Field Appearance

Masks

 

Set Field_Mask Field Orderhea.Order_Date To "mm-dd-yyyy"

Set Field_Mask_Type Field Orderhea.Order_Date To MASK_DATE_WINDOW

Masks are used within DataFlex windows applications to:

 

Masking is not validation and should not be used as a validation technique.

Masks are defined by setting two field properties: Field_Mask_Type and Field_Mask.

Masking is discussed in more detail in Masks in Windows Applications.

Labels

 

Set Field_Label_Long Field Orderhea.Terms To "Terms of Payment"

Set Field_Label_Short Field Orderhea.Terms To "Terms"

Long and Short labels may be assigned to every field. Long and short field labels are defined using the Field_Label_Long and Field_Label_Short properties.

When getting the value of a label you should use the Field_Label function.

Get Field_Label Field DD_LABEL_SHORT To sHeaderName

Get Field_Label Field DD_LABEL_LONG  To sLabel

The Field_Label (and File_Field_Label) function provides additional flexibility in determining a label’s value.

 

The same logic is applied when the Studio or the Wizards are used to design views and reports. The Studio will apply the long label whenever a form-style control and reports (e.g., dbForm, dbComboForm) are created. The studio will apply a short label when column style controls and reports are created (e.g., dbGrid).

Status Help

 

Set Status_Help field Cust.Status to "Customer is (A)ctive or (I)nactive"

Status_Help defines a status-help text line for the field. Entry objects will use this to display status-bar help. When the user moves the cursor to a data-entry object for the field, the Status Help is displayed in the status bar.

Enter text that will aid the user with data entry to this field.

Windows Controls

 

Set Field_Class_Name field Cust.Address to "cDbAddressForm"

Field_Class_Name assigns the class name of a specific control to each field. By default, the Studio will use this information to determine the class of control that is created whenever the field is dragged onto a component. This setting does not stop you from explicitly choosing a different control class for the field in the Studio, or from changing the class of control on an individual basis; it is only the default.

If you leave this blank, the Studio will determine the best control to use for the field. The Studio does a good job of assigning the right control, so this property will usually be left empty.

You can enter any class name in this form. If you enter the name of a non-standard class, then the class must be correctly registered with the Studio before it can be used.

See Also

Defining Data Dictionary Field Attributes