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"The life which is
unexamined is not worth living." Plato (427 BC - 347 BC),
Dialogues, Apology |
Read
first then play the video:
FRM-VIDEO -(Hands-On
02) How to use Tooltip, Hint, Format Mask, Properties
Help, Hint, format mask,
properties
Introduction
To manipulate an object,
you use Property Palette. As you can see from now on, you can do much
without property palette. A Property Palette contains object
properties. The contents of the Property Palette are referred
to as the "Property sheet" for the object. You use the Property
Palette to modify object properties. To open the Property Palette of
an object, go to the object and right click on the mouse button then
select Property Palette. The Property Palette provides complete
control over your objects. It contains the property list of an object.
Remember that the properties of an object can be changed to
control the behavior of the object. The Item properties such as
Tooltip, Hint, and Display Hint automatically, will be used to provide
item-level assistance for the client and can be changed only from
property palette. A text item appearance can be modified by
manipulating properties such as Justification, or Format Mask
properties. For controlling the data within a text item or display
item, you can use properties such as Calculation Mode, and Lowest
and Highest value.
Hands-on
During your prototyping
iterations, the user thought it would be useful to have a Help option
on the Form. A Help function will enable them to view descriptions of
Form items as they move from item to item, and see helpful hints for
each item.
They also want to have
multi-lines on their "comments" item with word wrap; and apply
their display format mask requirements.
See Figure 4.
Your tasks are:
1- Build Help functionality
on the data entry Form at the items' level. The Figure 4 is an example
of tool tip for the "CUSTID" item.
2- Provide "Display
Format Mask" for all currency and date items based on your client"s
layout requirements and content. For example, date should be keyed in
the format MM-DD-YY, or currency amounts displayed with the dollar '$'
sign, with format mask $99,999.99.
3- Provide a multi-lines
"comments" box for comments and make sure the text is word
wrapped.
4- Run and test all user
functional requirements.
FIn
this Hands-ON, you will learn how to use: Help, Hint, Format mask of
properties, tab canvas, "object navigator," "Data Blocks," "Layout
Editor," "Property Palette," "Run Form," and "Execute
Query."
Figure 4
Open a Module
In the "Object Navigator"
window, highlight Forms. Go to the Main menu and choose "File,"
select "Open" to open an existing form (customer_orders).
In the "Open" window, open the "customer_orders" form from the
"iself" folder.
Save a module
Click on the "customer_orders"
form. The color changes to blue. Then Change the name and save the
Form name as version 02 (customer_orders_v02). This way the
original form is untouched.
Layout Editor
Go to the Main menu and
choose the "Tools" option and select "Layout
Editor." Adjust the window if needed.
Open a property palette
In the "Layout Editor"
window, right click on the "CUSTID." A drop down window will be
opened. Click on the "Property Palette" option to open its
property palette window.
Create a Tooltip
In its Property Palette
window, go to the "Tool tip" item and type "Enter customer
ID."
In the Customer data block
in the "Object Navigator" window, click on the "Name" item.
Notice that the Property
Palette will change from the "CUSTID" property palette to the "name"
property palette.
In the property palette
window, set "Display Hint automatically" to "yes";
then type the hint (Enter your customer name) on the "Hint"
Box. Press the entry key and then close the window.
You can do the same process
for each item in the canvas.
Resizing an object
In the Layout Editor
window, select the "Comments" item. Notice that the "Comments"
item will get 8 handlers. By dragging the handler, the item can be
resized. Resize the "Comments" item so that we can enter multiple
lines of comments in it.
Right click on it and open
its "property palette." Set the "multi-line" item
to "Yes." Then close the window.
Change an item format mask
Go to the
"Orders" tab. Right click on the "Orderdate" item to
open its property and change its "format mask" to MM-DD-YY.
Press the enter key to apply all the changes then close the window.
Do the same for the "shipdate"
item; and press the enter key and close the window.
Right click on the
"total" item and open its property palette. Change its
format mask to $99,999.00. Change "justification" to right. Then
close the window.
Go to the "items"
tab. Right click on the "itemtot" item and open its property
palette. Change its "justification" and "format
mask" properties to $99,999.00
Do the same for the "actualprice"
item with "Format mask" value $999.00.
Repeat the same for the
quantity item ("Qty"), but don't change it's format mask.
Before to run the
application, click on the "-" sign next to the "Data Block"
item to collapse all objects.
Run the Form runtime
Click on the "Run"
icon, to compile and run the application. If there are any errors in
the compilation, you will get them this time.
Execute Query
Click on the 'Execute
Query' icon and navigate through the application and test the
modification changes.
Notice! On the "Orders"
tab page, the format mask of "Orderdate," "Shipdate," and "Total
items" were changed.
On the "Items" tap
page, the format mask of "Actualprice," "qty," and "itemtot"
were changed. Try to navigate to see the changes.
Notice! The quantity item ("qty")
doesn't have comma.
Close the "Runtime Forms"
window.
Open the "Qty" item
property and change it's format mask to 99,999. Close the property
window and run it again.
Click "Execute Query"
and navigate through its records.
Test Tooltip display
Go to the customer tab and
test the help function. Check the tooltip messages and help hint
messages.
On the comments box, write
multi-lines comments to test the modification and then save the
changes.
Navigate through the
records and see the changes.
Save a module
Exit and save the Form.
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"To love and be
loved is to feel the sun from both sides." David Viscott |
Questions:
Q: Describe a property
palette for an object in the Form Module.
Q: What does a property
palette provide for you to modify an object?
Q: How do you manipulate an
object in the Form Builder tool?
Q: During your prototyping
iterations, the user thought it would be useful to have a Help option
on the Form. A Help function will enable them to view descriptions of
Form items as they move from item to item, and see helpful hints for
each item. They also want to have multi-lines on their "comments"
item with word wrap; and apply their display format mask requirements.
Your tasks are:
1- Build Help functionality
on the data entry Form at the items' level. The Figure 4 is an example
of tool tip for the "CUSTID" item.
2- Provide "Display
Format Mask" for all currency and date items based on your client"s
layout requirements and content. For example, date should be keyed in
the format MM-DD-YY, or currency amounts displayed with the dollar '$'
sign, with format mask $99,999.99.
3- Provide a multi-lines
"comments" box for comments and make sure the text is word
wrapped.
4- Run and test all user
functional requirements.
Q: How can you create a
help for an item in the From Module?
Q: How can you create a
hint for an item in the Form Module?
Q: What are the differences
between a help object and hint object?
Q: How can you change a
format mask of an item in the Form Module?
Q: How can you execute a
query?
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