Using visual user objects
You use visual user objects by placing them in a window or in a
custom visual user object.The techniques are similar whether you are
working in the Window painter or the User Object painter.
To place a user object
-
Open the window or custom visual user object in which you
want to place the visual user object. -
Click the User Object button in the PainterBar, or select
Insert>Control from the menu bar and then select User
Object. -
Select the user object you want to use and click the
location where you want the user object to display.PowerBuilder creates a descendant user object that inherits
its definition from the selected user object and places it in the
window or user object.
Dragging the user object from the System Tree
You can drag a user object from the System Tree to the Layout
view in the Window painter.
What you can do
After you place a user object in a window or a custom visual
user object, you can name it, size it, position it, write scripts for
it, and do anything else you can do with a control.
When you place the user object in a window, PowerBuilder assigns
it a unique name, just as it does when you place a control. The name
is a concatenation of the default prefix for a user object control
(initially, uo_) and a default suffix, which is a number that makes
the name unique.
You should change the default suffix to a suffix that has
meaning for the user object in your application.
For more information about naming, see Naming controls.
Writing scripts
When you place a user object in a window or a custom user
object, you are actually creating a descendant of the user object. All
scripts defined for the ancestor user object are inherited. You can
choose to override or extend those scripts.
For more information, see Using
inherited scripts.
You place a user object as a unit in a window (or another user
object). You cannot write scripts for individual controls in a custom
user object after placing it in a window or custom user object; you do
that only when you are defining the user object itself.
Placing a user object at
runtime
You can add a user object to a window at runtime using the
PowerScript functions OpenUserObject and OpenUserObjectWithParm in a
script. You can remove a user object from a window using the
CloseUserObject function.