1 Eloquence Dialog System

Attributes

In order to reference an attribute, its name is appended to the object path separated by a period. Attribute names are not case-sensitive.

e.g. Dialog.Group.Radio1.ACTIVE

references the attribute ACTIVE of the object Radio1, which is in the groupbox "Group" in the dialog named "Dialog".

Attribute Types

• String - character string (terminated by \0)

• Integer

• Boolean - 0 (=no, off, False), 1 (=yes, on, True)

• Any - string or integer

• Base attributes - These attributes are available to all objects.

• Class-specific attributes - Each class defines additional attributes only available to objects of this class.

Base Attributes

class Attribute

x, y Attribute

w, h Attribute

The fgc, bgc Attributes

In ASCII it defines an display enhancement, because here are no colors available.

In Dialog Manager colors can be defined and selected with this two Attributes.

.fgc

Define dialog-object "foreground" enhancements or colors

.bgc

Define dialog-object "background" enhancements or colors

0

use default enhancement

+2

blinking video

+4

underline video

+8

half-bright video

For example:

   DLG SET "Dialog.EditText.fgc",9

For example:

   DLG SET "Dialog.EditText.fgc",Input

visible Attribute

sensitive Attribute

rule Attribute

• If the object class is PushButton and the object is "executed", the dialog will be suspended, returning the rule value. If the rule value is set to -1, the help subsystem will be called instead.

• If the object class is CheckBox, RadioButton or ListBox and the object is "executed", and the rule value is non-zero, the dialog will be suspended, returning the rule value. If the rule value is set to -1, the help subsystem will be called instead.

• In all other cases, if the focus will be moved from an object with a non-zero rule value, the dialog will be suspended, returning the rule value.

focus Attribute

So you may specify focus for parent object and the first child is selected.

focusobj

It can be read only and returns the Objectpath of the object which has the focus currently.

The kbind Attribute

It makes it possible to override the default keyboard handling for a specific object by assigning a rule for a key value.

For example:

The following statement assigns a rule value of 103 for a PageDown key (which has a key code of 338):

   DLG SET "Object.kbind[338]",103

The kbind attribute affects the actual object and its child objects. If you define a kbind attribute for a GroupBox, it is also active for all child objects. A different definition in a child object has priority over a parent definition.

The following GET and SET operations on the kbind attribute are defined:

• If a zero is assigned to a kbind attribute or a kbind attribute with index zero, all key assignments are removed. For example:

• If a zero value is assigned to a kbind index, the specified key assignment will be removed. For example:

• If a nonzero value is assigned to a kbind index, the specified key will be assigned with the given rule value. For example:

• The value returned by a kbind attribute or a kbind attribute with an zero index is the number of kbind assignments. For example:

• The value returned by a kbind attribute with an index N is the Nth key assignment. For example:

The following example program will demonstrate the various DLG GET/SET operations on the kbind attribute:

   DLG SET "Object.kbind",0	! Clear all key assignments
   DLG SET "Object.kbind[65]",20	! 'A' returns 20
   DLG SET "Object.kbind[32]",21	! space returns 21
   DLG GET "Object.kbind",Nkeys		! Get number of values
   DISP "Nkeys=";Nkeys
   FOR I=1 TO Nkeys	! Get all values
      DLG GET "Object.kbind["&VAL$(I)&"]",K
      DISP "kbind["&VAL$(I)&"]=";K
   NEXT I

• The ESC key (27)

• The BREAK key (0) and the ^Y key (25)

• The ^L key (12)

• The ^N key (14)

• The Insert key (331)

• The key assigned to the alt attribute.

help Attribute

udata Attribute

first, next Attribute

The .next attribute returns the next dialog name when used without an object name. If an object name is provided, it returns the next object name.

An empty string is returned if requested information is not available (e.g., no child or last object).

alt Attribute

The alt attribute is only available for the Dialog Object. If it is nonzero, it is the key number of the key to be used as an ALT key in this dialog. The alt attribute must be defined in order to enable keyboard accelerators in the dialog (see below).

With Dialog Manager the "Alt"-Key is used to work with keyboard accelarators.

Keyboard Accelerators

NOTE: If you want to display a "&" in a StaticText of an ASCII DLG Dialog, you must not define the alt attribute. In a Dialog Manager Dialog you have to define three "&" to display an "&".

If the alt attribute is enabled in the dialog, pressing the ALT key (In ASCII DLG: specified by the alt attribute) and a keyboard accelerator, causes the focus to change to the first object defining the accelerator key.

If the object type is StaticText, keyboard focus is changed to the next object in Tab order. If the object type is of type CheckBox, RadionButton or PushButton, the object is selected.

If pressing a key which is not accepted by the current object (the object which has the focus), it will be used as an accelerator.

For example, pressing an alphanumeric key while the current object is of type PushButton will cause an accelerator lookup.

Example for an ASCII DLG dialogfile:

      Dialog Sample {
         ...
         .alt = 266    # Alt key is F2    

         StaticText Label1 {
            ...
            .text = "Label &1"
         }
         EditText Edit {
            ...
         }
         PushButton OK {
            ...
            .text = "&OK"
         }
      }