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check_box_control_properties.htm
Navigation:  Window and Report Control Properties >====== Check Box Control Properties ====== Previous pageReturn to chapter overviewNext page

The check box provides an attractive way to display a yes/no choice for a record field–the alternative might be an entire column that repeats “one,” “yes,” or even “.T.” for each record.

NoteBox.jpg

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 categorized.jpg to view a control's properties by category (the deafult).

Or press the alphabetical button alphabetical.jpg 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 Text Color or Background fields, or press the ellipsis (…) button to select a color from the Color dialog. The Window Designer adds the COLOR 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

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.
Icon In the Icon field, optionally select a standard icon or icon file. This displays a small bitmap next to the check box (clipping or centering the bitmap as necessary).
To select a standard icon, choose one of the named items in the drop-down list. To select an icon file (whose extension must be .ICO), choose Select File from the drop-down list, then pick the file using the standard file dialog.

General

Justification Left Justification arranges the check box (or icon) to the left of the parameter text. Right Justification arranges the check box (or icon) to the right of the parameter text. Default arranges the check box according to any applicable settings in the data dictionary.
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.
Text Specify a string constant to display by typing it in the Text box.
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. Specify a numeric variable. The check box places a value of 1 in the numeric variable if the end user turns on the check box, zero if off.
Value These values are also used to set the state of the check box (checked or cleared) when it is first displayed.
True Value Type the value to assign when the box is checked.
False Value Type the value to assign when the box is cleared.
True Value and False Value let you easily manage legacy data with a check box, or let you use character values such as “T” and “F” or “Yes” and “No” where appropriate. For example, if your legacy field contains “True” and “False” or “Y” and “N,” rather than 1 and 0, then True Value and False Value can modify the check box's default behavior to be consistent with the legacy data. If you leave both fields blank, you get the default values and behavior, that is, 1 for checked and 0 or blank for cleared.
TipBox.jpg True Value and False Value are case sensitive, so “True” is not the same as “TRUE” and “T” is not the same as “t.” Also, if you are using a STRING variable as the USE variable for your check box, you must explicitly set True and False Values (here, or in the dictionary's validity check for the target column).

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.

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.
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.

Options

Flat The FLAT attribute (PROP:FLAT) specifies the BUTTON, CHECK, or RADIO with an ICON attribute appears flat until the mouse cursor passes over it. With check boxes, this creates a “latched” button effect.

Position

Lets you set the location and size of the control.

The Position category 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.
Fixed 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.

Actions

The Check Box Actions category leads to other dialogs allowing you to name variables and change their values when the end user checks or unchecks the box. Additionally, you can HIDE or UNHIDE other controls in the window.

Two group boxes with two pairs of buttons appear on the Actions tab. These buttons set the behavior for When the Check Box is Checked, and When the Check Box is Unchecked.

Assign Values Opens the Assign Values dialog where you can assign values to variables based on the checked or unchecked state of the check box.
Hide/Unhide Controls Opens the Hide/Unhide Controls dialog where you can specify window controls to hide or unhide based on the checked or unchecked state of the check box.
Embeds Accesses the Embedded Source dialog for points surrounding the event handling for this control only.

Assign Values Dialog

Lets you assign values to variables based on the checked or unchecked state of a check box. You may specify multiple assignments. Press the Insert button to add a new assignment.

Variable to Assign In the entry box, type a variable name, or press the ellipsis (…) button to choose or create a data dictionary field or a memory variable with the Select Field dialog.
Value to Assign In the entry box, type the value to assign to the variable. You can then add code to your program to take appropriate action based on the run time value of the variable(s). Press the E button to call the Expression Editor. This dialog is used to help you construct syntactically correct expressions to use in the appropriate prompt.

Hide/Unhide Controls Dialog

Lets you specify window controls to hide or unhide based on the checked or unchecked state of a check box. You may specify multiple controls to hide/unhide. Press the Insert button to add a new hide/unhide action to the list.

Control to hide/unhide From the drop down list, choose the control to HIDE or UNHIDE.
Hide or unhide control From the drop down list, choose Hide or Unhide.
check_box_control_properties.htm.txt · Last modified: 2021/04/15 15:57 by 127.0.0.1