System Options 

System Defaults

 

If you are new to NOMADS, you may want to start your first session by establishing a set of system defaults to use as the common starting point for future GUI designs.

To invoke the System Defaults window, use one of the following methods:

Location

Method

From the PxPlus IDE Main Launcher

Expand the Graphical Application Builder (NOMADS) category and select System Defaults.

From the NOMADS Session Manager

Select Options > System Defaults from the menu bar.

These parameters are stored in the PxPlus keyed file providex.nmd. If this file does not exist when System Defaults is accessed, you will be prompted to create this file. Defaults may be overridden for individual libraries in the Library Defaults for that file.

Note:
Changes to System Defaults will not affect existing panels, only new ones.

This window consists of the following:

Panel Library Information

Language Suffix

Two-character default suffix for any new libraries created (e.g. .en where all libraries created will be library_name.en). See Multilingual Capabilities.

This is also the default suffix to try when opening a generic panel library (i.e. a library with no suffix) or if the specified library fails to open. See Cascading Language Suffixes.

Alternate Suffixes

Comma-separated list of alternate suffixes to try when opening a panel library (e.g. fr,es,de,).

These suffixes will be tried when opening the originally specified library and the library with the default suffix has failed. See Cascading Language Suffixes.

Panel Setup Defaults

Column

Starting column for the top left corner of any new panels created. Format mask is -##0. Valid entries are -620 to 620.

Line

Starting line for the top left corner of any new panels created. Format mask is -##0. Valid entries are -255 to 255.

Width

Width of any new panels created in number of columns. Format mask is -##0. Valid entries are 2 to 620.

Height

Height of any new panels created in number of lines. Format mask is -##0. Valid entries are 3 to 255.

(Drop Box)

Click the drop-down arrow to select the visual mode that will apply to all controls (except where overridden in Library Defaults).

Possible selections are Default, 2D Effect, 3D Effect, 4D Effect. Default assumes the currently set mnemonic in PxPlus.

See %NOMAD_Visual_Effect and %NOMAD_Visual_Override.

Suppress.VAL

Suppresses use of the .VAL suffix. Each panel control value is automatically placed into a variable ctl_name.VAL$.

Example:

A list box defined as LBOX_1 is found in the variable LBOX_1.VAL$ (or LBOX_1$ if .VAL is suppressed).

(Support for increased Column, Line, Width and Heights maximums was added in PxPlus 2021.)

Grid Definition Defaults

No Grid
Full Line
Half
Quarter
Fifth

These options define minimum increments for the height and location of a control when using the mouse or the Resize option in the NOMADS Panel Designer (see Panel Resizing).

Example:

If set to Full Line, the height of the control will automatically adjust (snap) to one line high when drawn and will resize in increments of one line (i.e. 2, 3, 4, etc.). Setting the grid to a smaller setting allows for finer control of resizing and movement.

Note:
Sizing can be overridden in the NOMADS Panel Designer by selecting Edit > Grid Alignment from the menu bar. See Menu Options.

Pathnames
Pathname Case

(Options Not Applicable to Current Windows Systems)