Clarion Community Help

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

The Text control provides a multi-line data entry field. This control is especially suitable for holding a long string.

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 or Background fields, 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

Boxed	The BOXED attribute specifies a single-track border around the TEXT structure. This attribute only works if the TEXT control is transparent or the parent window does not have the GRAY attribute applied.
Drop ID	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.
Extend	Valid in REPORT only. Enter a valid string of attributes that are assigned to a designated REPORT control for a given document type. For more information, see EXTEND.

General

Justification	Specify left, center, right, or default justification. Default justification matches that specified in the data dictionary, if applicable.
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.
RTF	Check this box to allow the TEXT control to read and write its contents in Rich Text Format. A full set of supported methods is provided to allow you to add additional features and support. See RTF.
Value Mode	This drop list is enabled if you have checked the RTF option. Select Field if the actual rich text format is stored in the selected field. Select File if the field name is storing the file name from which the rich text format is to be read from and written to.
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. Default (no attribute) accepts input in the case the user types it.
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.
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 types. When using multi-line controls, be sure the variable is large enough to hold the amount of data you expect your users to enter in the control. Or, type a field equate label which references the entry 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.
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.
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.
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	Set to True to give your text box a “flat” appearance (the text box control is on the same level as the window, and not recessed).
Required	Specifies that the control may not be left blank or zero.
ReadOnly	Prevents data entry in this control. Use this to declare display-only data.
Single	Specifies the control is only for single line data entry. This is specifically to allow use of TEXT controls instead of ENTRY controls for data entry in languages that write from right to left (such as Hebrew or Arabic).
Resize	Reports ONLY. Allows the control to increase its height (and the parent report band's height) at runtime to accommodate varying amounts of text from its USE variable.

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.

Scroll Bars

Horizontal	To add a horizontal scroll bar to the control, set the Horizontal property to True. Scroll bars only appear when the contents of the text box are bigger than the window.
Vertical	To add a vertical scroll bar, set the Vertical property to True.

These options add the HSCROLL, VSCROLL, and HVSCROLL attributes to the control.

Quick Links


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