Working in the DataWindow painter

The DataWindow painter provides views related to the DataWindow object you
are working on. Interacting with these views is how you work in
the DataWindow painter.

The following picture shows a DataWindow object in the DataWindow painter with
the default layout.

Design view

The Design view at the top left shows a representation of
the DataWindow object and its controls. You use this view to design the
layout and appearance of the DataWindow object. Changes you make are immediately
shown in the Preview view and the Properties view.

Preview view

The Preview view in the middle on the left shows the DataWindow object with data
as it will appear at runtime. If the Print Preview toggle is selected,
you see the DataWindow object as it would appear when printed.

Export/Import Template view
for
XML

The Export/Import Template view for XML at the bottom
left shows a default template for exporting and importing data in
XML format. You can define custom templates for import and export.
The templates are saved with the DataWindow object. For more information,
see Chapter 29, “Exporting and Importing
XML Data.”

Export Template view for XHTML

The Export Template view for XHTML (not shown; see XHTML tab
at the bottom left) shows a default template for exporting data
in XHTML format. You can define custom XHTML export templates for
customizing XML Web DataWindow generation. The templates are saved
with the DataWindow object. For more information, see the DataWindow Programmer’s
Guide
.

Properties view

The Properties view at the top right displays the properties
for the currently selected control(s) in the DataWindow object, for the
currently selected band in the DataWindow object, or for the DataWindow object itself.
You can view and change the values of properties in this view.

Control List view

The Control List view in the stacked pane at the bottom right
lists all controls in the DataWindow object. Selecting controls in this
view selects them in the Design view and the Properties view. You
can also sort controls by Control Name, Type, or Tag.

Data view

The Data view in the stacked pane at the bottom right displays
the data that can be used to populate a DataWindow object and allows manipulation
of that data.

Column Specifications view

The Column Specifications view in the stacked pane at the
bottom right shows a list of the columns in the data source. For
the columns, you can add, modify, and delete initial values, validation
expressions, and validation messages. You can also specify that
you want a column to be included in a prompt for retrieval criteria
during data retrieval. To add a column to the DataWindow object, you can
drag and drop the column from the Column Specifications view to
the Design view. For external or stored procedure data sources,
you can add, delete, and edit columns (column name, type, and length).

Understanding the DataWindow painter Design view

For most presentation styles, the DataWindow painter Design view is
divided into areas called bands. Each band corresponds to a section
of the displayed DataWindow object.

DataWindow objects with these presentation styles are divided into
four bands: header, detail, summary, and footer. Each band is identified
by a bar containing the name of the band above the bar and an Arrow
pointing to the band.

These bands can contain any information you want, including
text, drawing controls, graphs, and computed fields containing aggregate
totals.

The following picture shows the Design view for a tabular DataWindow object.

Table 19-1: Bands in the DataWindow painter Design view

Band	Used to display
Header	Information at the top of every screen or page, such as the name of the report or current date
Detail	Data from the database or other data source
Summary	Summary information that displays after all the data, such as totals and counts
Footer	Information displayed at the bottom of every page or screen, such as page number and page count

The header band

The header band contains heading information that is displayed
at the top of every screen or page. The presentation style
determines the contents of the header band:

• If the presentation style is Tabular, Grid, or N-Up,
  the headings defined for the columns in the Database painter display in
  the header band and the columns display on a single line across
  the detail band
• If the presentation style is Freeform, the header
  band is empty and labels display in the detail band next to each
  column

You can specify additional heading information (such as a
date) in the header band and you can include pictures, graphic controls,
and color to enhance the appearance of the band.

Displaying the current date To include the current date in the header, you place a computed
field that uses the Today DataWindow expression function in the header
band. For information, see “Adding computed fields to
a DataWindow object”

The detail band

The detail band displays the retrieved data. It is also where
the user enters new data and updates existing data. The number of
rows of data that display in the DataWindow object at one time is determined
by the following expression:

The presentation style determines the contents of the detail
band:

• If the presentation style is Tabular, Grid, N-Up,
  or Label, the detail band displays column names, representing the
  columns
• If the presentation style is Freeform, the labels
  defined for the columns in the Database painter display in the detail
  band with boxes for the data to the right

How PowerBuilder names the columns in the Design view If the DataWindow object uses one table, the names of the columns
in the Design view are the same as the names in the table.

If the DataWindow object uses more than one table, the names of the
columns in the Design view are tablename_columnname. PowerBuilder prefaces
the name of the column with the table name to prevent ambiguity,
since different tables can have columns with the same name.

When you design the detail band of a DataWindow object, you can specify display and
validation information for each column of the DataWindow object and add
other controls, such as text, pictures, graphs, and drawing controls.

The summary and footer bands

You use the summary and footer bands of the DataWindow object the
same way you use summary pages and page footers in a printed report:

• The contents of the summary
  band display at the end, after all the detail rows; this band often
  summarizes information in the DataWindow object
• The contents of the footer band display at the bottom
  of each screen or page of the DataWindow object; this band often displays
  the page number and name of the report

Using the DataWindow painter toolbars

The DataWindow painter contains three customizable PainterBars and
a StyleBar.

For more information about using toolbars,
see “Using toolbars”.

PainterBars

The PainterBars include buttons for standard operations (such
as Save, Print, and Undo on PainterBar1), for common formatting
operations (such as Currency, Percent, and Tab Order on PainterBar2),
and for database operations (such as Retrieve and Insert Row on
PainterBar3).

They also include six drop-down toolbars, which are indicated
by a small black triangle on the right part of a button. Table 19-2 lists the drop-down
toolbars that are available. The
Controls toolbar is on PainterBar1. The other drop-down toolbars
are on PainterBar2.

Table 19-2: Drop-down toolbars in the DataWindow painter

Toolbar	Used to
Background Color	Specify the background color of one or more selected controls.
Borders	Specify borders for one or more selected controls.
Controls	Specify controls to add to a DataWindow object.
Foreground Color	Specify the foreground color of one or more selected controls. In a text control, the foreground color specifies the color of the text.
Layout	Specify the alignment, sizing, and spacing of selected controls.
Slide	Specify sliding for controls.

StyleBar

The StyleBar includes buttons for applying properties (such
as bold) to selected text elements.

Using the Properties view in the DataWindow painter

Each part of the DataWindow object (such as text, columns, computed
fields, bands, graphs, even the DataWindow object itself) has a set of
properties appropriate to the part. The properties display in the
Properties view.

You can use the Properties view to modify the parts of the DataWindow object.

To use the Properties view to modify the parts
of the DataWindow object:

1. Position the mouse over the part you want
   to modify.

2. Display the part’s pop-up menu and select
   Properties.

   If it is not already displayed, the Properties view displays.
   The view displays the properties of the currently selected control(s),
   the band, or the DataWindow object itself. The contents of the Properties
   view change as different controls are selected (made current).

For example, the Properties view for a column has seven tabbed
property pages of information that you access by clicking the appropriate
tab. If you want to choose an edit style for the column, you click
the Edit tab. This brings the Edit page to the front of the Properties
view.

Selecting controls in the DataWindow painter

The DataWindow painter provides several ways to select controls to
act on. You can select multiple controls and act on all the selected
controls as a unit. For example, you can move all of them or change
the fonts used to display text for all of them.

Lasso selection Use lasso selection when possible because it is fast and easy.
Lasso selection is another name for the method described below for
selecting neighboring multiple controls.

To select one control in a DataWindow object in the Design
view:

1. Click it.

   The control displays with handles on it. Previously selected
   controls are no longer selected.

To select neighboring multiple controls in a DataWindow object in
the Design view (lasso selection):

1. Press and hold the left mouse button at
   one corner of the neighboring controls.

2. Drag the mouse over the controls you want to select.

   A bounding box (the lasso) displays.

3. Release the mouse button.

   All the controls in the bounding box are selected.

To select non-neighboring multiple controls in
a DataWindow object in the Design view:

1. Click the first control.

2. Press and hold the Ctrl key and click additional
   controls.

   All the controls you click are selected.

To select controls by type in the DataWindow object:

1. Do one of the following:

   • Select
     Edit>Select>Select All to select all controls
   • Select Edit>Select>Select Text
     to select all text
   • Select Edit>Select>Select Columns
     to select all columns

To select controls by position in the DataWindow object:

1. Do one of the following:

   • Select
     Edit>Select>Select Above to select all controls
     above the currently selected control
   • Select Edit>Select>Select Below
     to select all controls below it
   • Select Edit>Select>Select Left
     to select all controls to the left of it
   • Select Edit>Select>Select Right
     to select all controls to the right of it

To select
controls in a DataWindow object in the Control List view:

1. Select View>Control List from
   the menu bar.

2. Click a control in the list.

3. Press and hold the Ctrl key and click additional
   controls if desired.

Displaying information about the selected control

The name, x and y coordinates, width, and height of the selected
control are displayed in the MicroHelp bar. If multiple controls
are selected, Group Selected displays in the
Name area and the coordinates and size do not display.

Resizing bands in the DataWindow painter Design view

You can change the size of any band in the DataWindow object.

To resize a band in the DataWindow painter Design view:

1. Position the pointer on the bar representing
   the band and drag the bar up or down to shrink or enlarge the band.

Using zoom in the DataWindow painter

You can zoom the display in and out in four views in the DataWindow painter: the
Design view, Preview view, Data View, and Column Specifications
view. For example, if you are working with a large DataWindow object, you
can zoom out the Design view so you can see all of it on your screen,
or you can zoom in on a group of controls to better see their details.

To zoom the display in the DataWindow painter:

1. Select the view you want to zoom (click
   in the view).

   You can zoom the Design view, Preview view, Data View, and
   Column Specifications view.

2. Select Design>Zoom from the menu bar.

3. Select a built-in zoom percentage, or set a custom
   zoom percentage by typing an integer in the Custom box.

Using the IntelliMouse pointing device Using the IntelliMouse pointing device, users can also
zoom a view larger or smaller by holding down the Ctrl key while
rotating the wheel.

Undoing changes in the DataWindow painter

You can undo your change by pressing Ctrl+Z or selecting
Edit>Undo from the menu bar. Undo requests affect all views.

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