Drawing and Modifying Panel Objects 

Accessing the properties of panel objects provides one method for controlling the appearance and functionality of panel components. The Panel Designer work area includes several handy tools for copying, moving and resizing objects in a panel, which automatically updates associated design properties in the process.

Helpful Tip:
The properties of panel objects can be accessed by right clicking on a selected object and choosing Properties from the popup menu.

Moving/Resizing Components

To move an object using the mouse, click and drag the object to a new location. During this action, the mouse pointer changes to crossed arrows and a tooltip shows the object's changing coordinates.

Note:
To display a floating tooltip showing the name and position/size co-ordinates for a selected object, the Show Tooltip option (on the Panel menu) must be set to On.

Release the mouse when the object is positioned in its new location. The status bar at the bottom of the Panel Designer shows the coordinates of the new location (Col, Ln).

To resize an object using the mouse, select the object and then position the mouse pointer on the dotted outline until the pointer changes to a double-headed arrow. Click and drag the mouse to resize the dotted outline. A tooltip shows the object's changing coordinates.

Release the mouse when the object has reached the desired size. The status bar at the bottom of the Panel Designer shows the new dimensions (Wd, Hi).

Helpful Tip:
To correct any unwanted changes, use the Undo button.

Alternate Methods for Moving/Resizing

Besides using the mouse, other methods are available for changing the size and placement of a panel object. Once an object is selected in the Panel Designer, you can change the coordinate values directly in the object's properties window, or use the keyboard and menu options.

The arrow keys can be used to move or resize a selected object:

Different menu bar and hot key options are also available for modifying an object. To access moving mode, select the Edit > Move menu option or use the hot-key combination Alt + E to invoke the Edit menu and then press M for Move. To access resizing mode, select the Edit > Size menu option or use the hot-key combination Alt + E to invoke the Edit menu and then press S for Size.

For a list of the standard edit keys and hot keys, see Edit Keys.

Duplicating Components

To copy an object, several methods are available:

For a list of the standard edit keys and hot keys, see Edit Keys.

Moving/Resizing Multiple Components

Two methods are available for selecting a group of objects for modification:

• Select the Group Items tool in the Controls Toolbar. Use the mouse pointer to draw a selection box around the group of objects. Releasing the mouse button selects all the objects within the selection box.

• Hold down the Shift key and left click on each object in the group to draw a dotted outline around each object. This method allows multiple objects to be selected.

Moving a Group of Objects

Select the group of objects using one of the methods above. Then, position the mouse pointer over one of the selected objects in the group. Click and drag the dotted selection box to the new location. Releasing the mouse button moves all of the objects in the group to the new location.

Resizing a Group of Objects

Select the group of objects using one of the methods above. Then, position the mouse pointer over the dotted outline of a selected object in the group until the pointer changes to a double-headed arrow. Click and drag the dotted selection box to increase/decrease the dimensions. Releasing the mouse button resizes all of the objects in the group.

The Panel Bulk Edit Utility can also be used to modify the height/width of several objects simultaneously.

Note:
When moving Fixed Text controls as part of a group of selected objects, set the Grid Alignment option (Edit menu) to Full Line for best results. The reason is that Fixed Text controls can move only one full line at a time; therefore, any other grid alignment setting may produce unexpected results.

Alignment and Distribution of Multiple Objects

To justify or space a group of objects uniformly, follow these steps:

Example:

To give you an example of how the alignment/distribution rules work, if you select three controls to Align Right, then the right alignment (justification) for all three selected controls will be based on the right most control (not the first control selected).