ref: 24b0ed8ccf3ea37334d4fc2d4c60d40c30d2c7a1
dir: /doc/usage.md/
# Usage
* **[Overview](#overview)**
* **[Getting Started](#getting-started)**
* **[Layout System](#layout-system)**
* **[Style Customisation](#style-customisation)**
* **[Custom Controls](#custom-controls)**
## Overview
The overall structure when using the library is as follows:
```
initialise `mu_Context`
main loop:
call `mu_input_...` functions
call `mu_begin()`
process ui
call `mu_end()`
iterate commands using `mu_command_next()`
```
## Getting Started
Before use a `mu_Context` should be initialised:
```c
mu_Context *ctx = malloc(sizeof(mu_Context));
mu_init(ctx);
```
For font alignment and clipping to work correctly you should also set the
context's `text_width` and `text_height` callback functions:
```c
ctx->text_width = text_width;
ctx->text_height = text_height;
```
In your main loop you should first pass user input to microui using the
`mu_input_...` functions. It is safe to call the input functions multiple
times if the same input event occurs in a single frame.
After handling the input the `mu_begin()` function must be called before
processing your UI:
```c
mu_begin(ctx);
```
Before any controls can be used we must begin a window using one of the
`mu_begin_window...` or `mu_begin_popup...` functions. The `mu_Container`
for the window is expected to be either zeroed memory in which case
it will be initialised automatically when used, or to have been
initialised manually using the `mu_init_window()` function; once used,
the `mu_Container`'s memory must remain valid until `mu_end()` is called
at the end of the frame. The `mu_begin_...` window functions return a
truthy value if the window is open, if this is not the case we should
not process the window any further. When we are finished processing the
window's ui the `mu_end_...` window function should be called.
```c
static mu_Container window;
if (mu_begin_window(ctx, &window, "My Window")) {
/* process ui here... */
mu_end_window(ctx);
}
```
It is safe to nest `mu_begin_window()` calls, this can be useful for
things like context menus; the windows will still render separate from
one another like normal.
While inside a window block we can safely process controls. Controls
that allow user interaction return a bitset of `MU_RES_...` values. Some
controls — such as buttons — can only potentially return a single
`MU_RES_...`, thus their return value can be treated as a boolean:
```c
if (mu_button(ctx, "My Button")) {
printf("'My Button' was pressed\n");
}
```
The library generates unique IDs for controls internally to keep track
of which are focused, hovered, etc. These are generated either from the
pointer passed to the function (eg. for treenodes, checkboxes, textboxes
and sliders), or the string/icon passed to the function (eg. buttons). An
issue arises then if you have several buttons in a window or panel that
use the same label. The `mu_push_id()` and `mu_pop_id()` functions are
provided for such situations, allowing you to push additional data that
will be mixed into the unique ID:
```c
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
mu_push_id(ctx, &i, sizeof(i));
if (mu_button(ctx, "x")) {
printf("Pressed button %d\n", i);
}
mu_pop_id(ctx);
}
```
When we're finished processing the UI for this frame the `mu_end()`
function should be called:
```c
mu_end(ctx);
```
When we're ready to draw the UI the `mu_next_command()` can be used
to iterate the resultant commands. The function expects a `mu_Command`
pointer initialised to `NULL`. It is safe to iterate through the commands
list any number of times:
```c
mu_Command *cmd = NULL;
while (mu_next_command(ctx, &cmd)) {
if (cmd->type == MU_COMMAND_TEXT) {
render_text(cmd->text.font, cmd->text.text, cmd->text.pos.x, cmd->text.pos.y, cmd->text.color);
}
if (cmd->type == MU_COMMAND_RECT) {
render_rect(cmd->rect.rect, cmd->rect.color);
}
if (cmd->type == MU_COMMAND_ICON) {
render_icon(cmd->icon.id, cmd->icon.rect, cmd->icon.color);
}
if (cmd->type == MU_COMMAND_CLIP) {
set_clip_rect(cmd->clip.rect);
}
}
```
See the [`demo`](../demo) directory for a usage example.
## Layout System
The layout system is primarily based around *rows* — Each row
can contain a number of *items* or *columns* each column can itself
contain a number of rows and so forth. A row is initialised using the
`mu_layout_row()` function, the user should specify the number of items
on the row, an array containing the width of each item, and the height
of the row:
```c
/* initialise a row of 3 items: the first item with a width
** of 90 and the remaining two with the width of 100 */
mu_layout_row(ctx, 3, (int[]) { 90, 100, 100 }, 0);
```
When a row is filled the next row is started, for example, in the above
code 6 buttons immediately after would result in two rows. The function
can be called again to begin a new row.
As well as absolute values, width and height can be specified as `0`
which will result in the Context's `style.size` value being used, or a
negative value which will size the item relative to the right/bottom edge,
thus if we wanted a row with a small button at the left, a textbox filling
most the row and a larger button at the right, we could do the following:
```c
mu_layout_row(ctx, 3, (int[]) { 30, -90, -1 }, 0);
mu_button(ctx, "X");
mu_textbox(ctx, buf, sizeof(buf));
mu_button(ctx, "Submit");
```
If the `items` parameter is `-1`, the `widths` parameter is ignored
and controls will continue to be added to the row at the width last
specified by `mu_layout_width()` or `style.size.x` if this function has
not been called:
```c
mu_layout_row(ctx, -1, NULL, 0);
mu_layout_width(ctx, -90);
mu_textbox(ctx, buf, sizeof(buf));
mu_layout_width(ctx, -1);
mu_button(ctx, "Submit");
```
A column can be started at any point on a row using the
`mu_layout_begin_column()` function. Once begun, rows will act inside
the body of the column — all negative size values will be relative to
the column's body as opposed to the body of the container. All new rows
will be contained within this column until the `mu_layout_end_column()`
function is called.
Internally controls use the `mu_layout_next()` function to retrieve the
next screen-positioned-Rect and advance the layout system, you should use
this function when making custom controls or if you want to advance the
layout system without placing a control.
The `mu_layout_set_next()` function is provided to set the next layout
Rect explicitly. This will be returned by `mu_layout_next()` when it is
next called. By using the `relative` boolean you can choose to provide
a screen-space Rect or a Rect which will have the container's position
and scroll offset applied to it. You can peek the next Rect from the
layout system by using the `mu_layout_next()` function to retrieve it,
followed by `mu_layout_set_next()` to return it:
```c
mu_Rect rect = mu_layout_next(ctx);
mu_layout_set_next(ctx, rect, 0);
```
If you want to position controls arbitrarily inside a container the
`relative` argument of `mu_layout_set_next()` should be true:
```c
/* place a (40, 40) sized button at (300, 300) inside the container: */
mu_layout_set_next(ctx, mu_rect(300, 300, 40, 40), 1);
mu_button(ctx, "X");
```
A Rect set with `relative` true will also effect the `content_size`
of the container, causing it to effect the scrollbars if it exceeds the
width or height of the container's body.
## Style Customisation
The library provides styling support via the `mu_Style` struct and, if you
want greater control over the look, the `draw_frame()` callback function.
The `mu_Style` struct contains spacing and sizing information, as well
as a `colors` array which maps `colorid` to `mu_Color`. The library uses
the `style` pointer field of the context to resolve colors and spacing,
it is safe to change this pointer or modify any fields of the resultant
struct at any point. See [`microui.h`](../src/microui.h) for the struct's
implementation.
In addition to the style struct the context stores a `draw_frame()`
callback function which is used whenever the *frame* of a control needs
to be drawn, by default this function draws a rectangle using the color
of the `colorid` argument, with a one-pixel border around it using the
`MU_COLOR_BORDER` color.
## Custom Controls
The library exposes the functions used by built-in controls to allow the
user to make custom controls. A control should take a `mu_Context*` value
as its first argument and return a `MU_RES_...` value. Your control's
implementation should use `mu_layout_next()` to get its destination
Rect and advance the layout system. `mu_get_id()` should be used with
some data unique to the control to generate an ID for that control and
`mu_update_control()` should be used to update the context's `hover`
and `focus` values based on the mouse input state.
The `MU_OPT_HOLDFOCUS` opt value can be passed to `mu_update_control()`
if we want the control to retain focus when the mouse button is released
— this behaviour is used by textboxes which we want to stay focused
to allow for text input.
A control that acts as a button which displays an integer and, when
clicked increments that integer, could be implemented as such:
```c
int incrementer(mu_Context *ctx, int *value) {
mu_Id id = mu_get_id(ctx, &value, sizeof(value));
mu_Rect rect = mu_layout_next(ctx);
mu_update_control(ctx, id, rect, 0);
/* handle input */
int res = 0;
if (ctx->mouse_pressed == MU_MOUSE_LEFT && ctx->focus == id) {
(*value)++;
res |= MU_RES_CHANGE;
}
/* draw */
char buf[32];
sprintf(buf, "%d", *value);
mu_draw_control_frame(ctx, id, rect, MU_COLOR_BUTTON, 0);
mu_draw_control_text(ctx, buf, rect, MU_COLOR_TEXT, MU_OPT_ALIGNCENTER);
return res;
}
```