ZIM Product Suite – Page 2 – 4GL APPLICATION FRAMEWORK

Menus

Main Characteristics of Menu Objects

✓ The visual attribute of a menu object is the menu bar located at the top of the client area of a window

✓ Menu objects are owners of menu item objects

✓ The Zim language includes an extensive suite of commands for dynamically modifying both the visual and the behavioral characteristics of the menu items owned by menus

✓ The UI Designer supports the creation of associations between windows, menus and either forms or displays so that they can be viewed and/or edited as a group

Adding Menu Objects

A menu object can be added only to the Designer workspace when the UI Designer has been invoked by either FORM DEFINE or DISPLAY DEFINE;

Note that only windows that are resizable, have a caption bar, and are not clipped to their parent window can accept menus;

If you have modified the window’s attributes such that any one of these conditions is not true, then an error dialog to that effect is displayed when you attempt to add the menu;

You need to edit the window’s attributes (double click in an empty area within the window), such that these conditions are true before a menu can be accepted.

A menu object is added by clicking on the icon in the object gallery that represents the menu object type.

It is generally the icon second from the end at the right of the gallery. At some screen resolutions, you have to scroll the gallery using the large scroll arrows located at either end for the menu object to come into view.

When the cursor takes the form of an outline image of the menu icon, click anywhere within the window.

The menu bar appears at the top of the window and the Add Menu dialog is displayed.

Note that a menu has only attributes which relate to identification.

Its visual attributes are fixed, as it always appears as a horizontal menu bar at the top of a window. You can also change any menu attribute at a later time by displaying the Edit Menu dialog.

There are other ways to add menus. You can import a menu whose definition exists in the Data Dictionary. You can also paste a menu which has been either cut or copied from another painter session.

The Add Menu Dialog

Menu objects can be added only when the painter has been invoked by either the FORM DEFINE or the DISPLAY DEFINE command, or a form or display object has been selected for editing from within the Zim IDE Development. The Add Menu dialog is presented when a menu object is selected from the Object Gallery and placed within the window in the Presentation Area. Except for the caption, this dialog is identical to the Edit Menu dialog. Refer to the Add Menu dialog for a detailed description of the fields in this dialog.

Creation of Forms step by step:

Windows

Main Characteristics of Window

In Zim applications, window objects are visually identical to standard windows in Microsoft Windows;

The visual and behavioral attributes of window objects are fully customizable by the Zim IDE via the Properties Tab;

The Zim language includes an extensive suite of commands for dynamically modifying both the visual and behavioral characteristics of window objects;

The Zim IDE supports the creation of associations among windows, menus, and either forms or displays so that they can be viewed and/or edited as a group;

A window object may be created directly by the developer or by the Zim IDE, in which case it is created automatically when the user creates a form or a display;

Window objects do not own user interface objects. Instead, they act as an interface between the operating system and forms, displays or menus.

Establishing a Window

Call up the Zim IDE, select WINDOWS from the DataBases menu, and use the tools of the Zim IDE Development to define the desired Windows.

Creation of Window step by step:

Displays

Main Characteristics of Display Objects

✓ A display acts as a container for the form objects it owns.

✓ Display objects do not have any visual attributes other than implicit dimensions.

✓ The visual appearance of a display is the result of the visual attributes of the form fields owned by each of the forms owned by the display;

✓ The dimensions of a display are considered to be the internal dimensions (i.e. the client area) of the window.

✓ The Property Tab is not available for display objects.

✓ The Zim IDE supports the creation of associations among windows, menus and displays so that they can be viewed and/or edited as a group.

DISPLAY DEFINE If the painter was invoked by DISPLAY DEFINE, then every object type can be added. If the display does not already exist (i.e. there is no definition data for it in the Zim Data Dictionary), the paint window contains no forms. If the display does exist, the painter loads the forms owned by the display (and for each form, its form fields), into the paint window. Note that for a display to exist, it must own at least one form. In DISPLAY DEFINE, the display itself is not visible. The display is implicitly considered to be the client area of (i.e. the area within), the window. Hence resizing the window also resizes the display. If an association had previously been established between the display and a particular window, then that window is loaded as the paint window. If the association includes a reference to a particular menu, then that menu is also loaded and displayed within the paint window.

Creation of Display step by step:

Invisible Form Fields

Selecting an invisible Form Field

In the previous versions of Zim Painter, it was possible to select an invisible field with the mouse, as long as its location within the form was known.

In Zim IDE, the only way to select an invisible form field is by clicking on the field name in the Zim Object Tree View tab page.

Moving an Invisible Form Field

The are two ways to move an invisible form field:

making it temporarily visible before moving it and then making it invisible again;

changing its Location attribute directly in the Attributes Tab Page.

The Tab Page

Main Characteristics of Tab Pages

Adds a single tab page to the tab control container.

Tab Page Attributes

– Identification

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Field Type	–	The type of this form field or of this user interface object. (Read-only).
Field Name	variable	A string that identifies this form field within the Zim application; Automatically assigned by the Zim IDE when a new form field is created; May be changed by the developer, but must always conform to the Zim Object Naming Rules and satisfy the Zim Object Uniqueness Conditions.
Field Number	0	A number that may be used to identify this form field within the Zim application and in Callback Events; May be changed by the developer and need not be unique; Value must be an integer between 0 and 999;
Field Tag	“”	A string that may be used to identify this form field within the Zim application and in Callback Events; May be changed by the developer and need not be unique; If left blank, the Zim IDE will assign the value of Field Name to Field Tag.
Directory	ZIM	The directory that owns the parent form of this form field (Read-only).
Form Name	–	A string that identifies the parent form of this form field (Read-only).
Help Message	“”	A help message that will be displayed when this form field or this menu item receives input focus; Displayed in the status bar of the window associated with the parent form of this form field (if the window object’s Status Bar attribute is set to True); Displayed in a message field if one such field exists in the parent form of this form field.

– Appearance

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Customized Pointer	default	The pointer (or cursor) style when the pointer is hovering over (or the cursor is inside) an available form field; May be selected from the following choices in the list box: Arrow → the standard arrow cursor; Cross-hair → ; I-Beam → ; Icon → ; Resize → ; Size NE SW → ; Size NS → ; Size NW SE → ; Size WE → ; Up Arrow → ; Hourglass → ; default → The pointer style will be I-Beam for Entry Field and Arrow for all other form fields.
Label	???	The label text which appears inside or along the top border of the form field; A character in the label will be underlined if there is an ampersand (&) immediately before it.
Location	–	The location (in pixels) of this form field in relation to the top-left corner of its parent form or parent container.
X	–	The horizontal location of this form field.
Y	–	The vertical location of this form field.
Reverse Video	False	True → The text will appear in white on a black background; False → The text will appear in black on a white background;
Size	–	The size of this form field in pixels.
Width	–	The width of this form field.
Height	–	The height of this form field.
Visible	True	True → This form field will be visible by default.

– Colors

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Background Color	variable	The background color of the form field, container or user interface object in R(ed) G(reen) B(lue) values;
Foreground Color	variable	The foreground color of the form field, container or user interface object in R(ed) G(reen) B(lue) values.
Inherit Background Color	variable	True → The form field or container will inherit the background color of its parent container or parent form object.
Inherit Foreground Color	variable	True → The form field or container will inherit the foreground color of its parent container or parent form object.

– Properties

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Availability	Available	The way in which the end-user will interact with this form field: Available → This form field can receive input focus and its contents can be modified; Unavailable → This form field cannot receive input focus and its contents cannot be modified; Guarded → This form field can receive input focus but its contents cannot be modified; Protected → This form field cannot receive input focus, its contents cannot be modified and it will appear grayed-out;
Tab Index	0	The relative position of this form field in the tab sequence order for its parent container or form field; 0 → The relative position of the form field in the structure chart will be used instead.
Tab Stop	True	True → This form field will be included in the tab order for its parent container or form; False →
Z-Order	>= 10001	The relative depth of this form field in relation to other form fields within the same parent container or form.

– Style

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Font	Microsoft Sans Serif, 8pt	The font in which text will be displayed inside this form field.
Name	Microsoft Sans Serif	The system name of the selected font.
Size	8	The size of the font in units. (Point is the default unit);
Bold	False	True → The text inside this form field will appear in bold.
Italic	False	True → The text inside this form field will appear in italic.
Strikeout	False	True → The text inside this form field will appear with a line across.
Underline	False	True → The text inside this form field will appear underlined.

The Tab Control

Main Characteristics of Tab Controls

A Tab Control mimics the behavior of dividers in a notebook, or labels in a file. By using a tab control, an application can define multiple pages for the same area within a window.

The tab control object is a container for tab pages. Once you have added a tab control to your project, you may proceed to add tab pages to the tab control.

Note: Unlike previous incarnations of the Zim tab control where one had to change the front to back order of frames to edit the individual tab pages, and where the programmer was required to add code to manage and manipulate the tab control, this is a true windows tab control object. To edit the individual tab pages, double click on the desired tab header. No coding is required for this tab control as it is managed by Windows.

The version of the tab control available in this development environment is only supported by Zim 8.50 (or higher) clients.

Tab Control Attributes

– Identification

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Field Type	–	The type of this form field or of this user interface object. (Read-only).
Field Name	variable	A string that identifies this form field within the Zim application; Automatically assigned by the Zim IDE when a new form field is created; May be changed by the developer, but must always conform to the Zim Object Naming Rules and satisfy the Zim Object Uniqueness Conditions.
Field Number	0	A number that may be used to identify this form field within the Zim application and in Callback Events; May be changed by the developer and need not be unique; Value must be an integer between 0 and 999;
Field Tag	“”	A string that may be used to identify this form field within the Zim application and in Callback Events; May be changed by the developer and need not be unique; If left blank, the Zim IDE will assign the value of Field Name to Field Tag.
Directory	ZIM	The directory that owns the parent form of this form field (Read-only).
Form Name	–	A string that identifies the parent form of this form field (Read-only).
Help Message	“”	A help message that will be displayed when this form field or this menu item receives input focus; Displayed in the status bar of the window associated with the parent form of this form field (if the window object’s Status Bar attribute is set to True); Displayed in a message field if one such field exists in the parent form of this form field.

– Appearance

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Customized Pointer	default	The pointer (or cursor) style when the pointer is hovering over (or the cursor is inside) an available form field; May be selected from the following choices in the list box: Arrow → the standard arrow cursor; Cross-hair → ; I-Beam → ; Icon → ; Resize → ; Size NE SW → ; Size NS → ; Size NW SE → ; Size WE → ; Up Arrow → ; Hourglass → ; default → The pointer style will be I-Beam for Entry Field and Arrow for all other form fields.
Label	???	The label text which appears inside or along the top border of the form field; A character in the label will be underlined if there is an ampersand (&) immediately before it.
Location	–	The location (in pixels) of this form field in relation to the top-left corner of its parent form or parent container.
X	–	The horizontal location of this form field.
Y	–	The vertical location of this form field.
Reverse Video	False	True → The text will appear in white on a black background; False → The text will appear in black on a white background;
Size	–	The size of this form field in pixels.
Width	–	The width of this form field.
Height	–	The height of this form field.
Visible	True	True → This form field will be visible by default.

– Behavior

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Anchoring	Top, Left	When the window associated with this form field’s parent form is resized: Top → The top edge of this form field will maintain its distance from the top edge of the window; Bottom → The bottom edge of this form field will maintain its distance from the bottom edge of the window; Left → The left edge of this form field will maintain its distance from the left edge of the window; Right → The right edge of this form field will maintain its distance from the right edge of the window; None → The same as Top, Left.
Docking	None	Top → The top edge of the form field will be expanded and placed; Bottom → ; Left → ; Right → ; Fill → ; None → This form field.

– Colors

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Background Color	variable	The background color of the form field, container or user interface object in R(ed) G(reen) B(lue) values;
Foreground Color	variable	The foreground color of the form field, container or user interface object in R(ed) G(reen) B(lue) values.
Inherit Background Color	variable	True → The form field or container will inherit the background color of its parent container or parent form object.
Inherit Foreground Color	variable	True → The form field or container will inherit the foreground color of its parent container or parent form object.

– Properties

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Availability	Available	The way in which the end-user will interact with this form field: Available → This form field can receive input focus and its contents can be modified; Unavailable → This form field cannot receive input focus and its contents cannot be modified; Guarded → This form field can receive input focus but its contents cannot be modified; Protected → This form field cannot receive input focus, its contents cannot be modified and it will appear grayed-out;
Tab Index	0	The relative position of this form field in the tab sequence order for its parent container or form field; 0 → The relative position of the form field in the structure chart will be used instead.
Tab Stop	True	True → This form field will be included in the tab order for its parent container or form; False →
Z-Order	>= 10001	The relative depth of this form field in relation to other form fields within the same parent container or form.

– Style

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Border Style	variable	None; Single Line; 3D; Beveled-In; Beveled-Out
Font	Microsoft Sans Serif, 8pt	The font in which text will be displayed inside this form field.
Name	Microsoft Sans Serif	The system name of the selected font.
Size	8	The size of the font in units. (Point is the default unit);
Bold	False	True → The text inside this form field will appear in bold.
Italic	False	True → The text inside this form field will appear in italic.
Strikeout	False	True → The text inside this form field will appear with a line across.
Underline	False	True → The text inside this form field will appear underlined.
Inherit Font	False	True → This form field will inherit all the Font attributes from its parent (form, frame or tab control).

The Option Box

Main Characteristics of Option Boxes

Option box form fields act as container objects for one or more option radio buttons or option image buttons. They provide a convenient mechanism for manipulating multiple option buttons as a group. An option box is assigned a specific data type and data length, and each option button which it owns inherits that data type and length. When a value is assigned to an option box is establishes the “On” state value for the option buttons which it owns. Those option buttons for which the value of the option box satisfies the validation rule for the option button or, if there is no validation rule, the default value for the option button, is displayed in the “On” state.

A typical way in which an option box containing option buttons is used is as follows. Each option button is assigned a default value from, for example, the list “Mr.”, “Mrs.”, “Ms.”, “Dr.” etc. When the option box is assigned the value “Ms.”, the option button with the default value of “Ms.” is displayed in the “On” state. All the other option buttons are displayed in the “Off” state. If the application end-user clicks on the option button with the default value of “Dr.”, the option box itself also assumes the value “Dr.”.

The option buttons owned by an option box inherit the colors, font, callback events and the availability attribute of the option box.

Option Box Attributes

– Identification

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Field Type	–	The type of this form field or of this user interface object. (Read-only).
Field Name	variable	A string that identifies this form field within the Zim application; Automatically assigned by the Zim IDE when a new form field is created; May be changed by the developer, but must always conform to the Zim Object Naming Rules and satisfy the Zim Object Uniqueness Conditions.
Field Number	0	A number that may be used to identify this form field within the Zim application and in Callback Events; May be changed by the developer and need not be unique; Value must be an integer between 0 and 999;
Field Tag	“”	A string that may be used to identify this form field within the Zim application and in Callback Events; May be changed by the developer and need not be unique; If left blank, the Zim IDE will assign the value of Field Name to Field Tag.
Directory	ZIM	The directory that owns the parent form of this form field (Read-only).
Form Name	–	A string that identifies the parent form of this form field (Read-only).
Help Message	“”	A help message that will be displayed when this form field or this menu item receives input focus; Displayed in the status bar of the window associated with the parent form of this form field (if the window object’s Status Bar attribute is set to True); Displayed in a message field if one such field exists in the parent form of this form field.

– Appearance

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Customized Pointer	default	The pointer (or cursor) style when the pointer is hovering over (or the cursor is inside) an available form field; May be selected from the following choices in the list box: Arrow → the standard arrow cursor; Cross-hair → ; I-Beam → ; Icon → ; Resize → ; Size NE SW → ; Size NS → ; Size NW SE → ; Size WE → ; Up Arrow → ; Hourglass → ; default → The pointer style will be I-Beam for Entry Field and Arrow for all other form fields.
Label	???	The label text which appears inside or along the top border of the form field; A character in the label will be underlined if there is an ampersand (&) immediately before it.
Location	–	The location (in pixels) of this form field in relation to the top-left corner of its parent form or parent container.
X	–	The horizontal location of this form field.
Y	–	The vertical location of this form field.
Reverse Video	False	True → The text will appear in white on a black background; False → The text will appear in black on a white background;
Size	–	The size of this form field in pixels.
Width	–	The width of this form field.
Height	–	The height of this form field.
Visible	True	True → This form field will be visible by default.

– Behavior

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Anchoring	Top, Left	When the window associated with this form field’s parent form is resized: Top → The top edge of this form field will maintain its distance from the top edge of the window; Bottom → The bottom edge of this form field will maintain its distance from the bottom edge of the window; Left → The left edge of this form field will maintain its distance from the left edge of the window; Right → The right edge of this form field will maintain its distance from the right edge of the window; None → The same as Top, Left.
Docking	None	Top → The top edge of the form field will be expanded and placed; Bottom → ; Left → ; Right → ; Fill → ; None → This form field.

– Callback Events

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
All Callback Events		When any of the following callback event attributes is set to True, this form field will be able to trigger the corresponding callback event; After the event is triggered, the form input command will be terminated and the following values will populate the Event Vector: Event.EventType = “FormField”; Event.EventTag = the form field’s Field Tag attribute; Additional values relative to specific callback events (see below); Note: Callback events can only be triggered by a form field if it is available and contained in a form that has input focus.
Got Focus	False	Triggered when a mouse click, a tab key press or an accelerator key press causes this form field to acquire the input focus; Event.EventName = “GotFocus” added to the Event Vector.
Lost Focus (Always)	False	Triggered when a mouse click, a tab key press or an accelerator key press causes this form field to lose the input focus; Event.EventName = “LostFocus” added to the Event Vector.
Lost Focus (When Modified)	False	Triggered when a mouse click, a tab key press or an accelerator key press causes this form field to lose the input focus after its value has been modified (cf. Modified below); Event.EventName = “LostFocusModified” added to the Event Vector.
Modified	False	Triggered when this option box undergoes a state change caused by a state change in one of the radio buttons it contains; Event.EventName = “Modified” added to the Event Vector.

– Colors

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Background Color	variable	The background color of the form field, container or user interface object in R(ed) G(reen) B(lue) values;
Foreground Color	variable	The foreground color of the form field, container or user interface object in R(ed) G(reen) B(lue) values.
Inherit Background Color	variable	True → The form field or container will inherit the background color of its parent container or parent form object.
Inherit Foreground Color	variable	True → The form field or container will inherit the foreground color of its parent container or parent form object.

– Properties

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Availability	Available	The way in which the end-user will interact with this form field: Available → This form field can receive input focus and its contents can be modified; Unavailable → This form field cannot receive input focus and its contents cannot be modified; Guarded → This form field can receive input focus but its contents cannot be modified; Protected → This form field cannot receive input focus, its contents cannot be modified and it will appear grayed-out;
Data Type	Alphanumeric	The data type of this form field: Alphanumeric → May contain letters, digits and punctuation; Non-Digit → May contain all characters except digits; Numeric → May contain digits, decimal point, plus and minus signs; Date → May contain digits according to the form specified in Input Mask;
Default Data Value	“”	The default data value of this form field.
Length	12	The length of the data displayed in this form field
Tab Index	0	The relative position of this form field in the tab sequence order for its parent container or form field; 0 → The relative position of the form field in the structure chart will be used instead.
Tab Stop	True	True → This form field will be included in the tab order for its parent container or form; False →
Z-Order	>= 10001	The relative depth of this form field in relation to other form fields within the same parent container or form.

– Style

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Border Style	variable	None; Single Line; 3D; Beveled-In; Beveled-Out
Font	Microsoft Sans Serif, 8pt	The font in which text will be displayed inside this form field.
Name	Microsoft Sans Serif	The system name of the selected font.
Size	8	The size of the font in units. (Point is the default unit);
Bold	False	True → The text inside this form field will appear in bold.
Italic	False	True → The text inside this form field will appear in italic.
Strikeout	False	True → The text inside this form field will appear with a line across.
Underline	False	True → The text inside this form field will appear underlined.
Inherit Font	False	True → This form field will inherit all the Font attributes from its parent (form, frame or tab control).

The Frame

Main Characteristics of Frames

Frame form fields act as container objects for any number of any other type of form fields (including other frames). Frames do not have any associated data and hence have no assignable data type or length. The purpose of a frame is to assist in creating dialogs which have a pleasing appearance by organizing related form fields together.

The form fields owned by a frame inherit the colors, font and the availability attribute of the frame.

Frame Attributes

– Identification

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Field Type	–	The type of this form field or of this user interface object. (Read-only).
Field Name	variable	A string that identifies this form field within the Zim application; Automatically assigned by the Zim IDE when a new form field is created; May be changed by the developer, but must always conform to the Zim Object Naming Rules and satisfy the Zim Object Uniqueness Conditions.
Field Number	0	A number that may be used to identify this form field within the Zim application and in Callback Events; May be changed by the developer and need not be unique; Value must be an integer between 0 and 999;
Field Tag	“”	A string that may be used to identify this form field within the Zim application and in Callback Events; May be changed by the developer and need not be unique; If left blank, the Zim IDE will assign the value of Field Name to Field Tag.
Directory	ZIM	The directory that owns the parent form of this form field (Read-only).
Form Name	–	A string that identifies the parent form of this form field (Read-only).
Help Message	“”	A help message that will be displayed when this form field or this menu item receives input focus; Displayed in the status bar of the window associated with the parent form of this form field (if the window object’s Status Bar attribute is set to True); Displayed in a message field if one such field exists in the parent form of this form field.

– Appearance

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Customized Pointer	default	The pointer (or cursor) style when the pointer is hovering over (or the cursor is inside) an available form field; May be selected from the following choices in the list box: Arrow → the standard arrow cursor; Cross-hair → ; I-Beam → ; Icon → ; Resize → ; Size NE SW → ; Size NS → ; Size NW SE → ; Size WE → ; Up Arrow → ; Hourglass → ; default → The pointer style will be I-Beam for Entry Field and Arrow for all other form fields.
Label	???	The label text which appears inside or along the top border of the form field; A character in the label will be underlined if there is an ampersand (&) immediately before it.
Location	–	The location (in pixels) of this form field in relation to the top-left corner of its parent form or parent container.
X	–	The horizontal location of this form field.
Y	–	The vertical location of this form field.
Reverse Video	False	True → The text will appear in white on a black background; False → The text will appear in black on a white background;
Size	–	The size of this form field in pixels.
Width	–	The width of this form field.
Height	–	The height of this form field.
Visible	True	True → This form field will be visible by default.

– Behavior

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Anchoring	Top, Left	When the window associated with this form field’s parent form is resized: Top → The top edge of this form field will maintain its distance from the top edge of the window; Bottom → The bottom edge of this form field will maintain its distance from the bottom edge of the window; Left → The left edge of this form field will maintain its distance from the left edge of the window; Right → The right edge of this form field will maintain its distance from the right edge of the window; None → The same as Top, Left.
Docking	None	Top → The top edge of the form field will be expanded and placed; Bottom → ; Left → ; Right → ; Fill → ; None → This form field.

– Colors

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Background Color	variable	The background color of the form field, container or user interface object in R(ed) G(reen) B(lue) values;
Foreground Color	variable	The foreground color of the form field, container or user interface object in R(ed) G(reen) B(lue) values.
Inherit Background Color	variable	True → The form field or container will inherit the background color of its parent container or parent form object.
Inherit Foreground Color	variable	True → The form field or container will inherit the foreground color of its parent container or parent form object.

– Properties

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Availability	Available	The way in which the end-user will interact with this form field: Available → This form field can receive input focus and its contents can be modified; Unavailable → This form field cannot receive input focus and its contents cannot be modified; Guarded → This form field can receive input focus but its contents cannot be modified; Protected → This form field cannot receive input focus, its contents cannot be modified and it will appear grayed-out;
Tab Index	0	The relative position of this form field in the tab sequence order for its parent container or form field; 0 → The relative position of the form field in the structure chart will be used instead.
Tab Stop	True	True → This form field will be included in the tab order for its parent container or form; False →
Z-Order	>= 10001	The relative depth of this form field in relation to other form fields within the same parent container or form.

– Style

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Border Style	variable	None; Single Line; 3D; Beveled-In; Beveled-Out
Font	Microsoft Sans Serif, 8pt	The font in which text will be displayed inside this form field.
Name	Microsoft Sans Serif	The system name of the selected font.
Size	8	The size of the font in units. (Point is the default unit);
Bold	False	True → The text inside this form field will appear in bold.
Italic	False	True → The text inside this form field will appear in italic.
Strikeout	False	True → The text inside this form field will appear with a line across.
Underline	False	True → The text inside this form field will appear underlined.
Inherit Font	False	True → This form field will inherit all the Font attributes from its parent (form, frame or tab control).

The Scroll Bar

Main Characteristics of Scroll Bars

Scroll bars form fields have a variety of uses. They are commonly used for providing the application end-user with a convenient mechanism for scrolling over more data than fits on the screen, but they can be used for other purposes as well. The data type for a scroll bar is always numeric. The values that an activated scroll bar delivers (or can be assigned) is a function of a numeric scale, and a small and large increment within that scale.

Scale	The scale associated with a scroll bar is defined by a minimum and a maximum value. For a vertical scroll bar, these values correspond to the scroll bar’s “bar” being positioned at the top and bottom respectively, within the scroll bar’s “trough”. For a horizontal scroll bar, read far left for top and far right for bottom.
Small Increment	The small increment associated with a vertical scroll bar is that amount that is added to (or subtracted from), the current value of the scroll bar when the application end-user clicks on the top (or bottom) arrow. For a horizontal scroll bar, read left arrow for top arrow, and right arrow for bottom arrow.
Large Increment	The large increment associated with a vertical scroll bar is that amount that is added to (or subtracted from), the current value of the scroll bar when the application end-user clicks within the top (or bottom) portion of the “trough”. For a horizontal scroll bar, read left for top and right for bottom.

Scroll Bars Attributes

– Identification

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Field Type	–	The type of this form field or of this user interface object. (Read-only).
Field Name	variable	A string that identifies this form field within the Zim application; Automatically assigned by the Zim IDE when a new form field is created; May be changed by the developer, but must always conform to the Zim Object Naming Rules and satisfy the Zim Object Uniqueness Conditions.
Field Number	0	A number that may be used to identify this form field within the Zim application and in Callback Events; May be changed by the developer and need not be unique; Value must be an integer between 0 and 999;
Field Tag	“”	A string that may be used to identify this form field within the Zim application and in Callback Events; May be changed by the developer and need not be unique; If left blank, the Zim IDE will assign the value of Field Name to Field Tag.
Directory	ZIM	The directory that owns the parent form of this form field (Read-only).
Form Name	–	A string that identifies the parent form of this form field (Read-only).
Help Message	“”	A help message that will be displayed when this form field or this menu item receives input focus; Displayed in the status bar of the window associated with the parent form of this form field (if the window object’s Status Bar attribute is set to True); Displayed in a message field if one such field exists in the parent form of this form field.

– Appearance

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Customized Pointer	default	The pointer (or cursor) style when the pointer is hovering over (or the cursor is inside) an available form field; May be selected from the following choices in the list box: Arrow → the standard arrow cursor; Cross-hair → ; I-Beam → ; Icon → ; Resize → ; Size NE SW → ; Size NS → ; Size NW SE → ; Size WE → ; Up Arrow → ; Hourglass → ; default → The pointer style will be I-Beam for Entry Field and Arrow for all other form fields.
Location	–	The location (in pixels) of this form field in relation to the top-left corner of its parent form or parent container.
X	–	The horizontal location of this form field.
Y	–	The vertical location of this form field.
Orientation	–	1 → This is a horizontal scroll bar; 2 → This is a vertical scroll bar.
Size	–	The size of this form field in pixels.
Width	–	The width of this form field.
Height	–	The height of this form field.
Visible	True	True → This form field will be visible by default.

– Behavior

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Anchoring	Top, Left	When the window associated with this form field’s parent form is resized: Top → The top edge of this form field will maintain its distance from the top edge of the window; Bottom → The bottom edge of this form field will maintain its distance from the bottom edge of the window; Left → The left edge of this form field will maintain its distance from the left edge of the window; Right → The right edge of this form field will maintain its distance from the right edge of the window; None → The same as Top, Left.
Auto Skip	False	True → The input focus will automatically skip to the next available form field after the value or state of this form field has been modified.
Docking	None	Top → The top edge of the form field will be expanded and placed; Bottom → ; Left → ; Right → ; Fill → ; None → This form field.

– Callback Events

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
All Callback Events		When any of the following callback event attributes is set to True, this form field will be able to trigger the corresponding callback event; After the event is triggered, the form input command will be terminated and the following values will populate the Event Vector: Event.EventType = “FormField”; Event.EventTag = the form field’s Field Tag attribute; Additional values relative to specific callback events (see below); Note: Callback events can only be triggered by a form field if it is available and contained in a form that has input focus.
Click	False	Triggered when the left mouse button is clicked within this form field; Event.EventName = “Click” added to the Event Vector.
Got Focus	False	Triggered when a mouse click, a tab key press or an accelerator key press causes this form field to acquire the input focus; Event.EventName = “GotFocus” added to the Event Vector.
Lost Focus (Always)	False	Triggered when a mouse click, a tab key press or an accelerator key press causes this form field to lose the input focus; Event.EventName = “LostFocus” added to the Event Vector.
Lost Focus (When Modified)	False	Triggered when a mouse click, a tab key press or an accelerator key press causes this form field to lose the input focus after its value has been modified (cf. Modified below); Event.EventName = “LostFocusModified” added to the Event Vector.
Modified	False	Triggered when the value or state of this form field is modified by a left mouse button click; Event.EventName = “Modified” added to Event Vector.
Right Click	False	Triggered when the right mouse button is clicked on or inside this form field; Event.EventName = “RightClick” added to the Event Vector.

– Colors

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Inherit Background Color	variable	True → The form field or container will inherit the background color of its parent container or parent form object.
Inherit Foreground Color	variable	True → The form field or container will inherit the foreground color of its parent container or parent form object.

– Properties

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Availability	Available	The way in which the end-user will interact with this form field: Available → This form field can receive input focus and its contents can be modified; Unavailable → This form field cannot receive input focus and its contents cannot be modified; Guarded → This form field can receive input focus but its contents cannot be modified; Protected → This form field cannot receive input focus, its contents cannot be modified and it will appear grayed-out;
Default Data Value	“”	The default data value of this form field.
Minimum Value	0	The scroll bar data value when the bar is at the leftmost or rightmost position;
Maximum Value	100	The scroll bar data value when the bar is at the topmost or bottommost position;
Small Increment	1	The value that will be added to, or subtracted from, this scroll bar’s value when one of the arrows is clicked.
Large Increment	10	The value that will be added to, or subtracted from, this scroll bar’s value when one of the trough areas is clicked.
Tab Index	0	The relative position of this form field in the tab sequence order for its parent container or form field; 0 → The relative position of the form field in the structure chart will be used instead.
Tab Stop	True	True → This form field will be included in the tab order for its parent container or form; False →
Z-Order	>= 10001	The relative depth of this form field in relation to other form fields within the same parent container or form.

The Radio Button

Main Characteristics of Radio Buttons

Radio button form fields belong to the generic classes of form field called “Toggle Buttons” if owned by an object other than an option box form field, or “Option Buttons” if owned by an option box form field. They are most commonly used for supporting On/Off or True/False type data values, although they are not restricted to these value types. Multiple radio buttons owned by the same parent object cannot be in the “On” state simultaneously.

Radio buttons can be text-based or image-based. Text radio buttons are displayed as the familiar “circle” immediately followed by some descriptive text. The value state of a text radio button is “On” if the circle portion contains another solid circle and “Off” if no solid circle is present. Image radio buttons are displayed as an image with no associated text or circle portion. The value state of an image radio button (more appropriately, “image toggle button” or “image option button”) is determined by which one of the two possible images is displayed. The physical dimensions of an image radio button are controlled by the selected automatic sizing option.

Radio Button Attributes

– Identification

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Field Type	–	The type of this form field or of this user interface object. (Read-only).
Field Name	variable	A string that identifies this form field within the Zim application; Automatically assigned by the Zim IDE when a new form field is created; May be changed by the developer, but must always conform to the Zim Object Naming Rules and satisfy the Zim Object Uniqueness Conditions.
Field Number	0	A number that may be used to identify this form field within the Zim application and in Callback Events; May be changed by the developer and need not be unique; Value must be an integer between 0 and 999;
Field Tag	“”	A string that may be used to identify this form field within the Zim application and in Callback Events; May be changed by the developer and need not be unique; If left blank, the Zim IDE will assign the value of Field Name to Field Tag.
Directory	ZIM	The directory that owns the parent form of this form field (Read-only).
Form Name	–	A string that identifies the parent form of this form field (Read-only).
Help Message	“”	A help message that will be displayed when this form field or this menu item receives input focus; Displayed in the status bar of the window associated with the parent form of this form field (if the window object’s Status Bar attribute is set to True); Displayed in a message field if one such field exists in the parent form of this form field.

– Appearance

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Customized Pointer	default	The pointer (or cursor) style when the pointer is hovering over (or the cursor is inside) an available form field; May be selected from the following choices in the list box: Arrow → the standard arrow cursor; Cross-hair → ; I-Beam → ; Icon → ; Resize → ; Size NE SW → ; Size NS → ; Size NW SE → ; Size WE → ; Up Arrow → ; Hourglass → ; default → The pointer style will be I-Beam for Entry Field and Arrow for all other form fields.
Label	???	The label text which appears inside or along the top border of the form field; A character in the label will be underlined if there is an ampersand (&) immediately before it.
Location	–	The location (in pixels) of this form field in relation to the top-left corner of its parent form or parent container.
X	–	The horizontal location of this form field.
Y	–	The vertical location of this form field.
Reverse Video	False	True → The text will appear in white on a black background; False → The text will appear in black on a white background;
Size	–	The size of this form field in pixels.
Width	–	The width of this form field.
Height	–	The height of this form field.
Visible	True	True → This form field will be visible by default.

– Behavior

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Anchoring	Top, Left	When the window associated with this form field’s parent form is resized: Top → The top edge of this form field will maintain its distance from the top edge of the window; Bottom → The bottom edge of this form field will maintain its distance from the bottom edge of the window; Left → The left edge of this form field will maintain its distance from the left edge of the window; Right → The right edge of this form field will maintain its distance from the right edge of the window; None → The same as Top, Left.
Auto Select	False	True → The contents or state of this form field will be automatically highlighted when it receives input focus.
Auto Skip	False	True → The input focus will automatically skip to the next available form field after the value or state of this form field has been modified.
Docking	None	Top → The top edge of the form field will be expanded and placed; Bottom → ; Left → ; Right → ; Fill → ; None → This form field.

– Callback Events

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
All Callback Events		When any of the following callback event attributes is set to True, this form field will be able to trigger the corresponding callback event; After the event is triggered, the form input command will be terminated and the following values will populate the Event Vector: Event.EventType = “FormField”; Event.EventTag = the form field’s Field Tag attribute; Additional values relative to specific callback events (see below); Note: Callback events can only be triggered by a form field if it is available and contained in a form that has input focus.
Click	False	Triggered when the left mouse button is clicked within this form field; Event.EventName = “Click” added to the Event Vector.
Got Focus	False	Triggered when a mouse click, a tab key press or an accelerator key press causes this form field to acquire the input focus; Event.EventName = “GotFocus” added to the Event Vector.
Lost Focus (Always)	False	Triggered when a mouse click, a tab key press or an accelerator key press causes this form field to lose the input focus; Event.EventName = “LostFocus” added to the Event Vector.
Lost Focus (When Modified)	False	Triggered when a mouse click, a tab key press or an accelerator key press causes this form field to lose the input focus after its value has been modified (cf. Modified below); Event.EventName = “LostFocusModified” added to the Event Vector.
Modified	False	Triggered when the value or state of this form field is modified by a left mouse button click; Event.EventName = “Modified” added to Event Vector.
Right Click	False	Triggered when the right mouse button is clicked on or inside this form field; Event.EventName = “RightClick” added to the Event Vector.

– Colors

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Background Color	variable	The background color of the form field, container or user interface object in R(ed) G(reen) B(lue) values;
Foreground Color	variable	The foreground color of the form field, container or user interface object in R(ed) G(reen) B(lue) values.
Inherit Background Color	variable	True → The form field or container will inherit the background color of its parent container or parent form object.
Inherit Foreground Color	variable	True → The form field or container will inherit the foreground color of its parent container or parent form object.

– Properties

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Availability	Available	The way in which the end-user will interact with this form field: Available → This form field can receive input focus and its contents can be modified; Unavailable → This form field cannot receive input focus and its contents cannot be modified; Guarded → This form field can receive input focus but its contents cannot be modified; Protected → This form field cannot receive input focus, its contents cannot be modified and it will appear grayed-out;
Off-State Value	0	The data value when this form field is in the Off state;
On-State Value	1	The data value when this form field is in the On state;
On-State Validation Rule	1	The data validation rule that defines a legal value for this form field in the On state;
Tab Index	0	The relative position of this form field in the tab sequence order for its parent container or form field; 0 → The relative position of the form field in the structure chart will be used instead.
Tab Stop	True	True → This form field will be included in the tab order for its parent container or form; False →
Z-Order	>= 10001	The relative depth of this form field in relation to other form fields within the same parent container or form.

– Style

Attribute Name	Default Value	Description
Font	Microsoft Sans Serif, 8pt	The font in which text will be displayed inside this form field.
Name	Microsoft Sans Serif	The system name of the selected font.
Size	8	The size of the font in units. (Point is the default unit);
Bold	False	True → The text inside this form field will appear in bold.
Italic	False	True → The text inside this form field will appear in italic.
Strikeout	False	True → The text inside this form field will appear with a line across.
Underline	False	True → The text inside this form field will appear underlined.
Inherit Font	False	True → This form field will inherit all the Font attributes from its parent (form, frame or tab control).