Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ames!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!ATHENA.MIT.EDU!swick
From: swick@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Ralph R. Swick)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: Chicken or Egg Xtk Problem
Message-ID: <8808021817.AA00759@LYRE.MIT.EDU>
Date: 2 Aug 88 18:17:45 GMT
References: <2926@nicmad.UUCP>
Sender: daemon@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU
Organization: DEC/MIT Project Athena
Lines: 34


     Date:  26 Jul 88 14:56:19 GMT
     From:  astroatc!nicmad!hill@speedy.cs.wisc.edu  (Ray Hill)

     1.	Is there anyway to find the size the Athena "form" widget will become 
     	before it is realized?

No, not in the general case.  XtQueryGeometry will tell you what geometry
a widget would prefer to have (not implemented in R2/Xaw/Form), but the
parent has the final say.  This propagates all the way up the widget tree
until you reach a Shell, which attempts to conform to the child's
preferred geometry.  You could XtSetMappedWhenManaged(,False) on
the shell, realize the sub-tree, examine the geometry and map later.
If you are simply attempting to position a dialog box, this would be
the best approach.  However, the final authority is the window manager
(under the user's direction) which doesn't assume control until the
window is mapped, so you really can't be sure of your geometry until then.

     2.	Is there anyway to move a "transient shell" widget after it has been 
     	realized? (or popped up once?)

Yes, use XtSetValues.  You have to have allowShellResize==True or the
shell will discard the request.  [Note: XtMoveWidget is not the proper
procedure, as suggested in another message.  It is reserved to the
parent of the widget being moved.]

     	It seems impossible to center a "transient shell" widget on the screen 
     with the existing widgets. My "transient shell" widget has a "form" widget as a
     child. I can't get the size of a "form" widget until after its realized and I 
     can't position the "transient shell" widget after its realized. So how can an 
     arbitrary "transient shell" widget be centered on the screen or over a 
     particular widget?

Given a moderately co-operative window manager, changing set_mapped_when_
managed as suggested above is the most convenient method.