Teach Yourself Borland C++ in 14 Days - portal

236 Day 7
The Align Tops, Align Bottoms, and Align Right Edges options work just like the Align Left
Edges option we used earlier. There’s not much point in going over all the possibilities that
exist for their use.
TIP
The first component selected will be the anchor point when you’re
using any of the edge-alignment options. Refer to Figure 7.4. Let’s say
you had selected Button3 first and then used Shift+click to select the
remaining buttons. When you chose Align Left Edges, Button3 would
remain where it is and all other buttons would be lined up with
Button3’s left edge because Button3 is the anchor component.
The Align Horizontally Across Centers and Align Vertically Across Centers options can be
used to center components relative to one another. This is best illustrated with shapes. Start
with a new form (or delete the buttons from the form you have been working on). Now do
the following:
1. Click on the Additional tab on the Component Palette and choose the Shape
component. Click somewhere on the upper left of the form to add the shape.
2. Change the Shape property to stCircle.
3. Change the Width property to 150.
4. Double-click the Brush property and change the Color property of the Brush
property to clBlack.
5. Place another Shape component on the form.
6. Change the second shape’s Shape property to stCircle as well. Now you have two
circles of different sizes on the screen—a white circle and a black circle.
7. Click on the black circle. Hold the Shift key and click on the white circle. Both
shapes are selected.
8. Choose View | Alignment Palette from the main menu, if necessary (it may already
be displayed). Arrange the Alignment Palette so you can see the two shapes on the
form. Observe the shapes as you perform the following two steps.
9. Click the Align Vertically Across Centers button on the Alignment Palette. The
vertical centers are aligned.
10. Click the Align Horizontally Across Centers button on the Alignment Palette. The
horizontal centers are aligned. Congratulations—you made a tire!
Did you see the impact as you performed the last two steps? Notice that because you selected
the black circle first, it did not move (it is the anchor component), but the white circle moved
as you clicked the alignment buttons. You can use these alignment options to center any