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**Creating a Browse Window**

In this chapter, you'll create a browse window similar to the one created for you by the Application Wizard. The Application Generator uses the same templates, which generate the same basic code'but doing it this way, you'll have a chance to "do it from scratch." This shows you just how much the Wizards do for you, and how you can do it all yourself, too. You'll start with the Customer browse window.

**Starting Point:**

**The LCLESSON.APP should be open in the Application Editor (Tree).**

{{createbrowse.jpg|CreateBrowse.jpg}}

**Creating the Customer Browse Window**

You recall from the Getting Started lessons that the Application Wizard created a window for the //Customer// table Browse procedure that looked like this:

{{browsecustomer.jpg|BrowseCustomer.jpg}}

Now you'll create a similar one using the //Browse// Procedure template:

__**Select the procedure type for the BrowseCustomers procedure**__

1.DOUBLE-CLICK on //BrowseCustomers// in the Application Tree.

2.Select the **Defaults** tab and highlight the //Browse with Update and Select// Procedure template in the //Select Procedure Type// dialog, then press the **Select** button.

The //Procedure Properties// dialog appears.

{{browseprocprops.jpg|BrowseProcProps.jpg}}

__**Make the window resizable**__

1.In the //Procedure Properties// dialog, select the **Extensions** tab.

2.In the //Extensions //dialog, press the **Insert** button.

3.Highlight //WindowResize// in the //Select Extension// dialog, then press the **Select** button.

{{windowresize.jpg|WindowResize.jpg}}

This Extension template generates code to automatically handle resizing and re-positioning all the controls in the window when the user resizes the window, either by resizing the window frame, or by pressing the Maximize/Restore buttons.

4.Press the **OK** button to close the //Window Resize// template dialog.

__**Edit the Browse procedure window**__

1.In the //Procedure Properties// dialog, select the **Window** tab.

2.Press the **Designer** button to load the Window Designer.

3.CLICK on the window's title bar, and open the //Properties Pad// (if not already opened). If not opened press the F4 key to open it.

4.In the //Properties Pad// dialog, type //Browse Customers// in the **Title** property:

{{windowtitle.jpg|WindowTitle.jpg}}

5.Select //Resizable// from the **FrameType** drop list property.

6.Locate the **MaximizeBox** property and set to TRUE.

These last two steps allow the user to resize the window at runtime.

**Populating and Formatting a List Box Control**

The List Box Formatter allows you to format the data in the list.

__**Prepare to format the list box**__

1.RIGHT-CLICK on the list box in the window, then choose **List Box Format...** from the popup menu. Press the //Add Field// button {{addfield.jpg|AddField.jpg}}.

The //Select Column// dialog appears. This provides access to the tables defined in the data dictionary. The //Tables// list displays all the tables selected for use in this procedure in a hierarchical arrangement (the Table Schematic), which includes the browse list box control.

{{notebox.jpg|NoteBox.jpg}}

You can call this dialog at any time by pressing the **Add Field** {{addfieldlbf.jpg|AddFieldLBF.jpg}} button.

__**Select the table and columns to place in the browse list box control**__

1.Highlight the //<;ToDo>// item below the //File-Browsing List Box// and press the **Add** button.

2.Highlight the //Customer// table in the //Select// dialog, then press the **Select** button.

This adds the table to the Table Schematic in the //Select Column// dialog, which now lists the table and its columns.

3.With the Customer table that you just highlighted selected, press the **Change** button.

4.Highlight //KeyCustNumber// in the //Change Access Key// dialog and press the **Select** button.

This is important, because it sets the display order for the rows in the list. If you don't specify a key, the rows appear in (sort of) whatever order they were added to the table (also called "Row Order").

5.Highlight //COMPANY// in the **Columns** list, then press the **Select** button.

This brings you into the List Box Formatter with the selected column added to the list. The tabs on the right allow you to format the appearance of the column highlighted in the list on the left.

__**Apply special formatting to the first column**__

1.In the Property list in the lower right pane, locate the **Right Border** and **Resizeable** properties and set them to TRUE:

{{lbfprops1.jpg|LBFProps1.jpg}}

This adds a resizable right vertical border to the column at runtime.

2.Set the Header **Indent** property to //2// to slightly indent the heading text and verify that the **DataIndent** property is already set at //2//.

__**Populate the second column**__

1.Press the **Add Field** {{addfieldlbf.jpg|AddFieldLBF.jpg}} button.

2.Highlight //FIRSTNAME// in the //Select Columns// list, and press the **Select** button.

3.In the Property list in the lower right pane, locate the **Right Border** and **Resizeable** properties and set them to TRUE if not already set.

The List Box Formatter automatically "carries forward" these formatting options from the last column you added, making it very simple to add multiple columns with similar formatting options. In this case, clearing these check boxes deletes the column divider between this and the next column, which will be the //LastName// column.

__**Populate the third column**__

1.Press the **Add Field** {{addfieldlbf.jpg|AddFieldLBF.jpg}} button.

2.Highlight //LASTNAME// in the //Select Columns// list, and press the **Select** button.

3.In the Property list in the lower right pane, locate the **Right Border** and **Resizeable** properties and set them to TRUE.

This once again adds the resizable column divider between this and the next column.

__**Populate the fourth column**__

1.Press the **Add Field** {{addfieldlbf.jpg|AddFieldLBF.jpg}} button.

2.Highlight //ADDRESS// in the //Select Columns// list, and press the **Select** button.

3.In the Property list in the lower right pane, locate the **Right Border** and **Resizeable** properties and set them to TRUE.

__**Group some columns**__

1.Press the **Add Group** {{lbfaddgroup.jpg|LBFAddGroup.jpg}} button.

2.Highlight the new group as shown here:

{{groupheaderlbf.jpg|GroupHeaderLBF.jpg}}

{{notebox.jpg|NoteBox.jpg}}

As the list box begins to grow in size, you can resize the List Box Formatter as needed to view additional elements.

By creating a new group, in which you'll place the address information, you can add a group header. This appears above the column headers, and visually links the data in the columns beneath. Notice that, as you add columns and make changes you can see the effects of your changes in the sample list box at the top of the List Box Formatter dialog.

3.Type //Address Info// in the **Text** property.

This provides the text for the group header. Any columns appearing to the right of this one will be included in the group, until you define another group.

As you add columns, the List Box Formatter continually updates its sample window (at the top) to show you how your list will appear.

4.Highlight the //ADDRESS// column:

{{addresscolumnlbf.jpg|AddressColumnLBF.jpg}}

__**Populate the fifth column**__

1.Press the **Add Field** {{addfieldlbf.jpg|AddFieldLBF.jpg}} button.

2.Highlight //CITY// in the **Columns** list, and press the **Select** button.

3.In the Property list in the lower right pane, locate the **Right Border** and **Resizeable** properties and set them to TRUE.

__**Populate the sixth column**__

1.Press the **Add Field** {{addfieldlbf.jpg|AddFieldLBF.jpg}} button.

2.Highlight //STATE// in the **Columns** list, and press the **Select** button.

3.In the Property list in the lower right pane, locate the **Right Border** and **Resizeable** properties and set them to TRUE.

__**Populate the seventh column, and exit the List Box Formatter**__

1. Press the **Add Field** {{addfieldlbf.jpg|AddFieldLBF.jpg}} button.

2. Highlight //ZIPCODE// in the **Columns** list, and press the **Select** button.

At this time, feel free to use the WYSIWYG display at the top to resize any of the columns as needed.

3. Press the **OK** button to close the **List Box Formatter**.

**Adding the Tabs**

When the Application Wizard created this procedure it had tab controls that changed the list's sort order depending on which tab was selected. Therefore, we'll add this functionality right now to show how easy it is to accomplish!

__**Add the Property Sheet and the first tab**__

1.CLICK on your window's title bar to place the white "handles" on your window design.

2.Place the mouse cursor directly over the handle on the lower edge, and DRAG it down to resize the window.

{{windowresize1.jpg|WindowResize1.jpg}}

3.CLICK and drag the LIST and BUTTONS to select all of them, then use your mouse or arrow keys to move all controls down as shown here:

{{windowresize2.jpg|WindowResize2.jpg}}

4.If the Controls **Toolbox** is not already opened, open it now by selecting **View** {{blttria.jpg|BLTTRIA.jpg}} **Toolbox** from the IDE Menu (or simply press CTRL + ALT + X)

5.CLICK and DRAG the **SHEET** control in the //Controls// toolbox above and to the left of the List box to place the property sheet and one Tab control.

{{populatesheet.jpg|PopulateSheet.jpg}}

6.DRAG the "white handle" at the bottom //left//-hand corner so that it appears just below and to the left of the Insert button.

7.DRAG the "white handle" at the bottom //right//-hand corner so that it appears just below and to the right of the Close button.

This resizes the property sheet so that it appears as though the list box and buttons are on the tab. In fact, they are not, and we don't want them to be, since we want all these controls to be visible no matter which tab the user selects.

8.The list and button controls appear to be hidden. RIGHT-CLICK on the SHEET control JUST TO THE RIGHT OF THE TAB CONTROL, and select Send To Back from the popup menu.

{{sendtoback.jpg|SendToBack.jpg}}

9.CLICK just below the "Tab1" text for the first tab in the sheet.

{{selecttab.jpg|SelectTAB.jpg}}

10.In the **Properties Pad**, type //by Customer Number //in the **Text** property, and then press the TAB key.

This changes the tab's text. This tab text can be anything, but naming the key also names the sort order it will display.

{{tabtextchange.jpg|TabTextChange.jpg}}

__**Add the rest of the tabs**__

1.With the //Properties Pad// still opened for the TAB control, locate and click on the **Select Sheet** link shown below:

{{selectsheet.jpg|SelectSheet.jpg}}

2.With the SHEET control selected and active in the //Properties Pad//, press the **Add Tab **link.

3.Here's another way to select a control in your active window. In the //Properties Pad//, select the //?TAB2// control in the drop list as shown here:

{{selecttab2.jpg|SelectTAB2.jpg}}

4.Type //by Company Name// in the **Text** entry of the //Property// toolbox, then press TAB.

5.With the //Property Pad// still opened for the //?TAB2// control, locate and click on the **Select Sheet** link.

6.With the SHEET control selected and active in the //Properties Pad//, press the **Add Tab **link.

7.In the //Property Pad//, select the //?TAB3// control in the drop list

8.Type //by Zip Code// in the **Text** entry of the //Property// toolbox, then press TAB.

**Hiding the Buttons**

The toolbar buttons defined on the Frame procedure actually just tell hidden buttons in the Browse procedure to do what they normally do. Therefore, when you are designing a Browse procedure without using the Wizards, you do need to have the update buttons on the screen, but the user does not have to see them at runtime.

1.RIGHT-CLICK on the //Close// button in the sample window then choose **Properties...** from the popup menu.

2.Set the **Hide** property to TRUE.

This adds the HIDE attribute to the control so you won't see it on screen at runtime. Of course, you can still see it in the Window Designer.

3.RIGHT-CLICK on the //Select// button then choose **Properties...**.

4.Set the **Hide** property to TRUE.

5.RIGHT-CLICK on the //Delete// button then choose **Properties...**.

6.Set the **Hide** property to TRUE.

7.RIGHT-CLICK on the //Change// button then choose **Properties...**.

8.Set the **Hide** property to TRUE.

9.RIGHT-CLICK on the //Insert// button then choose **Properties...**.

10.Set the **Hide** property to TRUE.

{{notebox.jpg|NoteBox.jpg}}

Alternatively, you can select all of the buttons by pressing CTRL + CLICK, and then you can set the **Hide** property to TRUE for all selected button controls.

__**Move the buttons and resize the list**__

There's no need to waste the space these buttons (which the user won't see) occupy on the window, so we'll move them out of the way.

1.CLICK on the //Select// button then CTRL+CLICK on the //Close//, //Insert//, //Change//, and //Delete// buttons to select them all, then CLICK and drag the buttons up into the list box.

DRAGGING multiple controls at once allows you to move the controls while maintaining the relative positions of the controls within the group. Now we'll use the space we just gained to make the list longer.

2.CLICK on the list box then DRAG its bottom-center handle down to make the list longer.

**Setting the Sort Orders**

Now that the tabs are there, we need to tell the list box what alternate sort orders to use and when.

1.RIGHT-CLICK on the list box then choose **Actions...** from the popup menu.

2.Click on the **Browse Box Behavior** button.

The list box is actually a //BrowseBox// Control template that has been placed in the //Browse// Procedure template's default window design in the Template Registry. This means that it has associated prompts that tell it how to populate the list and what actions to perform.

The prompts that appear on the Actions tab come directly from the templates (in this case, the BrowseBox Control template). This is how you communicate to the templates exactly what code they need to generate to give you the behavior you ask for (and nothing else). These prompts, their meanings and uses, are all covered in this User's Guide and in the on-line help for each window in which they appear.

3.Select the **Conditional Behavior** tab.

4.Press the **Insert** button.

5.Type //CHOICE(?Sheet1) = 2// in the **Condition** entry.

This sets the condition under which the alternate sort order will be used. This expression uses the Clarion language CHOICE function to detect when the user has selected the second tab on the sheet. The generated code will use this expression in a conditional statement that will change the sort order at runtime.

6.Press the ellipsis button (...) next to the **Key to Use** entry.

7.Highlight //CUS:KeyCompany// then press the **Select** button on the //Select Key// dialog.

Now, when the user selects the second tab, the //BrowseBox// Control template will generate code to switch to the key on the //Company// column. It doesn't need to know what to do for the first tab, because that always uses the Access Key we set in the Table Schematic.

8.Press the **OK** button.

9.Press the **Insert** button.

10.Type //CHOICE(?Sheet1) = 3// in the **Condition** entry.

11.Press the ellipsis button (...) next to the **Key to Use** entry.

12.Highlight //CUS:KeyZipCode// then press the **Select** button on the //Select Key// dialog.

13.Press the **OK** button.

14.Press the **OK** button to close the ?//List Prompts// dialog.

**Closing the Customer Browse**

1.Choose **Save and Close** on the Window Designer's menu bar, and save your window changes if prompted to do so.

2.Press the **Save and Close** button in the Window Designer Editor dialog to close it.

3.Choose **File** {{blttria.jpg|BLTTRIA.jpg}} **Save**, or press the Save button {{savebutton.jpg|savebutton.jpg}} on the toolbar to save your work.

**OK, What Did I Just Do?**

Here's a quick recap of what you just accomplished:

| {{blueck.jpg|blueck.jpg}} | You created a new Browse Procedure'without using a wizard. |
| {{blueck.jpg|blueck.jpg}} | You added an Extension Template to automatically make the new procedure's window resizable. |
| {{blueck.jpg|blueck.jpg}} | You used the List Box Formatter tool to design a scrolling list of rows. |
| {{blueck.jpg|blueck.jpg}} | You used the List Box Formatter tool to design a scrolling list of rows. |
| {{blueck.jpg|blueck.jpg}} | You added a Property Sheet and several Tabs to your screen design. |
| {{blueck.jpg|blueck.jpg}} | You hid and moved buttons to provide a "cleaner" screen design. |
| {{blueck.jpg|blueck.jpg}} | You used the Window Designer's Preview mode to see your window design in action. |
| {{blueck.jpg|blueck.jpg}} | You set dynamic sort orders for the user based on which Tab control they select. |

Now that the first Browse procedure is complete, we'll go on and create its associated update Form procedure.

[[lc creating an update form.htm|Click here to jump to the next lesson]]