINDOW_VARIANT_MINI,          // Mini size (about 33 % smaller than normal )
        wxWINDOW_VARIANT_LARGE,         // Large size (about 25 % larger than normal )
    };

By default the controls use the normal size, of course, but this function can be used to change this.

### wxWindow::ShouldInheritColours

virtual bool ShouldInheritColours()

Return `true` from here to allow the colours of this window to be changed by InheritAttributes, returning `false` forbids inheriting them from the parent window.

The base class version returns `false`, but this method is overridden in wxControl where it returns `true`.

### wxWindow::Show

virtual bool Show(bool show = `true`)

Shows or hides the window. You may need to call Raise for a top level window if you want to bring it to top, although this is not needed if Show() is called immediately after the frame creation.

Parameters

show

If `true` displays the window. Otherwise, hides it.

Return value

`true` if the window has been shown or hidden or `false` if nothing was done because it already was in the requested state.

See also

wxWindow::IsShown, wxWindow::Hide, wxRadioBox::Show

### wxWindow::Thaw

virtual void Thaw()

Reenables window updating after a previous call to Freeze. To really thaw the control, it must be called exactly the same number of times as Freeze.

### wxWindow::TransferDataFromWindow

virtual bool TransferDataFromWindow()

Transfers values from child controls to data areas specified by their validators. Returns `false` if a transfer failed.

If the window has `wxWS_EX_VALIDATE_RECURSIVELY` extra style flag set, the method will also call TransferDataFromWindow() of all child windows.

See also

wxWindow::TransferDataToWindow, wxValidator, wxWindow::Validate

### wxWindow::TransferDataToWindow

virtual bool TransferDataToWindow()

Transfers values to child controls from data areas specified by their validators.

If the window has `wxWS_EX_VALIDATE_RECURSIVELY` extra style flag set, the method will also call TransferDataToWindow() of all child windows.

Return value

Returns `false` if a transfer failed.

See also

wxWindow::TransferDataFromWindow, wxValidator, wxWindow::Validate

### wxWindow::UnregisterHotKey

bool UnregisterHotKey(int hotkeyId)

Unregisters a system wide hotkey.

Parameters

hotkeyId

Numeric identifier of the hotkey. Must be the same id that was passed to RegisterHotKey.

Return value

`true` if the hotkey was unregistered successfully, `false` if the id was invalid.

Remarks

This function is currently only implemented under MSW.

See also

wxWindow::RegisterHotKey

### wxWindow::Update

virtual void Update()

Calling this method immediately repaints the invalidated area of the window and all of its children recursively while this would usually only happen when the flow of control returns to the event loop. Notice that this function doesn't refresh the window and does nothing if the window hadn't been already repainted. Use Refresh first if you want to immediately redraw the window unconditionally.

### wxWindow::UpdateWindowUI

virtual void UpdateWindowUI(long flags = wxUPDATE_UI_NONE)

This function sends wxUpdateUIEvents to the window. The particular implementation depends on the window; for example a wxToolBar will send an update UI event for each toolbar button, and a wxFrame will send an update UI event for each menubar menu item. You can call this function from your application to ensure that your UI is up-to-date at this point (as far as your wxUpdateUIEvent handlers are concerned). This may be necessary if you have called wxUpdateUIEvent::SetMode or wxUpdateUIEvent::SetUpdateInterval to limit the overhead that wxWidgets incurs by sending update UI events in idle time.

flags should be a bitlist of one or more of the following values.

    enum wxUpdateUI
    {
        wxUPDATE_UI_NONE          = 0x0000, // No particular value
        wxUPDATE_UI_RECURSE       = 0x0001, // Call the function for descendants
        wxUPDATE_UI_FROMIDLE      = 0x0002  // Invoked from On(Internal)Idle
    };

If you are calling this function from an OnInternalIdle or OnIdle function, make sure you pass the wxUPDATE_UI_FROMIDLE flag, since this tells the window to only update the UI elements that need to be updated in idle time. Some windows update their elements only when necessary, for example when a menu is about to be shown. The following is an example of how to call UpdateWindowUI from an idle function.

    void MyWindow::OnInternalIdle()
    {
        if (wxUpdateUIEvent::CanUpdate(this))
            UpdateWindowUI(wxUPDATE_UI_FROMIDLE);
    }

See also

wxUpdateUIEvent, wxWindow::DoUpdateWindowUI, wxWindow::OnInternalIdle

### wxWindow::Validate

virtual bool Validate()

Validates the current values of the child controls using their validators.

If the window has `wxWS_EX_VALIDATE_RECURSIVELY` extra style flag set, the method will also call Validate() of all child windows.

Return value

Returns `false` if any of the validations failed.

See also

wxWindow::TransferDataFromWindow, wxWindow::TransferDataToWindow, wxValidator

### wxWindow::WarpPointer

void WarpPointer(int x, int y)

Moves the pointer to the given position on the window.

NB: This function is not supported under Mac because Apple Human Interface Guidelines forbid moving the mouse cursor programmatically.

Parameters

x

The new x position for the cursor.

y

The new y position for the cursor.