Module: `awful.tooltip`

Tooltip module for awesome objects.

A tooltip is a small hint displayed when the mouse cursor hovers over a specific item. In awesome, a tooltip can be linked with almost any object having a :connect_signal() method and receiving mouse::enter and mouse::leave signals.

How to create a tooltip?

Usage example

local mytextclock = wibox.widget.textclock()

local myclock_t = awful.tooltip {
    objects        = { mytextclock },
    timer_function = function()
        return os.date('Today is %A %B %d %Y\nThe time is %T')
    end,
}

Alternatively, you can use mouse::enter signal:

Usage example

local mytextclock = wibox.widget.textclock()

local myclock_t = awful.tooltip { }

myclock_t:add_to_object(mytextclock)

mytextclock:connect_signal('mouse::enter', function()
    myclock_t.text = os.date('Today is %A %B %d %Y\nThe time is %T')
end)

How to create a tooltip without objects?

Usage example

local tt = awful.tooltip {
    text = 'A tooltip!',
    visible = true,
}

tt.bg = beautiful.bg_normal

How to add the same tooltip to multiple objects?

myclock_t:add_to_object(obj1)
myclock_t:add_to_object(obj2)

Now the same tooltip is attached to myclock, obj1, obj2.

How to remove a tooltip from several objects?

myclock_t:remove_from_object(obj1)
myclock_t:remove_from_object(obj2)

Now the same tooltip is only attached to myclock.

Info:

Copyright: 2009 Sébastien Gross
Author: Sébastien Gross <seb•ɱɩɲʋʃ•awesome•ɑƬ•chezwam•ɖɵʈ•org>

Constructors

awful.tooltip {[args]}

Create a new tooltip and link it to a widget.

Object properties

wibox	wibox	The wibox containing the tooltip widgets.
visible	boolean	Is the tooltip visible?
align	string	The horizontal alignment.
shape	gears.shape	The shape of the tooltip window.
mode	string	Set the tooltip positioning mode.
preferred_positions	table	The preferred positions when in `outside` mode.
preferred_alignments	string	The preferred alignment when using the `outside` mode.
text	string	Change displayed text.
markup	string	Change displayed markup.
timeout	number	Change the tooltip’s update interval.
margins	number or table	Set all margins around the tooltip textbox.
border_width	number	The border width.
border_color	color	The border color.
margins_leftright	number	Set the margins around the left and right of the tooltip textbox.
margins_topbottom	number	Set the margins around the top and bottom of the tooltip textbox.
gaps	number or table	Set the margins between the tooltip and its parent.

Object methods

:add_to_object (self, obj)	Add tooltip to an object.
:remove_from_object (self, obj)	Remove tooltip from an object.
:emit_signal (name, ...)	Emit a signal.	Inherited from gears.object
:connect_signal (name, func)	Connect to a signal.	Inherited from gears.object
:weak_connect_signal (name, func)	Connect to a signal weakly.	Inherited from gears.object

Theme variables

beautiful.tooltip_border_color	color	The tooltip border color.
beautiful.tooltip_bg	color	The tooltip background color.
beautiful.tooltip_fg	color	The tooltip foregound (text) color.
beautiful.tooltip_font	string	The tooltip font.
beautiful.tooltip_border_width	number	The tooltip border width.
beautiful.tooltip_opacity	number	The tooltip opacity.
beautiful.tooltip_gaps	table	The tooltip margins.
beautiful.tooltip_shape	gears.shape	The default tooltip shape.
beautiful.tooltip_align	string	The default tooltip alignment.

Constructors

awful.tooltip {[args]}

Create a new tooltip and link it to a widget. Tooltips emit property::visible when their visibility changes.

Parameters:

args Arguments for tooltip creation.
- timer_function function A function to dynamically set the tooltip text. Its return value will be passed to wibox.widget.textbox.set_markup.
- timeout number The timeout value for timer_function. (default 1)
- objects table A list of objects linked to the tooltip. (optional)
- delay_show number Delay showing the tooltip by this many seconds. (optional)
- margin_leftright integer The left/right margin for the text. (default apply_dpi(5))
- margin_topbottom integer The top/bottom margin for the text. (default apply_dpi(3))
- shape gears.shape The shape. (default nil)
- bg string The background color. (optional)
- fg string The foreground color. (optional)
- border_color string The tooltip border color. (optional)
- border_width number The tooltip border width. (optional)
- align string The horizontal alignment. (optional)
- font string The tooltip font. (optional)
- opacity number The tooltip opacity. (optional)
- gaps table or number The tooltip margins. (optional)

Returns:

awful.tooltip

Object properties

wibox wibox

The wibox containing the tooltip widgets.

visible boolean · 1 signal

Is the tooltip visible?
Click to display more

Emit signals:

property::visible When the visible value changes.

self awful.tooltip The object which changed (useful when connecting many object to the same callback).
new_value boolean The new value affected to the property.

align string · 1 signal · 1 theme variable

The horizontal alignment.

This is valid for the mouse mode only. For the outside mode, use preferred_positions.

Usage example

The following values are valid:

top_left
left
bottom_left
right
top_right
bottom_right
bottom
top

Emit signals:

property::align When the align value changes.

self awful.tooltip The object which changed (useful when connecting many object to the same callback).
new_value string The new value affected to the property.

Consumed theme variables:

Theme variable	Usage
beautiful.tooltip_align	Fallback when align isn't set.

shape gears.shape · 1 signal · 1 theme variable

The shape of the tooltip window.

Usage example

Emit signals:

property::shape When the shape value changes.

self awful.tooltip The object which changed (useful when connecting many object to the same callback).
new_value shape The new value affected to the property.

Consumed theme variables:

Theme variable	Usage
beautiful.tooltip_shape	Fallback when shape isn't set.

mode string · 1 signal

Set the tooltip positioning mode. This affects how the tooltip is placed. By default, the tooltip is aligned close to the mouse cursor. It is also possible to place the tooltip relative to the widget geometry.

mouse:

Usage example

outside:

Usage example

Valid modes are:

“mouse”: Next to the mouse cursor
“outside”: Outside of the widget

Click to display more

Emit signals:

property::mode When the mode value changes.

self awful.tooltip The object which changed (useful when connecting many object to the same callback).
new_value string The new value affected to the property.

preferred_positions table · 1 signal

The preferred positions when in outside mode.

Usage example

If the tooltip fits on multiple sides of the drawable, then this defines the priority.

The valid table values are:

“top”
“right”
“left”
“bottom”

The default is:

{"top", "right", "left", "bottom"}

Type constraints:

preferred_positions table The position, ordered by priorities

Emit signals:

property::preferred_positions When the preferred_positions value changes.

self awful.tooltip The object which changed (useful when connecting many object to the same callback).
new_value preferred_positions The new value affected to the property.

preferred_alignments string · 1 signal

The preferred alignment when using the outside mode.

The values of the table are ordered by priority, the first one that fits will be used.

front:

Usage example

middle:

Usage example

back:

Usage example

The valid table values are:

front
middle
back

The default is:

{"front", "back", "middle"}

Emit signals:

property::preferred_alignments When the preferred_alignments value changes.

self awful.tooltip The object which changed (useful when connecting many object to the same callback).
new_value string The new value affected to the property.

text string · 1 signal

Change displayed text.

Type constraints:

text string New tooltip text, passed to wibox.widget.textbox.set_text.

Emit signals:

property::text When the text value changes.

self awful.tooltip The object which changed (useful when connecting many object to the same callback).
new_value text The new value affected to the property.

markup string · 1 signal

Change displayed markup.

Type constraints:

text string New tooltip markup, passed to wibox.widget.textbox.set_markup.

Emit signals:

property::markup When the markup value changes.

self awful.tooltip The object which changed (useful when connecting many object to the same callback).
new_value text The new value affected to the property.

timeout number · 1 signal

Change the tooltip’s update interval.

Type constraints:

timeout number The timeout value.

Click to display more

Emit signals:

property::timeout When the timeout value changes.

self awful.tooltip The object which changed (useful when connecting many object to the same callback).
new_value timeout The new value affected to the property.

margins number or table · 1 signal

Set all margins around the tooltip textbox.

Usage example

Type constraints:

New number or table margins value.

Click to display more

Emit signals:

property::margins When the margins value changes.

self awful.tooltip The object which changed (useful when connecting many object to the same callback).
new_value New The new value affected to the property.

border_width number · 1 signal · 1 theme variable

The border width.

Usage example

Click to display more

Emit signals:

property::border_width When the border_width value changes.

self awful.tooltip The object which changed (useful when connecting many object to the same callback).
new_value number The new value affected to the property.

Consumed theme variables:

Theme variable	Usage
beautiful.tooltip_border_width	Fallback when border_width isn't set.

border_color color · 1 signal

The border color.

Usage example

Click to display more

Emit signals:

property::border_color When the border_color value changes.

self awful.tooltip The object which changed (useful when connecting many object to the same callback).
new_value color The new value affected to the property.

margins_leftright number · 1 signal

Set the margins around the left and right of the tooltip textbox.

Usage example

Type constraints:

New number margins value.

Click to display more

Emit signals:

property::margins_leftright When the margins_leftright value changes.

self awful.tooltip The object which changed (useful when connecting many object to the same callback).
new_value New The new value affected to the property.

margins_topbottom number · 1 signal

Set the margins around the top and bottom of the tooltip textbox.

Usage example

Type constraints:

New number margins value.

Click to display more

Emit signals:

property::margins_topbottom When the margins_topbottom value changes.

self awful.tooltip The object which changed (useful when connecting many object to the same callback).
new_value New The new value affected to the property.

gaps number or table · 1 signal

Set the margins between the tooltip and its parent.

Usage example

Type constraints:

New number or table margins value.

Click to display more

Emit signals:

property::gaps When the gaps value changes.

self awful.tooltip The object which changed (useful when connecting many object to the same callback).
new_value New The new value affected to the property.

Object methods

:add_to_object (self, obj)

Add tooltip to an object.

Parameters:

self tooltip The tooltip.
obj gears.object An object with mouse::enter and mouse::leave signals.

:remove_from_object (self, obj)

Remove tooltip from an object.

Parameters:

self tooltip The tooltip.
obj gears.object An object with mouse::enter and mouse::leave signals.

:emit_signal (name, ...) · Inherited from gears.object

Emit a signal.

Parameters:

name string The name of the signal.
... Extra arguments for the callback functions. Each connected function receives the object as first argument and then any extra arguments that are given to emit_signal().

:connect_signal (name, func) · Inherited from gears.object

Connect to a signal.

Parameters:

name string The name of the signal.
func function The callback to call when the signal is emitted.

:weak_connect_signal (name, func) · Inherited from gears.object

Connect to a signal weakly.

This allows the callback function to be garbage collected and automatically disconnects the signal when that happens.

Warning: Only use this function if you really, really, really know what you are doing.

Parameters:

name string The name of the signal.
func function The callback to call when the signal is emitted.

Theme variables

beautiful.tooltip_border_color color

The tooltip border color.

beautiful.tooltip_bg color

The tooltip background color.

beautiful.tooltip_fg color

The tooltip foregound (text) color.

beautiful.tooltip_font string

The tooltip font.

beautiful.tooltip_border_width number

The tooltip border width.

beautiful.tooltip_opacity number

The tooltip opacity.

Type constraints:

number opacity Between 0 and 1

beautiful.tooltip_gaps table

The tooltip margins.

beautiful.tooltip_shape gears.shape

The default tooltip shape. The default shape for all tooltips is a rectangle. However, by setting this variable they can default to rounded rectangle or stretched octagons.

Type constraints:

shape gears.shape A gears.shape compatible function (default gears.shape.rectangle)

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Documentation

Module: awful.tooltip

How to create a tooltip?

How to create a tooltip without objects?

How to add the same tooltip to multiple objects?

How to remove a tooltip from several objects?

Info:

Constructors

Object properties

Object methods

Theme variables

Constructors

Parameters:

Returns:

See also:

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Module: `awful.tooltip`