IDLitTool::RegisterOperation

Syntax | Arguments | Keywords | Version History

The IDLitTool::RegisterOperation procedure method registers an operation component with the iTool. Once registered, the iTool has the ability to instantiate this type of operation when needed.

When an operation class is registered with the system, an object descriptor for this operation class is placed in the tools operations folder. To retrieve this descriptor at a later time, the iTool relative identifier would be OPERATIONS/identifier, where identifier is the identifier provided to this method.

Syntax

Obj->[IDLitTool::]RegisterOperation, Name, ClassName [, ACCELERATOR=string] [, /CHECKED] [, DESCRIPTION=string] [, /DROPLIST_EDIT] [, DROPLIST_INDEX=value] [, DROPLIST_ITEMS=string array] [, ICON=string] [, IDENTIFIER=string] [, PROXY=string] [, /SEPARATOR]

Arguments

Name

A string containing the human readable name of the operation type being registered with the iTool.

Note
If the IDENTIFIER keyword is not supplied, the Name argument will be used as the basis for the component's identifier.

ClassName

A string containing the class name of the operation component being registered. This class name is used by the iTool object to instantiate an operation component of this type when requested.

Keywords

Note
Any keywords provided to this routine but not listed here are treated as property defaults for the registered item and applied to the registered object when it is created.

ACCELERATOR

Set this keyword to a string giving the keyboard accelerator to be used for the menu item associated with this operation. For valid values see the ACCELERATOR keyword to WIDGET_BUTTON.

Note
This keyword is only a hint to the Tool, and may be ignored if a non-standard user interface is being used.

CHECKED

Set this keyword to indicate that a "checked" menu item should be used for this operation.

Note
This keyword is only a hint to the Tool, and may be ignored if a non-standard user interface is being used.

DESCRIPTION

Set this keyword to a string that provides a brief description of the component being registered.

DROPLIST_EDIT

Set this keyword to indicate that a droplist associated with this operation should be editable (that is, the droplist should be a combobox widget). The default is to create a non-editable droplist widget. The DROPLIST_ITEMS keyword must be set for this keyword to have any effect.

Note
This keyword is only a hint to the iTool, and may be ignored if a non-standard user interface is being used.

DROPLIST_INDEX

Set this keyword equal to the starting index of the droplist associated with this operation. The default is 0 (zero). The DROPLIST_ITEMS keyword must be set for this keyword to have any effect.

Note
This keyword is only a hint to the iTool, and may be ignored if a non-standard user interface is being used.

DROPLIST_ITEMS

Set this keyword equal to a scalar string or string array containing values to be used for the droplist. If this keyword is set, the DoAction method for the associated operation must accept a keyword called OPTION. When an item from the droplist is selected, the DoAction method will be called with the OPTION keyword set equal to the selected string value.

Note
This keyword is only a hint to the iTool, and may be ignored if a non-standard user interface is being used.

ICON

Set this keyword to the icon that should be used when displaying the operation in an iTool browser. See System Resources (iTool Developer's Guide) for additional details.

IDENTIFIER

Set this keyword to the identifier for the iTool for this component type. If not provided, an identifier is constructed from the Name.

Operations are placed in the operation folder of the iTool component hierarchy. If a multiple level identifier is provided (indicated by the presence of one or more "/" characters), the item is placed in the corresponding subfolder of the tool's operation folder. If the specified subfolder is not present, it is created. This functionality allows operations to be classified in logical groupings and results in sub-menu items in the menus of the iTool interface.

See iTool Object Hierarchy (iTool Developer's Guide) for a discussion of object identifiers and the iTool component hierarchy.

Note
If an item with the specified identifier has already been registered with the iTool system, the existing item will be replaced by the new item.

PROXY

Set this keyword to the identifier of the object that this registered item should utilize instead of providing a new object descriptor. If a proxy is registered, all requests and actions performed on this item are routed to the item specified by the identifier provided for this keyword. (See iTool Object Identifiers (iTool Developer's Guide) for a discussion of object descriptors.)

SEPARATOR

Set this keyword to indicate that a menu separator should be placed before this operation, if this operation appears in a menu.

Note
This keyword is only a hint to the Tool, and may be ignored if a non-standard user interface is being used.

Version History

For information on obsolete keywords, see IDL API History.