Button Control |
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When a user clicks a Button in a graphical application, it is usually defined to send a signal to the application to perform a specific action. NOMADS allows you to customize the Button's appearance and various other characteristics; i.e. use graphics that correspond to object states, create a tool bar-style appearance that looks 3-D on a mouse-over, or add hover text similar to links on a Web page.
To draw a new Button control on a panel, select the Button control tool from the Controls Toolbar. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse to create a rectangle to the desired size. Release the mouse button to create the new object.
For making other adjustments, see Modifying Objects.
To define the specific attributes for the new control, see Button Properties.
When creating or editing a Button control, the Button Properties dialogue (pictured below using the Folder Style version of the NOMADS Panel Designer) is displayed.
This dialogue is divided into the following tabbed panels for viewing and/or changing Button properties: Display, Font/Color, Attributes, Logic and User Aid.
Unique name of the Button control (NOMADS provides a default). Naming conventions for variables apply. Click the Browse Library button to copy parameters from an existing object (via the Library Browse dialogue). Note: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class |
Associate a data class for preloading information (e.g. size, description, input methodology, default values, etc.). Click the Query button (binoculars) to select a predefined class. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preview |
Displays how the visible properties of the control will appear at run time. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Text |
Sets the Button text. Click the drop-down arrow for a list of selections: Fixed, Expression, Message Library Reference. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bitmaps |
Sets the Button bitmap. Click the Bitmap Library button to select a bitmap from the Bitmaps dialogue.
(The Center/Scale alignment and Scale bitmap options were added in PxPlus 2019 Update 1.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(Available when Bitmaps for Normal/Pushed are selected) Sets advanced image options for the bitmap. Click the Additional Image Options button to the right of the Image Options multi-line to invoke the Image Options dialogue. This dialogue consists of the following:
Note:
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Position |
(Support for increased Column and Line maximums was added in PxPlus 2021.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Size |
(Support for increased Width and Height maximums was added in PxPlus 2021.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
General Attributes |
Optional attributes for Tab Stop, Initially Disabled and Initially Hidden. (See Attributes.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Font Specification |
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Color |
(The Color Selections Query button and dialog were added in PxPlus 2020.) Note: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Attributes |
Optional attributes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alignment |
Sets the text alignment on the Button. Defaults to Center when defining a Button control with text only or with both text and bitmap(s), but this can be changed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Visual Class |
Assign a visual class to the control. Click the Visual Class Maintenance button to launch the Visual Classes Maintenance utility for creating or editing visual classes. To assign visual classes to controls at the library level, see Visual Class Assignment. Note:
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iNomads Class |
Assign an iNomads class to the control. The iNomads class contains class attribute references used when defining the control in the HTML code generated in iNomads. An iNomads class reference must start with an alpha character (A-Z or a-z), followed by any combination of A-Z, a-z, 0-9, underscore or dash. Multiple references may be entered, separated by a space. For a list of pre-defined classes, see iNomads Classes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Attributes |
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User-Defined Tag Field |
For controls, data/tag field which can be used to pass information on such things as formatting, error messages or validation rules. Field contents are placed in a variable using the control name with a .TAG$ extension. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Default Program |
Displays the name of the Default Program used in the Panel Header definition. (The Default Program was added for display in PxPlus 2019.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prior Button Display |
Logic to be processed prior to creation of the Button. Click the drop-down arrow for a list of selections. See Events Logic. Click the Program Logic button beside the Perform or Call action to launch the default program editor, which is typically the *IT - Integrated Toolkit. To make Ed+ the default program editor, change the setting for the %NOMADS'Program_Editor property to Ed+. (The ability to set Ed+ as the default program editor was added in PxPlus 2023.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
When Receiving Focus |
Logic to execute when the control receives focus. Click the drop-down arrow for a list of selections. See Events Logic. Click the Program Logic button beside the Perform or Call action to launch the default program editor, which is typically the *IT - Integrated Toolkit. To make Ed+ the default program editor, change the setting for the %NOMADS'Program_Editor property to Ed+. (The ability to set Ed+ as the default program editor was added in PxPlus 2023.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
When Button Pressed |
Logic to be executed when focus leaves the control or the state of the control has changed. Click the drop-down arrow for a list of selections. See Events Logic. Click the Program Logic button beside the Perform or Call action to launch the default program editor, which is typically the *IT - Integrated Toolkit. To make Ed+ the default program editor, change the setting for the %NOMADS'Program_Editor property to Ed+. (The ability to set Ed+ as the default program editor was added in PxPlus 2023.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Help Reference |
Help text to be invoked at run time by pressing Shift - F1 while focus is on a control.
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Floating Tip |
Mouse pointer message for the control (Fixed value, string Expression or Message Library Reference). You can customize the floating tip by adding a tip title, descriptive tip text and a hyperlink. These features enhance the visual display and functionality of the tip by providing users with much needed information at their fingertips. You can define either a Standard tip or an HTML tip that provides a simplified HTML Editor for customizing the tip text. To do this, click the button to the right of the Floating Tip multi-line input to invoke the Define Info Tip dialogue. See Defining an Info Tip. Note:
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Message Bar |
Text to be displayed in the panel's status bar when focus is on the control (Fixed value, string Expression or Message Library Reference). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Security |
Security restrictions. See Restricting Access for information on Object Security Definition. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Groups |
Assign the control to a group. See Group Assignment. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Popup Menu |
Associate a popup menu that will appear when you right-click the mouse over the selected control. See Popup Menu. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes |
Add notes/comments for the control. Maximum 1024 characters. These notes also display in the Wiki Help documentation for the panel. See NOMADS Wiki Help. (The Notes button was added in PxPlus 2023.) |
BUTTON Properties
BUTTON Directive