Creating and Compiling a Form

Click on New form in the toolbar or select 'New' from the "Form" menu to create a form with default parameters. After a form is displayed click on the desired control in the toolbar. That control will appear pressed and remain pressed until another control is selected or the select button is clicked. Click at the location on the form where the control is to be placed and drag the mouse to create the control. Alternatively just click at desired location to create a control of default size. Additional controls of the same type can quickly be added by simply clicking on the form. Note that if you need to select a group of controls or position any the select button from the toolbar will need to be clicked. (If the mouse cursor changes to a hand when hovering over a control it indicates "select" mode - a control can be selected and/or moved - otherwise it is in "control" mode i.e the selected control will be added if the mouse is clicked)

Below is an example of a new form with a single pushbutton control.

Click and drag controls ( make sure you are in "select" mode! ) to reposition them on the form. Click and drag on any of the four handles at the corner of the control to modify its size.

The functions "Size sequential controls" , "Arrange sequential controls vertically" and "Arrange sequential controls horizontally" in the menus are very useful for quickly positioning controls.

Any group of controls can be selected and aligned or adjusted in size. Left click and drag on the form to select the desired controls, indicated by a dashed-line box ( controls are considered selected if their top left corner falls inside the box ). Right click anywhere on the form and select "Group Action" from the menu. Select desired operation from the "Group Action" dialog. Below is an example form with four label controls selected.

The dimensions of the selection box can be fine tuned by using the arrow keys (up, down, left, right). These keys increase the area of the selection box only. This can be useful in the instance where selected controls are moved outside the selection box. By adjusting the box these controls can once again be adjusted.

The Group Action dialog is shown below. The designated function for each button should be self-explanatory. However, a word of explanation for the position/size adjustment. Set the value for the adjustment in the spinnercontrol, select from the radiobuttons which attribute to change, then click the appropiate arrow. The up/right arrows and the left/down arrows achieve identical results for size adjustments.

Right click on a control and select 'Properties' to modify its name, caption etc.

The Control Properties Window can remain open as you modify controls. However, before switching to another control you must 'Apply' the current control's properties to save any modifications. To close the property window click 'Close'.

The XPos, YPos, Width and Height parameters are in pixel units - no units, twips or dips! The Xpos and Ypos are relative to the top left corner of the form. Click the arrow to change the value of a property or alternatively enter a number directly in the control.

Tooltip - use primarily for bitmap buttons. Enter the text to be displayed when the mouse is hovering over the control.

... Pushbutton - if enabled click to browse for a bitmap file.

Group - Begins or ends a group of controls. Used to group radiobuttons and checkboxes.

Global - If selected the control will be available accessible to the entire program, otherwise it is private to the form object.

Spinner - Valid only for textboxes. Converts the control to what is called a spinbutton.

Justification - select how text will be shown in control.

Previous and Next - Cycle through controls of a form.

Font Selection - To change the default font for a control right click on the desired control and select "Change Font" from the menu. Having selected a font its properties will be compiled to the form in a definition based on the control's name. If a font is needed for the form but not for a control then add a generic control and select the font for it. When the form is compiled the selected font will be available for general use.

It is a good idea to choose names for the controls that will indicate the type of control. This will be useful especially if the controls are global: e.g
txtName - identifies this control as a text box
lblName - this a label
btnOk - a pushbutton control etc.

To modify a form's properties right click anywhere in the form and select 'Properties' from the menu. The following form will be displayed.

If 'Modal Form' is selected the form will behave like a modal dialog i.e. access to it's parent will be denied until the form is closed. Note that the parent window must be set for the form.

'Save screen location' allows a form to remember its last screen location when it is closed. When next displayed it will return to that saved location.

If 'Status Bar' is checked the form will be compiled and shown with a status bar.

A form can be compiled as a default dialog window, a child window (useful for instance in tab controls) or as a multiple document interface (MDI) dialog window. Select the appropiate option before compiling. The option 'Initially Hidden' applies only to child windows, where a form will be invisible when it is first started. Methods are also compiled to allow hiding and unhiding the form.

Multiple forms can be created or open and edited simultaneously. If you are working on multiple forms saving a session ( from the "Tools" menu ) will allow you to resume where you stopped off.

When a form is compiled to disk it will use the same name as the binary form file but with a .frm extension. If a form has been designed and compiled and will not need to be modified at a later time the corresponding binary .ff file can be deleted if desired.

To set the position of the compiled form on screen move the mini window in the Monitor window or alternatively set the position in the form property window .

The status bar displays some properties of the currently selected control.

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