Control - Edit box (basic)

X Position

This property specifies the x co-ordinate of the control relative to its parent and is specified in pixels.

Y Position

This property specifies the y co-ordinate of the control relative to its parent and is specified in pixels.

Width

This is the width of the control, specified in pixels.

Height

This is the height of the control, which is specified in pixels.

Fg Colour

Select any system color you want as a foreground color for your selected control. The Use Windows Systems Color box refers to colors specified in your Windows Desktop settings, which are user specific. However, if you wish to select a fixed color from the standard palette, deselect the Use Windows Systems Colour check box and select the desired color.

Bg Colour

Select any system color you want as a background color for your selected control. The Use Windows Systems Colour box refers to colors specified in your Windows Desktop settings, which are user specific. However, if you wish to select a fixed color from the standard palette, uncheck the Use Windows Systems Colour check box and select the desired color.

If Parent Bg Colour is set to True, Bg Colour is disabled.

Alt Fg Colour

Select any system color as an alternative foreground color for your selected control. You can choose from a wider selection of colors by unchecking the Use Windows System Colours box. The default system color depends on the type of control being used.

Alt Bg Colour

Select any system color as an alternative background color for your selected control. You can choose from a wider selection of colors by unchecking the Use Windows System Colours box. The default system color depends on the type of control being used.

Font Details

This property shows the style and size of the font control. From the Font Details property you can change the size of the font and any combination of Bold, Italic, and Underline. The property displays Normal if no style has been specified. You can change the default font from the View menu by selecting Form Properties.

Justification

This property allows you to change the justification of the text within the control. The options are Near or Far.

Multi Line

This property specifies whether text entered at run-time can be displayed over more than one line in the control. This can be set to True or False. The default is False.

Case Sensitivity

The options for this property can vary depending on which control you have selected. Controls may be fixed as Upper Case or Installation Dependent, in which case the case setting is disabled and cannot be changed. Installation Dependent means that the system forces Upper Case, or leaves the value as Mixed Case depending on a flag set at serialization time. Other controls appear as User Definable, in which case you may select Mixed Case or Upper Case from the pull down menu.

Password Field

This specifies whether the control is to behave as a password control, which displays either entered or retrieved values with a replacement character. This can be set to True or False, with the default being False.

Enabled

This property indicates whether the control is editable at runtime. This property is set to False for non-entry items and cannot be changed. This property is initially set to True for entry data items but can be changed to False, if required. When the property is False controls at runtime are always read-only.

Hidden

This property indicates whether the control is hidden at runtime. If you set this property to true the selected control is not shown at runtime. This property can be used to limit the permissions of certain controls for various operator groups.

Validation Program

External Developers Only

This property allows you to add your own validation to data items, in addition to the built in system validation. Within the property enter the name of your .DLL file. Please note that the external validation program is always executed before the SunSystems internal validation.

Validation Method

External Developers Only

The Validation Method property is only available when a validation program has been specified. The validation method is a textual reference that can be called by the validation program. This property can be left blank.

Auto Copy

Set the Auto Copy property to true if, during run-time, you want the data value of a particular control to be automatically copied to the next new record. It is recommended that Auto Copy is enabled on those data items where the run time value is likely to remain consistent, for example analysis codes. During run-time a user can change the copied value, so that this then becomes the duplicated value when the next new record is created/inserted. Auto Copy does not apply when records are edited using the Amend action. The Auto Copy also overrides the Default Value property, if set.

Max Chars

This property allows you to specify the maximum number of characters that you can enter into the selected control at run-time. The default for this property varies, according to the data item default set in the Data Dictionary

Display As

This property states how a selected data item is to be displayed. The pull down list shows the three options available, you can have the control displayed as its default control type at runtime, a Simple Label or a Label with Border. If you choose to have one of the dynamic label options for the Display As property at runtime, the control will appear as a label on the form.

Default Value

This property contains the valid values for the selected control. Select which value you want as the default at runtime. It is mandatory for radio button groups and check box controls to have default values.

Mandatory

If you require a control to be mandatory you can change the value of this property from False to True, but you cannot change a True value to False.

Failure to enter a value in a mandatory field results in a warning message being displayed and you are unable to continue.