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Programming
Handbook
Browse Style Options
This section offers a few ideas for changing the look of your browse.
Using Stacked Labels
To use more than one vertical line for your column labels, use the stacked label syntax. Here is an example:
You must use the COLUMN–LABEL option instead of the LABEL option. The exclamation point character indicates the line breaks.
Justifying Labels
Column labels in the browse are left justified by default. You can use the C, L, and R options (Center, Left, Right) of the LABEL option to modify the justification of column labels:
Note the colon (:) syntax. To use this option, the justification option has to be attached to the end of the label option. So, even if you want to use the default labels, you need to re-enter them here in order to append the justification option.
Using Color to Distinguish Updatable Columns
You can make the updatable columns in your browse a different color. For example, you can make the read-only columns grey with black text and the updatable columns blue with yellow text. The code fragment that follows assumes you have defined variables to hold the standard color values:
NOTE: In character interfaces, the COLUMN–DCOLOR attribute specifies the column color.Using Color and Font to Distinguish Cells
On top of your basic color scheme, you may want individual cells that have key values to display in a different color or font. For example, you might want to color overdue accounts in red. This kind of cell manipulation is only valid while the cell is in the viewport. For this reason, you need to use the special event ROW–DISPLAY to check each new row as it is scrolled into the viewport. See the "Browse Events" section earlier in this chapter for examples and implementation notes.
Establishing ToolTip Information
The DEFINE BROWSE statement supports the TOOLTIP option. You can elect to specify ToolTips, a brief text message string that automatically displays when the mouse pointer pauses over a browse widget for which a ToolTip value is defined. A ToolTip value can be set for a variety of field-level widgets. However, they are most commonly defined for button widgets. For more information on ToolTips and other specific Windows interface design options, see Interface Design."
Using a Disabled Updatable Browse as a Read-only Browse
In one sense, the default read-only browse is the precursor to the Version 8 updatable browse. It might be a good idea to compare the behavior and functionality of a read-only browse with a disabled updatable browse and decide which is the best standard for you. Using the default read-only browse guarantees compatibility with Version 7 applications. Using an updatable browse that has had its enabled columns turned off by way of the READ–ONLY attribute provides these benefits:
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