Editing WoW:Using UIDropDownMenu

[[UI Object UIDropDownMenu|UIDropDownMenu]] can be used to display a basic drop down menu or a series of complex menus such as those that occur when you right click a chat tab. This tutorial explains both.

== Step 1 : The Button ==
This button will cause the drop down menu to be displayed.

    <Frame parent="UIParent">
        <Frames>
            <Button name="MyDropDownMenuButton">
                <Scripts>
                    <OnClick>
                        MyDropDownMenuButton_OnClick();
                    </OnClick>
                </Scripts>
            </Button>
        </Frames>
    </Frame>

Next, you must choose how you want the menu to be displayed. There are two options, the last requires an extra frame.

* The standard drop down menu.
:[[Image:WoWiki_Example_UIDropDownMenu_NoMenu.jpg|The standard drop down menu.]]

* Using the "MENU" keyword.
: [[Image:WoWiki_Example_UIDropDownMenu_Menu.jpg|Using the "MENU" keyword.]]

== Step 2 : The Menu ==
If you choose the second, "MENU" option, an extra frame is required. Otherwise, skip this step.

    <Frame name="MyDropDownMenu" inherits="UIDropDownMenuTemplate" id="1">
        <Scripts>
            <OnLoad>
                UIDropDownMenu_Initialize(this, MyDropDownMenu_OnLoad, "MENU");
            </OnLoad>
        </Scripts>
    </Frame>

The frame must inherit the ''UIDropDownMenuTemplate'', unless you choose to remake that frame.

== Step 3 : Initialization ==
If you skipped [[#Step 2 : The Menu]], you must add an ''OnLoad'' function to your button in the following fashion. This will display the menu in the first style specified in [[#Step 1 : The Button]].

   <Frame parent="UIParent">
        <Frames>
            <Button name="MyDropDownMenuButton">
                <Scripts>
                    <OnLoad>
                        UIDropDownMenu_Initialize(this, MyDropDownMenu_OnLoad);
                    </OnLoad>
                
                    <OnClick>
                        MyDropDownMenuButton_OnClick();
                    </OnClick>
                </Scripts>
            </Button>
        </Frames>
    </Frame>

As you have seen from the example, the third variable in ''UIDropDownMenu_Initialize'' changes the appearance of the menu. If the third variable is nil, the menu will be displayed in the fashion of the first example shown in [[#Step 1 : The Button]]. If the third variable is "MENU", which requires the initialization to occur in a separate frame outside of the button as shown in [[#Step 2 : The Menu]], the menu will be displayed in the fashion of the second example shown in [[#Step 1 : The Button]].

The ''OnLoad'' function itself should be as follows. This example adds one option to the menu.

    function MyDropDownMenu_OnLoad()
        info            = {};
        info.text       = "This is an option in the menu.";
        info.value      = "OptionVariable";
        info.func       = FunctionCalledWhenOptionIsClicked 
                  -- can also be done as function() FunctionCalledWhenOptionIsClicked() end;
        
        -- Add the above information to the options menu as a button.
        UIDropDownMenu_AddButton(info);
    end

Note that careless use of throw-away tables can make your addon generate a lot of unnecessary memory garbage. This is especially true I you don't create menu only once, but recreate it dynamically every time it is displayed to place check marks or any other dynamic content where it needed. See [[HOWTO: Use Tables Without Generating Extra Garbage]] for some advices on how to minimize or eliminate completely garbage generation in such cases.

== Step 4 : Showing the Menu ==
Your menu will be displayed when the button is clicked. This is called by the following function.

    function MyDropDownMenuButton_OnClick() 
        ToggleDropDownMenu(1, nil, MyDropDownMenu, MyDropDownMenuButton, 0, 0);
    end

[[API_ToggleDropDownMenu|Click here]] for more information on [[API_ToggleDropDownMenu|ToggleDropDownMenu]].

[[Category:HOWTOs|Use UIDropDownMenu]]

== HOWTO: nested submenu structures with UIDropDownMenu ==

If you want to split menus, this code examples may help you:

  -- creating test data structure
  local Test1_Data = {
    ["level1_test_1"] = {
      [1] = { ["name"] = "sublevel 1"; },
      [2] = {	["name"] = "sublevel 2"; },
    },
    ["level1_test_2"] = {
      [1] = {	["name"] = "sublevel A"; },
      [2] = {	["name"] = "sublevel B"; },
    }
  }

  -- menu create function
  function Test1_DropDown_Initialize(level)
    level = level or 1;
    if (level == 1) then
      for key, subarray in pairs(Test1_Data) do
        local info = UIDropDownMenu_CreateInfo();
        info.hasArrow = true; -- creates submenu
        info.notCheckable = true;
        info.text = key;
        info.value = {
          ["Level1_Key"] = key;
        };
        UIDropDownMenu_AddButton(info, level);
      end -- for key, subarray
    end -- if level 1
 
    if (level == 2) then
      -- getting values of first menu
      local Level1_Key = UIDROPDOWNMENU_MENU_VALUE["Level1_Key"];
      subarray = Test1_Data[Level1_Key];
      for key, subsubarray in pairs(subarray) do
        local info = UIDropDownMenu_CreateInfo();
        info.hasArrow = false; -- no submenues this time
        info.notCheckable = true;
        info.text = subsubarray["name"];
        -- use info.func to set a function to be called at "click"
        info.value = {
          ["Level1_Key"] = Level1_Key;
          ["Sublevel_Key"] = key;
        };
        UIDropDownMenu_AddButton(info, level);
      end -- for key,subsubarray
    end -- if level 2
  end -- function Test1_DropDown_Initialize

To use the Menu, you can do

  local dropdown = CreateFrame("Frame", "Test_DropDown", UIParent, "UIDropDownMenuTemplate");
  UIDropDownMenu_Initialize(dropdown, Test1_DropDown_Initialize, "MENU");

and you need something to active the menu, as with any menu

  ToggleDropDownMenu(1, nil, dropdown, self, -20, 0);

== See Also == 
*[[UI Object UIDropDownMenu]]
*[[API EasyMenu]]