Appendix

Apostrophe Operator

Formats	1. Assign Property: object'property[$]=var[$] 2. Retrieve Property: var[$]=object'property[$] 3. Call a Method: var[$]=object'method[$](args) 4. List of Available Properties or Methods: var$=object'* Where
				'	Apostrophe Operator (sometimes called a tick)
			*		Asterisk to produce a comma-separated list of properties/methods available for a particular object; e.g., to list DROP_BOX properties
					(assuming dboxis a unique ctl_id):
					PRINT dbox'* Auto,BackColour,Col,Cols,CurrentItem,CtlName,Enabled
					,Eom,Focus,Font,Height,hWnd,Item,ItemCount,ItemText, Key,Left,Line,Lines,Msg,OnFocusCtl,Parent,Sep,SepLoa d,Tbl,TextColour,Tip,Top,Value,Visible,Width,
		args			Optional argument(s).
		method[$]			Name of a valid method/function in the given control/object. Method names are not case-sensitive. To query the list of available methods, use the syntax for asterisk '* described above
		object			Numeric variable containing the control value (handle) for the object.
		property[$]			Name of a valid property in the given control/object. Property names are not case-sensitive. To query the list of available properties, use the syntax for asterisk '* described above.
		var[$]			String or numeric variable.
*Note*	In the above syntax, ensure that numeric methods/properties correspond to numeric variables and that string methods/properties correspond to string variables; i.e., object'property$=var$ or var=object'method( ) on both sides of the equation.
Description	An apostrophe operator (tick) allows dynamic access to the properties and methods available for a given COM, OOP, or graphical object. While the syntax is generally the same for all object-oriented coding in ProvideX, the apostrophe operator can be used to read and alter properties, or execute methods, in a variety of different control and object types. For detailed information on the use of the apostrophe operator for specific application development purposes, refer to the following sources:   • ProvideX Event Handling documentation, Automation in ProvideX.   • ProvideX NOMADS Reference and related Direxions presentations.   • Control Object Properties, .   • Object Oriented Programming.
Examples	The first example creates a multi-line control, displays the properties available, changes the column width, and returns the current screen coordinates. ->multi_line 100,@(10,12,40,1) ->LET X=100 ->PRINT X'* Auto,BackColour,Col,Cols,CtlName,Enabled,Eom,Fmt,Focus,Font,Height,hWnd, ImpliedDecimal,Key,Left,Len,Line,Lines,Lock,MenuCtl,Msg,Nul,OnFocusCtl, Parent,Scroll,SelectLength,SelectOffset,SelectText,Sep,SignalOnExit, TextColour,Tip,Top,Uppercase,Value,Visible,Width, ->LET X'Cols=50 ! Make control 50 columns wide ->PRINT X'Col,X'Line ! Current screen coordinates of the multi-line 10 12 ->   The following example creates a grid containing 10 columns and 5 rows, then selects column two, row zero (which selects the entire column). Changing the value of the property sets the contents of all the selected cells to that value. ->GRID 10,@(10,10,40,5) ->Y=10 ->Y'ColumnsWide=10 ->Y'RowsHigh=5 ->Y'Column=2 ->Y'Row=0 ->Y'Value$="New Data"   This dynamically changes a property in one object based on the value of another: IF Country.ctl’alue$ = "CDN" \ THEN Zip'Fmt$="A0A 0A0" \ ELSE Zip'Fmt$="00000"   The following is a simple COM interface example that instantiates an Internet Explorer object, then displays the PVX website: DEF OBJECT IE, @(10,10,40,20)="Shell.Explorer" IE’Navigate2('www.pvx.com')   The following OOP example assumes the definition of a "Customer" object:   Cst= NEW ("Customer") Cst’Find("012345")