Editing WoW:UI XML tutorial (section)

== Naming Widgets ==

Every widget element may have the '''name''' attribute. If an element has a name, it causes a global Lua variable to be created with that name. This variable can then be used to call API methods on that widget. (See [[Widget API]] for a list of methods available for the different UI widgets.) Note that global variables are truly global across the entire UI, meaning that every name must be unique across all XML files.

Here is an example. Let's say in your XML file you have a section like this:

 <Frame name="MyAddon_Frame">
  ..
  <Frames>
   <Button name="MyAddon_Button">
    ..
   </Button>
  </Frames>
 </Frame>

In any Lua code then you can use the variable MyAddon_Frame to refer to the frame and MyAddon_Button to refer to the button. For example, to show the frame, call MyAddon_Frame:[[API LayoutFrame Show|Show()]]. Or to disable the button, call MyAddon_Button:[[API Button Disable|Disable]]().

When defining the name of a widget, the special string '''$parent''' may be used. This will take on the name of whatever the parent of that widget is. For example:

 <Frame name="MyAddon_Frame">
  ..
  <Frames>
   <Button name="$parent_Button">
   ..
   </Button>
  </Frames>
 </Frame>

This results in two global Lua variables: MyAddon_Frame and MyAddon_Frame_Button.