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CHAPTER 13

Formatting Your Form

This chapter covers the Layout Editor, a screen painter used to format a form. The chapter also discusses the formatting options available, including arranging and coloring items, adding text, placing images, changing fonts, viewing options, and formatting the form created in Chapter 12.

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NOTE
The figures in this chapter use several different files. The last section about Formatting the Employee form uses file EMPCH13.FMB. It contains the block created in Chapter 12. This file is used in many of the figures that require a form. Figures 13.13 to 13.15 use the SHOWVIEW.FMB file. Figure 13.31 uses the MOVE.FMB. These files are all contained on the CD. The remainder of the figures used a blank form that was not saved.

The Layout Editor

The Layout Editor is the Forms screen that allows the developer to customize the canvas used in the form. A canvas may contain a variety of objects, such as boilerplate text that describes an object, text items that contain database values, images, pushbuttons, radio buttons, check boxes, and other graphic features. You can size, shape, color, and move each of these items around the screen by using the tools on the Layout Editor.

You can start the Layout Editor by following either of these steps.

  1. Open the Object Navigator, expand the canvas object, and double-click the button to the left of the canvas name. The selected canvas appears in the Layout Editor.
  2. Select Layout Editor from the Tools menu. The canvas for the currently selected object appears in the Layout Editor.

Figure 13.1 illustrates the Layout Editor. The figure contains the default canvas for the Employee Update form created at the end of Chapter 12.

NOTE
You may view the canvas displayed in Figure 13.1 by opening the sample form you created in Chapter 12 or by using the EMPCH13.FMB form on the CD. The figures in this chapter were taken by using the EMPCH13.FMB form file.

FIG. 13.1
The Layout Editor
containing the Employee
Update form.


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The Layout Editor has the following four components:

Menu Bar The menu bar has two types of pull-down menus. The first is the default options used for file management and editing. These options are available at all times on the menu. The second is available only when the Layout Editor is the active screen. The Layout Editor menu bar has three of these menus: View, Format, and Arrange.
Top Tool Bar This toolbar is similar to the Object Navigator toolbar. It contains a vari- ety of buttons, such as Save file, Run the file, and Copy properties.
Tool Palette Located on the left-hand side of the Layout Editor, the tool palette con- tains an array of formatting tools Layout Editor uses to create boilerplate text, form items, color form objects, and create images.
Layout The layout area is the central part of the Layout Editor and is used to format the canvas. The functions contained on the tool palette and menu bar are applied to objects in this area.

The Layout Edit Menu Bar

The Layout Editor Menu bar has three pull-down menus available only when the Layout Editor is the active screen. The first menu is View, and is used to change the way the layout area looks to the developer. The second is Format, which contains options that allow the developer to change the way an object looks. The third is Arrange, which is used to position objects on the canvas. Each menu is discussed in more detail in the following sections.

The View Pull-Down Menu

The View pull-down menu has a number of options used to rearrange the way the layout area is viewed. Changing the view can aid the developer in formatting the canvas. Figure 13.2 illustrates the View pull-down menu.

FIG. 13.2
The View pull-down
menu.


The Zoom In optionThe first section of the menu controls the amount of the viewing area the developer can see at a given time. At times it is advantageous to see smaller or larger areas of the canvas. The first option on the menu is Zoom In. This option makes objects look larger by causing forms to show less area in the layout area. Figure 13.3 shows the example screen used in Figures 13.1 and 13.2 after pressing the Zoom In option once.

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FIG. 13.3
The Layout Editor after
performing a Zoom In.


The Zoom Out optionThe Zoom Out option does the exact opposite of Zoom In—it makes the objects look smaller by displaying more of the layout area. Figure 13.4 shows the Layout Editor after pressing the Zoom Out option twice.

FIG. 13.4
The Layout Editor after
Zooming Out twice.


The Normal Size optionThe next option is the Normal Size option. It does as its name suggests—returns the layout to the default size. Figure 13.5 illustrates the example form after selecting the Normal Size option.

The Fit to Window optionThe last option in the first section of the View menu is Fit to Window. This option reduces the size of the layout area so that the entire work area can be seen at one time. Figure 13.6 illustrates the layout when you select this option.

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