Tutorial 8: Graphics on Forms using HanDBase (Palm OS)
Product: HanDBase Forms for Palm OS
Article Number: 313
Creation Date: 12/07/2007
- Topic:
Displaying Graphics on a HanDBase Form
- Product:
HanDBase Forms
- Version:
4.0
- Date:November 24, 2007
- HandheldOS: Palm OS
- DesktopOS:
Windows
Tutorial:
This tutorial's goal is to introduce
the ability to display graphics on a form as a new feature in HanDBase
4.0.This feature's main function is to
provide the user with the opportunity to create custom forms.Being able to display graphics on forms
extends
the previous functionality of HanDBase by allowing users to display a
company
logo, logotype or product reference, to name a few.In this tutorial, the necessary steps to
configure HanDBase on the handheld device to take advantage of this new
feature
will be detailed.Then, the results of
properly configuring graphics on forms will be examined.Finally, additional resources will be
provided should any further information be needed.
To take advantage of graphics on forms
HanDBase and HanDBase Forms 4 first needs to be configured on the
handheld
device.The first step in doing so is to
launch HanDBase in the manner most appropriate for the particular model
of
handheld being used.
Step #1:
The first step is to create a database
on the handheld device or select an existing database while in list
view.For the purpose of this tutorial, a
sample
database has been created with the fields:
Database Name=CompanyLogo
Field 1 - Name=Company Name, Type=Text
Field 2 - Name=Product, Type=Text
Field 3 - Name=Price, Type=Integer
Step #2:
a)Once
the "CompanyLogo" database has been created
in HanDBase, the next step is create a form to use when entering data.
b)To
do this, first select the "CompanyLogo"
database in the list view of HanDBase and select the "details" option
at the lower right section of the screen.
c)In
the resulting dialog, select the "forms" option
on the right side of the screen by tapping the button.
d)As
a result of doing this, HanDBase will launch HanDBase
Forms to allow for designing of the UI (user interface).
e)Next,
choose the "new" option and define the
parameters of the form, including it's name, background color and
button
options.
f)Click
"ok" when finished.
Step #3:
The next sequence is geared towards
placing UI elements onto the screen that correspond with the database
fields.
a)First,
create labels for each of the fields by selecting the
New button and choosing Label from the popup menu.
b)Define
each of them to match one of the fields in the
"CompanyLogo" database.
c)After
placing labels on the form, create text field UI
elements that are associated with the fields and position each of them
near
their respective labels.
d)Finally,
select an image file from the handheld's expansion
card and position it on the form.Start
by adding an image button UI element and configuring it to match the
parameters
listed below.
-General
Tab:
oSelect
the "browser" button to select the image
stored on the expansion card.
-Layout
Tab:
oAdjust
the width and height of the button to accommodate the
graphic.The Scaled to Fit box may be
checked to force the image to display on the button.
-Attributes
Tab:
oSet
Visible to equal Yes
-Actions
Tab:
oHere
a button action can be defined.To assign
an action to the button, choose one
of the options from the dropdown list.Up to two different actions can be assigned to a button.If there is to only be a graphic displayed on
a form, simply leave the action set to “Do Nothing”.
After setting up HanDBase Forms 4 to
use display graphics on a form, as described above, when editing or
adding a
record to the database, a graphical button will display the image that
was
assigned during the above sequence.
To summarize, this tutorial has
introduced the ability to display graphics on a form as one of the many
new
features in HanDBase 4.Additional
resources, if needed, can be found at:
