Clarion Community Help

Navigation: Window and Report Control Properties >====== Spin Box Control Properties ======

Spin Boxes are specialized entry boxes that only accept values in a predefined range. They also provide the user with “increase” and “decrease” buttons, which many people like because they can use the mouse to change the value. The user can also type a value directly into the control.

The Property View presents you with two ways to viewing a control's properties.

At the top of the Property View, press the categorized button to view a control's properties by category (the deafult).

Or press the alphabetical button to view a control's properties in alphabetical order.

This help documents displays the properties in the categorical view.

Color

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

Locked	“Freezes” the control 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.
Tab Index	Determines the index in the TAB order that this control will follow. The first tab in the order is index zero (0).To change the TabIndex property immediately while in the Designer, use the Show tab order interface (i.e. on the right-click menu).If you set the TabIndex property using the property page, the z-order is not updated until you save and exit the Window Designer.

Extra

Delay	The amount of time before the second EVENT:NewSelection occurs in hundredths of seconds. The first EVENT:NewSelection occurs when the end user clicks and holds the arrow button. (The DELAY attribute)
DropID	To specify the type of Drag operations this control will accept, type up to 16 signatures, separated by commas. The Window Designer adds the DROPID attribute to the control, which indicates the control is a valid target for the drag and drop operations identified by the signatures.
EntryMode	Choose either Insert, Overwrite or Default. The Entry Mode applies only for windows with the MASK attribute set. Default accepts input according to the current system settings.
Range	Specify the upper and lower Range limits, and the Step value. Place the highest value which the control should return in the Range Upper field. The value should match the Picture field. Place the lowest acceptable value in the Lower field. Place the Step value–the amount by which each press of the increase or decrease buttons should change the spin box value–in the Step field.
Repeat	This is how often the EVENT:NewSelection occurs in hundredths of seconds when the end user clicks and holds the arrow button. (The REPEAT attribute)
TextCase	Specify case attributes for the entry field. The entry box can automatically convert characters from one case to another. Uppercase automatically converts to all caps. Capitalize converts to proper case. Default (no attribute) accepts input in the case the user types it.

General

From	The FROM attribute is optional, but is useful for values that progress in an irregular increment. You may also wish to provide the user with strings formatted as Spin Box choices when the choices are a natural progression such as the days of the week or the months of the year. Specify a QUEUE in the From field. This and Range are mutually exclusive.
Justification	Specify left, center, right, decimal, or default justification. Default justification matches that specified in the data dictionary, if applicable. If you use decimal justification, you set the Offset to allow display of digits to the right of the decimal point.
Offset	Specify an indentation value for the list box item text, in dialog units.
Layout	Indicates the orientation of the control. Left to Right maintains the original layout specified in the Window Designer. Right to Left essentially “flips” the 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 windows and controls that have the default setting active.
Picture	The Picture field takes a display picture token that specifies input format. You may press the ellipsis (…) button next to the field to pick a display picture from the Edit Picture String dialog.You may check the user entry against the picture at two points: as the user types the data in, or when the user closes the dialog box. Checking the data as the user types it incurs a slight performance penalty. To do so, check the Entry Patterns box in the Window Properties dialog for the window in which the entry box resides. This turns the MASK attribute on for all controls in the window.If the MASK attribute is off, entry checking takes place when the user moves the focus to another control (for example, by TABBING to another field).If the user types in data in a format different from the picture, the program will attempt to determine the format, then convert it to match the picture (if no MASK was specified). For example, if the user types 'January 1, 1995' and the picture is @D1, the program formats the input to “1/1/95. If the program cannot determine the entry format, it will not update the USE variable. The user will receive an audible prompt (beep), and the focus will return to the entry control, ready for additional input.
TextFont	Calls the 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.
Use	This defines the USE attribute for the control. Place a variable or field equate label in the Use field. You may specify a variable which receives the value that the user selects. Or, a field equate label which references the spin box in program statements.

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.
Tip	The TIP attribute on a control specifies the text to display in a “balloon help” box when the mouse cursor pauses over the control. Although there is no specific limit on the number of characters, the string should not be longer than can be displayed on the screen.

Mode

Disable	Disables or 'grays-out' the control when your program initially displays it. The Window Designer places the DISABLE attribute on the control. Use the ENABLE statement to allow the user access to the control.
Hide	Makes the control invisible at the time Windows would initially display it. Windows actually creates the control–it just doesn't display it on screen. The Window Designer places the HIDE attribute on the control. Use the UNHIDE statement to display the control.
Skip	Instructs the Window Designer to omit the control from the Tab Order. When the user TABS from field to field in the dialog box, Windows will not give the control focus. This is useful for seldom-used data fields. The Window Designer will place the SKIP attribute on the control.
Scroll	Specifies whether the control should move with the window when the user scrolls the window. By default (False) the control does not move with the window. Set the Scroll property to False to create a control that stays fixed when the user scrolls the window. The Window Designer places the SCROLL attribute on the control when checked.
Transparent	Specify whether you wish the control background to be Transparent. This instructs Windows to suppress the rectangular region around the text–the background. Normally, Windows will paint this the same uniform color as the window below the control. This adds the TRN attribute.

Options

You may toggle the following options on or off independently.

Flat	Specifies a “flat” appearance (the spin control is on the same level as the window, and not recessed).
Immediate	Specifies immediate event generation whenever the user presses any key.
Required	Specifies that the control may not be left blank or zero.
Read Only	Prevents data entry in this control. Use this to declare display-only data.

Position

Lets you set the location and size of the control.

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

To set the location of the control's Top Left Corner, set an X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) coordinate in Dialog units. The coordinate is relative to the top left corner of the structure containing it, that is, the window or the report band.

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

Default	The Clarion runtime library determines the size of the control based on the applicable font and picture token.
Full	The control is the full height or width of the window or report.
Value	Lets you set a precise width or height in Dialog units on a window, or in thousandths of inch, points, or millimeters on a report.

ScrollBars

Set the appearance of the Spin control buttons by checking any combination of the two Scroll Bar boxes.

Horizontal	Set to True to produce larger buttons arranged side by side.
Vertical	Set to True to produce smaller, vertically stacked buttons.

If both properties are set to True, the result is the same as Horizontal. If both properties are False, the result is similar to Vertical.

Quick Links


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