| Navigation: Window and Report Control Properties >====== OLE Properties ====== |    |
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 Text Color 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:
| 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. |
General
| Compatibility | Set to True to specify a compatibility mode of 1 for objects that require it (such as the Windows bitmap editor). Set to False to let the compatibility mode default to 0. |
| ControlType | Select the object type for the OLE control declaration. Select from Ole or Document |
When OLE is the Control Type:
| ServerName | The ServerName list contains registered OLE objects. The ControlType property gets the CREATE attribute if no Storage File is specified or them OPEN attribute if a Storage File is specified. Select from a list of registered OLE objects, such as Excel Spreadsheets, Word documents, PowerPoint Slides, etc. to CREATE or OPEN. |
When you select an OLE server, the server is automatically loaded by the Window Designer. This can be time consuming during the window design process. Design and draw your window first, then specify your OLE control last, or specify the server at run-time using property syntax rather than at design time.
| StorageFile | Specifies the name of an OLE Compound Storage File and the object within it to OPEN. Separate the filename and the object name with a backslash and exclamation point: FileName\!ObjectName. The Application Generator supplies a default value for this field when you use the development environment to create the Compound Storage File. |
RIGHT-CLICK the OLE control in the Window Designer and choose Open from the popup menu to activate the specified OLE server in open mode. This lets you build the object independent of your application, and it automatically specifies a default filename\!objectname in the Storage File field. When a Storage File is specified, the object is OPENed rather than CREATEd.
The OLE Server can access and manipulate the object in the storage file, but only through your application. The OLE Server cannot access the storage file independently of your application. Use a Storage File when you want to limit your user's access to the document.
When the object is opened, the saved version of the OLE container properties are reloaded, so properties need not be specified for OPENed objects.
If this field is blank, the OLE object is CREATEd rather than OPENed.
When Document is the Control Type:
| Document | The Document property replaces the ServerName list. The ControlType property gets the DOCUMENT or LINK attribute. Type the fully qualified name of the document file or press the ellipsis button (…) to select the file from the standard dialog. A document file is a file that is associated with a specific OLE server, so the application can activate that server at runtime (e.g.. MYBUDGET.XLS is associated with Excel). If the filename is not fully qualified, the application looks for it in the current directory. The document file should be installed on the end user's machine in the specified directory. |
| StorageFile | Specify the name of an OLE Compound Storage File and the object within it to OPEN. Separate the filename and the object name with a backslash and exclamation point: FileName\!ObjectName. A Storage File may be specified for embedded documents (DOCUMENT) but not for linked documents (LINK). The Application Generator supplies a default value for this field when you use the development environment to create the Compound Storage File. |
RIGHT-CLICK the OLE control in the Window Designer and choose Open from the popup menu to activate the specified OLE server in open mode. This lets you build the object independent of your application, and it automatically specifies a default filename\!object name in the Storage File field. When a Storage File is specified, the object is OPENed rather than CREATEd.
The OLE Server can access and manipulate the object in the storage file, but only through your application. The OLE Server cannot access the storage file independently of your application. Use a Storage File when you want to limit your user's access to the document.
When the object is opened, the saved version of the OLE container properties are reloaded, so properties need not be specified for OPENed objects.
If this field is blank, the OLE object is CREATEd rather than OPENed.
| Link | Set this property to TRUE to make the OLE object a link. This generates the LINK attribute for the OLE control, which tells the server to update the original file with any changes made through your application. Set this property to False to make the OLE object an embed. This generates the DOCUMENT attribute for the OLE control, which tells the server not to update the original file with changes made through your application. The default DoVerb action ({PROP:DoVerb}=0) may depend on whether the object is a link or an embed. |
General (continued):
| 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. |
| SizingMode | Select a sizing attribute from the drop-down list. The Window Designer adds the attribute to the OLE declaration. |
| Default | Adds no sizing attribute. Zoom is the default. |
| Clip | The OLE declaration gets the CLIP attribute. The OLE object only displays what fits into the area defined by the OLE container control's AT attribute. If the object is larger than the control, only the top left corner displays. |
| Stretch | The OLE declaration gets the STRETCH attribute. The OLE object stretches to completely fill the area defined by the OLE container control's AT attribute. The object's aspect ratio is lost. |
| AutoSize | The OLE declaration gets the AUTOSIZE attribute. The OLE object automatically resizes when the OLE container control's AT attribute changes at runtime. |
| Zoom | The OLE declaration gets the ZOOM attribute. The OLE object stretches to fill the area defined by the OLE container control's AT attribute. The object's aspect ratio is maintained. |
| 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. Type a field equate label to reference the control in executable code. |
Help
| 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 | Enter 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 text 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. |
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. |
Quick Links
| Embeds | Accesses the Embedded Source dialog for points surrounding the event handling for this control only. |