This menu item will open the help file and take you to the main table of contents.
This menu item will open the help file and take you to the last topic viewed.
Using Help z
Use the F1 key for context sensitive help most anywhere in Dialog Design. Once in Help, the following keys may be used:
Alt-C Bring up the Help contents
Alt-B Go back to the previous viewed Help screen
F5 Screen zoom (toggle)
Esc Exit Help
See Acknowledgements
Toolbox
The toolbox provides a quick method for adding controls to the dialogbox. If the toolbox isn't visible, toggle it on with Ctrl-F6. The toolbox may be repositioned by dragging its caption bar. 6
To add a control using the toolbox click and release on the appropriate icon with the left button. The control will pop off the toolbox and follow the mouse. When you reach the desired location, click once more to drop the control. At this point, the mouse will be properly positioned to size the control.
If you pick up a control from the toolbox and then decide not to use it, drop it outside of the dialog or move the mouse off screen. ;
From top to bottom, left to right, the control icons are:
TInputLine TStaticText
TInputLong TButton
TCheckboxes TListBox
TRadioButtons TScrollbar (Vertical)
TMemo TScrollbar (Horizontal)
TLabel and TMultiCheckBoxes have no representation in the toolbox. f
Once you've added controls from the toolbox, you'll need to edit them to supply further information.
Designing a Dialogbox S
While there is no fixed way to design a dialogbox, here's one suggested sequence: V
1.In design
mode, work with the dialogbox large enough so that you won't be crowded.
2.From the Add menu, select a control to add. This will bring up a dialog where you can enter the necessary information. Use the online help (F1 key) if you have a question as to what goes in a particular field. When the OK button is pressed, the control will appear in the lower right corner of the design box. The control is then positioned by dragging it with the mouse, or by using the arrow keys (Shift+arrow moves a little faster). Work in the upper left corner of the box. !
3.Continue adding controls as desired. At any time, controls can be repositioned or sized with the mouse. If something other than position or size needs changing, select the control and from the Edit menu choose Edit Selected (or use F7). This will bring up its dialogbox for changes.
4.When all the controls have been added and positioned, size the box to fit and move it to the desired location on the desktop. Be sure and add a title (Dialog Parameters from the Edit menu).
5.Enter Try
Mode with the F9 key and test the dialogbox. Be sure to check how the controls sequence using the Tab key. Exit Try mode with Esc or click on the close box.
6.If the Tab sequence needs changing, use F8 to enter ordering
mode. With the mouse, click on each control to establish the desired order. Exit back to design mode with F8. "
Changing the sequence without a mouse is a little more complicated. Use the Tab key to select (highlight) the next control to be sequenced. Then press the Enter key to enter the selected control into the sequence. After all controls have been entered, exit back to design mode with F8.
Some controls (such as Static Text, and Labels) don't enter into the tab sequence of a dialogbox. You can order these if it's convenient, but the order won't effect the final results. /
Be sure to recheck the tab order in Try
mode.
7.This is a good time to save your work. Choose Save or Save As from the File menu to create or update a .DLG file. Any file with the same name will be renamed with a .BKP extension.
8.You can preview the source code to be generated by choosing one of the Write Source selections from the Operations menu, and then selecting the Screen option. The code will appear in a viewer window.
9.To create source code for your dialogbox, choose one of the Write
Source selections from the Operations menu and then choose the File option.
10.To generate a resource file or add the new dialogbox to an existing resource or EXE file, choose Write
Resource
File from the Operation menu.
Design Mode
Dialog Design begins in design mode and this is the mode that you use for all layout work and editing. In design mode, the dialogbox doesn't look or act quite like it will in the final design. Here's some of the differences: ^
A 'canvas' background is used to better delineate the actual space occupied by each control. )
Controls are colored red when selected. $
Multiple controls may be selected. B
All controls may be selected even those not normally selectable.
Dialog Parameters
Allows entering/changing the title of the dialog box and other dialogbox parameters.
The Dialog's title is entered here.
See also: 0
Entering
Non-Keyboard
Characters
Operator
When Dialog Design writes type 1 code for your dialog, it writes a function named MakeDialog by default. You can specify another name here. h
If the function will be used as a method, you can precede the function name with the object's name as: C
TMyProgram.MakeFileDialog or
TMyProgram::makeFileDialog
When Dialog Design writes code for a dialogbox, it defines a record/struct to be used with the dialogbox's SetData and GetData methods. By default, the name 'DataRec' is used. M
To eliminate name conflicts, you may want to change the name in this field. <
If you don't desire a data record, leave this field blank.
By default, this field contains PDialog/TDialog. If this dialog is to be a descendent of TDialog (as it would be if you're using type 2 code generation), enter the new pointer name/class name here.
Enter any reminder notes here (up to 512 characters).
Enter the key string that will identify this dialog in a resource file. Note that this string is case sensitive. Spaces are not permitted.
Choose the palette for the dialog here.
The standard flag settings for a dialog are wfMove and wfClose but you can change these for special cases.
Edit Selected
Allows editing the selected control.
Delete Selected
Deletes the selected control or controls.
Duplicates the selected control. The new control will appear directly below the copied control. S
To duplicate a control using the mouse, hold the Ctrl key down and left click it.
Select All (F4)
Selects all the controls.
To select most of the controls in the dialog, it's usually easiest to select them all and then, holding down the shift key, unselect those not wanted by clicking on them with the mouse.
See also Selecting
Controls.
Selecting Controls
A single control may be selected with the mouse by clicking on it. To select a control with the keyboard, use Tab or ShiftTab until it is highlighted.
To select multiple controls, select the first, then hold down the shift key while clicking on the others. Note that, in this mode, clicking toggles selection on and off so it's possible to deselect as well as select. +
You can also select a block of controls by using the mouse to define an enclosing rectangle. Position the mouse to one corner of the desired rectangle (the start position must not be on a control). Hold the left button down and drag to the opposite corner of the rectangle before releasing the button. During the drag operation, a shaded area will show the rectangle. Only those controls completely enclosed by the rectangle will be selected. If the shift key is held down during this operation, any previously selected controls will remain selected. K
To select all controls, use F4 or choose 'Select All' from the Edit menu.
Resizing a Control
To resize a control, first select it and then click and drag on its lower right corner. Note that some controls only size in one dimension and all have a minimum size. i
You can also change a control's size by changing the width and height fields in the control's edit
(.txt)