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  1. Change the width property to 591 and the height property to 378. You may also change the size of the canvas by opening the Layout Editor, selecting the Show View menu option, and dragging the view edges to the proper location.
  2. Change the background color to "cyan."

The next step is to modify the form's window properties. Perform the following:

  1. Open the property sheet for window0 by highlighting this object and double-clicking the button to the left of the object.
  2. Change the title to "EMPLOYEE UPDATE." This name reflects the function of the form.
  3. Change the width property to 591 and the height property to 378.

You should now save and run the form. This can be done by pressing the Save button on the tool palette and then the Run button.

Figure 13.48 illustrates the executed form containing these changes.

FIG. 13.48
The Employee Update
form after resizing,
adding a window title,
and changing the canvas
color.




TIP
When you develop a form, remember to generate and run your form often. If you make a change you don't like, it is easier to identify the change if you haven't made a lot of changes since the last application run.

Looking at the executed form, notice that the fill color of the text items is "cyan." Make the Text item fill color white.

  1. Open the Layout Editor.
  2. Select each of the text items. Hold the shift key down to avoid deselecting items.
  3. Open the Fill Color Palette. Click one of the white colors located on the bottom row of the palette.

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FIG. 13.49
The Layout Editor after
the text items have
been selected.


Because the text items are selected, change the font, by using these steps:

  1. Select the Format, Font menu option to display the Font dialog box.
  2. Select the "MS Sans Serif" font, the "bold" style, and size "8". Press the OK button to change the font format of the selected items.
NOTE
I prefer to use the MS Sans Serif font, style bold, size 8 for regular use. I use one of the Small Fonts when I need a smaller font.

The next step is to eliminate the block border. When Forms creates a default block, it places a frame around the block. The name of the block is also displayed within the frame.

  1. Open the Layout Editor.
  2. Select each component of the frame. Press the delete key.

Figure 13.50 shows the executed form with the changes. You might compare this figure to Figure 13.51 to see the effect of the formatting procedures.

The finished Employee Update form is to be a master-detail form, with a block containing tool records and a block containing eyeglass records. The form will also have a button palette, which means that the items on the form need to be moved and arranged to give room for these blocks. In addition, Forms placed the text items when the default form was created. The placement of the items does not make sense to the user, which makes the rearrangement of the text items a mandatory task.

To rearrange the text items, do the following:

  1. Select a text item and its associated boilerplate.
  2. Drag the selected items to their new location. Eyeball the placement and alignment of the items. Do not worry about perfect placement.
  3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for each of the items on the Employee Update form.

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FIG. 13.50
The executed Employee
Update form after the
fonts were changed and
the block frame was
deleted.


Figure 13.51 shows the Employee Update after the objects have been moved by using the "Eyeball" technique.

FIG. 13.51
The Employee Update
after the objects have
been moved to their
approximate location.


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The next move is to place the objects by using the Arrange/Alignment menu option. To do so, perform the following:

  1. Select each of the items on the top row.
  2. Select the Align Top option from the Align Objects dialog box. This aligns all of the items in the first row.
  3. The next step is to select the first-name, street, city, and state items.
  4. Use the Vertically Stack option from the Align Objects dialog box. This spreads the items evenly.
  5. Then align the items in each row with the street, city, and state items by selecting the items in each row and arranging them by using the Align Top option.

The final task is to perform the justification. Do so by performing the following:

  1. Selecting the text items employment-date, birth-date, current-position, and wages and align them by using the Align Left option.
  2. Then move the "Employment Date" boilerplate text to the desired position next to the text item.
  3. Select the "Birth Date," Current Position," and "Wages" boilerplate and align them by using the Align Right option.

This completes the arrangement of the first data column. Perform the same procedure on the remainder of the data columns, which completes the formatting of the master block. Figure 13.52 illustrates the final format. The form EMPCH14.FMB located on the CD contains the Employee Update form and the modifications discussed in this chapter. This form will be used in subsequent chapters.

FIG. 13.52
The final format of the
Employee Update
master block.


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Summary

The Layout Editor formats the Form canvas and has several different sections. The Layout menu has three special pull-down menus: View, Format, and Arrange.

The View menu changes the amount of the layout area that can be seen at one time. Showing less area is called Zooming In and showing more area is Zooming Out. The menu also has options to turn on or off some of the design aids. Some of these aids are the rulers, ruler guides, grid, page break, tool palette, or status bar. Finally, this menu has options to let you view stacked views.

The Format menu contains options to change fonts, item spacing, and text alignment. It is also used to change the weight of a line. The line can be changed to a dashed line or an arrow pointer.

The Arrange menu has options to rearrange overlapping objects. It also has a dialog box used to align or resize objects. Objects can also be placed into groups by using this menu.

The canvas-view has a number of properties. Some of the more common ones are the height, width, and background color of the canvas. The window object also has three important properties: height, width, and title.

From Here...

In the next chapter, you complete the Employee Update form first created in Chapter 11. The next chapter also covers form, block, and item properties, as well as the steps necessary to create a detail block.

Review Exercises

  1. Format the Employee form created in Chapter 12. This form will eventually contain a Tool block, Eyeglass block, and a button palette. The canvas-view for this form will be a content form. Be sure the name of the form is "Employee Update." You may use the form you created in Chapter 12, problem 1, or file A_12_01.FMB from the CD.
  2. Format the Department form created in Chapter 12. This form will eventually be called an Overlay the Employee form. The name of the form will be "Department Update." The form canvas should be stacked. The canvas should be positioned so that the form covers only the center portion of the maximized window. You may use the form you created in Chapter 12, problem 2, or file A_12_02.FMB from the CD.

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