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________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 145 ________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER TWELVE: PROPERTIES INTRODUCTION This chapter describes how properties are used in the HyperPAD system. The first section describes the global properties. The next five sections describe the properties of pads, buttons, fields, pages and backgrounds. The final four sections describe the properties of the message box, tool box, status bar, and menu bar. WHAT ARE PROPERTIES A property is a characteristic of an object that defines its appearance and behavior. Objects of the same type (such as all buttons) have the same properties. Each button, however, can have different values associated with these properties. An example of a button property is fillColor, whose value is a number between 0 and 255. Objects are created with default values for their properties. You can alter a property value in one of two ways. Many property values are accessible using the object's Info dialog box on the Objects menu. The other way to modify an object's property value is with the PADtalk language, which gives you access (using the set command) to all object properties. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 146 ________________________________________________________________________ PROPERTY LISTINGS GLOBAL PROPERTIES The global properties are: asciiChar lockRecent paintAttr autoSave lockScreen parity baud markerAttr printDevice currentDirectory markerChar printer cursor maxDirtyPages printerTranslation cursorLoc modem selectedText dataBits mouse stopBits fileSortMethod mouseAttr tabbing focus mouseChar userLevel lockMessages numberFormat PAD PROPERTIES The pad properties are: cantDelete cantModify longName name passwordOnly script ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 147 ________________________________________________________________________ PAGE PROPERTIES The page properties are: cantDelete id longID longName name script BACKGROUND PROPERTIES The background properties are: cantDelete id longID longName name script BUTTON PROPERTIES The button properties are: acceleratorColor hilite name acceleratorKey hiliteColor rectangle align hiliteIfFocus script autoHilite id shadow borderColor layer showName check location style color lockText visible ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 148 ________________________________________________________________________ FIELD PROPERTIES The field properties are: acceleratorColor hiliteIfFocus nameColor acceleratorKey id namePosition align insertPoint rectangle autoHilite layer script borderColor listbox scrollable color location showName currentLine lockText startLine edgeType longID style fillColor longName value hilite markedLines visible hiliteColor name withEdge MESSAGE BOX PROPERTIES The message box properties are: location value visible width TOOL BOX PROPERTIES The tool box properties are: location visible MENU BAR PROPERTIES There is one menu bar property: visible STATUS BAR PROPERTIES There is one status bar property: visible ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 149 ________________________________________________________________________ GLOBAL PROPERTIES ----------------------------------- ASCIICHAR Purpose: This property allows the user to set and get the value of the ASCII paint character. The range of available values is from 0 to 255. You can also set or get this property by selecting ASCII char from the Workspace menu. Examples: set the asciiChar to charToNum("A"); set the asciiChar to 65; if the asciiChar is charToNum(the first char of it) then answer "they are the same"; The following handler demonstrates a use of asciiChar: handler select; begin doMenu "Text"; doMenu "ASCII char..."; answer "you picked" && the asciiChar with "Ok"; end; See Also: paintAttr ----------------------------------- AUTOSAVE Purpose: By default, HyperPAD automatically saves your work every 30 seconds. With autoSave, you can regulate (turn on or off) this feature. HyperPAD stores pages in a memory cache for quick access. If you modify a page in some way (i.e. type into a field or change the color of an object), the page is considered "dirty". The cache can't hold more than 50 pages. If the cache fills up, the pages accessed least are removed from the cache. The maximum number of dirty (modified) pages allowed in the cache is determined by the maxDirtyPages property, which is 20 by default. When the number of dirty pages exceeds this number, they are saved to disk. The dirty pages will also be saved to disk if HyperPAD runs low on memory. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 150 ________________________________________________________________________ If autoSave is true, then every 30 seconds HyperPAD saves as many dirty pages as it can in 1 second. The disk access occurs at idle time (at the end of all pending handlers). If autoSave is false, then the cache is emptied when one of two conditions is met: when the number of dirty pages exceeds maxDirtyPages, or when memory is low enough to require the space that the dirty pages are taking up. When to use it: Setting maxDirtyPages to 1 and autoSave to false is the safest environment for running HyperPAD. However, it accesses the disk constantly and is therefore slower. Examples: set the autoSave to true; set the autoSave to false; set the maxDirtyPages to 2; To set the autoSave to false every time you start HyperPAD, put the following handler in the pad script of your Home pad: handler startup; begin set the autoSave to false; end; Comments: The autoSave property is true by default. When autoSave is true: 1. You stand to lose less information if there's a power failure. 2. Disk access is kept to a periodic short burst. 3. Disk space is monitored closely, and you are notified when disk space is low. When autoSave is false: 1. Disk access is less frequent, but takes more time when it does occur. 2. Thrashing (continual disk accessing) can occur, depending on your application. For example, if there are 50 pages in the cache that need to be saved to disk, every time you switch to a new page, a page from the cache has to be saved, causing the disk to be accessed. 3. Since disk space is determined after each write, you may have information that needs to be saved to disk when there is insufficient disk space. See Also: maxDirtyPages ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 151 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- BAUD Purpose: Sets the baud rate for use with the dial command. You can set the baud property to any baud supported by your modem (300, 1200, 2400, 9600). The dial command will not work if you set baud to an unusable value. The default baud rate is 300. Examples: set the baud to 300; set the baud to item i of "300,1200,2400,9600"; See Also: modem, stopBits, parity, and dataBits ----------------------------------- CURRENTDIRECTORY Purpose: This property gets or sets the current DOS directory. You can set the directory to partial directory names as well. For example, if you want to set the directory to the parent: set the currentDirectory to ".."; If you include a drive specifier, HyperPAD will also change the current drive. The following example changes to the S: drive and the directory called ACCOUNTS\JOHN: set the currentDirectory to "S:\ACCOUNTS\JOHN"; Examples: put the currentDirectory into the msg; set the currentDirectory to "D:"; set the currentDirectory to "C:\123"; The following example runs MS-WORD from within a document directory and loads a document named MYDOC.DOC from the document directory. set the currentDirectory to "C:\DOCUMENT\PROJECT"; run "C:\WORD5\WORD MYDOC"; Abbreviations: curDir See Also: directory ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 152 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- CURSOR Purpose: Sets the hardware text cursor (the blinking cursor) shape to an underscore (thin), a full character block (fat), or invisible (off). When to use it: If you want to make the cursor change shape to indicate the cursor's entry into different portions of your application (such as entering buttons and fields). If you set the cursor shape to off (not visible) the cursor will be invisible until you change the shape to either thin or fat. Examples: set the cursor to thin; if the cursor is off then put "no one has the focus" into msg; See Also: cursorLoc, cursorX, cursorY ----------------------------------- CURSORLOC Purpose: The cursorLoc property allows you to set or get the location of the hardware text cursor (the blinking cursor). The position is returned in the form "X,Y" where X is the horizontal position and Y is the vertical position with respect to the upper left corner of the screen. The range of values for the cursor location are: 1 <= X <= screenWidth() (usually 80) 1 <= Y <= screenHeight() (usually 25) Examples: put the cursorLoc into cl; -- puts X,Y into "cl" set the cursorLoc to 10,12 -- set it somewhere if the screenHeight is 43 then set the cursorLoc to 1,43 See Also: cursor, cursorX, cursorY ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 153 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- DATABITS Purpose: Sets or gets the serial port property dataBits to either 7 or 8 for use with the dial command. The default value is 7. Examples: set the dataBits to 7; set the dataBits to 8; See Also: baud, stopBits, parity, modem ----------------------------------- FILESORTMETHOD Purpose: The fileSortMethod property determines how a list of files is sorted when it is read from disk. It can have the following values: Method Value: Sorted by: --------------------------------------------- 1 Name (ascending) 2 Extension (ascending) 3 Size (ascending) 4 Date/Time (ascending) 5 Name (descending) 6 Extension (descending) 7 Size (descending) 8 Date/Time (descending) The fileSortMethod property only affects the values of future calls to the files() and longFiles() functions. Examples: The following statements read in a directory list sorted by descending size: set the fileSortMethod to 7; put the longFiles into page field "List"; ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 154 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- FOCUS Purpose: Use focus to change the focus to a particular button or field on the page or background. When a button or field has the focus, it is the current object and can be selected (button) or edited (field). You cannot set the focus to locked buttons or fields, or objects that are completely covered by other objects. When to use it: Use focus to highlight the button or field the user will most likely want to select. Examples: set the focus to page field 1; set the focus to button "initialize"; The following handler (in a page script) sets the focus to the first empty field on a page: handler openPage; begin put 1 into i; while page field i is not empty AND i < the number of page fields do add 1 to i; set the focus to page field i; end; Comments: Changing the focus sends a closeButton/closeField message to the current object and an openButton/openField message to the object receiving the focus. ----------------------------------- LOCKMESSAGES Purpose: Use lockMessages to prevent HyperPAD from sending automatic messages such as openPage, openButton, and openPad. The possible values for lockMessages are true and false. When to use it: You may want to set lockMessages to true for the following reasons: 1. To speed up execution of a script that cycles through many pages. Since fewer messages are being sent automatically by HyperPAD, the script will execute faster. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 155 ________________________________________________________________________ 2. When you want to go to another page (i.e. to gather some data) and don't want to stay there, you can set lockMessages to true to avoid sending the automatic messages (like openPage) to that page. Examples: set the lockMessages to true; The following example script retrieves some data from a pad called "PIF.PAD". It sets the lockMessages property to true to avoid sending automatic messages to that pad. set the lockMessages to true; push this page; -- remember where we are go to pad "Phone"; get field "First Name"; pop page; -- go back there Comments: The default value of lockMessages is false. It is reset to false when the next idle message is sent (at the end of all pending handlers). Another reason to set the lockMessages property to true is to avoid subtle recursion. Recursion occurs when a script either directly or indirectly executes itself. The following example demonstrates a recursion problem: handler closeField; begin go to the next page; end; The above closeField hander goes to another page. However, changing to another page sends closeField to the current field, thus executing the same script again (recursion). The following script corrects this: handler closeField; begin set lockMessages to true; go to the next page; end; In this case, setting lockMessages to true prevents the second closeField message (which is an automatic message) from being sent. (The closePage and openPage messages that are normally sent when the page is changed are not sent either.) See Also: lockRecent, lockScreen ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 156 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- LOCKRECENT Purpose: Setting lockRecent to true prevents HyperPAD from adding pages to the recent list. By default this property is false. When HyperPAD moves from page to page (including moving between pads), the order the pages are viewed is remembered in the recent list (the list of most recently accessed pages). When you press F5 (or select Back from the Go menu), HyperPAD accesses this list to take you back through the pages you've just viewed. When to use it: If you need to go to another page temporarily and don't want the user to cycle back to this page when pressing F5. Comments: The lockRecent property is reset to false when the next idle message is sent (at the end of all pending handlers). Examples: set the lockRecent to true; The following example goes to the Home pad and retrieves the user's name from the Preferences page, but doesn't allow the user to return there when F5 is pressed. set the lockRecent to true; push this page; go home; get page field "User Name" of page "Preferences"; pop page; ----------------------------------- LOCKSCREEN Purpose: Use lockScreen to freeze the screen, preventing HyperPAD from changing what is currently displayed. This is useful if you want to change to another page without seeing it. The value of lockScreen is either true or false, and is reset to false (the default) when the next idle message is sent (at the end of all pending handlers). If the value is true, the screen will be updated. When to use it: If you need to gather field contents from another pad, but don't want the user to actually view that pad, set the lockScreen to true. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 157 ________________________________________________________________________ Examples: set the lockScreen to true; get the lockScreen; if it is true then beep; The following statements use lockScreen to hide the retrieval of the user name from the Preferences page of the Home pad: set the lockScreen to true; push this page; go home; get field "User Name" of page "Preferences"; pop page; set the lockScreen to false; answer "Hello there" && it; Comments: Setting lockScreen to true increments an internal counter by 1, setting it to false decrements this counter by 1. When lockScreen is 0, it is false. This is useful if you have a handler that is called from different places, sometimes when the screen is locked, and other times when it is not. As long as you set the lockScreen back to false, the value will be preserved, as in the following example: set the lockScreen to true; : : set the lockScreen to false; Note: The dialog boxes associated with the answer, ask, and fileOpen commands will be displayed regardless of the value of lockScreen. See also: lockMessages, lockRecent ----------------------------------- MARKERATTR Purpose: Use markerAttr to determine the color of the marker character in all list box fields. By default, marked lines in list boxes are indicated by a right triangle character (ASCII 16) to the left of the line. Setting the markerAttr changes the color of these characters. You can select from a range of colors between 0 and 25. If the markerAttr is set to 0 (the default), then the marker characters are the same as the fillColor of the field they are in. If the markerChar is 0, then the markerAttr is used as the color of the entire line. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 158 ________________________________________________________________________ Examples: set the markerAttr to yellow on red; set the marketAttr to 45; The following example makes the marked lines of a field reverse video by disabling the character that normally appears to the left of marked lines, and setting the color: set the markerChar to 0; set the markerAttr to black on grey; The next example sets the markings back to the default: set the markerChar to 16; -- triangle set the markerAttr to 0; -- use fillColor See Also: markerChar ----------------------------------- MARKERCHAR Purpose: Use the markerChar to set and get the value of the character that is used to show marked lines within a list box field. When the user selects a line in a list box field, the markerChar appears to the left of the line in order to show that it is marked. You can change or remove the use of this character by modifying the markerChar. The default character is 16, a right arrow (ASCII 16). To change the markerChar, you must supply the ASCII code of the character you want. For example, if you wanted the lines to be marked with the letter A, you would type: set the markerChar to charToNum("A"); When to use it: If you don't want a marker to be used, or you want to specify a different character. Examples: This example sets the marker characters to a yellow diamond: set the markerChar to 4; -- diamond set the markerAttr to yellow; Comments: Changing the markerChar affects the display of all list box fields until you change the value or exit HyperPAD. See Also: markerAttr ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 159 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- MAXDIRTYPAGES Purpose: HyperPAD stores pages in an area of memory called the cache. When pages are modified in any way, they are considered "dirty". The maximum number of modified pages in the cache is determined by this property. The default is 20. The range of values is between 1 and 50. When the number of modified pages exceeds the value of maxDirtyPages, the dirty pages are written to the pad file. When to use it: Setting maxDirtyPages to 1 causes HyperPAD to save each page as it is changed. This is the safest way to run HyperPAD, but also the slowest. Examples: set the maxDirtyPages to 1; See Also: autoSave ----------------------------------- MODEM Purpose: The modem property establishes the serial port that the dial command will use to communicate with your modem. The modem property can be set to either "COM1" or "COM2". If you set the modem property to the wrong port, the dial command will give you an error. Examples: set the modem to "com1"; dial "555-1212"; The following example sets modem to the user's choice of a serial port: answer "Where is your modem connected?" with "COM1","COM2"; if it is not empty then set the modem to it; The next example sets up each of the parameters to use with dial: set the modem to "com1"; -- default set the baud to 300; -- default set the stopBits to 1; -- default set the dataBits to 7; -- default set the parity to "even"; -- default dial "555-1212"; Comments: The default value is "COM1". See Also: baud, stopBits, parity, dataBits ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 160 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- MOUSE Purpose: The mouse property determines whether HyperPAD recognizes the presence of a mouse. By default, the mouse is recognized (and on) a mouse is connected to the system and the mouse driver is loaded. Setting this property to off causes HyperPAD to ignore the mouse, even if a mouse is present and operational. If you set the mouse property to off, you must reset it to on in order to use the mouse. If you attempt to set the mouse property to on and there isn't a mouse or the mouse software is not loaded, then the mouse property will remain off (HyperPAD will not return an error). The possible values are on or off. When to use it: If you want to force the user to use the keyboard in your pad, set the mouse to off. Examples: set the mouse to off; -- turn mouse off, if present set the mouse to on; The next example determines if a mouse is present and available: set the mouse to on; if the mouse is not on then answer "You have no mouse"; See also: mouseAttr, mouseChar, mouseLoc, mouseClick ----------------------------------- MOUSEATTR Purpose: The mouseAttr property controls the attribute component of the mouse pointer. The mouse pointer in HyperPAD has two components, the mouseChar and the mouseAttr, that determine its appearance. When HyperPAD draws the mouse pointer, it performs the following steps: 1. If the mouseChar is not 0, then the character component of the mouse pointer is set to the mouseChar. 2. If the mouseAttr is not 0, then the attribute component of the mouse pointer is set to the mouseAttr. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 161 ________________________________________________________________________ Examples: set the mouseAttr = black on grey; -- default set the mouseAttr to 76; set the mouseAttr to the color of page button 1; The following example adjusts both the attribute and the character portion of the mouse pointer: if the graphicsCard is "Monochrome" then begin set the mouseAttr to 112; set the mouseChar to 4; end else begin set the mouseAttr to 32; set the mouseChar to chartonum("A"); end; The following makes the mouse invisible: set the mouseChar to 0; set the mouseAttr to 0; Comments: The default mouseAttr is 112, which means that the mouse pointer is a reverse video block. The range of values is from 0 to 25. When displaying the attribute, HyperPAD examines the attribute that is already there at the location of the mouse pointer on the screen. If the background color is the same as the background color of the mouseAttr, then the foreground and background colors of the mouseAttr are swapped before the mouse pointer is displayed. See Also: mouse, mouseChar, mouseLoc ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 162 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- MOUSECHAR Purpose: With mouseChar, you can set the character component of the mouse pointer. The default mouseChar is 0, which means that the mouse pointer is represented only by an attribute (a rectangular block of color). To set the mouseChar, you need the ASCII value of the character you want to represent the mouse pointer. If you don't know the ASCII value, you can check it in the ASCII Char dialog box, or use charToNum() in your script. When to use it: Modify the mouseChar to create a visual cue that the mouse is on top of something. For example, you might change the pointer into a question mark whenever it enters your Help button. Examples: set the mouseChar to 4; -- set mouse pointer to diamond -- set the mouse Char to the letter A set the mouseChar to chartonum("A"); The following handlers (when placed in a page script) set the mouseChar to a diamond whenever the mouse pointer is inside a button or field. This gives the user a visual indication that the mouse can be pressed to initiate an action. handler mouseEnter; begin set the mouseChar to 4; -- diamond end; handler mouseLeave; begin set the mouseChar to 0; -- default is off end; ----------------------------------- NUMBERFORMAT Purpose: The numberFormat property determines the precision in which mathematical calculations are displayed. Internally, HyperPAD keeps track of 19 digits of precision; however, when you put a number into the message box or a field, it is displayed using the current numberFormat. The numberFormat is made up of zeros, pound signs, and a decimal point. A zero to the left or right of the decimal point instructs HyperPAD to place a digit or, if there is no digit, a 0 in that position. A pound sign (#) to the right of the decimal point instructs HyperPAD to place a digit at that position only if the internal number has a digit there. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 163 ________________________________________________________________________ The value of numberFormat has the following format: <zeros>.<zeros><pound signs> The following are legal number formats: "0000.000000" "0.000######" "00.#" "0.#########" The following are not legal: Number format: Not legal because: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ##00.00 ##s to the left of the decimal place have no meaning 00.##00 ##s cannot be followed by zeros The following table shows some sample numbers and how they would appear using some sample number formats: Number: Number Format: Looks Like: -------------------------------------------------------------------- n3 0.##### 3 3.12 0.##### 3.12 3.66666666666667 0.##### 3.66667 3 00.00 03.00 3.1245 00.00 03.12 345.678 0.00## 345.68 3 0.00## 3.00 3.123456789 0.00## 3.1235 345.678 0.00## 345.678 Examples: set the numberFormat to "0.00"; -- money format set the numberFormat to "0.00###"; The next example increases the current precision by 2 digits: get the numberFormat; set the numberFormat to it & "##"; ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 164 ________________________________________________________________________ The final example changes all background fields to use a new number format: ask "New Number Format" with the numberFormat; set the numberFormat to it; for i=1 to the number of fields do put (field i)*1 into field i; Comments: The default numberFormat is "0.######". HyperPAD resets when the next idle message is sent (at the end of all pending handlers). The numberFormat property will not affect the presentation of a number that is already displayed unless you first perform an arithmetic operation on it. If you don't want the value changed, simply multiply it by 1: set the numberFormat to "0.00"; multiply field 1 by 1; ----------------------------------- PAINTATTR Purpose: The paintAttr property is used to get or set the current value of the Paint Attribute. The valid range of values is from 0 to 255. You can also set this property using the Paint Attr command on the Workspace menu. Examples: set the paintAttr to 31; set the paintAttr to red on yellow; if the paintAttr is 78 then answer "you have changed the attribute"; set the mouseAttr to the paintAttr; The following handler forces the user to change the current paint attribute: handler select; begin put the paintAttr into saved; repeat doMenu "paint"; -- paint tool doMenu "Paint Attr..."; -- get the box until the paintAttr is not saved; end; See Also: asciiChar ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 165 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- PARITY Purpose: This property sets the parity to either even, odd, or none for use with the dial command. The default is even. Examples: See the section on the MODEM property. See Also: baud, stopBits, modem, dataBits, parity ----------------------------------- PRINTDEVICE Purpose: This property allows you to establish where HyperPAD will send printed output. You can specify either "LPT1", "LPT2", "COM1", "COM2" or any valid DOS filename. You can also set the print device manually through the Print Setup dialog box by changing the Print To setting. Examples: set the printDevice to "LPT1"; if the printDevice is "LPT2" then answer "You don't have an LPT2 printer port"; set the printDevice to "C:\HPAD\OUTPUT\STUFF.LST"; The following example prints two fields, "first name" and "last name", from every page of a pad to a file called "OUTPUT.LST". The previous value of printDevice is saved and restored. put the printDevice into savedPrintDevice; set the printDevice to "OUTPUT.LST"; set the printer to on; for i = 1 to the number of pages do print field "First Name" && field "Last Name"; set the printer to off; set the printDevice to savedPrintDevice; Comments: LPT1 is the default printDevice. HyperPAD uses MS-DOS to perform its printing. Thus, any name that you specify must be a valid DOS filename. Once you set printDevice, it will remain unchanged until you change it again. The value is saved in your HPAD.INI file. Abbreviations: printDev See Also: print, printer, printerTranslation ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 166 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- PRINTER Purpose: You can use this property to turn the printer on and off. When printer is on, you can use the print command to send text out to the printer; if it's off, using the print command will cause a runtime error. Examples: set the printer to on; set the printer to off; The following example prints out all the background button scripts from the current pad: set the printer to on; -- start the print job for i=1 to the number of pages do begin go to page i; for j = 1 to the number of bkgnd btns do print the script of bkgnd btn j; end; set the printer to off; -- finished printing Comments: The printer property is automatically set to off when you exit HyperPAD, run a program using Run Program on the File menu or use the run command (from a script). See Also: print, printDevice, printerTranslation ----------------------------------- PRINTERTRANSLATION Purpose: Setting this property modifies how HyperPAD translates characters that you send to your printer using the print command. When printerTranslation is true (the default), HyperPAD performs the following translations: Character: carriage-return ASCII Value: 13 Translates To: 13,10 Notes: Changes the internal print position to the next line Character : formfeed ASCII Value: 12 Translates To: 12 Notes: Resets the internal print position to 1,1 ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 167 ________________________________________________________________________ When printerTranslation is false, no translation is performed. This enables you to send special escape sequences to your printer to control various printer options. Examples: set the printerTranslation to false; The following example sends an escape sequence to an IBM Proprinter to print in NLQ mode (near letter quality): set the printerTranslation to false; print numToChar(27) & H; Comments: HyperPAD resets printerTranslation to true (the default) when the next idle message is sent (at the end of all pending handlers). ----------------------------------- SELECTEDTEXT Purpose: Use selectedText to determine what text is currently highlighted in a field or the message box. When the user highlights text in a field (using SHIFT+Arrow keys or by dragging the mouse), HyperPAD copies the highlighted text to the selectedText. The text will remain in the selectedText until you highlight something else, exit HyperPAD, or run another program. Setting the selectedText does not highlight the text on the screen. This is accomplished using the hilite command. Example: put the selectedText into the message box; set the selectedText to empty; The following handler finds the selectedText: handler select; begin if the selectedText is not empty then find the selectedText; end; See Also: hilite ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 168 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- STOPBITS Purpose: Sets the stopBits for use with the dial command. The possible values are 1 or 2. This value is used to initialize the serial port before using the dial command. Examples: set the stopBits to 2; set the stopBits to 1; See Also: modem, baud, parity, dataBits,dial ----------------------------------- TABBING Purpose: Use the tabbing property to control the behavior of the TAB key when moving from object to object on the page. When you press the TAB key, the focus is taken away from the current button or field and given to the next button or field. The next object that receives the focus is determined by the tabbing property, which can be set to either position or layer. If tabbing is set to layer, then the next object to receive the focus depends on the order which the objects sit on the page. Each button and field is on its own transparent layer, these layers are stacked on top of one another. Pressing TAB moves the focus to the object in the next layer higher (i.e. from page button 1 to page button 2). If tabbing is set to position (the default), then the next object is determined by the object's position relative to the current one on the page. HyperPAD looks for objects to the right and then down on the page. If there aren't any, then the object closest to the upper left corner of the screen receives the focus. When to use it: Use this property to make the movement between the buttons and fields in your pads as logical as possible. Examples: set the tabbing to position; handler openPage; begin set the tabbing to layer; end; ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 169 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- USERLEVEL Purpose: Use the userLevel property to limit access to your pad. You can modify this property with the Protect command on the File menu. Within HyperPAD, the commands you can access from the menus are determined by the userLevel. You can set the user level to one of five values. The higher the value, the more power HyperPAD gives the user. The numbers 1 through 5 correspond to the userLevel in the following way: Number: User Level: -------------------------------------- 1 Browsing 2 Typing 3 Painting 4 Authoring 5 Scripting As you change userLevel, the menus change to reflect the new capabilities HyperPAD gives you (or takes away!). The userLevel property can be set by the pad's user using the Protect dialog box on the File menu. The userLevel is saved with the pad, so that the next time you use the pad, it has the same user level. If you attempt to change the userLevel of a pad that currently has a password, then you will be asked for the password. The userLevel will remain unchanged if you give the wrong password or select <Cancel> from the Password dialog box. When to use it: If you want to limit the pad user's ability to alter the pad, or if you want to allow some changes but not others, you'll need to change the userLevel. Examples: set the userLevel to 5; set the userLevel to 1; ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 170 ________________________________________________________________________ The following handler sets the userLevel on entry to a pad. It sets a higher level if the user knows a certain password: handler openPad; begin ask "What is the password?"; if it is "FANCY" then set the userLevel to 5 else set the userLevel to 2; end; See Also: passwordOnly ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 171 ________________________________________________________________________ PAD PROPERTIES The following section describes the properties of a pad. You can change a pad property using the set command, as in the following example: set the cantDelete of pad to true; ----------------------------------- CANTDELETE Purpose: Setting this property to true prevents a pad from being deleted. When cantDelete is false, the pad can be deleted using Delete Pad command on the File menu. Changing this value changes the value of the Can't delete option in the Protect dialog box. When to use it: Set cantDelete to true when you want to protect your pads from being accidentally deleted from within HyperPAD. Examples: set the cantDelete of pad to false; if the userLevel <= 2 then set the cantDelete of pad to true; Comments: This property does not prevent you from deleting the pad using the DOS Delete command (it doesn't modify the DOS file attributes). See Also: cantModify ----------------------------------- CANTMODIFY Purpose: The cantModify property allows you to determine whether the pad's user can make modifications to a pad. When the value of cantModify is false, you can change the information in a pad within the constraints of the current user level. When cantModify is true, the pad cannot be changed. Thus, you are prevented from typing into fields, painting, modifying an object's position and properties, and modifying an object's script. Pads of this type (with cantModify set to true) are read-only and cannot be physically modified by HyperPAD. Furthermore, more than one user on a network can browse read-only pads at the same time. Changing the value of this property changes the value of the Read only option in the Protect dialog box. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 172 ________________________________________________________________________ When to use it: If you want to allow a pad to be shared on a network, or if you want to further restrict the pad user from modifying it. Examples: set the cantModify of pad to true; The following handler in a pad script changes the userLevel to scripting if there are no other users accessing the pad on a network; otherwise, the pad is opened in read-only mode: hander openPad; begin if the cantModify of pad is true then being set the cantModify of pad to false; if the cantModify of pad is false then set the userLevel to 5; end; end; Comments: Scripts can still modify the contents of fields and the properties of buttons. However, these changes will not be saved to disk. See Also: cantDelete, passwordOnly ----------------------------------- LONGNAME Purpose: Use this property to determine the full DOS pathname of the current pad, including a drive letter, like the following example: C:\HPAD\HOME.PAD Note: You cannot modify the longName of a pad; in order to change the path of a pad you must copy it through DOS or the DOS pad. Examples: put the longName of pad into pname; get the longName of pad; if the first character of it is in "AB" then answer "You are on a removable disk."; See Also: name ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 173 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- NAME Purpose: Use the name property to get or set the name of a pad. The value of name will be the DOS name of the pad without the extension. If you set the name of a pad, you will change the actual DOS name. Examples: if the name of pad is "HOME" then answer "You are home now!"; The following example changes the name to one that the user specifies: ask "New name for pad:" with the name of pad; if it is empty then exit; if "." is not in it then put ".PAD" after it; set the name of pad to it; if the name of the pad is not it then answer "Unable to change the name" with "Ok"; See Also: longName ----------------------------------- PASSWORDONLY Purpose: This property determines whether a pad is accessible by password only. You can require that the user enter the correct password in order to access the pad for the first time in a HyperPAD session. Setting this property modifies the By Password Only option in the Protect dialog box. If you attempt to set passwordOnly to true and no password has been chosen, you will be prompted to enter one. If you cancel the Password dialog box, the property will not be changed. When passwordOnly is true, you must type in the password when you open the pad for the first time (you only have to give the password once per HyperPAD session). If you change the user level after accessing the pad, you must enter the password again. When to use it: When you want to protect your pad from being browsed by other users. Examples: set the passwordOnly of pad to true; set the passwordOnly of pad to (the userLevel >= 4); See Also: cantModify, cantDelete, userLevel ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 174 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- SCRIPT Purpose: Use the script property to get or replace the current script of the pad. The value of script is a text string composed of lines separated by carriage returns. Setting this property replaces the current pad script with a new one. The new script must be compiled and checked for errors. Any handlers within the new script that contain errors will not be compiled. Getting the script allows you to view it or paste it into another script. When to use it: When you want to alter a script without using the Script Editor. Examples: put the script of pad into stext; set the script of pad to stext; set the script of pad to empty; The next example creates an openPad handler by appending text together (using the & operator) and attaching the new openPad handler to the end of the pad script. The new handler beeps when the pad is opened. set the script of pad to the script of the pad & return & return & "handler openPad;" & return & "begin" & return & " beep;" & return & "end;" & return; The next example changes the script of page button 2 to a new script that causes the button to go to page 4 when selected. handler select; begin set the script of page button 2 to "handler select;" & return & "begin" & return & " go to page 4;" & return & "end;"; end; See Also: edit script ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 175 ________________________________________________________________________ FIELD PROPERTIES ----------------------------------- ACCELERATORCOLOR Purpose: The acceleratorColor property determines the color of a given accelerator key when the ALT key is pressed. Any field in your pad can be assigned an accelerator key, which allows you to set the focus to that field quickly. An acceleratorKey must be set for a field and the showName property must be true for acceleratorColor to have an effect. You cannot set the accelerator key or color of a field using the Field Info dialog box like you can with buttons. The only way to do this is through the message box or a script. The range of values is from 0 to 25. The default is 7. Examples: set the acceleratorColor of page field 3 to red on blue; Abbreviations: accelColor See Also: acceleratorKey, showName ----------------------------------- ACCELERATORKEY Purpose: The acceleratorKey property defines the character within the field's name that the user can press to quickly go to that field. The acceleratorKey is highlighted when the user holds down ALT. For example, if a field's acceleratorKey is "A", the key combination ALT+A will set the focus to that field. If the acceleratorKey can't be found within the field's name, then it will not be highlighted when ALT is pressed. However, the field can still be accessed with the ALT key combination. Accelerator keys can be any letter or number (A..Z, 0..9). Example: set the accelKey of field "First Name" to "E"; Comments: Make sure you select a unique key code for the accelerator key. If it isn't, then the field or button lowest in the hierarchy will get the focus first. Further, be careful not to create accelerator keys that conflict with the menu accelerators. Abbreviations: accelKey See Also: acceleratorColor, showName ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 176 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- ALIGN Purpose: Use the align property to set or get the text justification of a field. By default, text in fields is left aligned. You can set align to left, right, or centered. Examples: set the align of page field 1 to right; The next example randomly aligns text in all the fields of a page: put "left,right,centered" into settings; for i = 1 to the number of page fields do begin set the align of page field i to item (random(3)) of settings; end; ----------------------------------- AUTOHILITE Purpose: Use this property to determine whether a field is highlighted when it receives the focus. The value can be true or false. Example: set the autoHilite of field "Address" to true; ----------------------------------- BORDERCOLOR Purpose: The borderColor property sets or gets the color of a field's border. The borderColor property will have no effect if withEdge is false or the style is transparent. The range of colors is from 0 to 255; the default is 7 (grey on black). This property can also be modified through the Field Info property box. Examples: set the borderColor of page field 1 to 7; -- the default if the style of field "Notes" is not transparent then set the borderColor of field 1 to yellow on red; See Also: color, fillColor, nameColor, hiliteColor ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 177 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- COLOR Purpose: The color property allows you to determine or change the fillColor and borderColor of a field. When used with the set command, this property modifies both the fillColor and the borderColor properties of a field. When used with the get or put commands, the value of this property is the fillColor of the field. The valid colors are in the range 0 to 255; the default is 7 (grey on black). Examples: set the color of field 1 to 31; set the color of page field "Notes" to blue on white; Comments: This property can also be modified through the Field Info dialog box. See Also: fillColor, borderColor, nameColor, hiliteColor ----------------------------------- CURRENTLINE Purpose: Use currentLine to retrieve the line number of the current insert point within a field. The currentLine property returns the line number as it appears on the screen (not the line number as determined by carriage returns). This value cannot be changed. You can change the insertion location within the text using the insertPoint property. Examples: put the currentLine of field 1 into cline; get the currentLine of field "Notes" of page 2; The following makes the current line the first line displayed: set startLine of field 1 to the currentLine of field 1; See Also: insertPoint ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 178 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- EDGETYPE Purpose: The edgeType property determines the current edge type of a field. You can choose different characters to define the borders of a field. The valid edge types are 1 to 15. The default is 1, which is a single width line. The edgeType will only have an effect if the value of withEdge is true. Appendix 3 shows the available edge types and their corresponding values. This property can also be modified through the Field Info dialog box. Examples: set the edgeType of page field "Zip Code" to 7; put the edgeType of field 1 into the message box; The next two handlers in a field script change the border to a double line when the field is opened for editing and the changes the border back to a single line when the field is closed. This provides an additional visual cue for the user that the field is open for editing: handler openField; begin set the edgeType of me to 2; end; handler closeField; begin set the edgeType of me to 1; end; See Also: withEdge, borderColor ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 179 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- FILLCOLOR Purpose: Use the fillColor property to set or get the color of the interior portion of a field. If the field is style is transparent, fillColor will have no effect. The valid range of colors is from 0 to 255; the default is 7 (grey on black). This property can also be modified through the Field Info dialog box. Examples: set the fillColor of field 1 to red; set the fillColor of field 2 to 31; See Also: color, borderColor, nameColor, hiliteColor ----------------------------------- HILITE Purpose: Use the hilite property to determine or change the current hilite status of a field. This property can be true or false; the default is false. If the value of the hiliteIfFocus property is true, the field will be highlighted automatically when the user tabs to it. Thus, the hilite property would be true. The color of the highlight is determined by the hiliteColor. Examples: set the hilite of page field 1 to true; set the hilite of page field 1 to the hilite of page button 1; Sometimes it is useful to highlight a field automatically when the mouse is moved into its rectangle. These two handlers in the field's script will do this: handler mouseEnter; begin set the hilite of me to true; end; handler mouseLeave; begin set the hilite of me to false; end; See Also: hiliteIfFocus, autoHilite ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 180 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- HILITECOLOR Purpose: Use the hiliteColor property to determine or change the color of the field when it has the focus. This property will only affect fields with hiliteIfFocus set to true. If hiliteIfFocus is false, the field will not be highlighted when it receives the focus. The range of valid colors is from 0 to 255; the default is 112 (black on grey). This property can also be modified through the Field Info dialog box. Examples: set the hiliteColor of field "help msg" to yellow; set the hiliteColor of page field 1 to the hiliteColor of page field 1 of the next page; See Also: color, nameColor, fillColor, borderColor ----------------------------------- HILITEIFFOCUS Purpose: Use the hiliteIfFocus property to determine or change whether a field is automatically highlighted when it has the focus. When hiliteIfFocus is true, the field is automatically highlighted when it gets the focus. The user is then required to use F2 to edit the field. If hiliteIfFocus is false (the default), when the field receives the focus, the cursor is immediately placed within the text ready for typing. This property can also be modified through the Field Info dialog box. Examples: set the hiliteIfFocus of page field 1 to true; set the hiliteIfFocus of field "Notes" to false; See Also: hilite, autoHilite ----------------------------------- ID Purpose: Use this property to determine how the button is identified. Each button ID is unique for that page and cannot be altered. Using the button ID is the only way to guarantee that you are referencing a unique button. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 181 ________________________________________________________________________ The returned value of ID is a number. You can see the field's ID number in the Field Info dialog box. Examples: put the id of page field 1 into fid; if the id of me > 20 then set the visible of me to true; The following statements in a field script pass the field ID to a handler in the page called setProps. In this way, the setProps handler can uniquely identify this field. handler openField; begin get the id of me; send "SetProps" it to me; end; handler setProps(fid); begin hide field id fid; end; See Also: ID, name, longName ----------------------------------- INSERTPOINT Purpose: Use the insertPoint property to determine the position of the cursor within a text field. Each character in the field counts as a valid position for the text cursor, including carriage returns and spaces. The value of the insertPoint will be between 1 and the number of characters in the field: 1 <= insertPoint <= the number of chars in the field Examples: set the insertPoint of field "Last Name" to 6; The following moves the insert point to the first occurrence of the word "that": set the insertPoint of page field "Comment" to offset("that",page field "Comment"); ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 182 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- LAYER Purpose: Use the layer property to determine the layer of a field in relation to the other fields on the page or background. Fields are superimposed on their background or page according to their layer. The fields closest to the page are lower in value and are possibly overlapped by fields on a higher layer. Examples: put the layer of page field 1 into msg; The following example uses the field's layer to create an index into a container of values for that field. If the wrong value is entered into the field, an error is displayed. handler closeField; begin get the layer of me; if item it of "10,56,78,34" is not the value of me then answer "Field" && it && has the wrong value; end; See Also: ID ----------------------------------- LOCATION Purpose: The location property determines the X (column) and Y (row) coordinates of the upper left corner of a field and returns two numbers in "X,Y" format; for example: "10,12" The location can be changed using the Selector tool, or by setting the rectangle property. Examples: put the location of page field 3 into page field 4; Abbreviations: loc See Also: rectangle ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 183 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- LOCKTEXT Purpose: Use the lockText property to prevent or allow editing within a field. When you create a field, lockText is initially false; this allows you to enter and edit the field. Locked text fields are completely inaccessible to the keyboard user. You can't enter text into them or edit them. A locked text field acts like a button when the mouse is clicked on it (the field receives mouseDown, mouseStillDown, and mouseUp). You can modify the lockText property using the Field Info dialog box. When to use it: When you want to protect the text in your fields from inadvertent editing, or you want a field to act like a button, set lockText to true. This is useful for creating fields that contain messages or visual information for the user. Examples: set the lockText of page field "Salaries" to true; The next example goes to a page that contains the word "hello" in background field 1. It is important to lock the field first to prevent HyperPAD from setting the focus to that field. set the lockText of field 1 to true; find "hello" in field 1; set the lockText of field 1 to false; ----------------------------------- LONGID Purpose: The longID property returns the full field ID, including the field's ID number, the page or background name the field is on, and the full DOS path of the pad it's in. You can not alter a longID. The format of the longID for a page field is: field id 1 of page id 1 of pad "C:\HPAD2\HOME.PAD" or for a background field: bkgnd field id 1 of bkgnd page id 1 of pad "C:\HOME.PAD" Examples: put the longID of page field "phone"; See Also: ID, name, longName ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 184 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- LONGNAME Purpose: The longName property returns the complete name of any field in a pad. The long name of a page field contains information such as the full DOS path and has the following format: field id 12 of page 45 of pad "C:\HPAD\HOME.PAD" For background fields, the word bkgnd is used: bkgnd field id 12 of bkgnd 3 of pad "C:\HPAD\HOME.PAD" You can't change the longName of a field. Examples: put the longName of field 1 into msg; The next example prints out the script of field 1 the longName of the field as the heading: print (the longName of field 1) & return & return; print (the script of field 1) & return & return; See Also: name, namePosition, nameColor, showName ----------------------------------- MARKEDLINES Purpose: Use this property to get a list of the line numbers of the lines currently marked in a list box field. The value of markedLines is an item delimited list of line numbers, like the following: "10,11,12,18,19" The above example means that lines 10 though 12, 18 and 19 are all marked. If there aren't any marked lines in the field, then the value is empty. Examples: if the markedLines of field "list" is empty then answer "There are no marked lines!"; ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 185 ________________________________________________________________________ The following example copies all of the marked lines from page field 1 into page field 2: put the markedLines of page field 1 into mlist; put the number of items of mlist into n; for i = 1 to n do put line (item i of mlist) of page field 1 after the last line of page field 2; end; Comments: You cannot set the markedLines property of a field. By adjusting the field's content, however, you can mark lines. HyperPAD marks lines by inserting the ASCII character 1 as the first character on a line. For example, to mark the first line of field 1: put numToChar(1) before char 1 of line 1 of field 1; When you retrieve the markedLines, HyperPAD returns an item delimited list of the line numbers containing character 1 as the first character. Whenever you change a field's content, all of the marks are removed from the text. Thus, the following two statements result in only one line (the second line) being marked: put numToChar(1) before char 1 of line 1 of field 1; put numToChar(1) before char 1 of line 2 of field 1; To avoid this, you must first copy the field into a local variable, mark the lines you want, then copy the local variable back into the field: put field 1 into temp; put numToChar(1) before char 1 of line 1 of temp; put numToChar(1) before char 1 of line 2 of temp; put temp into field 1; See Also: mark, unmark ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 186 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- NAME Purpose: Use the name property to determine the name of any field in the current pad. The returned value is the same as the name in the Field Info dialog box. Examples: set the name of page field 1 of page 2 to "Last Name"; if the name of page field i is "Last Name" then print page field i; put the name of page field 2 into fname; put the id of page field fname into msg; See Also: namePosition, longName, nameColor, showName, ID, longID. ----------------------------------- NAMECOLOR Purpose: The nameColor property modifies the color of the displayed name of a field. When showName is true, the name appears either to the left or on top of the field using the attribute determined by nameColor. The colors you select must be in the range from 0 to 255 (or use the color constants). Changing this property modifies the Name Color option in the Field Info dialog box. Examples: set the nameColor of page field 1 to white on green; set the nameColor of field "Last Name" to 31; set the nameColor of field 2 to the fillColor of field 2; See Also: showName, namePosition ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 187 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- NAMEPOSITION Purpose: Use the namePosition property to determine the location of the field's name, which can be either on top or to the left of the field. In order for this property to have an effect, the name must be shown (the showName property must be true). When namePosition is left (the default), the name of the field appears on the left side of the field, decreasing the field's editing area by the width of the name. When set to top, the name appears on top of the field, decreasing the editing area by 1 line. A colon always follows the displayed field name. Changing this property changes the Name position option in the Field Info dialog box. Examples: set the namePosition of page field 1 to left; set the namePosition of field "Last Name" to top; Abbreviations: namePos See Also: showName, nameColor ----------------------------------- RECTANGLE Purpose: The rectangle property determines the position of the rectangular region occupied by a field. The value of rectangle is a text string consisting of four numbers separated by commas, and may be summarized: upper left x, upper left y, lower right x, lower right y You can also change a field's rectangle property using the Selector tool. (See the User's Guide for more information on the Selector tool.) To set a field's rectangle, you must supply all four numbers, separated by commas (not a container having a text string of numbers). For example, the following statements will not work because the variable "r" contains a string of numbers: put the rectangle of page field 1 into r; set the rectangle of page field 1 to r; ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 188 ________________________________________________________________________ ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ **** The Printed Documentation has a picture or screen shot here **** │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ The following will work: put the rectangle of page field 1 into r; set the rectangle of page field 1 to item 1 of r, item 2 of r, item 3 of r, item 4 of r; The default rectangle for a field is 29,9,55,15. Examples: set the rectangle of page field 1 to 10,10,70,20; Abbreviations: rect See Also: location ----------------------------------- SCRIPT Purpose: The script property allows you to retrieve or replace the script of any field in a pad. Setting this property replaces the script of a field with a new one. The new script must be compiled and checked for errors. Any handlers within the script that contain errors will not be compiled. The value of script is a text string composed of lines separated by carriage returns. The script can also be changed through the Field Info dialog box. When to use it: When you want to copy a script from one field to another, or assign a new script to a field, or print a script. Examples: To display the script of field 1: put the script of page field 1 into page field 1; ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 189 ________________________________________________________________________ To change a script: set the script of field "Last Name" to stext; To recompile a script of field: set the script of pg fld 1 to the script of pg fld 1; To print the script of field "First Name": print the script of field "First Name"; ----------------------------------- SCROLLABLE Purpose: The scrollable property determines if you can view text outside the physical confines of a field. With HyperPAD, you can place more text into a field than can be viewed at once. With a scrollable field, you can allow the user to move down through the field to view the text that doesn't fit inside the field. The default is true. Changing the property changes the Scrollable option in the Field Info dialog box. When to use it: To include more information in a field without increasing its size, set scrollable to true. Examples: set the scrollable of page field 1 to true; set the scrollable of field "Last Name" to false; The following handler (in a pad or background script) sets the scrollable property to false for all new fields: handler newField; begin set the scrollable of the target to false; end; ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 190 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- SHOWNAME Purpose: The showName property determines whether the field's name is shown. When true, the name of the field is displayed either to the left or top of the field, depending on the value of namePosition. By default showName is false, meaning that the field's name isn't shown. This property can be modified using the Field Info dialog box. Examples: set the showName of page field 1 to true; set the showName of the target to false; The following handler creates a dBase style field. It sets all of the relevant properties, including showName, and receives the name as a parameter. handler DBASEField(fieldName); begin set the showName of field fieldName to true; set the withEdge of field fieldName to false; set the hiliteIfFocus of field fieldName to true; set the scrollable of field fieldName to false; set the lockText of field fieldName to false; set the style of field fieldName to opaque; set the align of field fieldName to left; set the namePosition of field fieldName to left; end; To call this handler: DBASEField "Last Name"; See Also: showName, namePosition, nameColor, name, longName ----------------------------------- STARTLINE Purpose: The startLine property allows you to determine which is the first line displayed in a scrollable field. The value of startLine is not determined by carriage returns, but by the actual lines of text in the field. When to use it: By changing the value of startLine, you can simulate scrolling through a field. (Note: the field must be scrollable.). Examples: set the startLine of page field 1 to 1; ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 191 ________________________________________________________________________ To synchronize two fields so that they both start at the same line: set the startLine of page field 1 to the startLine of page field 2; The following example scrolls all the fields on a page down by one line: for i = 1 to the number of page fields do begin set the startLine of page field i to (the startLine of page field i) +1; end; ----------------------------------- STYLE Purpose: Use the style property to determine or change the style of a particular field. There are four different styles for fields. Each style changes the way a field looks and works. The fields styles are: opaque transparent scrolling listBox List box fields require some special mention because they receive some additional messages that other style fields do not receive. The differences are summarized as follows: 1. Lines in list box fields do not word wrap; all lines are broken only by carriage returns. 2. The UP and DOWN arrow keys move a highlight bar through the choices in the field. 3. Pressing SPACE marks and unmarks the highlighted line. This actions sends the mark and unmark messages to the field. 4. Pressing ENTER or double clicking the mouse on a choice sends a select message to the field. 5. You can get the currently marked line numbers using the markedLines property. You can also change a field's style using the Field Info dialog box. Examples: set the style of page field 1 to listBox; if the style of field "Last Name" is scrolling then set the style of field "Last Name" to opaque; ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 192 ________________________________________________________________________ The following function returns the contents of all the list box fields on a page: function getListBoxes; begin get empty; for i = 1 to the number of page fields do begin if the style of page field i is listBox then put it after the last line of it; end; return it; end; ----------------------------------- VALUE Purpose: The value property determines the content of a field. Example: The following handler copies a field's content into the message box when it receives the focus: handler openField; begin put the value of me into the msg box; end; ----------------------------------- VISIBLE Purpose: The visible property determines whether a field is visible or hidden. When a field is hidden, it cannot be edited or given the focus. Further, hidden fields cannot be edited using the Selector tool unless the visible property is set to true. When a field is created, the visible is true (the default). This property can also be changed using the hide and show commands. You are unable to modify this property using the Field Info dialog box (you must use the message box or a script). When to use it: If you have information in a field that you want the user to view only after a specific action is taken (such as selecting a button) you can use visible to hide and then show the field. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 193 ________________________________________________________________________ Examples: set the visible of page field "Notes" to false; set the visible of page field "help" to the check of button id 2; put the visible of field id 4; show page field 1; -- sets visible to true hide page field 1; -- sets visible to false The following button handler displays a help field when selected: handler select; begin show page field "help"; wait 10000; -- wait 10 seconds hide page field "help"; end; ----------------------------------- WITHEDGE Purpose: Use the withEdge property to determine whether a field has a border. When true (the default), the field is displayed with the edgeType as the border. You can modify this property using the Field Info dialog box. Examples: set the withEdge of page field 1 to true; put the withEdge of field "Last Name" into the message box. See Also: edgeType, borderColor ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 194 ________________________________________________________________________ BUTTON PROPERTIES The following section describes the properties that are used by buttons. Some of the properties used by buttons are also used by fields. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ **** The Printed Documentation has a picture or screen shot here **** │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ----------------------------------- ACCELERATORCOLOR Purpose: The acceleratorColor property determines the color of the selected acceleratorKey (a selected character in the button's name) when the user presses ALT in Browse mode. Any button in your pad can be assigned an accelerator key, which allows for quick selection of the button. An acceleratorKey must be selected and showName must be true for acceleratorColor to have an effect. The range of values is from 0 to 255; The default is 7 (grey on black). You can modify the acceleratorColor using the Button Info dialog box. Examples: set the acceleratorColor of page button 3 to red on blue; Abbreviations: accelColor See Also: acceleratorKey, showName ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 195 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- ACCELERATORKEY Purpose: The acceleratorKey property defines the character in the button's name that the user can press to speed button selection. This property allows users to select buttons by holding down ALT and a specified character in the button's name. The acceleratorColor must be different from the fillColor and showName must be true for this property to work. When you press the accelerator key combination for a button, the button becomes highlighted and a select message is sent to that button. Any letter or number (A..Z,0..9) can be used an accelerator key. The default is empty. If the accelerator letter isn't within the button's name, then you will not see it when you press ALT. However, you can still press the ALT key combination to select that button. Examples: set the accelKey of page button 1 to "A"; set the acceleratorKey of button "Home" to "H"; Comments: Make sure you select a unique key code for the accelerator key. If you don't, then the button with the lowest layer gets the focus first. Also, be careful because button accelerator keys have priority over menu accelerators (such as ALT+F for File menu). Abbreviations: accelKey See Also: acceleratorColor, showName, select ----------------------------------- ALIGN Purpose: This property controls the positioning of the button's name within the button. The possible values are: left right centered The default is centered. Examples: set the align of page button 4 to right; ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 196 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- AUTOHILITE Purpose: The autoHilite property determines if a button is automatically highlighted when it receives the focus. The color of the highlighted button is determined by the value of hiliteColor. The default value of autoHilite is true. Buttons that have the focus will be highlighted only if hiliteIfFocus is true. If hiliteIfFocus is false, then the button will only be highlighted while the mouse is pressed and the mouse pointer is within the rectangle of that button. When a button is highlighted, the hilite property for that button is set to true. Examples: set the autoHilite of button 1 to true; set the autoHilite of button "Home" to false; To make sure a button gets highlighted when it has the focus: set the autoHilite of button 1 to true; set the hiliteIfFocus of button 1 to true; See Also: hiliteIfFocus, hiliteColor, hilite ----------------------------------- BORDERCOLOR Purpose: Use the borderColor property to determine the color of the characters that form the button's border. The borderColor property will have no effect unless withEdge is true and the style is not transparent. The range of colors is from 0 to 255; the default is 7 (grey on black). You can modify this property using the Button Info dialog box. Examples: set the borderColor of page button 1 to 7; if the style of button "Notes" is not transparent then set the borderColor of button 1 to yellow on red; See Also: withEdge, acceleratorColor, fillColor, color, hiliteColor ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 197 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- CHECK Purpose: The check property determines whether a button is checked. This will only have an effect on checkBox styled buttons. If the check is true, then the check box button will have an X between the brackets: [X] Include Last Name If it false, then there will be a blank space between the brackets: [ ] Include Last Name The value of check gets modified when HyperPAD receives the select message initially sent to a check box styled button. For example, the following script in your checkBox button prevents its value (the check) from being toggled, because it prevents the select message from being sent to HyperPAD. handler select; begin end; Intercepting the select message enables you to create option button groups in your pads (an option button group is where one button in the group is checked while the other are not). Suppose you have 3 buttons, of which only one can be checked at a time. The button names are "Blue", "Red", and "Green". The script of button "Green" would be: handler select; begin set the check of button "Red" to false; set the check of button "Blue" to false; set the check of me to true; end; The script of button "Red" would be: handler select; begin set the check of button "Blue" to false; set the check of button "Green" to false; set the check of me to true; end; ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 198 ________________________________________________________________________ and the script of button "Blue" would be: handler select; begin set the check of button "Green" to false; set the check of button "Red" to false; set the check of me to true; end; Examples: set the check of page button 1 to true; set the check of me to false; set the check of the target to the salesTax > 10; The following handler in the script of a check box button locks and unlocks a field depending on whether the button is checked. handler select; begin get the check of me; set the lockText of page field "Custom Size" to it; pass; end; Comments: You can still modify the checkBox property for buttons that do not have a checkBox style (you just won't see the X). ----------------------------------- COLOR Purpose: Use the color property to modify the fillColor and the borderColor of a button. Setting the color of a button sets both the fillColor and the borderColor of the button. Getting the color of a button, however, returns only the fillColor of the button. Examples: set the color of page button 1 to 31; set the color of button "Home" to white on red See Also: fillColor, borderColor, hiliteColor, acceleratorColor ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 199 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- EDGETYPE Purpose: Use the edgeType property to determine the type of border a button uses. The valid edge types are 1 to 15. The default is 1, which is a single width line. This property will only have an effect if the value of withEdge is true. Appendix 3 shows the available edge types and their corresponding values. Examples: put the edgeType of button 4 into the message box; The next two handlers in a button script change the border to a double line when the button has the focus, and sets the border back to a single width line when the focus changes to another object. handler openButton; begin set the edgeType of me to 2; end; handler closeButton; begin set the edgeType of me to 1; end; See Also: withEdge, borderColor ----------------------------------- FILLCOLOR Purpose: The fillColor property determines the color of the interior portion of a button, including the button name. You color will have no effect if the button style is transparent. The valid range of colors is from 0 to 255; the default is 7 (grey on black). Examples: set the fillColor of button 1 to red; set the fillColor of button 2 to the borderColor of button 2; See Also: acceleratorColor, borderColor, color, hiliteColor ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 200 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- HILITE Purpose: Use the hilite property to determine whether a button is highlighted. When true, the button appears using the current color value of the hiliteColor property. Buttons that have the focus will only be highlighted if the autoHilite property is true. If false, then the button will only be highlighted when a mouse button is pressed while the mouse pointer is within the rectangle of the button. Examples: set the hilite of page button "Quit" to true; if the hilite of page button "Home" is true then answer "You are highlighting Home"; See Also: autoHilite, hiliteColor ----------------------------------- HILITECOLOR Purpose: The hiliteColor property determines the color of a button when it has the focus. The autoHilite property has to be true for the button to be able to be highlighted. A button can be highlighted (using the hiliteColor) under the following two conditions: 1. If the button has the focus and hiliteIfFocus is set to true. 2. While the mouse button is held down and the pointer is inside the button's rectangle. The range of valid colors is from 0 to 255; the default is 112 (black on grey). You can modify this property using the Button Info dialog box. Examples: set the hiliteColor of button "hello" to yellow; set the hiliteColor of page button 1 to the hiliteColor of page button 2; ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 201 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- HILITEIFFOCUS Purpose: Use the hiliteIfFocus property to determine whether your button is highlighted when it has the focus. When true, a button with the focus will be highlighted using the hiliteColor. If false, the button will not be highlighted when it has the focus. You can modify this property using the Button Info dialog box. Examples: set the hiliteIfFocus of page button 1 to true; ----------------------------------- ID Purpose: Use the ID property to determine the unique number that HyperPAD assigned to this button when it was created. The only way to uniquely reference a specific button is with the ID. You can't change a button's ID. You can see a button's ID using the Button Info dialog box. Examples: put the id of page button 1 into fid; if the id of me > 20 then set the visible of me to true; See Also: longID ----------------------------------- LAYER Purpose: The layer property returns the layer number of the button with respect to all the buttons on the page. You cannot change this property through a script. You must use the Selector tool to select a button, then use the Send Farther and Move Closer commands on the Object menu. When to use it: It is sometimes convenient to organize your button's layering so that the layer of a button can be used as an index into data. ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 202 ________________________________________________________________________ Examples: put the layer of button 1 into page field 2; handler select; begin -- get the line number corresponding to the layer get line (the layer of me) of page field "index"; go to page it; end; ----------------------------------- LOCATION Purpose: The location property determines the X (column) and Y (row) coordinates from the upper left corner of a button, returning two numbers in the "X,Y" format, like: 10,12 You can also change a button's location using the Selector tool, or by modifying the value of the rectangle property. Examples: set the location of page button 1 to 10,10; if the location of button "Home" is "3,4" then go to the next page Abbreviations: loc See Also: rectangle ----------------------------------- LOCKTEXT Purpose: The lockText property locks a button so that it cannot be selected with the mouse or keyboard. Locked buttons receive no messages. When to use it: You can use a transparent button with the lockText property set to true to cover up other objects that you don't want selected. You can't modify this property using the Button Info dialog box. You must use either the message box or a script. Examples: set the lockText of button 1 to true; if the lockText of page button "Cover Up" then answer "Can't select that right now"; ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 203 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- LONGID Purpose: Use longID to get a button's full identification information including its ID number, the name of the page or background the button is on, and the full DOS path of the pad it's in. The name is returned information is in the following format: button id 4 of page 4 of pad "C:\HPAD\HOME.PAD" You cannot change the longID of a button. Examples: put the longID of page button "exit" into the msg; if word 5 of the longID of the target is "page" then answer "This is a page button"; See Also: ID, name, longName, layer ----------------------------------- LONGNAME Purpose: The longName property allows you to access the long name of any button in a pad. The long name of a page button has the following format: button id 12 of page 45 of pad "C:\HPAD\HOME.PAD" For background buttons, the word bkgnd is used: bkgnd button id 12 of bkgnd 3 of pad "C:\HPAD\HOME.PAD" You cannot alter the longName of a button. Examples: put the longName of button 1 into msg; The next example prints out the script of button 1 with a heading containing its longName: print (the longName of button 1) & return & return; print (the script of button 1) & return & return; See Also: name, ID, longID, layer ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 204 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- NAME Purpose: Use the name property to determine the name of any button in the current pad. The value of the name property is the same as the name in the Button Info dialog box. The button's name can be referred to in a script or in the message box. You can modify this property using the Button Info dialog box. When to use it: By naming objects, you give yourself an easy to remember reference for each object in HyperPAD scripts. Examples: set the name of page button 1 of page 2 to "Last Name"; These statements use the name property to refer to the object: get the name of the target; set the color of button it to red; set the align of button it to left; Comments: The button name cannot begin or end with a space character (use character 255 if you need to create space to the left of a button name). See Also: longName, align ----------------------------------- RECTANGLE Purpose: The rectangle property determines the rectangular region occupied by a button. The value of rectangle is a text string of four numbers separated by commas, as in the following: upper left x, upper left y, lower right x, lower right y For example: "10,10,70,21" To set the rectangle of a button, you must supply all four numbers, separated by commas, not a text string of numbers. For example, the following statement will NOT work because the variable "r" contains a string of four numbers: put the rectangle of page button 1 into r; set the rectangle of page button 4 to r; ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 205 ________________________________________________________________________ The following will work: put the rectangle of page button 1 into r; set the rectangle of page button 6 to item 1 or r, item 2 of r, item 3 of r, item 4 of r; You can also set the rectangle of a button using the Selector tool. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ **** The Printed Documentation has a picture or screen shot here **** │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Examples: set the rectangle of page button 1 to 10,10,70,20; set the rect of page button "Home" to 10,10,20,20; if item 3 of the rect of button 1 > 10 then go to the next page; Abbreviations: rect See Also: loc ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 206 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- SCRIPT Purpose: The script property retrieves or replaces the script of any button in a pad. The value of script is a text string composed of lines separated by carriage returns. Setting this property replaces the script of a button with a new one. The new script must be compiled and checked for errors. Any handlers within the script that contain errors will not be compiled. You can also view and modify the script through the Button Info dialog box, by selecting the Script button. Examples: put the script of page button 1 into page field 1; set the script of button "Last Name" to stext; To recompile a button's script: set the script of pg btn 1 to the script of pg btn 1; ----------------------------------- SHADOW Purpose: Use the shadow property to determine whether a button has a shadow, giving it a three-dimensional appearance. The possible values are true and false; the default is false. This property can also be modified through the button's property box. Note: Some monochrome and LCD systems will be unable to display a shadow correctly. Examples: set the shadow of me to false; set the shadow of page btn 1 to true; The shadow takes on the background color of the area on the screen behind the button. The shadow is drawn as follows: ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 207 ________________________________________________________________________ ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ **** The Printed Documentation has a picture or screen shot here **** │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ----------------------------------- SHOWNAME Purpose: Use the showName property to determine whether the button's name is shown. When showName is true (the default), the name of the button is displayed using the current value of the align property. You can modify this property using the Button Info dialog box. When to use it: In most cases, the name of the button will be necessary for the user to know what is being selected. Examples: set the showName of page button 1 to true; See Also: align, name ----------------------------------- STYLE Purpose: The style property allows you to determine the style of a button to. The possible values are: opaque, transparent, and checkBox. You can also modify this property using the Button Info dialog box. Examples: set the style of page button 1 to checkBox; if the style of page button "wow" is opaque then set the focus to page field 2; See Also: check ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 208 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- VISIBLE Purpose: Use the visible property to determine whether a button is shown or hidden. When a button is hidden, it is invisible and cannot be edited using the Selector tool unless the visible property is set to true. When a button is created, it is visible (the default). This property can be changed using hide or show. You can't change this property using the Button Info dialog box. When to use it: If you want to make a button appear or disappear, depending upon the user's action, you would modify this property. Example: set the visible of page button "Word" to false; set the visible of page button "help" to not the visible of the message box; See Also: lockText ----------------------------------- WITHEDGE Purpose: Use the withEdge property to determine whether a button has characters defining its borders. When withEdge is true (the default), a button is displayed with a border. (The border type is the value of the edgeType property.) Examples: set the withEdge of page button 1 to true; See Also: edgeType, borderColor ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 209 ________________________________________________________________________ PAGE PROPERTIES ----------------------------------- CANTDELETE Purpose: Setting cantDelete to true prevents a page from being deleted. When false, the page can be deleted using Delete Page on the Edit menu. This property can also be modified through the Page Info dialog box. When to use it: Set cantDelete to true when you want to protect pages from being accidentally deleted. Examples: set the cantDelete of page 2 to false; if the userLevel <= 2 then set the cantDelete of page 3 to true; See Also: userLevel, delete ----------------------------------- ID Purpose: Use this property to retrieve the identifier that HyperPAD gave a page when it was created. The ID is the most reliable way to refer to a page. You can see, but not modify, the page ID using the Page Info dialog box. Examples: put the id of page 1 into pg; if the id of me > 20 then go to page 1; See Also: longID ----------------------------------- LONGID Purpose: Use the longID property to get a page's complete name, including the ID number and the full DOS path of the pad, as in the following example: page id 2 of pad "C:\HPAD.HOME.PAD" You cannot modify a page's longID. See Also: ID ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 210 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- LONGNAME Purpose: Use the longName property to determine a page's complete name, including the page ID and full DOS pathname of the current pad, in the following format: page id 2 of pad "C:\HPAD\HOME.PAD" Examples: put the longID of this page into the message box; The following example prints the current page with the longName as the heading. print the longName of this page; print this page; See Also: name ----------------------------------- NAME Purpose: Use the name property to get or set the name of a page. This is the same name that appears in the Page Name option in the Page Info dialog box. Examples: if the name of page is "HOME" then answer "You are home now!"; The following handler sets the name of the page when the page is created. This handler belongs in a background or pad script. handler newPage; begin set the name of the target to "page at" && time(); end; See Also: longName, ID, longID ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 211 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- SCRIPT Purpose: Use the script property to retrieve or replace the current script of the page. By using the set command, this property will replace the current page script with a new one. The new script will be immediately compiled and checked for errors. Any handlers within the script that contain errors will not be compiled. The value of the script is a text string composed of lines separated by carriage returns. You can get to a page's script using the Page Info dialog box. Examples: put the script of page 3 into stext; set the script of page 6 to stext; The next example appends an openPage handler to the current script of the page. The new handler beeps when the page is opened. set the script of page 1 to the script of the page & return & return & "handler openPage;" & return & "begin" & return & "beep;" & return & "end;" & return; ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 212 ________________________________________________________________________ BACKGROUND PROPERTIES ----------------------------------- CANTDELETE Purpose: Setting cantDelete to true prevents a background from being deleted. When false, the background can be deleted by deleting all of the pages that use that background. You can modify this property using the Background Info dialog box. When to use it: Set cantDelete to true when you want to protect backgrounds from being accidentally deleted. Examples: set the cantDelete of page 2 to false; if the userLevel <= 2 then set the cantDelete of page 3 to true; See Also: userLevel, delete ----------------------------------- ID Purpose: The ID property gets the number which uniquely identifies a background. Using the ID number is the only sure way to uniquely reference a background. You can't change a background's ID. When to use it: Use the ID number in a script to refer to a background. Examples: put the id of bkgnd 8 into fid; go to background id 19; ----------------------------------- LONGID Purpose: The longID property gets the background's full name, including its ID number and the full DOS path of the pad it's in, as in the following: bkgnd id 4 of "C:\HPAD\INDEX.PAD" You can't change the longID of a background. See Also: ID, name, longName ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 213 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- LONGNAME Purpose: The longName property retrieves the background's ID number and the full DOS path of the pad it's in, using the following format: bkgnd id 5 of pad "C:\HPAD\PHONE.PAD" You can't change the longName of a background. Examples: get the longName of bkgnd 5; put the longName of bkgnd 1 into the msg; See Also: name, ID, longID ----------------------------------- NAME Purpose: Use the name property to get or set the name of a background. When to use it: It is often easier to refer to a background by name in a script then to use its object or ID number. You can modify a background's name using the Background Info dialog box. Examples: if the name of this bkgnd is "wild" then go to page 5; put the name of this background into page field 1; set the name of background id 4 to "template"; See Also: longName, ID, longID ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 214 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- SCRIPT Purpose: The script property gets or replaces the current background script. Setting this property replaces the current background script with a new one. The new script will be compiled immediately and checked for errors. Any handlers within the script that contain errors will not be compiled. The value of the script is a text string composed of lines separated by carriage returns. You can also access the Background's script through the background property box. Examples: put the script of bkgnd 1 into junk; set the script of bkgnd 5 to ex; ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 215 ________________________________________________________________________ MESSAGE BOX PROPERTIES ----------------------------------- LOCATION Purpose: Use the location property to determine the X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) coordinates of the upper left corner of the message box. The message box's position on-screen can be changed or accessed using the location property. If you get the location of the message box, it returns two numbers in "X,Y" format, such as 12,14 When you set the location of the message box, you must supply two parameters, like the following example: set the location of msg to 12,14; You can also modify the message box's position using the mouse. Examples: set the location of the message box to 32,1; Abbreviations: loc ----------------------------------- VISIBLE Purpose: With the visible property, you determine whether the message box is shown or hidden. When the message box is hidden, it is invisible and cannot be accessed (although you can still put text into it). By default, the message box is not visible. This property can also be changed using the hide and show commands. Example: set the visible of msg to false; The following statements are equivalent: set the visible of the message box to true; show the message box; See Also: show, hide ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 216 ________________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------- WIDTH Purpose: Use the width property to adjust the size of the message box. The cannot set the width larger than the screen width. When to use it: When you want to shrink the message box so it doesn't obstruct your view of other elements on the page or background. Examples: To make the message box 40 characters wide: set the width of the msg to 40; ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 217 ________________________________________________________________________ TOOL BOX PROPERTIES ----------------------------------- LOCATION Purpose: The location property determines the X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) coordinates of the upper left corner of the tool box, returning two numbers in "X,Y" format, like: 18,4 You can also move the tool box around the screen with the mouse. Examples: set the location of the tool box to 10,5; put the location of the tool box into msg; Abbreviations: loc ----------------------------------- VISIBLE PURPOSE: USE the visible property to hide or show the tool box. When the tool box is hidden, it cannot be used by the pad user. By default, the tool box is not displayed (the visible is false). This property can be changed using the hide or show commands. You can also toggle the visibility of the tool box by selecting Tool Box from the Workspace menu. Example: set the visible of the tool box to false; See Also: hide, show ________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 12: Properties 218 ________________________________________________________________________ MENU BAR AND STATUS BAR PROPERTIES ----------------------------------- VISIBLE Purpose: Use the visible property to turn the menu bar or status bar on or off. You can also modify this property using the hide and show commands, or by accessing the Menu Bar and Status Bar commands from the Workspace menu. ALT+SPACE also lets you toggle the menu bar on and off. The status bar can't be displayed without the menu bar. When to use it: If your pad includes its own menu bar, or if you don't want your users to access the menu commands, set the visible of the menu bar to off. If you want your pad users to be able to read messages you place on the bottom line on the screen, turn the status bar off. Example: set the visible of the menu bar to false; set the visible of the status bar to true; if the visible of the menu bar then set the visible of the status bar to true; See Also: show, hide