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Tutorial 8: Graphics on Forms using HanDBase (Palm OS)
Product: HanDBase Forms for Palm OSArticle Number: 313Creation Date: 12/07/2007

- Topic: Displaying Graphics on a HanDBase Form

- Product: HanDBase Forms

- Version: 4.0

- Date: November 24, 2007

- Handheld OS: Palm OS

- Desktop OS: 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:

o Select the "browser" button to select the image stored on the expansion card.

- Layout Tab:

o Adjust 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:

o Set Visible to equal Yes

- Actions Tab:

o Here 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:

YouTube Video version of this tutorial

link to download database files used in the tutorial

If further assistance is needed, please contact DDH Software's technical support at http://www.ddhsoftware.com/support


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