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FIG. 13.5
The Layout Editor after
pressing the Normal
Size option.




FIG. 13.6
The Layout Editor after
pressing the Fit to
Window option.


The Rulers optionAlong the top and left borders of the layout area in Figure 13.6 are aseries of numbers and hash marks. These borders are called vertical and horizontal rulers, and are used to identify the relative position of objects. Each object that appears on the canvas has two properties: an x position coordinate and a y position coordinate. These coordinates refer to the top-left corner of the object. When manually setting these coordinates, or determining the size of the canvas or window, the ruler is a useful tool. The ruler scale in Figure 13.6 is in points. It can be changed to other metrics by using the Setting option on this menu. When the Ruler option is checked, the ruler is displayed as shown in Figure 13.6. When the option is unchecked, the ruler does not appear. This gives the developer slightly more room for the canvas in the layout area. Figure 13.7 displays the Layout Editor without the ruler guides.

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FIG. 13.7
The Layout Editor
without the horizontal
and vertical rulers.


The Ruler Guides optionThe Ruler Guides option places custom vertical and horizontal guide marks on the layout. To place a ruler guide, touch the ruler with the mouse pointer. Hold down the left mouse button, and drag the guide to the desired location. The top ruler creates horizontal guides and the left ruler creates vertical guides. Figure 13.8 illustrates a layout that contains several ruler guides. The vertical guides are located on x coordinates 22 and 181. The horizontal guides are located on y coordinates 89 and 203.

FIG. 13.8
The Layout Editor after
ruler guides are placed.


Clicking the Ruler Guides option shuts off the ruler guides function. The check mark next to the option also disappears. The ruler guides and the check mark reappear when the option is turned on. The ruler guides can be removed permanently by clicking on the guide, holding the left mouse button down, and dragging the guide to the ruler.

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NOTE
Sometimes it is extremely difficult to place ruler guides. You may have to repeatedly touch the edge of the ruler with the mouse pointer. It happens to experienced Forms designers also.

The Grid optionThe Grid option places grid lines in the layout area. The default setting is "checked," which means that the grid lines show. When the canvas appears in the layout area, it covers the grid lines. If you are going to use the grid to align your canvas objects, it is best not to display the canvas. For example, if you look at Figure 13.8, you do not see any grid lines. Figure 13.9 was captured with the Show Canvas option turned off. As you can see, the grid is a series of parallel horizontal and vertical lines, used to align objects.

FIG. 13.9
Using Grid lines with
the Show Canvas
option turned off.


The Grid Snap option The Grid Snap option is an excellent tool to use when arranging objects by using the grid. The option causes objects to automatically jump or "snap" to the nearest grid line, which makes it easy to align objects. One problem with this technique is that the spot the developer may want the object to appear on may not be a grid line. The object may not be placed at the desired position when grid snap is turned on. It is possible to change the snap points to alleviate this problem. This can be done by using the Settings/Ruler options discussed later in this part.

The object can be placed without snapping when the option is turned off. However it is sometimes difficult to align objects. Grid Snap can make the alignment of objects easier.

The Page Breaks optionThe Page Breaks option places a black line border in the layout area, designating the areas that will be printed on a page if the print command were issued. The default setting is "unchecked," which does not display the page breaks.

The Tool Palette and Status Bar optionsThe Tool Palette option closes the Layout Editor tool palette located on the left side of the screen. This increases the layout area workspace. The Status Bar option removes the status bar at the bottom of the screen, which also adds more space to the layout area. The default is for the tool palette and status bar to be displayed.

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The options will have a check mark to the left when they are displayed. Figure 13.10 shows the Layout Editor without the tool palette and status bar.

FIG. 13.10
The Layout Editor after
the Tool Palette and
Status Bar are removed.


The Settings optionWhen you select the Settings option, a submenu opens and displays two setting options: the Layout option at the top, and the Ruler option at the bottom. Select the layout option and the Layout Settings dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 13.11. This box is used to control the size of the layout area and the direction pages will be printed. The two bottom radiobuttons determine the printing direction. If the left button is pressed, Designer will print layout pages from left to right. If the other button is pressed, Designer will print layout pages from top to button.

FIG. 13.11
The Layout Settings
dialog box.


The two settings on the top left of the box determine the size of the layout area. In Figure 13.11, the horizontal setting, or work area, width is set at 8.5 inches. The vertical setting, or height, is set at 20 inches. The radio button on the top-right of the dialog box determines the unit of measure, which means that the work area or the maximum size of the canvas is 8.5 inches by 20 inches. This is larger than the size of the screen. Forms allow the developer the ability to create a canvas larger than the screen.

NOTE
I do not like to create canvases greater than the size of the maximized window on my PC screen. I find it a great inconvenience to have to use a vertical or horizontal scroll bar to see parts of the form. There are some cases for making the canvas bigger than the window, but I try to avoid them.

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