| Graph control | Embed/display values within text | |
This section lists all the properties of all controls in alphabetic order. Not all of these properties are relevant to all controls and therefore not all will be visible when you are editing a particular type of control.
The section on Using the dialog Editor tools has guidance on the most important of these properties when they are more specific to one type of control.
See also the section on Making references to properties on how to set dialog properties dynamically at run time.
ActiveSheet
For Tabbed dialogs you can set which sheet should be the default. That is, which left to right tab should appear in the foreground at run time.
AllowIncomplete
For dialog buttons the AllowIncomplete property enables use of Boolean attribute as a flag to denote that incomplete data (i.e. that some obligatory controls on the dialog have not been completed) is to be allowed when OK is pressed and also to flag the presence of such incomplete data. It overrides the individual Obligatory property settings that can be used for each variable on a dialog.
AllowInvalid
For dialog buttons the AllowInvalid property enables use of Boolean attribute as a flag to denote that invalid data (i.e. an invalid outcome has been detected) is to be allowed when OK is pressed and also to flag the presence of such invalid data. Note this dual flag usage. It is the fact that a Boolean attribute is specified here that says "allow invalids", while the Yes/No value of the Boolean will be set at run time to denote that invalid(s) have in fact been detected.
BkgndStyle
You can set the background style of this object to be transparent or opaque.
BorderColor
Sets the color of the border of this object.
BorderStyle
Special effects can be applied to this object for a plain, raised or sunk borders.
Note that Raised & Sunk are typically of most effect when an overall Color is used for the dialog box (e.g. grey).
ButtonType
See the section on the Button control.
Caption
Freehand text can be entered for this object, such as a title for a dialog box, or text within a label object.
Centered
For dialog boxes, the Centered property being True will automatically position the dialog in the center of the screen at run time, using the appropriate resolution of the user's screen. Note that when Centered is true any values for the Left and Top positioning values will be ignored, and it disables use of dialog positioning using the mini screen tool. However, if you disabled the Centered property the dialogs position would revert to the last settings for Left and Top.
Color
Sets the color of the object.
Dim1
Specifies the first dimension when using an array with the variable editor control. Leave the value at 1 for all other non-array variables.
Dim2
Specifies the second dimension when using an array with the variable editor control. Leave the value at 1 for all other non-array variables.
Drawmode
For graphic objects you can elect to set the image as either Clipped or Stretched to fit the size and shape of the placeholder that you have specified is to hold the image.
DynamicVals
For grid controlsthis property sets whether instance property values can be modified during the dialog display or not. The default is True and is the safe setting, but if there are a lot of values (which will not be modified dynamically) and refresh speed is an issue then setting this property to False would help.
ExcludeMode
Sets the property for how Invalid user selections are to be handled.
ShowInvalid: Invalid user selections will be visible (as greyed-out items) but not selectable.
AllowInvalid: Invalid user selections will be visible (as greyed-out items) but can still be selected by the user.
HideInvalid: Invalid items will be hidden from view.
ExitCheck
For dialog buttons the ExitCheck property enables/disables the exit warning when you close the run time.
Font
Can be used to set the font properties of the selected text object.
HasBorder
This property sets whether the border of the control will be shown or not.
HasCaption
For dialog boxes when set to True the caption of the dialog box will be shown on the top title bar, when set to False the title bar and any caption text will not be shown at all. For grid controls when set to True this enables a title bar on the control showing the property names, when set to False no title bar.
Height
Sets the object's Height in pixels.
HelpAtt
For dialog buttons the HelpAtt property can be used to point to a numeric attribute/variable that holds a context_ID number. The help button can then call the relevant topic according to the context_ID number listed in your help file.
HelpID
For dialog buttons the HelpID property can be used to specify a literal context_ID number, so that the help button will call the relevant topic according to the context_ID number listed in the help file.
The HelpFile property of the Knowledge Module's information specifies the default help file to be used at run time for this application when user presses a developer enabled help button. Note that the default path for help file will be the same as the application directory. You can also set the default help file during run time by using the @Help command.
Image
A browse button can be pressed to locate/select an image file, from which the image will be copied (i.e. embedded) into the current dialog and be visible at development time as well as at run time.
The original image file will not be required at run time.
Note that while this method of using images is simpler than using ImagePath (which only loads the image files at run time) it is far less efficient if you use the same image repeatedly.
ImagePath
A browse button can be pressed to locate/select the path for an image file. The image will not be visible at development time and will only be located and brought into the dialog at run time.
The original image file must therefore be available (i.e. on-line) at run time.
This method is more efficient if you use the same image repeatedly, or wish to dynamically update your XpertRule application via the original images from their disk files.
Note that if you use both the Image and the ImagePath properties, that the Image would appear as the second choice where ImagePath does not manage to locate and display the referenced image file from disk.
IndexVariable
For variable list boxes and variable drop down combo boxes this property can be used to point to a numeric attribute/variable that holds the number of the selected value in the list.
InitialUpdates
The InitialUpdates property for the dialog determines if the OnUpdates events of all objects on a dialog are fired when the dialog is displayed. The default value of this property is True.
IsArea
When IsArea is set to True and Visible is set to True the object will not be visible to the run time user. This can be useful with dialog buttons and touch screen interfaces , when you could use overlaid/alternative graphic images for the user to select.
IsPassword
The IsPassword property enables the entry of variables to be masked when they are being used for passwords.
IsTransparent
True sets the image to use transparency. The transparent color can be specified by using the TransparentColor property.
Justification
Sets Left, Right or Centre justification.
Key
For Dialog buttons, with Key you can optionally assign one of the function keys F1-F10 to act as a user key press alternative to using the mouse to select the button.
Left
Sets the distance from the left side of the screen in pixels.
Macro
For dialog buttons the name of a Procedure type object can be specified using the Macro property, to execute the commands that the procedure contains when the button is pressed. See also the MacroAutoOK property.
MacroAutoOK
For dialog buttons the MacroAutoOK property enables the default OK action to be automatically invoked as soon as a command Macro sequence has been completed.
MultiExcludeGrey
When this property is set to True all values which haven't already been selected are greyed.
MultiLine
The MultiLine property enables word wrapping in the variable editor control.
MultiSel
This property enables multiple selection for an array list.
MultiSelMax
This property sets the maximum number of items that the user can select from a list.
Note that the Format - multiSelect property must also be set to True to enable a List type attribute to have multiple values selected by the user. This MultiSelMax property is then just used to control the maximum that the user can select.
When the multiSelect property is set, the object's icon will have an extra small green dot below it, as this example for a List attribute icon shows.
MultiSelMin
This property sets the minimum number of items that the user must select from a list.
Note that the Format - multiSelect property must be set to True to enable a List type attribute to have multiple values selected by the user. This MultiSelMin property can then be used to control the minimum number of items that the user must select.
Name
This property holds the name of the control and is used to reference the control via code.
Obligatory
Sets the run time user selection status to obligatory for this object.
OnCanExit
This property is used to associate a procedure which the developer can use to determine whether the runtime should stay in the dialog, exit the dialog (continue), or carry out default dialog exit processing.
Double clicking on the (none) value causes the system to create a procedure with a default name 'dialogName_OnCanExit' and template code…
FUNCTION ():N
@RETURN i
@REMWhere i =0Stay in dialog
@REM1Exit dialog
@REM2Default dialog exit processing
OnEnter
This property is used to associate a procedure which will be triggered on entering the dialog.
Double clicking on the (none) value causes the system to create a procedure with a default name 'dialogName_OnEnter'.
OnExit
This property is used to associate a procedure which will be triggered on exiting the dialog.
Double clicking on the (none) value causes the system to create a procedure with a default name 'dialogName_OnExit'.
ScrollRangeMax
This sets the maximum range for the scroll bar.
ScrollRangeMin
This sets the minimum range for the scroll bar.
SelectableGrey
The selection status of True will make the item non-selectable, i.e. grey at run time.
ShowBorder
True will make this hot-spot appear with a standard border at run time.
ShowOutline
True will make this hot-spot's outline become highlighted when selected by the user at run time.
TabNo
Sets the order of cursor movement when the run time user presses the Tab key.
TabSheets
Pressing the browse button on this property brings up the Tab Sheet editor. You can Rename, Add and Delete tab pages.
TabSheets[n] (accessible via code)
AllowBlank
When set to true, this property allows the designated tab sheet to be incomplete (basically overrides the AllowBlank property of all the objects on that tab sheet).
Example:
@Assign Dialog1.control1.TabSheets[1].AllowBlank=True
AllowInvalid
When set to true, this property allows the designated tab sheet to be invalid (basically overrides the AllowInvalid property of all the objects on that tab sheet).
Example:
@Assign Dialog1.control1.TabSheets[1].AllowInvalid = True
Caption
Text can be assigned or read for each tab sheet caption in a tab control.
Example:
@Assign Dialog1.control1.TabSheets[1].Caption = 'Main'
@Assign tempstr = Dialog1.control1.TabSheets[1].Caption
Visible
The visibility of each tab sheet in a tab control can be controlled by this property (if a tab sheet is made invisible by a macro then the AllowBlank for that sheet should be set to True).
Example:
@Assign Dialog1.control1.TabSheets[1].Visible = False
TextColor
Sets the text color.
TiedItem
This property specifies if an item is to be tied to it. For example:
·You can tie a List type attribute to a list input control.
·You can tie a Numeric attribute to a numeric input box, or to a scroll bar.
·You can tie a Boolean attribute to a check box.
See also the section on Using tied objects.
Top
Sets the distance of the object from the top of the screen in pixels.
TransparentColor
Sets the transparent color to be used. The isTransparent property must also be set to True.
Value
After you have specified a TiedItem, for example, a List type attribute for a radio button or hot-spot, this property can be used to sets which value from the list applies to each radio button or hot-spot that you create.
Visible
When Visible is set to False the object will not be visible to the run time user. See also the IsArea property.
Width
Sets the width of the object in pixels.