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ActionMenu[name,{lbl1:>act1,lbl2:>act2,…}]

represents an action menu with label name and with items labeled lbli that evaluates the expression acti if the corresponding item is chosen.

ActionMenu[name,{…,lbli{sublbl1:>subact1,sublbl2:>subact2,…},…}]

represents an action menu containing a submenu with label lbli containing items sublbli with actions subacti.

Details and Options
Details and Options Details and Options
Examples  
Basic Examples  
Scope  
Options  
Appearance  
ContentPadding  
Enabled  
Show More Show More
Evaluator  
FrameMargins  
ImageMargins  
ImageSize  
Method  
Applications  
Properties & Relations  
Neat Examples  
See Also
Tech Notes
Related Guides
History
Cite this Page

ActionMenu

ActionMenu[name,{lbl1:>act1,lbl2:>act2,…}]

represents an action menu with label name and with items labeled lbli that evaluates the expression acti if the corresponding item is chosen.

ActionMenu[name,{…,lbli{sublbl1:>subact1,sublbl2:>subact2,…},…}]

represents an action menu containing a submenu with label lbli containing items sublbli with actions subacti.

Details and Options

  • name and the submenu and item labels can be any expression.
  • ActionMenu by default displays name and the lbli in "ActionMenu" style, which typically uses the system menu font.
  • In ActionMenu[name,list], Delimiter can appear as an element of list, specifying a horizontal delimiter in the displayed menu.
  • Submenus can contain delimiters and other submenus.
  • The following options can be given:
  • Appearance Automaticthe overall appearance of the menu
    BaselinePositionAutomaticwhat to align with a surrounding text baseline
    BaseStyle{}base style specifications for the menu
    ContentPadding Truewhether to shrink the margins tightly around the contents
    Enabled Automaticwhether the menu is enabled or grayed out
    Evaluator Automaticthe kernel in which to evaluate the acti
    FrameMargins Automaticmargins to leave inside the menu frame
    ImageMargins 0margins around the image of the displayed menu
    ImageSize Automaticthe overall image size of the displayed menu
    MenuStyle{}style specifications for menu items
    Method "Preemptive"the evaluation method to use
  • Possible settings for Appearance include:
  • Nonedisplay only name, without modification
    Automaticdisplay in a special action menu form (default)
    "PopupMenu"display like a popup menu with initial value name
    "Button"display like a button
  • Typical possible settings for the Method option include "Preemptive" and "Queued".
  • The settings for BaseStyle are appended to the default style typically given by the "ActionMenu" style in the current stylesheet.

Examples

open all close all

Basic Examples  (3)

Create an action menu that prints the result of an evaluation:

Create an action menu that performs a simple assignment operation:

Create an action menu with a submenu:

Scope  (3)

Use Delimiter to separate menu items:

The labels can be any expression:

Use lists to create a nested menu structure:

Options  (10)

Appearance  (1)

Use different display appearances for the menu:

ContentPadding  (1)

Remove extra whitespace around a label with no ascenders or descenders:

Enabled  (2)

By default, ActionMenu is enabled:

By setting Enabled->False, the menu is disabled:

Evaluator  (2)

By default, the button function is sent to the kernel for evaluation:

By setting Evaluator, the button function can be evalauted in another kernel:

FrameMargins  (1)

Add margins within the menu:

ImageMargins  (1)

Add margins outside the menu:

ImageSize  (1)

Specify the overall image size:

Method  (1)

By default, action menu functions are evaluated on a preemptive link, which times out after five seconds:

Use Method->"Queued" to evaluate button functions on the main link, which never times out:

Applications  (2)

Choose between various graphics objects:

Control the range of a graphic:

Properties & Relations  (1)

ActionMenu has the same effect as a Button series:

Neat Examples  (1)

Get the main menus from the system layout:

Convert the menus to a form that can be deployed in an ActionMenu:

Wolfram Research (2007), ActionMenu, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ActionMenu.html (updated 2023).

Text

Wolfram Research (2007), ActionMenu, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ActionMenu.html (updated 2023).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2007. "ActionMenu." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2023. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ActionMenu.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2007). ActionMenu. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ActionMenu.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_actionmenu, author="Wolfram Research", title="{ActionMenu}", year="2023", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ActionMenu.html}", note=[Accessed: 01-March-2026]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2025_actionmenu, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={ActionMenu}, year={2023}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ActionMenu.html}, note=[Accessed: 01-March-2026]}