The layout protocol is triggered by layout-frame , which is called when a frame is adopted by a frame manager.
CLIM uses a two-pass algorithm to lay out a pane hierarchy. In the first pass (called space composition ), the top-level pane is asked how much space it requires. This may in turn lead to the same question being asked recursively of all the panes in the hierarchy, with the answers being composed to produce the top-level pane's answer. Each pane answers the query by returning a space requirement (or space-requirement ) object, which specifies the pane's desired width and height, as well as its willingness to shrink or grow along its width and height.
In the second pass (called space allocation ), the frame manager attempts to obtain the required amount of space from the host window system. The top-level pane is allocated the space that is actually available. Each pane, in turn, allocates space recursively to each of its descendants in the hierarchy according to the pane's rules of composition.
For many types of panes, the application programmer can indicate the space requirements of the pane at creation time by using the space requirement options, as well as by calling the change-space-requirements function. Panes are used to display application-specific information, so the application can determine how much space should normally be given to them.
Other pane types automatically calculate their space needs based on the information they have to present. For example, the space requirement for a label pane is a function of the text to be displayed.
A composite pane calculates its space requirement based on the requirements of its children and its own particular rule for arranging them. For example, a pane that arranges its children in a vertical stack would return as its desired height the sum of the heights of its children. Note, however, that a composite pane is not required by the layout protocol to respect the space requests of its children; in fact, composite panes aren't even required to ask their children.
Space requirements are expressed for each of the two dimensions as a preferred size, a minimum size below which the pane cannot be shrunk, and a maximum size above which the pane cannot be grown. (The minimum and maximum sizes can also be specified as relative amounts.) All sizes are specified as a real number indicating the number of device units (such as pixels).
space-requirement [Protocol Class]
Summary: The protocol class of all space requirement objects. There are one or more subclasses of space-requirement with implementation-dependent names that implement space requirements. The exact names of these classes is explicitly unspecified. If you want to create a new class that behaves like a space requirement, it should be a subclass of space-requirement . Subclasses of space-requirement must obey the space requirement protocol.
All the instantiable space requirement classes provided by CLIM are immutable.
make-space-requirement [Function]
Arguments:
&key
(width
0
) (max-width
0
) (min-width
0
) (height
0
) (max-height
0
) (min-height
0
)
Summary: Constructs a space requirement object with the given characteristics :width , :height , and so on.
space-requirement-width [Function]
(setf space-requirement-width) [Function]
space-requirement-max-width [Function]
(setf space-requirement-max-width) [Function]
space-requirement-min-width [Function]
(setf space-requirement-min-width) [Function]
space-requirement-height [Function]
(setf space-requirement-height) [Function]
space-requirement-max-height [Function]
(setf space-requirement-max-height) [Function]
space-requirement-min-height [Function]
(setf space-requirement-min-height) [Function]
Summary: These read or modify the components of the space requirement space-req .
space-requirement-components [Generic Function]
Summary: Returns the components of the space requirement space-req as six values: the width, minimum width, maximum width, height, minimum height, and maximum height.
space-requirement-combine [Function]
Summary: Returns a new space requirement, each component of which is the result of applying the function function to each of the components of the two space requirements sr1 and sr2 .
function is a function of two arguments, both of which are real numbers. It has dynamic extent.
space-requirement+ [Function]
Summary: Returns a new space requirement whose components are the sum of each of the components of the two space requirements sr1 and sr2 .
space-requirement+* [Function]
Arguments: space-req
&key
width max-width min-width height max-height min-height
Summary: Returns a new space requirement whose components are the sum of each of the components of space-req added to the appropriate keyword argument (for example, the width component of space-req is added to width ). This is intended to be a more efficient, spread version of space-requirement+ .
change-space-requirements [Generic Function]
Arguments: pane
&key
resize-frame
&rest
space-req-keys
Summary: This function can be invoked to indicate that the space requirements for pane have changed. Any of the options that applied to the pane at creation time can be passed into this function as well.
resize-frame determines whether the frame should be resized to accommodate the new space requirement of the hierarchy. If resize-frame is t , then layout-frame will be invoked on the frame. If resize-frame is nil , then the frame may or may not get resized depending on the pane hierarchy and the :resize-frame option that was supplied to define-application-frame .
note-space-requirements-changed [Generic Function]
Summary: This function is invoked whenever pane 's space requirements have changed. sheet must be the parent of pane . Invoking this function essentially means that compose-space will be reinvoked on pane , and it will reply with a space requirement that is not equal to the reply that was given on the last call to compose-space .
This function is automatically invoked by change-space-requirements in the cases that layout-frame isn't invoked. In the case that layout-frame is invoked, it isn't necessary to call note-space-requirements-changed , since a complete re-layout of the frame will be executed.
changing-space-requirements [Macro]
Arguments: (
&key
resize-frame layout)
&body
body
Summary: This macro supports batching the invocation of the layout protocol by calls to change-space-requirements . Within the body, all calls to change-space-requirements change the internal structures of the pane and are recorded. When the body is exited, the layout protocol is invoked appropriately. body may have zero or more declarations as its first forms.
compose-space [Generic Function]
Summary: During the space composition pass, a composite pane will typically ask each of its children how much space it requires by calling compose-space . They answer by returning space-requirement objects. The composite will then form its own space requirement by composing the space requirements of its children according to its own rules for laying out its children.
allocate-space [Generic Function]
Summary: During the space allocation pass, a composite pane will arrange its children within the available space and allocate space to them according to their space requirements and its own composition rules by calling allocate-space on each of the child panes. width and height are the width and height of pane in device units.
Common Lisp Interface Manager 2.0 User's Guide - 20 Sep 2011