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From: bobh@eldar.WR.TEK.COM (Bob Heath (bobh@amadeus.LA.TEK.COM))
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x.motif
Subject: need help with XmForm widget
Keywords: XmForm
Message-ID: <4547@wrgate.WR.TEK.COM>
Date: 15 Dec 90 01:16:06 GMT
Sender: news@wrgate.WR.TEK.COM
Distribution: usa
Lines: 65

I have an application which uses a Form widget nested inside of a RowColumn 
widget. I fill the Form widget with a mixture of OptionMenus, Labels and more 
RowColumn widgets arranged in two columns roughly as follows:

		Form
	|--------------------|
	| |-----| |--------| |
	| | O.M.| | RowCol | |
	| |-----| |--------| |
	|                    |
	|  |----| |--------| |
	|  |O.M.| | RowCol | |
	|  |----| |--------| |
	|                    |
	|         |--------| |
	|   Label | RowCol | |
	|         |--------| |
	|                    |
	|         |--------| |
	|   Label | RowCol | |
	|         |--------| |
	|                    |
	|         |--------| |
	|   Label | RowCol | |
	|         |--------| |
	|                    |
	|         |--------| |
	|   Label | RowCol | |
	|         |--------| |
	|                    |
	|         |--------| |
	|   Label | RowCol | |
	|         |--------| |
	|                    |
	|         |--------| |
	|   Label | RowCol | |
	|         |--------| |
	|--------------------|

I know this looks like a candidate for a RowColumn widget rather than a form
but I couldn't find a way to make the left column be right justified and the
right column be left justified within a RowColumn. I considered using two
RowColumn widgets side by side, but then I'd have trouble keeping the rows
alligned. 

In any case, I resorted to using a Form widget and achieved the result I was
after, except for one problem. All but the first row is dynamic. That is,
they come and go during the runtime of the application. When I used a RowColumn
widget, I would just unmanage the ones I didn't need and the RowColumn widget
would shrink to fit just the remainder. The Form widget, on the other hand,
grows as I add rows of widgets, but it doesn't shrink when I unmanage them.
I even tried unmapping and unrealizing them, but the Form stays at whatever
maximum size it was. By the way, I always add/delete rows at the bottom, never
in the middle.

I don't want to delete the extra widgets because I may need them again and
I can't afford the overhead of constantly adding and deleting, let alone the
memory leakage.

Can anybody tell me how to make the Form widget shink back down?

I'm running Motif 1.0 on a Sparc-station 1 with the NeWS server.

						Thanks
							Bob