WINDEV Concepts

Part 1: Main concepts 41 3 Handling controls in the editor 3.1 Control handles Handles appear around new or selected controls. Handles allow you to: • view the control size, • change the control size. The colors of the handles identify the actions that can be performed: • The black handles (different color depending on the skin template used) allow you to distinguish and resize the selected control. • White handles are used in two cases: • simple selection: the selected control is in read-only mode. For example, these handles may appear if the control is selected and its description window is open. In this case, the control cannot be directly modified or moved in the editor. • multiple selection: the selected control is part of a multiple selection, but it is not the first control selected. This type of handles is also displayed when a window is in read-only mode for the developer: the controls cannot be modified. • The gray handles indicate the first control selected in a multiple selection. This control will be the reference control. 3.2 Available operations The window editor allows you to: • Select one or more controls (with the lasso for example), • Group selected controls, • Move controls, • Change the text of the controls, • Show an advanced tooltip (when the cursor hovers over the control) with: the control name, position, size, anchors and initial state. • Use a control outside the window. This control will be visible in edit mode and invisible at runtime. Remark: You can use a control outside the window to: • associate it with the window without displaying it at runtime. This allows you to use the content of the control programmatically (like a variable). • display new controls in a window when resizing it. 4 Aligning controls By aligning controls, you can create "professional" and outstanding interfaces. WINDEV includes the following features to help you design great UIs: • rulers. • grids. • real-time interface checker (appears automatically when positioning controls). • advanced interface checker. • alignment options. 4.1 Rulers You can display alignment rulers in the window editor. These rulers have snap-on guides: any control that comes close to a guide is automatically "snapped" by it. This feature allows you to easily position, align or resize controls in a window.