How to get the width of GUI element containers?

[Pi-C]

I've this frame:

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  local char_window = gui.add({
    type = "frame",
    name = character_frame,
    caption = {"minime-GUI.gui-name-charselector-caption"},
    direction = "vertical",
    visible = true,
  })

It contains a variable number of tables, where only one table will be visible at any given time. Each table contains two rows. The top row contains "camera" GUI elements of a fixed width, the bottom row contains buttons with a localized text:

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  for p_index, p in pairs(global.gui_character_pages) do
    element = make_table(char_window, p_index)
  end

Below that frame there is a flow that contains a variable number of more flows:

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  main_flow = gui.add({
    type = "flow",
    name = bottom_flow,
    direction = "horizontal",
    visible = true,
  })

Between the flows inside main_flow, I've added empty widgets as spacers:

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local function make_spacer(parent, name, width)
  local ret = parent.add({
    type = "empty-widget",
    name = name,
    direction = "horizontal",
  })
  ret.style.natural_width = width or 100
  ret.style.horizontally_squashable = true

  return ret
end

I want to achieve that the first flow in main_flow is starts at the left margin (no problem), and the last element ends at the right margin. However, it seems that the spacers won't be really squashable unless I define the width of main_flow.

Problem: The width of main_flow should be the same as that of char_window. The width of char_window depends on the width of the visible table inside it. The width of the table depends on the width of the individual columns in that table. In an ideal world, this would be the same as the width of the "camera" elements -- but I can't guarantee that because the buttons below the cameras may be wider (depending on the localized string they display).

I thought that I could just read main_flow.style.width after the flow has been rendered, but that won't work. Also, style.width of the visible table inside character_frame is nil. Is there any way how I could determine the real width of character_frame, so that I can set the width of main_flow?

[yaim904]

There is no way to read the height or width of an element.

Is there any way how I could determine the real width of character_frame, so that I can set the width of main_flow?

If you want the container sizes, you must give the inner objects a fixed size.

Problem: The width of main_flow should be the same as that of char_window. The width of char_window depends on the width of the visible table inside it. The width of the table depends on the width of the individual columns in that table. In an ideal world, this would be the same as the width of the "camera" elements -- but I can't guarantee that because the buttons below the cameras may be wider (depending on the localized string they display).

I hope this is of help to you.
I will be on the lookout for any comments.

[Pi-C]

There is no way to read the height or width of an element.

Yes, looks like it …

Is there any way how I could determine the real width of character_frame, so that I can set the width of main_flow?

If you want the container sizes, you must give the inner objects a fixed size.

The idea was that the columns in the main table may all have different width, depending on the size of the button captions. I want the flow below that table to have the same width, but as I can't know how much space I will need to display 5 columns completely side by side, I'll measure the effective width. (Something common in LaTeX: To be flexible regarding fonts etc., you don't give a fixed size, but calculate it. Just define a \savebox without printing it, measure its dimensions, and use the result to calculate the dimensions of your real box.)

I hope this is of help to you.
I will be on the lookout for any comments.

Sorry, this doesn't really bring me a step forwards. But thanks anyway, I appreciate it!

[yaim904]

I would like to help you, but I really don't understand what you are trying to do.

How about showing me in code what you have and a drawing of what you want??

So be a scheme like this

GUI auto-research-Status.png (815.34 KiB) Viewed 755 times