Programming Guide - Actian

How You Can Change Field and Frame Appearance and BehaviorHow You Can Change Frame ModesWhen creating a multipurpose application that uses a single frame for morethan one task (for example, some users update information while others onlyexamine it), you can use frame modes to change the bias for several or allfields simultaneously.A frame mode is a name given to a particular set of field and menu biases. Forexample, the Read mode for a frame might set all fields on the frame to havea bias of Visible, allowing the user to see the fields but not select them.Frame modes let you switch the biases for many fields and menu items with asingle statement. When you set the frame to a particular mode, OpenROADsets the biases for all the fields and menu items in the frame to the correctbias for that mode.Every OpenROAD frame has six frame modes, which are described in FrameModes (see page 370). When you create the frame in OpenROAD Workbench,you specify the initial mode for the frame on the frame's Property Inspector.Then, in the Frame Editor, you can use the Bias menu to set the initial bias ofeach field on the form for all six frame modes.OpenROAD provides default biases for all six modes. All but Read mode defaultto a bias of Changeable. Read mode defaults to a bias of Landable. There is noinherent link between a mode's name and its operations. You can make fieldsChangeable in Read mode or Landable in Update mode.The frame mode changes only when explicitly changed in the 4GL code. It isnot affected directly by user actions.You can also change the bias of an individual field for a specific mode. Forexample, you can use the UpdateBias attribute (a mode-bias attribute) to setthe bias of a field to Visible when the frame is in Update mode. After settingthe UpdateBias attribute, the next time you set the frame to Update mode,OpenROAD sets the bias of that field to Visible.Frame ModesOpenROAD provides the following frame modes:FM_UPDATESpecifies that default biases for entry fields allow reading and updating. Allother fields can be selected (clicked). All menu items are enabled.FM_QUERYSpecifies that default biases for entry fields allow reading and updating. Allother fields can be selected (clicked). All menu items are enabled.370 Programming Guide