spd - Editing properties¶
General¶
Clicking in a property window cell causes a help caption for the property to be displayed at the bottom of the program designer main window.
If full help is available for a property, this can be displayed by clicking on the question mark at the top of the property window (causing a question mark to be added to the cursor) and then clicking on the property. This feature is currently restricted to OLE control specific properties.
Two types of in-field help are available to the user when entering data into property sheets:
1 |
Question mark. This will produce help of some sort when entered in the majority of property cells. If a property can be selected from a list, entering a question mark opens a window containing a list of available property values. The list contains descriptions of the values - e.g. the style flag WS_HSCROLL is represented by the explanatory text “Horizontal scroll bar”. It is not necessary to clear the existing contents of the cell and the question mark can be entered anywhere. If selection is cancelled the question mark is removed automatically. In many cases, such as flags, multiple values may be selected. The usual rules for multiple-selections apply:
If the list is multiple-choice, the selection window has OK and Cancel buttons. If it is single-choice, selecting a value automatically deselects any others and closes the window. The property descriptions displayed in the selection lists are stored in the spd language configuration file. They may be modified, but any changes made will apply to all users. See External configuration. For properties that require a file name, entering a question mark opens a Browse for file window. |
2 |
Selection button. If a property has this feature, clicking in the cell causes a down-arrow button to appear. Click on the button to open a scrollable list of available values. Wherever a null value is acceptable, this is included at the top of the list. Click on a value to select it, or click anywhere outside the list to close it without making a selection. Note that only a single value may be selected by this method, so it is not available for clauses such as Style which can take multiple values. The “?” help method is normally also available. |
Note that the standard cut and paste keys CTRL-C, CTRL-V and CTRL-X can be used in property sheet cells.
Common properties and property types¶
Quoted strings |
Certain properties, such as labels, require that the text be enclosed in double quotes. The program designer automatically adds these if they are not present, unless the data entered corresponds to a !define symbol which already has the required double quotes. If leading or trailing spaces are required in a quoted string, the enclosing quotes must be entered - the program designer removes leading and trailing spaces before adding quotes. Internal double quote marks in such strings must be preceded by the escape character (“\”). This character is added automatically if it is omitted. |
Identifiers |
The program designer checks that object identifiers (file_id, button_id etc.) are both unique and valid. See Identifier naming rules. Identifiers may be edited, but note that a change to an identifier name will not be copied to linked objects. For example, if the identifier of a temporary variable linked to a textbox is changed, the textbox must also be edited to change the name of the field linked to it. When an object is newly created, a default identifier is constructed, composed of the object type plus a unique numerical suffix, e.g. Window3, Textbox4, Listbox1, - the lowest unused suffix for the object type. If an identifier has been allocated to the templates for textboxes or buttons, this identifier is used instead of the object type. See Template configuration. |
File names |
Wherever a file name is required, such as the File Name of a ![o]file declaration, or the image to be assigned to a button or graphic, enter “?” to browse for the file. |
Fonts |
Enter a question mark in any font property cell to bring up the Font Properties window, from which the user can select from all fonts available on the system, and also specify size and style. The selected font is displayed in the cell in Sculptor font definition format. See Fonts. |
Functions |
If a function name is entered which is not the func_id of an existing function, the user is firstly given the option of selecting from a list of existing functions, and then of creating an empty function with this func_id. |
Colours |
The Colour selection window is documented separately under Colours. |
RELATED TOPICS |