Version: 3.2.8
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XRC File Format

Table of Contents

This document describes the format of XRC resource files, as used by wxXmlResource.

Formal description in the form of a RELAX NG schema is located in the misc/schema subdirectory of the wxWidgets sources.

XRC file is a XML file with all of its elements in the http://www.wxwidgets.org/wxxrc namespace. For backward compatibility, http://www.wxwindows.org/wxxrc namespace is accepted as well (and treated as identical to http://www.wxwidgets.org/wxxrc), but it shouldn't be used in new XRC files.

XRC file contains definitions for one or more objects – typically windows. The objects may themselves contain child objects.

Objects defined at the top level, under the root element, can be accessed using wxXmlResource::LoadDialog() and other LoadXXX methods. They must have name attribute that is used as LoadXXX's argument (see Object Element for details).

Child objects are not directly accessible via wxXmlResource, they can only be accessed using XRCCTRL().

Resource Root Element

The root element is always <resource>. It has one optional attribute, version which, while optional, should always be set to the latest version. At the time of writing, it is "2.5.3.0", so all XRC documents should look like the following:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<resource xmlns="http://www.wxwidgets.org/wxxrc" version="2.5.3.0">
...
</resource>

The version consists of four integers separated by periods. The first three components are major, minor and release number of the wxWidgets release when the change was introduced, the last one is revision number and is 0 for the first incompatible change in given wxWidgets release, 1 for the second and so on. The version changes only if there was an incompatible change introduced; merely adding new kind of objects does not constitute incompatible change.

<resource> may have arbitrary number of object elements as its children; they are referred to as toplevel objects in the rest of this document. Unlike objects defined deeper in the hierarchy, toplevel objects must have their name attribute set and it must be set to a value unique among root's children.

Defining Objects

Object Element

The <object> element represents a single object (typically a GUI element) and it usually maps directly to a wxWidgets class instance. It has one mandatory attribute, class, and optional name and subclass attributes.

The class attribute must always be present, it tells XRC what wxWidgets object should be created and by which wxXmlResourceHandler.

name is the identifier used to identify the object. This name serves three purposes:

  1. It is used by wxXmlResource's various LoadXXX() methods to find the resource by name passed as argument.
  2. wxWindow's name (see wxWindow::GetName()) is set to it.
  3. Numeric ID of a window or menu item is derived from the name. If the value represents an integer (in decimal notation), it is used for the numeric ID unmodified. If it is one of the wxID_XXX literals defined by wxWidgets (see Stock Items), its respective value is used. Otherwise, the name is transformed into dynamically generated ID. See wxXmlResource::GetXRCID() for more information.

Name attributes must be unique at the top level (where the name is used to load resources) and should be unique among all controls within the same toplevel window (wxDialog, wxFrame).

The subclass attribute optional name of class whose constructor will be called instead of the constructor for "class". See Subclassing for more details.

<object> element may – and almost always do – have children elements. These come in two varieties:

  1. Object's properties. A property is a value describing part of object's behaviour, for example the "label" property on wxButton defines its label. In the most common form, property is a single element with text content ("\<label\>Cancel\</label\>"), but they may use nested subelements too (e.g. font property). A property can only be listed once in an object's definition.
  2. Child objects. Window children, sizers, sizer items or notebook pages are all examples of child objects. They are represented using nested <object> elements and are can be repeated more than once. The specifics of which object classes are allowed as children are class-specific and are documented below in Supported Controls.

Example:

<object class="wxDialog" name="example_dialog">
<!-- properties: -->
<title>Non-Derived Dialog Example</title>
<centered>1</centered>
<!-- child objects: -->
<object class="wxBoxSizer">
<orient>wxVERTICAL</orient>
<cols>1</cols>
<rows>0</rows>
...
</object>
</object>
@ wxVERTICAL
Definition defs.h:28

Object References

Anywhere an <object> element can be used, <object_ref> may be used instead. <object_ref> is a reference to another named (i.e. with the name attribute) <object> element. It has one mandatory attribute, ref, with value containing the name of a named <object> element. When an <object_ref> is encountered, a copy of the referenced <object> element is made in place of <object_ref> occurrence and processed as usual.

For example, the following code:

<object class="wxDialog" name="my_dlg">
...
</object>
<object_ref name="my_dlg_alias" ref="my_dlg"/>

is equivalent to

<object class="wxDialog" name="my_dlg">
...
</object>
<object class="wxDialog" name="my_dlg_alias">
... <!-- same as in my_dlg -->
</object>

Additionally, it is possible to override some parts of the referenced object in the <object_ref> pointing to it. This is useful for putting repetitive parts of XRC definitions into a template that can be reused and customized in several places. The two parts are merged as follows:

  1. The referred object is used as the initial content.
  2. All attributes set on <object_ref> are added to it.
  3. All child elements of <object_ref> are scanned. If an element with the same name (and, if specified, the name attribute too) is found in the referred object, they are recursively merged.
  4. Child elements in <object_ref> that do not have a match in the referred object are appended to the list of children of the resulting element by default. Optionally, they may have insert_at attribute with two possible values, "begin" or "end". When set to "begin", the element is prepended to the list of children instead of appended.

For example, "my_dlg" in this snippet:

<object class="wxDialog" name="template">
<title>Dummy dialog</title>
<size>400,400</size>
</object>
<object_ref ref="template" name="my_dlg">
<title>My dialog</title>
<centered>1</centered>
</object_ref>

is identical to:

<object class="wxDialog" name="my_dlg">
<title>My dialog</title>
<size>400,400</size>
<centered>1</centered>
</object>

Data Types

There are several property data types that are frequently reused by different properties. Rather than describing their format in the documentation of every property, we list commonly used types in this section and document their format.

Boolean

Boolean values are expressed using either "1" literal (true) or "0" (false).

Floating-point value

Floating point values use POSIX (C locale) formatting – decimal separator is "." regardless of the locale.

Colour

Colour specification can be either any string colour representation accepted by wxColour::Set() or any wxSYS_COLOUR_XXX symbolic name accepted by wxSystemSettings::GetColour(). In particular, the following forms are supported:

  • named colours from wxColourDatabase
  • HTML-like "#rrggbb" syntax (but not "#rgb")
  • CSS-style "rgb(r,g,b)" and "rgba(r,g,b,a)"
  • wxSYS_COLOUR_XXX symbolic names

Some examples:

<fg>red</fg>
<fg>#ff0000</fg>
<fg>rgb(255,0,0)</fg>
@ wxSYS_COLOUR_HIGHLIGHT
Colour of item(s) selected in a control.
Definition settings.h:65

Size

Sizes and positions can be expressed in either DPI-independent pixel values or in dialog units. The former is the default, to use the latter "d" suffix can be added. Semi-formally the format is:

size := x "," y ["d"]

where x and y are integers. Either of the components (or both) may be "-1" to signify default value. As a shortcut, empty string is equivalent to "-1,-1" (= wxDefaultSize or wxDefaultPosition).

Notice that the dialog unit suffix "d" applies to both x and y if it's specified and cannot be specified after the first component, but only at the end.

Examples:

42,-1
100,100
100,50d

Position

Same as Size.

Dimension

Similarly to sizes, dimensions are expressed as integers with optional "d" suffix. When "d" suffix is used, the integer preceding it is interpreted as dialog units in the parent window, otherwise it's a DPI-independent pixel value.

Pair of integers

This is similar to Size size, but for values that are not expressed in pixels and so doesn't allow "d" suffix nor does any DPI-dependent scaling, i.e. the format is just

size := x "," y

and x and y are just integers which are not interpreted in any way.

Text

String properties use several escape sequences that are translated according to the following table:

"_""&" (used for accelerators in wxWidgets)
"__""_"
"\n"line break
"\r"carriage return
"\t"tab
"\"backslash

By default, the text is translated using wxLocale::GetTranslation() before it is used. This can be disabled either globally by not passing wxXRC_USE_LOCALE to wxXmlResource constructor, or by setting the translate attribute on the property node to "0":

<!-- this is not translated: -->
<label translate="0">_Unix</label>
<!-- but this is: -->
<help>Use Unix-style newlines</help>
Note
Even though the "_" character is used instead of "&" for accelerators, it is still possible to use "&". The latter has to be encoded as "&amp;", though, so using "_" is more convenient.
See also
Versions Before 2.5.3.0, Versions Before 2.3.0.1

Non-Translatable Text

Like Text, but the text is never translated and translate attribute cannot be used.

String

An unformatted string. Unlike with Text, no escaping or translations are done.

URL

Any URL accepted by wxFileSystem (typically relative to XRC file's location, but can be absolute too). Unlike with Text, no escaping or translations are done.

Bitmap

Bitmap properties contain specification of a single bitmap, icon, a set of bitmaps or SVG file. In the most basic form, their text value is simply a relative URL of the bitmap to use. For example:

<object class="tool" name="wxID_NEW">
<tooltip>New</tooltip>
<bitmap>new.png</bitmap>
</object>

The value is interpreted as path relative to the location of XRC file where the reference occurs, but notice that it is still an URL and not just a filename, which means that the characters special in the URLs, such as '#' must be percent-encoded, e.g. here is the correct way to specify a bitmap with the path "images/#1/tool.png" in XRC:

<object class="tool" name="first">
<bitmap>images/%231/tool.png</bitmap>
</object>

Bitmap file paths can include environment variables that are expanded if wxXRC_USE_ENVVARS was passed to the wxXmlResource constructor.

It is possible to specify the multi-resolution bitmap by a set of bitmaps or an SVG file, which are mutually exclusive. The set of bitmaps should contain one or more relative URLs of a bitmap, separated by ';'. For example, to specify two bitmaps, to be used in standard and 200% DPI scaling respectively, you could write:

<bitmap>new.png;new_2x.png</bitmap>

Here the first bitmap is special, as its size determines the logical size of the bitmap. In other words, this bitmap is the one used when DPI scaling is not in effect. Any subsequent bitmaps can come in any order and will be used when the DPI scaling factor is equal, or at least close, to the ratio of their size to the size of the first bitmap. Using _2x naming convention here is common, but not required, the names of the bitmaps can be arbitrary, e.g.

<bitmap>new_32x32.png;new_64x64.png</bitmap>

would work just as well. When using SVG file you must also specify default_size attribute (even if the size is specified in SVG file, it may be different from the size needed here):

<bitmap default_size="32,32">new.svg</bitmap>

Alternatively, it is possible to specify the bitmap using wxArtProvider IDs. In this case, the property element has no textual value (filename) and instead has the stock_id XML attribute that contains stock art ID as accepted by wxArtProvider::GetBitmap(). This can be either custom value (if the app uses app-specific art provider) or one of the predefined wxART_XXX constants.

Optionally, stock_client attribute may be specified too and contain one of the predefined wxArtClient values. If it is not specified, the default client ID most appropriate in the context where the bitmap is referenced will be used. In most cases, specifying stock_client is not needed.

Examples of stock bitmaps usage:

<bitmap stock_id="fixed-width"/> <!-- custom app-specific art -->
<bitmap stock_id="wxART_FILE_OPEN"/> <!-- standard art -->

If both specifications are provided, then stock_id is used if it is recognized by wxArtProvider and the provided bitmap file is used as a fallback.

Style

Style properties (such as window's style or sizer flags) use syntax similar to C++: the style value is OR-combination of individual flags. Symbolic names identical to those used in C++ code are used for the flags. Flags are separated with "|" (whitespace is allowed but not required around it).

The flags that are allowed for a given property are context-dependent.

Examples:

<exstyle>wxDIALOG_EX_CONTEXTHELP</exstyle>
#define wxSYSTEM_MENU
Definition defs.h:1345
#define wxRESIZE_BORDER
Definition defs.h:1350
#define wxCAPTION
Definition defs.h:218
#define wxDIALOG_EX_CONTEXTHELP
Definition defs.h:327

Show Effect

One of the wxShowEffect values.

Example:

<showeffect>wxSHOW_EFFECT_EXPAND</showeffect>
@ wxSHOW_EFFECT_EXPAND
Expanding or collapsing effect.
Definition window.h:49

Font

XRC uses similar, but more flexible, abstract description of fonts to that used by wxFont class. A font can be described either in terms of its elementary properties, or it can be derived from one of system fonts or the parent window font.

The font property element is a "composite" element: unlike majority of properties, it doesn't have text value but contains several child elements instead. These children are handled in the same way as object properties and can be one of the following "sub-properties":

propertytypedescription
sizefloatPixel size of the font (default: wxNORMAL_FONT's size or sysfont's size if the sysfont property is used or the current size of the font of the enclosing control if the inherit property is used. Note that versions of wxWidgets until 3.1.2 only supported integer values for the font size.
styleenumOne of "normal", "italic" or "slant" (default: normal).
weightenum or integerOne of "thin", "extralight", "light", "normal", "medium", "semibold", "bold", "extrabold", "heavy", "extraheavy", corresponding to the similarly named elements of wxFontWeight enum, or a numeric value between 1 and 1000 (default: normal). Note that versions of wxWidgets until 3.1.2 only supported "light", "normal" and "bold" values for weight.
familyenumOne of "default", "roman", "script", "decorative", "swiss", "modern" or "teletype" (default: default).
underlinedBooleanWhether the font should be underlined (default: 0).
strikethroughBooleanWhether the strikethrough font should be used (default: 0).
Since
3.1.2
faceComma-separated list of face names; the first one available is used (default: unspecified).
encodingCharset of the font, unused in Unicode build), as string (default: unspecified).
sysfontSymbolic name of system standard font(one of wxSYS_*_FONT constants).
inheritBooleanIf true, the font of the enclosing control is used. If this property and the sysfont property are specified the sysfont property takes precedence.
relativesizefloatFloat, font size relative to chosen system font's or inherited font's size; can only be used when 'sysfont' or 'inherit' is used and when 'size' is not used.

All of them are optional, if they are missing, appropriate wxFont default is used. If the sysfont or inherit property is used, then the defaults are taken from it instead.

Examples:

<font>
<!-- fixed font: Arial if available, fall back to Helvetica -->
<face>arial,helvetica</face>
<size>12</size>
</font>
<font>
<!-- enlarged, enboldened standard font: -->
<sysfont>wxSYS_DEFAULT_GUI_FONT</sysfont>
<weight>bold</weight>
<relativesize>1.5</relativesize>
</font>
@ wxSYS_DEFAULT_GUI_FONT
Default font for user interface objects such as menus and dialog boxes.
Definition settings.h:39
Note
You cannot use inherit for a font that gets used before the enclosing control is created, e.g. if the control gets the font passed as parameter for its constructor, or if the control is not derived from wxWindow.

Image List

Defines a wxImageList.

The imagelist property element is a "composite" element: unlike majority of properties, it doesn't have text value but contains several child elements instead. These children are handled similarly to object properties and can be one of the following "sub-properties":

propertytypedescription
maskBooleanIf masks should be created for all images (default: 1).
sizeSizeThe size of the images in the list (default: the size of the first bitmap).
bitmapBitmapAdds a new image. Unlike normal object properties, bitmap may be used more than once to add multiple images to the list. At least one bitmap value is required.

Example:

<imagelist>
<size>32,32</size>
<bitmap stock_id="wxART_QUESTION"/>
<bitmap stock_id="wxART_INFORMATION"/>
</imagelist>

Accelerators List

Defines a list of wxMenuItem's extra accelerators.

The extra-accels property element is a "composite" element: it contains one or more <accel> "sub-properties":

propertytypedescription
accelNon-Translatable TextwxMenuItem's accelerator (default: none).

Example:

<extra-accels>
<accel>Ctrl-W</accel>
<accel>Shift-Ctrl-W</accel>
</extra-accels>

Controls and Windows

This section describes support wxWindow-derived classes in XRC format.

Standard Properties

The following properties are always (unless stated otherwise in control-specific docs) available for windows objects. They are omitted from properties lists below.

propertytypedescription
posPositionInitial position of the window (default: wxDefaultPosition).
sizeSizeInitial size of the window (default: wxDefaultSize).
styleStyleWindow style for this control. The allowed values depend on what window is being created, consult respective class' constructor documentation for details (default: window-dependent default, usually wxFOO_DEFAULT_STYLE if defined for class wxFoo, 0 if not).
exstyleStyleExtra style for the window, if any. See wxWindow::SetExtraStyle() (default: not set).
fgColourForeground colour of the window (default: window's default).
ownfgColourNon-inheritable foreground colour of the window, see wxWindow::SetOwnForegroundColour() (default: none).
bgColourBackground colour of the window (default: window's default).
ownbgColourNon-inheritable background colour of the window, see wxWindow::SetOwnBackgroundColour() (default: none).
enabledBooleanIf set to 0, the control is disabled (default: 1).
focusedBooleanIf set to 1, the control has focus initially (default: 0).
hiddenBooleanIf set to 1, the control is created hidden (default: 0).
tooltipTextTooltip to use for the control (default: not set).
variantStringWindow variant (see wxWindow::SetWindowVariant()), one of "normal", "small", "mini" or "large" (default: "normal")
Since
3.0.2
fontFontFont to use for the control (default: window's default).
ownfontFontNon-inheritable font to use for the control, see wxWindow::SetOwnFont() (default: none).
helpTextContext-sensitive help for the control, used by wxHelpProvider (default: not set).

All of these properties are optional.

Supported Controls

This section lists all controls supported by default. For each control, its control-specific properties are listed. If the control can have child objects, it is documented there too; unless said otherwise, XRC elements for these controls cannot have children.

wxActivityIndicator

propertytypedescription
runningBooleanIf true, start the activity indicator after creating it (default: false).

wxAnimationCtrl

propertytypedescription
animationURLAnimation file to load into the control (default: none).
inactive-bitmapBitmapBitmap to use when not playing the animation (default: the default).

wxAuiManager

Notice that wxAUI support in XRC is available in wxWidgets 3.1.1 and later only and you need to explicitly register its handler using

#include <wx/xrc/xh_aui.h>
AddHandler(new wxAuiXmlHandler);

to use it.

A wxAuiManager can have one or more child objects of the wxAuiPaneInfo class. wxAuiPaneInfo objects have the following properties:

propertytypedescription
captionTextSets the caption of the pane.
caption_visibleBooleanIndicates that a pane caption should be visible.
close_buttonBooleanIndicates that a close button should be drawn for the pane.
maximize_buttonBooleanIndicates that a maximize button should be drawn for the pane.
minimize_buttonBooleanIndicates that a minimize button should be drawn for the pane.
pin_buttonBooleanIndicates that a pin button should be drawn for the pane.
gripperBooleanIndicates that a gripper should be drawn for the pane.
pane_borderBooleanIndicates that a border should be drawn for the pane.
dockIndicates that a pane should be docked.
floatIndicates that a pane should be floated.
top_dockableBooleanIndicates whether a pane can be docked at the top of the frame.
bottom_dockableBooleanIndicates whether a pane can be docked at the bottom of the frame.
left_dockableBooleanIndicates whether a pane can be docked on the left of the frame.
right_dockableBooleanIndicates whether a pane can be docked on the right of the frame.
dock_fixedBooleanCauses the containing dock to have no resize sash.
resizableBooleanAllows a pane to be resized if the parameter is true, and forces it to be a fixed size if the parameter is false.
movableBooleanIndicates whether a pane can be moved.
floatableBooleanSets whether the user will be able to undock a pane and turn it into a floating window.
best_sizeSizeSets the ideal size for the pane.
floating_sizeSizeSets the size of the floating pane.
min_sizeSizeSets the minimum size of the pane.
max_sizeSizeSets the maximum size of the pane.
default_paneSpecifies that the pane should adopt the default pane settings.
toolbar_paneSpecifies that the pane should adopt the default toolbar pane settings.
layerDetermines the layer of the docked pane.
rowDetermines the row of the docked pane.
center_paneSpecifies that the pane should adopt the default center pane settings.
centre_paneSame as center_pane.
directionDetermines the direction of the docked pane.
topSets the pane dock position to the top of the frame.
bottomSets the pane dock position to the bottom side of the frame.
leftSets the pane dock position to the left side of the frame.
rightSets the pane dock position to the right side of the frame.
centerSets the pane dock position to the center of the frame.
centreSame as center.

wxAuiNotebook

propertytypedescription
art-providerStringOne of default for wxAuiDefaultTabArt or simple for wxAuiSimpleTabArt (default: default).
Since
3.2.0

A wxAuiNotebook can have one or more child objects of the notebookpage pseudo-class. notebookpage objects have the following properties:

propertytypedescription
labelTextPage label (default: empty).
bitmapBitmapBitmap shown alongside the label (default: none).
selectedBooleanIs the page selected initially (only one page can be selected; default: 0)?

Each notebookpage must have exactly one non-toplevel window as its child.

Example:

<object class="wxAuiNotebook">
<style>wxBK_BOTTOM</style>
<object class="notebookpage">
<label>Page 1</label>
<bitmap>bitmap.png</bitmap>
<object class="wxPanel" name="page_1">
...
</object>
</object>
</object>
#define wxBK_BOTTOM
Definition bookctrl.h:40
Note
See wxAuiManager about using wxAUI classes in XRC.

wxAuiToolBar

Building an XRC for wxAuiToolBar is quite similar to wxToolBar. The only significant differences are:

  • the use of the class name wxAuiToolBar
  • the styles supported are the ones described in the wxAuiToolBar class definition
  • the 'space' pseudo-class has two optional, mutually exclusive, integer properties: 'proportion' and 'width'. If 'width' is specified, a space is added using wxAuiToolBar::AddSpacer(); if 'proportion', the value is used in wxAuiToolBar::AddStretchSpacer(). If neither are provided, the default is a stretch-spacer with a proportion of 1.
  • there is an additional pseudo-class, 'label', that has a string property. See wxAuiToolBar::AddLabel().

Refer to the section wxToolBar for more details.

Note
The XML Handler should be explicitly registered:
#include <wx/xrc/xh_auitoolb.h>
AddHandler(new wxAuiToolBarXmlHandler);
Since
3.1.0

wxBannerWindow

propertytypedescription
directionwxLEFT|wxRIGHT|wxTOP|wxBOTTOM The side along which the banner will be positioned (default: wxLEFT).
bitmapBitmapBitmap to use as the banner background (default: none).
titleTextBanner title, should be single line (default: none).
messageTextPossibly multi-line banner message (default: none).
gradient-startColourStarting colour of the gradient used as banner background. (Optional. Can't be used if a valid bitmap is specified. If used, both gradient values must be set.)
gradient-endColourEnd colour of the gradient used as banner background. (Optional. Can't be used if a valid bitmap is specified. If used, both gradient values must be set.)

wxBitmapButton

propertytypedescription
defaultBooleanShould this button be the default button in dialog (default: 0)?
closeBooleanIf set, this is a special "Close" button using system-defined appearance, see wxBitmapButton::NewCloseButton(). If this property is set, bitmap and style are ignored and shouldn't be used.
Since
3.1.5
bitmapBitmapBitmap to show on the button (default: none).
pressedBitmapBitmap to show when the button is pressed (default: none, same as bitmap). This property exists since wxWidgets 3.1.6, but the equivalent (and still supported) "selected" property can be used in the older versions.
focusBitmapBitmap to show when the button has focus (default: none, same as bitmap).
disabledBitmapBitmap to show when the button is disabled (default: none, same as bitmap).
currentBitmapBitmap to show when mouse cursor hovers above the bitmap (default: none, same as bitmap). This property exists since wxWidgets 3.1.6, but the equivalent (and still supported) "hover" property can be used in the older versions.

wxBitmapComboBox

propertytypedescription
selectionintegerIndex of the initially selected item or -1 for no selection (default: -1).
valueStringInitial value in the control (doesn't have to be one of @ content values; default: empty).

If both value and selection are specified and selection is not -1, then selection takes precedence.

A wxBitmapComboBox can have one or more child objects of the ownerdrawnitem pseudo-class. ownerdrawnitem objects have the following properties:

propertytypedescription
textTextItem's label (default: empty).
bitmapBitmapItem's bitmap (default: no bitmap).

Example:

<object class="wxBitmapComboBox">
<selection>1</selection>
<object class="ownerdrawnitem">
<text>Foo</text>
<bitmap>foo.png</bitmap>
</object>
<object class="ownerdrawnitem">
<text>Bar</text>
<bitmap>bar.png</bitmap>
</object>
</object>

wxBitmapToggleButton

propertytypedescription
bitmapBitmapLabel to display on the button (default: none).
pressedBitmapBitmap to show when the button is pressed (default: none, same as bitmap).
Since
3.1.7
focusBitmapBitmap to show when the button has focus (default: none, same as bitmap).
Since
3.1.7
disabledBitmapBitmap to show when the button is disabled (default: none, same as bitmap).
Since
3.1.7
currentBitmapBitmap to show when the mouse cursor hovers above the bitmap (default: none, same as bitmap).
Since
3.1.7
marginsSizeSet the margins between the bitmap and the text of the button. This method is currently only implemented under MSW. If it is not called, a default margin is used around the bitmap.
Since
3.1.7
checkedBooleanShould the button be checked/pressed initially (default: 0)?

wxButton

propertytypedescription
labelTextLabel to display on the button (may be omitted if only the bitmap or stock ID is used).
bitmapBitmapBitmap to display in the button (optional).
pressedBitmapBitmap to show when the button is pressed (default: none, same as bitmap).
Since
3.1.7
focusBitmapBitmap to show when the button has focus (default: none, same as bitmap).
Since
3.1.7
disabledBitmapBitmap to show when the button is disabled (default: none, same as bitmap).
Since
3.1.7
currentBitmapBitmap to show when the mouse cursor hovers above the bitmap (default: none, same as bitmap).
Since
3.1.7
marginsSizeSet the margins between the bitmap and the text of the button. This method is currently only implemented under MSW. If it is not called, a default margin is used around the bitmap.
Since
3.1.7
bitmappositionwxLEFT|wxRIGHT|wxTOP|wxBOTTOM Position of the bitmap in the button, see wxButton::SetBitmapPosition() (default: wxLEFT).
defaultBooleanShould this button be the default button in dialog (default: 0)?

wxCalendarCtrl

No additional properties.

wxCheckBox

propertytypedescription
labelTextLabel to use for the checkbox (default: empty).
checkedintegerSets the initial state of the checkbox. 0 is unchecked (default), 1 is checked, and since wxWidgets 3.1.7, 2 sets the undetermined state of a 3-state checkbox.

wxCheckListBox

propertytypedescription
contentitemsContent of the control; this property has any number of <item> XML elements as its children, with the items text as their text values (default: empty).

The <item> elements have listbox items' labels as their text values. They can also have optional checked XML attribute – if set to "1", the value is initially checked.

Example:

<object class="wxCheckListBox">
<content>
<item checked="1">Download library</item>
<item checked="1">Compile samples</item>
<item checked="1">Skim docs</item>
<item checked="1">Finish project</item>
<item>Wash car</item>
</content>
</object>

wxChoice

propertytypedescription
selectionintegerIndex of the initially selected item or -1 for no selection (default: -1).
contentitemsContent of the control; this property has any number of <item> XML elements as its children, with the items text as their text values (default: empty).

Example:

<object class="wxChoice" name="controls_choice">
<content>
<item>See</item>
<item>Hear</item>
<item>Feel</item>
<item>Smell</item>
<item>Taste</item>
<item>The Sixth Sense!</item>
</content>
</object>

wxChoicebook

propertytypedescription
imagelistImage ListImage list to use for the images (default: none, built implicitly).

Additionally, a choicebook can have one or more child objects of the choicebookpage pseudo-class (similarly to wxNotebook and its notebookpage).

choicebookpage objects have the following properties:

propertytypedescription
labelTextSheet page's title (default: empty).
bitmapBitmapBitmap shown alongside the label (default: none, mutually exclusive with image).
imageintegerThe zero-based index of the image associated with the item into the image list (default: none, mutually exclusive with bitmap, only if imagelist was set).
selectedBooleanIs the page selected initially (only one page can be selected; default: 0)?

Each choicebookpage has exactly one non-toplevel window as its child.

wxCollapsiblePane

propertytypedescription
labelTextLabel to use for the collapsible section (default: empty).
collapsedBooleanShould the pane be collapsed initially (default: 0)?

wxCollapsiblePane may contain single optional child object of the panewindow pseudo-class type. panewindow itself must contain exactly one child that is a sizer or a non-toplevel window object.

wxColourPickerCtrl

propertytypedescription
valueColourInitial value of the control (default: wxBLACK).

wxComboBox

propertytypedescription
selectionintegerIndex of the initially selected item or -1 for no selection (default: not used).
contentitemsContent of the control; this property has any number of <item> XML elements as its children, with the items text as their text values (default: empty).
valueStringInitial value in the control (doesn't have to be one of @ content values; default: empty).

If both value and selection are specified and selection is not -1, then selection takes precedence.

Example:

<object class="wxComboBox" name="controls_combobox">
<style>wxCB_DROPDOWN</style>
<value>nedit</value>
<content>
<item>vim</item>
<item>emacs</item>
<item>notepad.exe</item>
<item>bbedit</item>
</content>
</object>
#define wxCB_DROPDOWN
Definition defs.h:378

wxComboCtrl

propertytypedescription
valueStringInitial value in the control (default: empty).

wxCommandLinkButton

The wxCommandLinkButton contains a main title-like label and an optional note for longer description. The main label and the note can be concatenated into a single string using a new line character between them (notice that the note part can have more new lines in it).

propertytypedescription
labelTextFirst line of text on the button, typically the label of an action that will be made when the button is pressed (default: empty).
noteTextSecond line of text describing the action performed when the button is pressed (default: none).
bitmapBitmapBitmap to display in the button (optional).
Since
3.1.5
pressedBitmapBitmap to show when the button is pressed (default: none, same as bitmap).
Since
3.1.7
focusBitmapBitmap to show when the button has focus (default: none, same as bitmap).
Since
3.1.7
disabledBitmapBitmap to show when the button is disabled (default: none, same as bitmap).
Since
3.1.7
currentBitmapBitmap to show when the mouse cursor hovers above the bitmap (default: none, same as bitmap).
Since
3.1.7
defaultBooleanShould this button be the default button in dialog (default: 0)?
Since
3.1.5

wxDataViewCtrl

No additional properties.

wxDataViewListCtrl

No additional properties.

wxDataViewTreeCtrl

propertytypedescription
imagelistImage ListImage list to use for the images (default: none).

wxDatePickerCtrl

propertytypedescription
null-textStringSet the text to show when there is no valid value (default: empty). Only used if the control has wxDP_ALLOWNONE style. Currently implemented on MSW, ignored elsewhere.
Since
3.1.5.

wxDialog

propertytypedescription
titleTextDialog's title (default: empty).
iconBitmapDialog's icon (default: not used).
centeredBooleanWhether the dialog should be centered on the screen (default: 0).

wxDialog may have optional children: either exactly one sizer child or any number of non-toplevel window objects. If sizer child is used, it sets size hints too.

wxDirPickerCtrl

propertytypedescription
valueStringInitial value of the control (default: empty).
messageTextMessage shown to the user in wxDirDialog shown by the control (default: empty).

wxEditableListBox

propertytypedescription
labelTextLabel shown above the list (default: empty).
contentitemsContent of the control; this property has any number of <item> XML elements as its children, with the items text as their text values (default: empty).

Example:

<object class="wxEditableListBox" name="controls_listbox">
<size>250,160</size>
<label>List of things</label>
<content>
<item>Milk</item>
<item>Pizza</item>
<item>Bread</item>
<item>Orange juice</item>
<item>Paper towels</item>
</content>
</object>

wxFileCtrl

propertytypedescription
defaultdirectoryStringSets the current directory displayed in the control (default: empty).
defaultfilenameStringSelects a certain file (default: empty).
wildcardStringSets the wildcard, which can contain multiple file types, for example: "BMP files (*.bmp)|*.bmp|GIF files (*.gif)|*.gif" (default: all files).

wxFilePickerCtrl

propertytypedescription
valueStringInitial value of the control (default: empty).
messageTextMessage shown to the user in wxDirDialog shown by the control (default: empty).
wildcardStringSets the wildcard, which can contain multiple file types, for example: "BMP files (*.bmp)|*.bmp|GIF files (*.gif)|*.gif" (default: all files).

wxFontPickerCtrl

propertytypedescription
valueFontInitial value of the control (default: wxNORMAL_FONT).

wxFrame

propertytypedescription
titleTextFrame's title (default: empty).
iconBitmapFrame's icon (default: not used).
centeredBooleanWhether the frame should be centered on the screen (default: 0).

wxFrame may have optional children: either exactly one sizer child or any number of non-toplevel window objects. If sizer child is used, it sets size hints too.

wxGauge

propertytypedescription
rangeintegerMaximum value of the gauge (default: 100).
valueintegerInitial value of the control (default: 0).
shadowDimensionIgnored, preserved only for compatibility.
bezelDimensionIgnored, preserved only for compatibility.

wxGenericAnimationCtrl

This handler is identical to the one for wxAnimationCtrl, please see it for more information. The only difference is that, for the platforms with a native wxAnimationCtrl implementation, using this handler creates a generic control rather than a native one.

wxGenericDirCtrl

propertytypedescription
defaultfolderStringInitial folder (default: empty).
filterTextFilter string, using the same syntax as used by wxFileDialog, e.g. "All files (*.*)|*.*|JPEG files (*.jpg)|*.jpg" (default: empty).
defaultfilterintegerZero-based index of default filter (default: 0).

wxGrid

No additional properties.

wxHtmlWindow

propertytypedescription
urlURLPage to display in the window (default: none).
htmlcodeTextHTML markup to display in the window (default: none).
bordersDimensionBorder around HTML content (default: 0).

At most one of url and htmlcode properties may be specified, they are mutually exclusive. If neither is set, the window is initialized to show empty page.

wxHyperlinkCtrl

propertytypedescription
labelTextLabel to display on the control (default: empty).
urlURLURL to open when the link is clicked (default: empty).

wxInfoBar

propertytypedescription
showeffectShow EffectThe effect to use when showing the bar (optional).
hideeffectShow EffectThe effect to use when hiding the bar (optional).
effectdurationintegerThe duration of the animation used when showing or hiding the bar (optional).
buttonobjectAdd a button to be shown in the info bar (see wxInfoBar::AddButton); this property is of class "button" has name (can be one of standard button ID) and has optional label property. If no buttons are added to the info bar, the default "Close" button will be shown.

Example:

<object class="wxInfoBar">
<effectduration>1000</effectduration>
<showeffect>wxSHOW_EFFECT_EXPAND</showeffect>
<hideeffect>wxSHOW_EFFECT_SLIDE_TO_RIGHT</hideeffect>
<object class="button" name="wxID_UNDO"/>
<object class="button" name="wxID_REDO">
<label>Redo Custom Label</label>
</object>
</object>
@ wxSHOW_EFFECT_SLIDE_TO_RIGHT
Slide window to the right.
Definition window.h:37
Since
3.1.3

wxListBox

propertytypedescription
selectionintegerIndex of the initially selected item or -1 for no selection (default: -1).
contentitemsContent of the control; this property has any number of <item> XML elements as its children, with the items text as their text values (default: empty).

Example:

<object class="wxListBox" name="controls_listbox">
<size>250,160</size>
<style>wxLB_SINGLE</style>
<content>
<item>Milk</item>
<item>Pizza</item>
<item>Bread</item>
<item>Orange juice</item>
<item>Paper towels</item>
</content>
</object>
#define wxLB_SINGLE
Definition defs.h:360

wxListbook

propertytypedescription
imagelistImage ListImage list to use for the images (default: none, built implicitly).

Additionally, a listbook can have one or more child objects of the listbookpage pseudo-class (similarly to wxNotebook and its notebookpage).

listbookpage objects have the following properties:

propertytypedescription
labelTextSheet page's title (default: empty).
bitmapBitmapBitmap shown alongside the label (default: none, mutually exclusive with image).
imageintegerThe zero-based index of the image associated with the item into the image list (default: none, mutually exclusive with bitmap, only if imagelist was set).
selectedBooleanIs the page selected initially (only one page can be selected; default: 0)?

Each listbookpage has exactly one non-toplevel window as its child.

wxListCtrl

propertytypedescription
imagelistImage ListThe normal (wxIMAGE_LIST_NORMAL) image list (default: none, built implicitly).
imagelist-smallImage ListThe small (wxIMAGE_LIST_SMALL) image list (default: none, built implicitly).

A list control can have optional child objects of the listitem class. Report mode list controls (i.e. created with wxLC_REPORT style) can in addition have optional listcol child objects.

listcol

The listcol class can only be used for wxListCtrl children. It can have the following properties (all of them optional):

propertytypedescription
alignwxListColumnFormatThe alignment for the item. Can be one of wxLIST_FORMAT_LEFT, wxLIST_FORMAT_RIGHT or wxLIST_FORMAT_CENTRE.
textTextThe title of the column.
widthintegerThe column width. wxLIST_DEFAULT_COL_WIDTH is used by default.
imageintegerThe zero-based index of the image associated with the item in the 'small' image list.

The columns are appended to the control in order of their appearance and may be referenced by 0-based index in the col attributes of subsequent listitem objects.

listitem

The listitem is a child object for the class wxListCtrl. It can have the following properties (all of them optional):

propertytypedescription
alignwxListColumnFormatThe alignment for the item. Can be one of wxLIST_FORMAT_LEFT, wxLIST_FORMAT_RIGHT or wxLIST_FORMAT_CENTRE.
bgColourThe background color for the item.
bitmapBitmapAdd a bitmap to the (normal) Image List associated with the wxListCtrl parent and associate it with this item. If the imagelist is not defined it will be created implicitly (default: none, mutually exclusive with image).
bitmap-smallBitmapAdd a bitmap in the 'small' Image List associated with the wxListCtrl parent and associate it with this item. If the 'small' imagelist is not defined it will be created implicitly (default: none, mutually exclusive with image-small).
colintegerThe zero-based column index.
imageintegerThe zero-based index of the image associated with the item in the (normal) image list (default: none, mutually exclusive with bitmap, only if imagelist was set).
image-smallintegerThe zero-based index of the image associated with the item in the 'small' image list (default: none, mutually exclusive with bitmap-small, only if imagelist-small was set).
dataintegerThe client data for the item.
fontFontThe font for the item.
stateStyleThe item state. Can be any combination of the following values:
  • wxLIST_STATE_FOCUSED: The item has the focus.
  • wxLIST_STATE_SELECTED: The item is selected.
textTextThe text label for the item.
textcolourColourThe text colour for the item.

Notice that the item position can't be specified here, the items are appended to the list control in order of their appearance.

wxMDIParentFrame

wxMDIParentFrame supports the same properties that wxFrame does.

wxMDIParentFrame may have optional children. When used, the child objects must be of wxMDIChildFrame type.

wxMDIChildFrame

wxMDIChildFrame supports the same properties that wxFrame and wxMDIParentFrame do.

wxMDIChildFrame can only be used as immediate child of wxMDIParentFrame.

wxMDIChildFrame may have optional children: either exactly one sizer child or any number of non-toplevel window objects. If sizer child is used, it sets size hints too.

wxMenu

propertytypedescription
labelTextMenu's label (default: empty, but required for menus other than popup menus).
styleStyleWindow style for the menu.
helpTextHelp shown in statusbar when the menu is selected (only for submenus of another wxMenu, default: none).
enabledBooleanIs the submenu item enabled (only for submenus of another wxMenu, default: 1)?

Note that unlike most controls, wxMenu does not have Standard Properties, with the exception of style.

A menu object can have one or more child objects of the wxMenuItem or wxMenu classes or break or separator pseudo-classes.

The separator pseudo-class is used to insert separators into the menu and has neither properties nor children. Likewise, break inserts a break (see wxMenu::Break()).

wxMenuItem objects support the following properties:

propertytypedescription
labelTextItem's label (may be omitted if stock ID is used).
accelNon-Translatable TextItem's accelerator (default: none).
extra-accelsAccelerators ListList of item's extra accelerators. Such accelerators will not be shown in item's label, but still will work. (default: none).
Since
3.1.6.
radioBooleanItem's kind is wxITEM_RADIO (default: 0)?
checkableBooleanItem's kind is wxITEM_CHECK (default: 0)?
bitmapBitmapBitmap to show with the item (default: none).
bitmap2BitmapBitmap for the checked state (wxMSW, if checkable; default: none).
helpTextHelp shown in statusbar when the item is selected (default: none).
enabledBooleanIs the item enabled (default: 1)?
checkedBooleanIs the item checked initially (default: 0)?

Example:

<object class="wxMenu" name="menu_edit">
<style>wxMENU_TEAROFF</style>
<label>_Edit</label>
<object class="wxMenuItem" name="wxID_FIND">
<label>_Find...</label>
<accel>Ctrl-F</accel>
<extra-accels>
<accel>Ctrl-W</accel>
<accel>Shift-Ctrl-W</accel>
</extra-accels>
</object>
<object class="separator"/>
<object class="wxMenuItem" name="menu_fuzzy">
<label>Translation is _fuzzy</label>
<checkable>1</checkable>
</object>
<object class="wxMenu" name="submenu">
<label>A submenu</label>
<object class="wxMenuItem" name="foo">...</object>
...
</object>
<object class="separator" platform="unix"/>
<object class="wxMenuItem" name="wxID_PREFERENCES" platform="unix">
<label>_Preferences</label>
</object>
</object>
#define wxMENU_TEAROFF
Definition defs.h:348

wxMenuBar

propertytypedescription
styleStyleWindow style for the menu bar.

Note that unlike most controls, wxMenuBar does not have Standard Properties, with the exception of style.

A menubar can have one or more child objects of the wxMenu class.

wxNotebook

propertytypedescription
imagelistImage ListImage list to use for the images (default: none, built implicitly).

A notebook can have one or more child objects of the notebookpage pseudo-class.

notebookpage objects have the following properties:

propertytypedescription
labelTextPage's title (default: empty).
bitmapBitmapBitmap shown alongside the label (default: none, mutually exclusive with image).
imageintegerThe zero-based index of the image associated with the item into the image list (default: none, mutually exclusive with bitmap, only if imagelist was set).
selectedBooleanIs the page selected initially (only one page can be selected; default: 0)?

Each notebookpage has exactly one non-toplevel window as its child.

Example:

<object class="wxNotebook">
<style>wxBK_BOTTOM</style>
<object class="notebookpage">
<label>Page 1</label>
<object class="wxPanel" name="page_1">
...
</object>
</object>
<object class="notebookpage">
<label>Page 2</label>
<object class="wxPanel" name="page_2">
...
</object>
</object>
</object>

wxOwnerDrawnComboBox

wxOwnerDrawnComboBox has the same properties as wxComboBox, plus the following additional properties:

propertytypedescription
buttonsizeSizeSize of the dropdown button (default: default).

wxPanel

No additional properties.

wxPanel may have optional children: either exactly one sizer child or any number of non-toplevel window objects.

wxPropertySheetDialog

propertytypedescription
titleTextDialog's title (default: empty).
iconBitmapDialog's icon (default: not used).
centeredBooleanWhether the dialog should be centered on the screen (default: 0).
buttonsStyleButtons to show, combination of flags accepted by wxPropertySheetDialog::CreateButtons() (default: 0).

A sheet dialog can have one or more child objects of the propertysheetpage pseudo-class (similarly to wxNotebook and its notebookpage). propertysheetpage objects have the following properties:

propertytypedescription
labelTextSheet page's title (default: empty).
bitmapBitmapBitmap shown alongside the label (default: none).
selectedBooleanIs the page selected initially (only one page can be selected; default: 0)?

Each propertysheetpage has exactly one non-toplevel window as its child.

wxRadioButton

propertytypedescription
labelTextLabel shown on the radio button (default: empty).
valueBooleanInitial value of the control (default: 0).

wxRadioBox

propertytypedescription
labelTextLabel for the whole box (default: empty).
dimensionintegerSpecifies the maximum number of rows (if style contains wxRA_SPECIFY_ROWS) or columns (if style contains wxRA_SPECIFY_COLS) for a two-dimensional radiobox (default: 1).
selectionintegerIndex of the initially selected item or -1 for no selection (default: -1).
contentitemsContent of the control; this property has any number of <item> XML elements as its children, with the items text as their text values (see below; default: empty).

The <item> elements have radio buttons' labels as their text values. They can also have some optional XML attributes (not properties!):

attributetypedescription
tooltipStringTooltip to show over this radio button (default: none).
helptextStringContextual help for this radio button (default: none).
enabledBooleanIs the button enabled (default: 1)?
hiddenBooleanIs the button hidden initially (default: 0)?
labelBooleanShould this item text be interpreted as a label, i.e. escaping underscores in it as done for the label properties of other controls? This attribute exists since wxWidgets 3.1.1 and was always treated as having the value of 0, which still remains its default, until then.

Example:

<object class="wxRadioBox" name="controls_radiobox">
<style>wxRA_SPECIFY_COLS</style>
<label>Radio stations</label>
<dimension>1</dimension>
<selection>0</selection>
<content>
<item tooltip="Powerful radio station" helptext="This station is for amateurs of hard rock and heavy metal">Power 108</item>
<item tooltip="Disabled radio station" enabled="0">Power 0</item>
<item tooltip="">WMMS 100.7</item>
<item tooltip="E=mc^2">Energy 98.3</item>
<item helptext="Favourite chukcha's radio">CHUM FM</item>
<item>92FM</item>
<item hidden="1">Very quiet station</item>
</content>
</object>
#define wxRA_SPECIFY_COLS
Definition defs.h:388

wxRibbonBar

propertytypedescription
art-providerStringOne of default, aui or msw (default: default).

A wxRibbonBar may have wxRibbonPage child objects. The page pseudo-class may be used instead of wxRibbonPage when used as wxRibbonBar children.

Example:

<object class="wxRibbonBar" name="ribbonbar">
<object class="page" name="FilePage">
<label>First</label>
<object class="panel">
<label>File</label>
<object class="wxRibbonButtonBar">
<object class="button" name="Open">
<bitmap>open.xpm</bitmap>
<label>Open</label>
</object>
</object>
</object>
</object>
<object class="page" name="ViewPage">
<label>View</label>
<object class="panel">
<label>Zoom</label>
<object class="wxRibbonGallery">
<object class="item">
<bitmap>zoomin.xpm</bitmap>
</object>
<object class="item">
<bitmap>zoomout.xpm</bitmap>
</object>
</object>
</object>
</object>
</object>

Notice that wxRibbonBar support in XRC is available in wxWidgets 2.9.5 and later only and you need to explicitly register its handler using

#include <wx/xrc/xh_ribbon.h>
AddHandler(new wxRibbonXmlHandler);

to use it.

wxRibbonButtonBar

No additional properties.

wxRibbonButtonBar can have child objects of the button pseudo-class. button objects have the following properties:

propertytypedescription
hybridBooleanIf true, the wxRIBBON_BUTTON_HYBRID kind is used (default: false).
disabledBooleanWhether the button should be disabled (default: false).
labelTextItem's label (default: empty).
bitmapBitmapItem's bitmap (default: none).
small-bitmapBitmapSmall bitmap (default: none).
disabled-bitmapBitmapDisabled bitmap (default: none).
small-disabled-bitmapBitmapSmall disabled bitmap (default: none).
helpTextItem's help text (default: none).

wxRibbonControl

No additional properties.

Objects of this type must be subclassed with the subclass attribute.

wxRibbonGallery

No additional properties.

wxRibbonGallery can have child objects of the item pseudo-class. item objects have the following properties:

propertytypedescription
bitmapBitmapItem's bitmap (default: none).

wxRibbonPage

propertytypedescription
labelTextLabel (default: none).
iconBitmapIcon (default: none).

A wxRibbonPage may have children of any type derived from wxRibbonControl. Most commonly, wxRibbonPanel is used. As a special case, the panel pseudo-class may be used instead of wxRibbonPanel when used as wxRibbonPage children.

wxRibbonPanel

propertytypedescription
labelTextLabel (default: none).
iconBitmapIcon (default: none).

A wxRibbonPanel may have children of any type derived from wxRibbonControl or a single wxSizer child with non-ribbon windows in it.

wxRichTextCtrl

propertytypedescription
valueTextInitial value of the control (default: empty).

Notice that you need to explicitly register the handler using

#include <wx/xrc/xh_richtext.h>
AddHandler(new wxRichTextCtrlXmlHandler);

to use it.

Since
2.9.5

wxScrollBar

propertytypedescription
valueintegerInitial position of the scrollbar (default: 0).
rangeintegerMaximum value of the gauge (default: 10).
thumbsizeintegerSize of the thumb (default: 1).
pagesizeintegerPage size (default: 1).

wxScrolledWindow

propertytypedescription
scrollrateSizeScroll rate in x and y directions (default: not set; required if the window has a sizer child).

wxScrolledWindow may have optional children: either exactly one sizer child or any number of non-toplevel window objects. If sizer child is used, wxSizer::FitInside() is used (instead of wxSizer::Fit() as usual) and so the children don't determine scrolled window's minimal size, they only affect virtual size. Usually, both scrollrate and either size or minsize on containing sizer item should be used in this case.

wxSimpleHtmlListBox

wxSimpleHtmlListBox has same properties as wxListBox. The only difference is that the text contained in <item> elements is HTML markup. Note that the markup has to be escaped:

<object class="wxSimpleHtmlListBox">
<content>
<item>&lt;b&gt;Bold&lt;/b&gt; Milk</item>
</content>
</object>

(X)HTML markup elements cannot be included directly:

<object class="wxSimpleHtmlListBox">
<content>
<!-- This is incorrect, doesn't work! -->
<item><b>Bold</b> Milk</item>
</content>
</object>

wxSimplebook

wxSimplebook is similar to wxNotebook but simpler: as it doesn't show any page headers, it uses neither image list nor individual page bitmaps and while it still accepts page labels, they are optional as they are not shown to the user either.

So simplebookpage child elements, that must occur inside this object, only have the following properties:

choicebookpage objects have the following properties:

propertytypedescription
labelTextPage's label (default: empty).
selectedBooleanIs the page selected initially (only one page can be selected; default: 0)?

As with all the other book page elements, each simplebookpage must have exactly one non-toplevel window as its child.

Since
3.0.2

wxSlider

propertytypedescription
valueintegerInitial value of the control (default: 0).
minintegerMinimum allowed value (default: 0).
maxintegerMaximum allowed value (default: 100).
pagesizeintegerPage size; number of steps the slider moves when the user moves pages up or down (default: unset).
linesizeintegerLine size; number of steps the slider moves when the user moves it up or down a line (default: unset).
tickfreqintegerTick marks frequency (Windows only; default: unset).
tickintegerTick position (Windows only; default: unset).
thumbintegerThumb length (Windows only; default: unset).
selminintegerSelection start position (Windows only; default: unset).
selmaxintegerSelection end position (Windows only; default: unset).

wxSpinButton

propertytypedescription
valueintegerInitial value of the control (default: 0).
minintegerMinimum allowed value (default: 0).
maxintegerMaximum allowed value (default: 100).
incintegerIncrement (default: 1).
Since
3.1.6.

wxSpinCtrl

wxSpinCtrl supports the same properties as wxSpinButton and, since wxWidgets 2.9.5, another one:

baseintegerNumeric base, currently can be only 10 or 16 (default: 10).

wxSpinCtrlDouble

wxSpinCtrlDouble supports the same properties as wxSpinButton but value, min and max are all of type float instead of int. There is one additional property:

incfloatThe amount by which the number is changed by a single arrow press.
digitsintegerSets the precision of the value of the spin control (default: 0).
Since
3.1.7.
Since
3.1.1.

wxSplitterWindow

propertytypedescription
orientationStringOrientation of the splitter, either "vertical" or "horizontal" (default: horizontal).
sashposDimensionInitial position of the sash (default: 0).
minsizeDimensionMinimum child size (default: not set).
gravityFloating-point valueSash gravity, see wxSplitterWindow::SetSashGravity() (default: not set).

wxSplitterWindow must have one or two children that are non-toplevel window objects. If there's only one child, it is used as wxSplitterWindow's only visible child. If there are two children, the first one is used for left/top child and the second one for right/bottom child window.

wxSearchCtrl

propertytypedescription
valueTextInitial value of the control (default: empty).
hintTextDescriptive text shown in the empty control (default: "Search").
Since
3.1.1.

wxStatusBar

propertytypedescription
fieldsintegerNumber of status bar fields (default: 1).
widthsStringComma-separated list of fields integers. Each value specifies width of one field; the values are interpreted using the same convention used by wxStatusBar::SetStatusWidths() (default: not set).
stylesStringComma-separated list of fields style values. Each value specifies style of one field and can be one of wxSB_NORMAL, wxSB_FLAT, wxSB_RAISED or wxSB_SUNKEN (default: not set).

wxStaticBitmap

propertytypedescription
bitmapBitmapBitmap to display (required).

wxStaticBox

propertytypedescription
labelTextStatic box's label (default: empty).

wxStaticLine

No additional properties.

wxStaticText

propertytypedescription
labelTextLabel to display (default: empty).
wrapDimensionWrap the text so that each line is at most the given number of pixels, see wxStaticText::Wrap() (default: no wrap).

wxStyledTextCtrl

propertytypedescription
wrapmodeStyleSet wrapmode to wxSTC_WRAP_WORD to enable wrapping on word or style boundaries, wxSTC_WRAP_CHAR to enable wrapping between any characters, wxSTC_WRAP_WHITESPACE to enable wrapping on whitespace, and wxSTC_WRAP_NONE to disable line wrapping (default: wxSTC_WRAP_NONE).

Notice that wxStyledTextCtrl support in XRC is available in wxWidgets 3.1.6 and later only and you need to explicitly register its handler using

#include <wx/xrc/xh_styledtextctrl.h>
AddHandler(new wxStyledTextCtrlXmlHandler);

to use it.

wxTextCtrl

propertytypedescription
valueTextInitial value of the control (default: empty).
maxlengthintegerMaximum length of the text which can be entered by user (default: unlimited).
forceupperBooleanIf true, use wxTextEntry::ForceUpper() to force the control contents to be upper case.
hintTextHint shown in empty control.
Since
3.0.1

wxTimePickerCtrl

No additional properties.

wxToggleButton

propertytypedescription
labelTextLabel to display on the button (default: empty).
checkedBooleanShould the button be checked/pressed initially (default: 0)?
bitmapBitmapBitmap to display in the button (optional).
Since
3.1.1
pressedBitmapBitmap to show when the button is pressed (default: none, same as bitmap).
Since
3.1.7
focusBitmapBitmap to show when the button has focus (default: none, same as bitmap).
Since
3.1.7
disabledBitmapBitmap to show when the button is disabled (default: none, same as bitmap).
Since
3.1.7
currentBitmapBitmap to show when the mouse cursor hovers above the bitmap (default: none, same as bitmap).
Since
3.1.7
marginsSizeSet the margins between the bitmap and the text of the button. This method is currently only implemented under MSW. If it is not called, a default margin is used around the bitmap.
Since
3.1.7
bitmappositionwxLEFT|wxRIGHT|wxTOP|wxBOTTOM Position of the bitmap in the button, see wxButton::SetBitmapPosition() (default: wxLEFT).
Since
3.1.1

wxToolBar

propertytypedescription
bitmapsizePair of integersSize of toolbar bitmaps in pixels. Note that these are physical pixels, as they typically correspond to the size of available bitmaps, and not DIPs, i.e. not depending on the current DPI value. In particular, "d" suffix is invalid and cannot be used here (default: not set).
marginsSizeMargins (default: platform default).
packingintegerPacking, see wxToolBar::SetToolPacking() (default: not set).
separationintegerDefault separator size, see wxToolBar::SetToolSeparation() (default: not set).
dontattachtoframeBooleanIf set to 0 and the toolbar object is child of a wxFrame, wxFrame::SetToolBar() is called; otherwise, you have to add it to a frame manually. The toolbar is attached by default, you have to set this property to 1 to disable this behaviour (default: 0).

A toolbar can have one or more child objects of any wxControl-derived class or one of three pseudo-classes: separator, space or tool.

The separator pseudo-class is used to insert separators into the toolbar and has neither properties nor children. Similarly, the space pseudo-class is used for stretchable spaces (see wxToolBar::AddStretchableSpace(), new since wxWidgets 2.9.1).

The tool pseudo-class objects specify toolbar buttons and have the following properties:

propertytypedescription
bitmapBitmapTool's bitmap (default: empty).
bitmap2BitmapBitmap for disabled tool (default: derived from bitmap).
labelTextLabel to display on the tool (default: no label).
radioBooleanItem's kind is wxITEM_RADIO (default: 0)?
toggleBooleanItem's kind is wxITEM_CHECK (default: 0)?
dropdownsee belowItem's kind is wxITEM_DROPDOWN (default: 0)?
Since
2.9.0
tooltipTextTooltip to use for the tool (default: none).
longhelpTextHelp text shown in statusbar when the mouse is on the tool (default: none).
disabledBooleanIs the tool initially disabled (default: 0)?
checkedBooleanIs the tool initially checked (default: 0)?
Since
2.9.3

The presence of a dropdown property indicates that the tool is of type wxITEM_DROPDOWN. It must be either empty or contain exactly one wxMenu child object defining the drop-down button associated menu.

Notice that radio, toggle and dropdown are mutually exclusive.

Children that are not tool, space or separator must be instances of classes derived from wxControl and are added to the toolbar using wxToolBar::AddControl().

Example:

<object class="wxToolBar">
<style>wxTB_FLAT|wxTB_NODIVIDER</style>
<object class="tool" name="foo">
<bitmap>foo.png</bitmap>
<label>Foo</label>
</object>
<object class="tool" name="bar">
<bitmap>bar.png</bitmap>
<label>Bar</label>
</object>
<object class="separator"/>
<object class="tool" name="view_auto">
<bitmap>view.png</bitmap>
<label>View</label>
<dropdown>
<object class="wxMenu">
<object class="wxMenuItem" name="view_as_text">
<label>View as text</label>
</object>
<object class="wxMenuItem" name="view_as_hex">
<label>View as binary</label>
</object>
</object>
</dropdown>
</object>
<object class="space"/>
<object class="wxComboBox">
<content>
<item>Just</item>
<item>a combobox</item>
<item>in the toolbar</item>
</content>
</object>
</object>
@ wxTB_FLAT
"flat" buttons (Win32/GTK only)
Definition toolbar.h:28
@ wxTB_NODIVIDER
don't show the divider between toolbar and the window (Win32 only)
Definition toolbar.h:40

wxToolbook

propertytypedescription
imagelistImage ListImage list to use for the images (default: none, built implicitly).

A toolbook can have one or more child objects of the toolbookpage pseudo-class (similarly to wxNotebook and its notebookpage).

toolbookpage objects have the following properties:

propertytypedescription
labelTextSheet page's title (default: empty).
bitmapBitmapBitmap shown alongside the label (default: none, mutually exclusive with image).
imageintegerThe zero-based index of the image associated with the item into the image list (default: none, mutually exclusive with bitmap, only if imagelist was set).
selectedBooleanIs the page selected initially (only one page can be selected; default: 0)?

Each toolbookpage has exactly one non-toplevel window as its child.

wxTreeCtrl

propertytypedescription
imagelistImage ListImage list to use for the images (default: none).

wxTreebook

propertytypedescription
imagelistImage ListImage list to use for the images (default: none, built implicitly).

A treebook can have one or more child objects of the treebookpage pseudo-class (similarly to wxNotebook and its notebookpage).

treebookpage objects have the following properties:

propertytypedescription
depthintegerPage's depth in the labels tree (default: 0; see below).
labelTextSheet page's title (default: empty).
bitmapBitmapBitmap shown alongside the label (default: none, mutually exclusive with image).
imageintegerThe zero-based index of the image associated with the item into the image list (default: none, mutually exclusive with bitmap, only if imagelist was set).
selectedBooleanIs the page selected initially (only one page can be selected; default: 0)?
expandedBooleanIf set to 1, the page is initially expanded. By default all pages are initially collapsed.

Each treebookpage has exactly one non-toplevel window as its child.

The tree of labels is not described using nested treebookpage objects, but using the depth property. Toplevel pages have depth 0, their child pages have depth 1 and so on. A treebookpage's label is inserted as child of the latest preceding page with depth equal to depth-1. For example, this XRC markup:

<object class="wxTreebook">
...
<object class="treebookpage">
<depth>0</depth>
<label>Page 1</label>
<object class="wxPanel">...</object>
</object>
<object class="treebookpage">
<depth>1</depth>
<label>Subpage 1A</label>
<object class="wxPanel">...</object>
</object>
<object class="treebookpage">
<depth>2</depth>
<label>Subsubpage 1</label>
<object class="wxPanel">...</object>
</object>
<object class="treebookpage">
<depth>1</depth>
<label>Subpage 1B</label>
<object class="wxPanel">...</object>
</object>
<object class="treebookpage">
<depth>2</depth>
<label>Subsubpage 2</label>
<object class="wxPanel">...</object>
</object>
<object class="treebookpage">
<depth>0</depth>
<label>Page 2</label>
<object class="wxPanel">...</object>
</object>
</object>

corresponds to the following tree of labels:

  • Page 1
    • Subpage 1A
      • Subsubpage 1
    • Subpage 1B
      • Subsubpage 2
  • Page 2

wxWizard

propertytypedescription
bitmapBitmapBitmap to display on the left side of the wizard (default: none).
borderintegerSets width of border around page area. (default: 0).
Since
3.2.0
bitmap-placementStyleSets the flags indicating how the wizard or page bitmap should be expanded and positioned to fit the page height. By default, placement is 0 (no expansion is done). See wxWizard::SetBitmapPlacement()
Since
3.2.0
bitmap-minwidthintegerSets the minimum width for the bitmap that will be constructed to contain the actual wizard or page bitmap if a non-zero bitmap placement flag has been set.
Since
3.2.0
bitmap-bgColourSets the colour that should be used to fill the area not taken up by the wizard or page bitmap, if a non-zero bitmap placement flag has been set.
Since
3.2.0

A wizard object can have one or more child objects of the wxWizardPage or wxWizardPageSimple classes. They both support the following properties (in addition to Standard Properties):

propertytypedescription
titleTextWizard window's title (default: none).
bitmapBitmapPage-specific bitmap (default: none).

wxWizardPage and wxWizardPageSimple nodes may have optional children: either exactly one sizer child or any number of non-toplevel window objects.

wxWizardPageSimple pages are automatically chained together; wxWizardPage pages transitions must be handled programmatically.

Sizers

Sizers are handled slightly differently in XRC resources than they are in wxWindow hierarchy. wxWindow's sizers hierarchy is parallel to the wxWindow children hierarchy: child windows are children of their parent window and the sizer (or sizers) form separate hierarchy attached to the window with wxWindow::SetSizer().

In XRC, the two hierarchies are merged together: sizers are children of other sizers or windows and they can contain child window objects.

If a sizer is child of a window object in the resource, it must be the only child and it will be attached to the parent with wxWindow::SetSizer(). Additionally, if the window doesn't have its size explicitly set, wxSizer::Fit() is used to resize the window. If the parent window is toplevel window, wxSizer::SetSizeHints() is called to set its hints.

A sizer object can have one or more child objects of one of two pseudo-classes: sizeritem or spacer (see wxStdDialogButtonSizer for an exception). The former specifies an element (another sizer or a window) to include in the sizer, the latter adds empty space to the sizer.

sizeritem objects have exactly one child object: either another sizer object, or a window object. spacer objects don't have any children, but they have one property:

propertytypedescription
sizeSizeSize of the empty space (default: wxDefaultSize).

Both sizeritem and spacer objects can have any of the following properties:

propertytypedescription
optionintegerThe "option" value for sizers. Used by wxBoxSizer to set proportion of the item in the growable direction (default: 0).
flagStylewxSizerItem flags (default: 0).
borderDimensionSize of the border around the item (directions are specified in flags) (default: 0).
minsizeSizeMinimal size of this item (default: no min size).
ratioPair of integersItem ratio, see wxSizerItem::SetRatio() (default: no ratio).
cellposPair of integers(wxGridBagSizer only) Position, see wxGBSizerItem::SetPos() (required).
cellspanPair of integers(wxGridBagSizer only) Span, see wxGBSizerItem::SetSpan() (required).

Example of sizers XRC code:

<object class="wxDialog" name="derived_dialog">
<title>Derived Dialog Example</title>
<centered>1</centered>
<!-- this sizer is set to be this dialog's sizer: -->
<object class="wxFlexGridSizer">
<cols>1</cols>
<rows>0</rows>
<vgap>0</vgap>
<hgap>0</hgap>
<growablecols>0:1</growablecols>
<growablerows>0:1</growablerows>
<object class="sizeritem">
<flag>wxALIGN_CENTRE|wxALL</flag>
<border>5</border>
<object class="wxButton" name="my_button">
<label>My Button</label>
</object>
</object>
<object class="sizeritem">
<flag>wxALIGN_CENTRE|wxALL</flag>
<border>5</border>
<object class="wxBoxSizer">
<orient>wxHORIZONTAL</orient>
<object class="sizeritem">
<flag>wxALIGN_CENTRE|wxALL</flag>
<border>5</border>
<object class="wxCheckBox" name="my_checkbox">
<label>Enable this text control:</label>
</object>
</object>
<object class="sizeritem">
<flag>wxALIGN_CENTRE|wxALL</flag>
<border>5</border>
<object class="wxTextCtrl" name="my_textctrl">
<size>80,-1</size>
<value></value>
</object>
</object>
</object>
</object>
...
</object>
</object>

The sizer classes that can be used are listed below, together with their class-specific properties. All classes except wxStdDialogButtonSizer support the following properties:

propertytypedescription
minsizeSizeMinimal size that this sizer will have, see wxSizer::SetMinSize() (default: no min size).
hideitemsBooleanWhether the sizer will be created with all its items hidden (default: 0).

wxBoxSizer

propertytypedescription
orientStyleSizer orientation, "wxHORIZONTAL" or "wxVERTICAL" (default: wxHORIZONTAL).

wxStaticBoxSizer

propertytypedescription
orientStyleSizer orientation, "wxHORIZONTAL" or "wxVERTICAL" (default: wxHORIZONTAL).
labelTextLabel to be used for the static box around the sizer (default: empty).
windowlabelany windowWindow to be used instead of the plain text label (default: none).
Since
3.1.1

wxGridSizer

propertytypedescription
rowsunsigned integerNumber of rows in the grid (default: 0 - determine automatically).
colsunsigned integerNumber of columns in the grid (default: 0 - determine automatically).
vgapDimensionVertical gap between children (default: 0).
hgapDimensionHorizontal gap between children (default: 0).

wxFlexGridSizer

propertytypedescription
rowsunsigned integerNumber of rows in the grid (default: 0 - determine automatically).
colsunsigned integerNumber of columns in the grid (default: 0 - determine automatically).
vgapDimensionVertical gap between children (default: 0).
hgapDimensionHorizontal gap between children (default: 0).
flexibledirectionStyleFlexible direction, wxVERTICAL, wxHORIZONTAL or wxBOTH (default).
Since
2.9.5
nonflexiblegrowmodeStyleGrow mode in the non-flexible direction, wxFLEX_GROWMODE_NONE, wxFLEX_GROWMODE_SPECIFIED (default) or wxFLEX_GROWMODE_ALL.
Since
2.9.5
growablerowscomma-separated integers listComma-separated list of indexes of rows that are growable (none by default). Since wxWidgets 2.9.5 optional proportion can be appended to each number after a colon (:).
growablecolscomma-separated integers listComma-separated list of indexes of columns that are growable (none by default). Since wxWidgets 2.9.5 optional proportion can be appended to each number after a colon (:).

wxGridBagSizer

propertytypedescription
vgapDimensionVertical gap between children (default: 0).
hgapDimensionHorizontal gap between children (default: 0).
flexibledirectionStyleFlexible direction, wxVERTICAL, wxHORIZONTAL, wxBOTH (default: wxBOTH).
nonflexiblegrowmodeStyleGrow mode in the non-flexible direction, wxFLEX_GROWMODE_NONE, wxFLEX_GROWMODE_SPECIFIED, wxFLEX_GROWMODE_ALL (default: wxFLEX_GROWMODE_SPECIFIED).
growablerowscomma-separated integers listComma-separated list of indexes of rows that are growable, optionally the proportion can be appended after each number separated by a : (default: none).
growablecolscomma-separated integers listComma-separated list of indexes of columns that are growable, optionally the proportion can be appended after each number separated by a : (default: none).
empty_cellsizeSizeSize used for cells in the grid with no item. (default: wxDefaultSize).
Since
3.2.0

wxWrapSizer

propertytypedescription
orientStyleSizer orientation, "wxHORIZONTAL" or "wxVERTICAL" (default: wxHORIZONTAL).
flagStylewxWrapSizer flags (default: 0).

wxStdDialogButtonSizer

Unlike other sizers, wxStdDialogButtonSizer has neither sizeritem nor spacer children. Instead, it has one or more children of the button pseudo-class. button objects have no properties and they must always have exactly one child of the wxButton class or a class derived from wxButton.

Example:

<object class="wxStdDialogButtonSizer">
<object class="button">
<object class="wxButton" name="wxID_OK">
<label>OK</label>
</object>
</object>
<object class="button">
<object class="wxButton" name="wxID_CANCEL">
<label>Cancel</label>
</object>
</object>
</object>

Other Objects

In addition to describing UI elements, XRC files can contain non-windows objects such as bitmaps or icons. This is a concession to Windows developers used to storing them in Win32 resources.

Note that unlike Win32 resources, bitmaps included in XRC files are not embedded in the XRC file itself. XRC file only contains a reference to another file with bitmap data.

wxBitmap

Bitmaps are stored in <object> element with class set to wxBitmap. Such bitmaps can then be loaded using wxXmlResource::LoadBitmap(). The content of the element is exactly same as in the case of bitmap properties, except that toplevel <object> is used.

For example, instead of:

<bitmap>mybmp.png</bitmap>
<bitmap stock_id="wxART_NEW"/>

toplevel wxBitmap resources would look like:

<object class="wxBitmap" name="my_bitmap">mybmp.png</object>
<object class="wxBitmap" name="my_new_bitmap" stock_id="wxART_NEW"/>

wxIcon

wxIcon resources are identical to wxBitmap ones, except that the class is wxIcon.

Platform Specific Content

It is possible to conditionally process parts of XRC files on some platforms only and ignore them on other platforms. Any element in XRC file, be it toplevel or arbitrarily nested one, can have the platform attribute. When used, platform contains |-separated list of platforms that this element should be processed on. It is filtered out and ignored on any other platforms.

Possible elemental values are:

msw Windows, preferred platform name
win Windows, alternative synonym
mac macOS or iOS
unix Any Unix platform except macOS

Examples:

<label platform="msw">Windows</label>
<label platform="unix">Unix</label>
<label platform="mac">macOS</label>
<help platform="mac|unix">Not a Windows machine</help>

ID Ranges

Usually you won't care what value the XRCID macro returns for the ID of an object. Sometimes though it is convenient to have a range of IDs that are guaranteed to be consecutive. An example of this would be connecting a group of similar controls to the same event handler.

The following XRC fragment 'declares' an ID range called foo and another called bar; each with some items.

<object class="wxButton" name="foo[start]">
<object class="wxButton" name="foo[end]">
<object class="wxButton" name="foo[2]">
...
<object class="wxButton" name="bar[0]">
<object class="wxButton" name="bar[2]">
<object class="wxButton" name="bar[1]">
...
<ids-range name="foo" />
<ids-range name="bar" size="30" start="10000" />

For the range foo, no size or start parameters were given, so the size will be calculated from the number of range items, and IDs allocated by wxWindow::NewControlId (so they'll be negative). Range bar asked for a size of 30, so this will be its minimum size: should it have more items, the range will automatically expand to fit them. It specified a start ID of 10000, so XRCID("bar[0]") will be 10000, XRCID("bar[1]") 10001 etc. Note that if you choose to supply a start value it must be positive, and it's your responsibility to avoid clashes.

For every ID range, the first item can be referenced either as rangename[0] or rangename[start]. Similarly rangename[end] is the last item. Using [start] and [end] is more descriptive in e.g. a Bind() event range or a for loop, and they don't have to be altered whenever the number of items changes.

Whether a range has positive or negative IDs, [start] is always a smaller number than [end]; so code like this works as expected:

for (int n=XRCID("foo[start]"); n <= XRCID("foo[end]"); ++n)
...

ID ranges can be seen in action in the objref dialog section of the XRC Sample.

Note
  • All the items in an ID range must be contained in the same XRC file.
  • You can't use an ID range in a situation where static initialisation occurs; in particular, they won't work as expected in an event table. This is because the event table's IDs are set to their integer values before the XRC file is loaded, and aren't subsequently altered when the XRCID value changes.
Since
2.9.2

Extending the XRC Format

The XRC format is designed to be extensible and allows specifying and loading custom controls. The three available mechanisms are described in the rest of this section in the order of increasing complexity.

Subclassing

The simplest way to add custom controls is to set the subclass attribute of <object> element:

<object name="my_value" class="wxTextCtrl" subclass="MyTextCtrl">
<style>wxTE_MULTILINE</style>
...etc., setup wxTextCtrl as usual...
</object>
A text control allows text to be displayed and edited.
Definition textctrl.h:1436
#define wxTE_MULTILINE
Definition textctrl.h:14

In that case, wxXmlResource will create an instance of the specified subclass (MyTextCtrl in the example above) instead of the class (wxTextCtrl above) when loading the resource. However, the rest of the object's loading (calling its Create() method, setting its properties, loading any children etc.) will proceed in exactly the same way as it would without subclass attribute. In other words, this approach is only sufficient when the custom class is just a small modification (e.g. overridden methods or customized events handling) of an already supported classes.

The subclass must satisfy a number of requirements:

  1. It must be derived from the class specified in class attribute.
  2. It must be visible in wxWidget's pseudo-RTTI mechanism, i.e. there must be a wxDECLARE_DYNAMIC_CLASS() entry for it.
  3. It must support two-phase creation. In particular, this means that it has to have default constructor.
  4. It cannot provide custom Create() method and must be constructible using base class' Create() method (this is because XRC will call Create() of class, not subclass). In other words, creation of the control must not be customized.

Unknown Objects

A more flexible solution is to put a placeholder in the XRC file and replace it with custom control after the resource is loaded. This is done by using the unknown pseudo-class:

<object class="unknown" name="my_placeholder"/>

The placeholder is inserted as dummy wxPanel that will hold custom control in it. At runtime, after the resource is loaded and a window created from it (using e.g. wxXmlResource::LoadDialog()), use code must call wxXmlResource::AttachUnknownControl() to insert the desired control into placeholder container.

This method makes it possible to insert controls that are not known to XRC at all, but it's also impossible to configure the control in XRC description in any way. The only properties that can be specified are the standard window properties.

Note
unknown class cannot be combined with subclass attribute, they are mutually exclusive.

Adding Custom Classes

Finally, XRC allows adding completely new classes in addition to the ones listed in this document. A class for which wxXmlResourceHandler is implemented can be used as first-class object in XRC simply by passing class name as the value of class attribute:

<object name="my_ctrl" class="MyWidget">
<my_prop>foo</my_prop>
...etc., whatever MyWidget handler accepts...
</object>

The only requirements on the class are that

  1. the class must derive from wxObject
  2. it must support wxWidget's pseudo-RTTI mechanism

Child elements of <object> are handled by the custom handler and there are no limitations on them imposed by XRC format.

This is the only mechanism that works for toplevel objects – custom controls are accessible using the type-unsafe wxXmlResource::LoadObject() method.

Packed XRC Files

In addition to plain XRC files, wxXmlResource supports (if wxFileSystem support is compiled in) compressed XRC resources. Compressed resources have either .zip or .xrs extension and are simply ZIP files that contain arbitrary number of XRC files and their dependencies (bitmaps, icons etc.).

Older Format Versions

This section describes differences in older revisions of XRC format (i.e. files with older values of version attribute of <resource>).

Versions Before 2.5.3.0

Version 2.5.3.0 introduced C-like handling of "\\" in text. In older versions, "\n", "\t" and "\r" escape sequences were replaced with respective characters in the same matter as it's done in C, but "\\" was left intact instead of being replaced with a single "\", as one would expect. Starting with 2.5.3.0, all of them are handled in C-like manner.

Versions Before 2.3.0.1

Prior to version 2.3.0.1, "$" was used for accelerators instead of "_" or "&amp;". For example,

<label>$File</label>

was used in place of current version's

<label>_File</label>

(or "&amp;File").