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Navigation: Window Designer >====== Application Properties Dialog ======

This dialog lets you specify the appearance and functionality of your application frame window. (The APPLICATION structure)

See Also:

How to Customize Your Window

Color

Enter a valid color equate in the TextColor field, or press the ellipsis (…) button to select a color from the Color dialog. The Window Designer adds the COLOR attribute to your window declaration.

See ..\LIBSRC\EQUATES.CLW for a list of valid color equates. See Windows Design Issues in the User's Guide for a discussion on using color to enhance your application.

Design

DrawGrid	Set to True to display the design grid, or set to False to turn it off.
GridSize	Grid values are specified in dialog units, a unit of measure based on the current system font. Enter the horizontal and vertical grid size, separated by commas. Width is the horizontal distance between the grid dots (x axis). This is the minimum horizontal distance you can move a control when grid snap is on. Height is the vertical distance between the grid dots (y axis). This is the minimum vertical distance you can move a control when grid snap is on.
Locked	“Freezes” all the controls on the window so that subsequent data dictionary changes are not applied. You can override the #Freeze attribute for all controls or for individual controls. See Application Options.
SnapToGrid	Set to True to turn grid snap on; set to False to turn it off. Grid snap displays a dot grid of valid positioning coordinates and forces the upper left corner of new controls to align with the dot grid. The end user does not see the grid at run time; it is a design tool only.

Extra

Icon	To associate an icon with the window, specify an icon in this field. You may type in a file name or an EQUATE. You may also press the ellipsis button (…), then select an icon file name using the standard Open File dialog. The file name or equate you specify becomes the parameter for the ICON attribute.You should always specify an icon for an application window. Specifying an icon name automatically places a minimize button on the caption bar of your application or MDI child window.
Palette	Use the PALETTE attribute to specify maximum color depth. The PALETTE attribute specifies how many colors you want this window to use when it is the foreground window. For example, 24-bit color would be 16777215. The number you specify becomes the parameter for the PALETTE attribute. Leave this field blank to specify the default for the end user's system.
Status Bar	To provide a message bar at the bottom of your window, mark the Status Bar check box. This adds the STATUS attribute to the window.A status bar in an application window is an excellent way to increase user feedback in your application. Clarion makes it simple to post messages on the status bar advising the user of what your application is doing as it does it. Increasing user feedback makes the user feel more in control. This allows the user to feel more confident and be more efficient when using your application.
Status Widths	To set the width of the status bar zone(s), type a value or list of values in the Status Widths array field.You must set the Statusbar Status field to True to display a status bar.Press the ellipsis to access the INT32 Collection Editor. This dialog allows you to easily add additional status bar sections and their corresponding widths.The values you enter in this field fill the STATUS attribute parameters.The zones are the areas within the status bar marked off by the 3D shaded boxes. The first zone on the left, by default, displays MSG attribute text. This is useful for specifying short help instructions or other information to the user. If your application has only one zone for the status bar, you may omit this field. For more than one zone, enter additional array values.The default measurement unit is dialog units.You may set a minimum value for a zone width by typing a negative number. This creates a zone with a minimum width, but is expandable by resizing the window. Use the runtime property assignment syntax to place text in any zone. To place a string in the second zone, for example:{PROP:StatusText} = ?arrayA multi-zone status bar can give your application a professional look. You may display help text in zone one, and when editing a record, the current record number in zone two, for example.
Timer	To specify the window receive Timer Event messages from Windows, fill in the Timer field. Specify the timer interval in hundredths of seconds. The file name or equate you specify becomes the parameter for the TIMER attribute.For example, if you specify 100 in the field, the window will automatically receive an EVENT:Timer once every second (100/100's seconds). This might be appropriate for adding a clock to a status bar.

General

Frame Type	To choose the frame for your window, pick a selection from the Frame Type drop-down list. The frame defines the borders of the window. The normal frame type for an application frame is the resizeable type. Choose from:
	Single ' a single pixel frame which the user cannot resize.
	Double ' a thick frame, which the user cannot resize. This adds the DOUBLE attribute to the window.
	Resizeable - a thick frame, which the user can resize. This adds the RESIZE attribute to the window.
Initial Size	Sets the initial state of your window. Choose from:
	Normal - displays the window at the default size which either you specifically set, or Windows sets if you don't.
	Maximized - the window fills the desktop, if an application window, or the window frame, if an MDI child window. This adds the MAXIMIZE attribute to the window.
	Iconized - the window appears in iconized state–as a 32 by 32 pixel window at the bottom of the desktop. This adds the ICONIZE attribute to the window.
Label	To specify the label for the application structure, type it in the Label field. This names the specific APPLICATION in the source code. The label may contain upper or lower case letters, numerals, the underscore character or a colon. Space characters are forbidden. The first character must be a letter or the underscore character. Clarion reserved words may not serve as labels.
Layout	Indicates the orientation of window controls and field sequence.
	Left to Right maintains the original layout specified in the Window Designer.
	Default field navigation moves from left to right.
	Right to Left essentially “flips” the window controls' display as a mirror image of the layout specified in the Window Designer. Default field navigation moves from right to left.
	The setting in the Application Frame will cascade its setting to all child window that have the default setting active.
TextFont	Calls the Select Font dialog which lets you select the font (typeface), size, style (such as bold or italic), color, and font effects (underline and strikeout) for the selected control or window. As you choose options, the dialog box displays a sample of the selected font.
Title	To specify caption bar text, type a string constant in the Text field. The caption bar holds the name of the window.
Wallpaper-BackgroundImage	To provide a background image for the window's client area, specify an image filename. Type the filename or press the ellipsis button (…) to select a file. See WALLPAPER in the Language Reference.
Mode	Specify how the window displays the background image. Choose from:

Stretched	The image expands to fill the entire client area.
Centered	The image displays at its default size and is centered in the window's client area.
Tiled	The image displays at its default size and is repeated so it fills the entire client area.

Help

Alert	Press the ellipsis to open a dialog that lets you add the ALRT attribute to a window or control. When the attribute is set, the window generates an EVENT:AlertKey if the user presses the key(s) you specify in this dialog, while the window has the focus.
Cursor	The Cursor field (the CURSOR attribute) lets you specify an alternate shape for the cursor when the user passes the cursor over the control. The drop-down list provides standard cursor choices such as I-Beam and Crosshair. To select an external cursor file (whose extension must be .CUR), choose Select File from the drop-down list, then pick the file using the standard file dialog.
Help ID	The Help ID field (the HLP attribute) takes a string constant specifying the key for accessing a specific topic in the Help document. This may be either a Help keyword or a context string.A Help keyword is a word or phrase indexed so that the user may search for it in the Help Search dialog. When you fill in the HLP attribute for a button, if the entry box has focus, when the user presses F1, the help file opens to the referenced topic. If more than one topic matches a keyword, the search dialog appears.When referencing a context string in the Help ID field, you must identify it with a leading tilde (~).
Key	Press the desired key or key combination (for example, CTRL+H). The keys you pressed will appear in the Key field, and will be supplied as parameters to the KEY or ALRT attribute for this control. The ESC, ENTER, and TAB keys cannot be specified by pressing them. For these keys, press the ellipsis (…) button and type “esc,” “enter,” or “tab.”
Message	The Message field (the MSG attribute) lets you specify text to display in the first zone of the status bar when the control has focus.

Options

AutoDisplay	To add the AUTO attribute to your window, set AutoDisplay to True. This automatically updates the contents of all controls on screen through each pass of the ACCEPT loop.
EntryPattern	To enable support for an entry mask for controls in the window, set EntryPattern to True. This lets you specify key-in entry patterns for the fields you choose, and adds the MASK attribute to the window.
Immediate	To generate a message event each time the end user moves or resizes the window, set Immediate to True. This adds the IMM attribute to the window. You are responsible for the code that executes upon notification of the event.
MaximizeBox	To place a maximize button in your window, set MaximizeBox to True. In general, you should place a maximize button only on application windows and MDI child document windows. This adds the MAX attribute to the window.
SystemMenu	To add a system menu to your window, set SystemMenu to True. Most windows should have a system menu. For users on a system without a mouse, the system menu provides the only means of minimizing, maximizing or re-sizing the window. This adds the SYSTEM attribute to the window.Even if you plan that the window should NOT have a system menu when the application is complete, it's good practice to place a system menu on your application while it's under development. By DOUBLE-CLICKING the system menu, or choosing Close, you can close your application should your normal exit procedure fail.

Position

Lets you set the location and size of a window.

Position lets you specify the AT attribute. Filling in the attribute manually is optional–you may set the size visually by dragging with the mouse in the Window Designer.

To set the location of the window's Top Left Corner, choose from the following options for the X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) coordinates.

Center	Centers an APPLICATION window on the screen. Centers child windows on their respective parents.
Default	The Windows operating system determines the initial position of the window. By default, Windows position windows in a cascading sequence from top-left to bottom-right.
Value	Lets you set a precise coordinate in Dialog units. Generally, the coordinate is relative to the top left corner of the screen for APPLICATION (first or main) windows and relative to the top left corner of the APPLICATION window for all subsequent (child) windows.

To set the window's size, choose from the following options for the Width and Height.

Default	The Windows operating system determines the initial size of the window.
Value	Lets you set a precise width or height in Dialog units. Dialog units provide a relative screen measure based on the system font character size.

Scrollbars

To add a horizontal scroll bar to your window, set Horizontal to True. Scroll bars only appear when something inside the window–a control–is bigger than the window. To add a vertical scroll bar to your window, set Vertical to True. These options add the HSCROLL, VSCROLL, and HVSCROLL attributes to the window.

Assuming your application frame will display MDI child windows, you normally set both Horizontal and Vertical.

Quick Links


Embeds	Accesses the Embedded Source dialog for points surrounding the event handling for this procedure.