Progress
Portability Guide


Absolute Layout

Absolute layout defines explicit locations for widgets. The AppBuilder generates code that uses absolute layout.

Absolute positioning ensures that the dimensions of objects are consistent on each platform; however, the decoration of each object differs.

To perform absolute positioning of field-level widgets, you can use the AT phrase with row and column specifications; however, use row and column specifications for portability. The following example demonstrates row and column specifications with the AT phrase, which is portable across graphical displays:

DISPLAY i AT ROW 10 COLUMN 10. 

You can also specify the LEFT-ALIGNED, RIGHT-ALIGNED, or COLON-ALIGNED options with the AT phrase. These options specify whether to align the left edge of the field, right edge of the field, or the colon of the field label with the specified position. The syntax of the AT phrase is as follows:

SYNTAX
AT ROW row COLUMN column
  [ LEFT-ALIGNED | COLON-ALIGNED | RIGHT-ALIGNED ] 

Table 3–4 lists the specifications you can use with the AT phrase.

Table 3–4: AT Phrase Positioning and Specifications
Specification
Result
AT ROW row COLUMN column
Defaults to LEFT-ALIGNED
AT ROW row COLUMN column RIGHT-ALIGNED
Aligns the right edge of the widget with the specified position
AT ROW row COLUMN column COLON-ALIGNED
Aligns the colon of the field label with the specified position
AT X x Y y
Defaults to LEFT-ALIGNED
AT X x Y y RIGHT-ALIGNED
Aligns the right edge of the widget at the X pixel
AT X x Y y COLON-ALIGNED
Aligns the colon of the field label with the X pixel

The following example demonstrates the COLON-ALIGNED and RIGHT-ALIGNED specifications:

DEFINE VARIABLE i AS CHAR.
FORM i AT ROW 10 COLUMN 30 WITH FRAME x SIDE LABELS.
FORM i AT ROW 10 COL 30 COLON-ALIGNED WITH FRAME y SIDE-LABELS.
FORM i AT ROW 10 COL 30 RIGHT-ALIGNED WITH FRAME z SIDE-LABELS. 


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