Slaven Rezić > Tk-804.030_501 > Tk::getSaveFile


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Tk::getOpenFile, Tk::getSaveFile - pop up a dialog box for the user to select a file to open or save.


 $widget->getOpenFile(?-option=>value, ...>?)

 $widget->getSaveFile(?-option=>value, ...>?)


The methods getOpenFile and getSaveFile pop up a dialog box for the user to select a file to open or save.

The getOpenFile method is usually associated with the Open command in the File menu. Its purpose is for the user to select an existing file only. If the user enters an non-existent file, the dialog box gives the user an error prompt and requires the user to give an alternative selection. If an application allows the user to create new files, it should do so by providing a separate New menu command.


If the user selects a file, both getOpenFile and getSaveFile return the full pathname of this file. If the user cancels the operation, both commands return an undefined value.


-defaultextension => extension

Specifies a string that will be appended to the filename if the user enters a filename without an extension. The default value is the empty string, which means no extension will be appended to the filename in any case. This option is ignored on the Macintosh platform, which does not require extensions to filenames, and the UNIX implementation guesses reasonable values for this from the -filetypes option when this is not supplied.

-filetypes => [filePattern ?, ...?]


-initialdir => directory

Specifies that the files in directory should be displayed when the dialog pops up. If this parameter is not specified, then the files in the current working directory are displayed. This option may not always work on the Macintosh. This is not a bug. Rather, the General Controls control panel on the Mac allows the end user to override the application default directory.

-initialfile => filename

Specifies a filename to be displayed in the dialog when it pops up. This option is ignored by the getOpenFile method.


Allows the user to choose multiple files from the Open dialog. On the Macintosh, this is only available when Navigation Services are installed.

-message => string

Specifies a message to include in the client area of the dialog. This is only available on the Macintosh, and only when Navigation Services are installed.

-title => titleString

Specifies a string to display as the title of the dialog box. If this option is not specified, then a default title is displayed. This option is ignored on the Macintosh platform.


The filePatterns given by the -filetypes option are a list of file patterns. Each file pattern is a list of the form

 typeName [extension ?extension ...?] ?[macType ?macType ...?]?



On the Macintosh platform, a file matches a file pattern if its name matches at least one of the extension(s) AND it belongs to at least one of the macType(s) of the file pattern. For example, the C Source Files file pattern in the sample code matches with files that have a \.c extension AND belong to the macType TEXT. To use the OR rule instead, you can use two file patterns, one with the extensions only and the other with the macType only. The GIF Files file type in the sample code matches files that EITHER have a \.gif extension OR belong to the macType GIFF.

On the Unix and Windows platforms, a file matches a file pattern if its name matches at at least one of the extension(s) of the file pattern. The macTypes are ignored.


On the Unix and Macintosh platforms, extensions are matched using glob-style pattern matching. On the Windows platforms, extensions are matched by the underlying operating system. The types of possible extensions are: (1) the special extension * matches any file; (2) the special extension "" matches any files that do not have an extension (i.e., the filename contains no full stop character); (3) any character string that does not contain any wild card characters (* and ?).

Due to the different pattern matching rules on the various platforms, to ensure portability, wild card characters are not allowed in the extensions, except as in the special extension *. Extensions without a full stop character (e.g, ~) are allowed but may not work on all platforms.


See "CAVEATS" in Tk::chooseDirectory.


 my $types = [
     ['Text Files',       ['.txt', '.text']],
     ['TCL Scripts',      '.tcl'           ],
     ['C Source Files',   '.c',      'TEXT'],
     ['GIF Files',        '.gif',          ],
     ['GIF Files',        '',        'GIFF'],
     ['All Files',        '*',             ],
 my $filename = $widget->getOpenFile(-filetypes=>$types);

 if ($filename ne "") {
     # Open the file ...


Tk::FBox, Tk::FileSelect


file selection dialog

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