General Information

Form objects are just that, objects that you can place on forms. They will control almost all of the interaction your user will have with your program. For those of you familiar with Windows programming we have removed many of the properties that are available in these objects. Some we have added that are specific to TAS Professional. The ones we have removed you won't miss. If you want the kind of control you get with some esoteric property you might you once and never again, you should be writing applications in a different language. If you want to be able to create applications quickly and easily, something not normally associated with graphical interfaces such as Windows, you've come to the right place.

Properties are features of objects that effect how they look, how they operate, and the information they return to you. In general, all of these properties can be modified at both design and runtime. There is a list of some properties that are common to many of the objects; what they are, what they're used for, their type, etc. These are defined in separate sections under Common Properties rather than over and over again each object.

All properties have some sort of editor connected to them. Some allow a string of characters to be entered, some a list of strings, and some as simple as a check mark. In the Property Editor section we explain each of those that involve more than just an entry of a string, integer, or True/False choice.

If the property can be accessed at runtime using the SET_OBJECT command the property is listed as being modifiable at runtime. Properties that can be modified can also be read through the use of the GET_OBJ_PROP() function.

For each object you will see the appropriate icon on the object palate, a description of what the object is used for, a list of properties that are unique to that object (or haven't been previously defined in Common Properties) and any Events that apply to that object.

Most every object (at least those that allow user interaction) have what we call Events. These are slightly different than what you might be used to if you've programmed in Delphi or VB or a similar language. These Events are closely linked with the code that you will create in the source code editor and are used to execute sections of code. Information on how to correctly program the event call is part of each appropriate object.

For more information about how objects are placed on a form, moved around, or removed please refer to the tutorial, specifically PART 3 - CREATING A NEW SALES PROGRAM. or Screen Painter Overview

NOTE: All objects have properties that have check marks as the value. These are actually True/False properties and can be set at runtime by setting the property to .True. to make it checked or .False. to clear the check mark.

NOTE: In objects such as buttons, menus, etc., you are able to specify a caption that appears to the user and can be 'clicked' using the mouse. When specifying the caption you can include in the string an ampersand (&) symbol, for example, &Help. When the caption is displayed the H in Help will be underlined. The user can press the ALT+H keys and this will have the same effect as if they had clicked the item with the mouse. A good example of where this is commonly used is in the main menu for a form (appears at the top of the form). The first option is almost always File and the F has been marked so that the user can press the ALT+F key to display the options for that menu. Sub menus are slightly different in that once the menu is displayed you no longer have to press the ALT key also. The ampersand can be anywhere in the string, however, you want to make sure that there are no duplicates or the program won't know which one to pick.

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