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extended at the base Window class with an “oe_command” user eventto allow the capture of the communicae from the notification bubbleto the issuing window instance. This allowed a full communication circlefrom the Window instance to the notification bubble instance andback again. If we now couple the automatic population of the Tagproperty from the comment text in the ASA database with the STD FCs’easy use of the notification bubble feature, the context sensitive helpwas an easy reach. The only question was how to initiate the helprequest, as the Pocket PC does not support any function keys or the useof the context-help question mark on response dialogs.To help with the context-help initiation, the STD FCs were extendedat the base PopUp menu class level to include a “Help” menu item.This can be easily activated by the Pocket PC stylus with a “Tap andhold” action. The popup menu understands the control that instantiatedit and the help menu redirects a “oe_help” user event back to thecontrol. The GUI control in turn can extract the control’s tag properties(or the DataWindow object’s current column’s tag) and redirect a notificationbubble request to the parent window. Ancestor code in the basewindow class takes care of the notification bubble instantiation andHTML message text wrapping. In the STD FCs, the only action requiredby the Pocket PC developer to allow this behavior is to set the“ib_help_required” property of any control to TRUE. This makes thehelp menu item appear on the pop-up and the notification bubblecontext help feature enabled at runtime. The developer can set thisproperty in the Window painter or at runtime under script control. ▼FIGURE 13 |ble is also able to communicate to its issuing window class (see Figure13). To accomplish this, the notification bubble sends a “pbm_command”message to the instantiating window class. The STD FCs wereAUTHOR BIOChris Pollach is the president of Software Tool & Die Inc. (a consulting company based in Ottawa,Ontario, Canada) and has been using PB since November 1989 (version 0.8). When not developing in PB,Chris enjoys fishing and martial arts.cpollach@travel-net.comPBDJ ADVERTISER INDEXADVERTISER URL PHONE PAGEActive Endpoints, Inc. www.active-endpoints.com 203-929-9400 2Amyuni Technologies www.amyuni.com 866-926-9864 21ClearNova www.clearnova.com/thinkcap 770-442-8324 19E.crane www.ecrane.com 603-226-4041 36iAnywhere www.ianywhere.com 800-801-2069 35ISSJ www.ISSJournal.com 888-303-5282 27Sybase www.sybase.com/pocketbuilder 877-230-6771 7Sybase www.sybase.com/pbextension 877-230-6771 11Sybase www.sybase.com/powerbuilder 877-230-6771 5, 13Sybase www.sybase.com/datawindow.net 800-8-SYBASE 9Sybase www.datawindow.com 800-667-9936 15SYS-CON reprints www.sys-con.com 201-802-3026 17SYS-CON Website www.sys-con.com 201-802-3000 25Web Services Edge/Open Source www2.sys-con.com/events 201-802-3066 23Advertiser is fully responsible for all financial liability and terms of the contract executedby their agents or agencies who are acting on behalf of the advertiser. This index isprovided as an additional service to our readers. The publisher does not assumeany liability for errors or omissions.22 PBDJ volume12 issue11pbdj.sys-con.com