Files
gio-patched/layout/doc.go
T
Elias Naur 3af01a3f43 layout: change Widget to take explicit Context and return explicit Dimensions
Change the definition of Widget from the implicit

        type Widget func()

to the explicit functional

        type Widget func(gtx layout.Context) layout.Dimensions

The advantages are numerous:

- Clearer connection between the incoming context and the output dimensions.
- Returning the Dimensions are impossible to omit.
- Contexts passed by value, so its fields can be exported
and freely mutated by the program.

The only disadvantage is the longer function literals and the many "returns".
What tipped the scales in favour of the explicit Widget variant is that type
aliases can dramatically shorten the literals:

	type (
		C = layout.Context
		D = layout.Dimensions
	)

	widget := func(gtx C) D {
		...
	}

Note that the aliases are not part of the Gio API and it is up to each user
whether they want to use them.

Finally the Go proposal for lightweight function literals,
https://github.com/golang/go/issues/21498, may remove the disadvantage
completely in future.

Context becomes a plain struct with only public fields, and its Reset is
replaced by a NewContext convenience constructor.

Signed-off-by: Elias Naur <mail@eliasnaur.com>
2020-05-23 22:28:49 +02:00

51 lines
1.6 KiB
Go

// SPDX-License-Identifier: Unlicense OR MIT
/*
Package layout implements layouts common to GUI programs.
Constraints and dimensions
Constraints and dimensions form the interface between layouts and
interface child elements. This package operates on Widgets, functions
that compute Dimensions from a a set of constraints for acceptable
widths and heights. Both the constraints and dimensions are maintained
in an implicit Context to keep the Widget declaration short.
For example, to add space above a widget:
var gtx layout.Context
// Configure a top inset.
inset := layout.Inset{Top: unit.Dp(8), ...}
// Use the inset to lay out a widget.
inset.Layout(gtx, func() {
// Lay out widget and determine its size given the constraints
// in gtx.Constraints.
...
return layout.Dimensions{...}
})
Note that the example does not generate any garbage even though the
Inset is transient. Layouts that don't accept user input are designed
to not escape to the heap during their use.
Layout operations are recursive: a child in a layout operation can
itself be another layout. That way, complex user interfaces can
be created from a few generic layouts.
This example both aligns and insets a child:
inset := layout.Inset{...}
inset.Layout(gtx, func(gtx layout.Context) layout.Dimensions {
align := layout.Align(...)
return align.Layout(gtx, func(gtx layout.Context) layout.Dimensions {
return widget.Layout(gtx, ...)
})
})
More complex layouts such as Stack and Flex lay out multiple children,
and stateful layouts such as List accept user input.
*/
package layout