Adjusting the appearance of a DCL dialog

[Tharwat]

Hello guys.

 

Is it possible to adjust the appearance of a dialog box to become equal in all sides ?

 

The following dialog box needs to adjust the text "X" to be in the middle and the buttons Ok and Cancel to be within the same size .

 

strings: dialog {
   label = "Window Selection ";            
   :column {
   :boxed_row {label = "Strings ...";
           :column {
            :row { : text { value = "Width"; }
                   : text { value = "X"; }
                   : text { value = "Height"; }
                }
            :row {
                  : popup_list { key = "l1"; width = 10; }
                  : popup_list { key = "l2"; width = 10; }
                  } 
           }
           }
           :row {
           : button { key = "accept"; label = "OK"; fixed_width = false; is_default = true; is_cancel = true; allow_accept =true; }
           : button { key = "cancel"; label = " Cancel "; fixed_width = false; is_default = false; is_cancel = true;}
           }
    }
           } 

[MSasu]

You can control the size of a dialog by width and height attributes; width works also for buttons and labels.

May use spacer tile to adjust the location of other tiles.

strings: dialog {
   label = "Window Selection ";
[color=magenta] [color=red]   width = 30;
   height = 12;[/color][/color]
   :column {
   :boxed_row {label = "Strings ...";
           :column {
            :row {
                   [color=red]: spacer { width = 2; }[/color]
                   : text { value = "Width";  [color=magenta][color=red]width = 7;[/color] [/color]}
                   : text { value = "X";  [color=red]width = 3;[/color] }
                   : text { value = "Height"; [color=red]width = 5;[/color] }
                   [color=red]: spacer { width = 2; }[/color]
                }
            :row {
                  : popup_list { key = "l1"; width = 10; }
                  : popup_list { key = "l2"; width = 10; }
                  } 
           }
           }
           :row {
           : button { key = "accept"; label = "OK"; [color=red]width = 12;[/color] is_default = true; }
           : button { key = "cancel"; label = " Cancel "; [color=red]width = 12;[/color] is_cancel = true;}
           }
    }
           }

The is_default and is_cancel attributes are controlling the behavior of buttons when press , respectively ; both are set to false by default. Those attributes must be unique per dialog definition. Also is a nonsense to add allow_accept to an OK button - you ask it to trigger by himself.

[Lee Mac]

I would use something like this:

 

mytext : text   { fixed_width = true; alignment = centered; }
mybutt : button { fixed_width = true; alignment = centered; width = 12; }

strings: dialog
{
   label = "Window Selection";
   : boxed_column
   {
       label = "Strings";
       : row
       {
           : column
           {
               : mytext { label = "Width"; }
               : popup_list { key = "l1"; width = 15; fixed_width = true; }
           }
           : column
           {
               : mytext { label = "X"; }
           }
           : column
           {
               : mytext { label = "Height"; }
               : popup_list { key = "l2"; width = 15; fixed_width = true; }
           }
       }
       spacer;
   }
   : row
   {
       fixed_width = true;
       alignment = centered;
       : mybutt { key = "accept"; label = "OK";      is_default = true; }
       : mybutt { key = "cancel"; label = "Cancel";  is_cancel = true;  }
   }
}

[Tharwat]

Waww ... both are GREAT

 

Thank you so much gentlemen .

[Tharwat]

Hello guys .

 

How do you use edit format window for Dcl codes ?

 

Thanks

[MSasu]

I'm afraid that feature works only with AutoLISP code. Excerpt from help:

If you select text to be formatted, the selection must contain valid AutoLISP expressions or the formatter will issue an error message.

[Tharwat]

Hello .

 

I am working on another dialog and I feel the widths ' values are not logic at all , so how do they work ?

 

Thanks

[Lee Mac]

I am working on another dialog and I feel the widths ' values are not logic at all , so how do they work ?

 

What about them do you feel is not logical? A larger width value will result in a wider tile - seems logical enough to me

[Tharwat]

Hi Lee .

 

Actually when I change the width value of any button or popup list or edit boxes , I see nothing changed on the dialog , here is an example .

 

example: dialog {
width  = 25;
height = 10;
   label = "Lists " ;
   :boxed_column { label = "Rows"; 
   :row {
         :edit_box   { label = "Number of Rows :" ;     key = "rows" ;    value = "" ;   edit_width = 7 ; }
         :popup_list { label = "Supply" ;     key = "L1" ;      width = 5;}
         }
        }
   :boxed_column { label = "Columns"; width = 5; 
   :row {
                :edit_box   { label = "Number of Columns :" ;  key = "columns" ; value = "" ;   edit_width = 7 ; }
                :popup_list { label = "Return " ;    key = "L2" ;      width = 5;}
        }
       }
   :boxed_row
               {
      : button { key = "rect" ; label = "Rectangle selction" ; width = 5 ; is_default = true ; is_cancel = true ; }
      : button { key = "cancel" ; label = "Cancel" ;     width = 5 ; is_cancel = true ; }
               }
    }

 

Thanks a lot

[Lee Mac]

The width value must be large enough to accommodate the size of the label for the button, and furthermore, the fixed_width attribute must be set to true, else the tile will expand to fill the available area.

 

Perhaps have a read through some of the DCL tutorials on AfraLISP, and the DCL guide in the Visual LISP IDE Help Documentation; both offer valuable insights surrounding dialog design and tile behaviour.