STYLES

NUMERIC This style causes the entry field to accept only numeric data. The NUMERIC style is applied automatically to any entry field that has a numeric or numeric-edited VALUE specified for it before it is created. As a result, you do not normally need to specify this style explicitly. Use this style when creating an entry field that does not have an initial value but which needs to be restricted to accepting only numeric data.

NO-BOX On most host graphical systems, entry fields are boxed (on character-based systems, they are not). The NO-BOX style prevents the box from being shown. Generally speaking, boxed entry fields are preferred stylistically, but you may need to omit the box in order to conserve screen space.

BOXED On graphical systems, this style causes a box to be drawn around the entry field (the default). You can use the BOXED style to override the FIELDS-UNBOXED configuration variable for individual entry fields.

3-D This style causes the entry field to appear inscribed into the surface of the screen. This looks similar to the LOWERED frame style (see the Frames section, 5.10, below). The runtime uses the background color of the floating window to determine how to draw the frame. The background color is set when the window is created, and each time the window is erased. This color must be one of the low-intensity standard colors, except for black (color numbers 2-7). Any other background color will prevent the 3-D effect from displaying. Only boxed entry fields will display 3-D effects.

LEFT This style causes the value to be shown left-justified in the entry field (the default).

RIGHT This style causes the value to be shown right-justified in the entry field. This style implies that the entry field is MULTILINE.

CENTER, CENTERED This style is supported only in Windows. It centers the text in the entry field. This style is allowed on other systems, but it has no effect.

MULTILINE This style indicates that the field can display and accept more than one line of text. An entry field created with a LINES setting of two (2) or more automatically has this style applied to it, unless the CELLS phrase is also used or implied. For this reason, you usually will not need to specify this style explicitly.

Note: An entry field created with the CELLS phrase following the "LINES value" phrase has the single-line style applied to it by default.

VSCROLL This style allows the user to scroll the contents of the entry field vertically. Without this style, the user may not enter more lines of text than the entry field can hold. With this style, the field will scroll as needed to allow the user to enter multiple lines of text. This style automatically implies the MULTILINE style.

VSCROLL-BAR This style is identical to the VSCROLL style, with the addition that a vertical scroll bar is placed to the side of the entry field. The size of the entry field is extended to include the space needed by the scroll bar.

USE-RETURN The "Return" (or "Enter") key typically terminates entry. If you specify the USE-RETURN style, <return> is instead used by the entry field, when the field is active. This allows the user to start a new line in the field by typing <return>. Without this style, <return> will (normally) terminate input.

USE-TAB The "Tab" key is typically used to move between fields. If you specify the USE-TAB style, "Tab" key pushes are used instead by the entry field, when the field is active. This allows the user to enter a tab into the field, but prevents the user from using the "Tab" key to leave the field.

LOWER This style converts all keyboard entry to lower-case for this field.

UPPER This style converts all keyboard entry to upper-case for this field.

NO-AUTOSEL Normally, when an entry field is activated, all of its current contents are selected and highlighted (exception: if the field is activated by the mouse, this does not occur). This allows users to replace the entire contents of the field by simply typing in a new value (they can edit the current contents by using editing keys, or keep the current value by terminating the field). The NO-AUTOSEL style prevents the automatic selection from occurring. This is most commonly used on large multi-line entry fields.

READ-ONLY This style prevents the user from typing or editing data in the entry field. In all other respects, the entry field behaves normally.

SECURE This style prevents the characters that are entered into the field from being displayed on the screen. In place of each character, an "*" is displayed. This style is normally used with fields that take a password. This style is not available with MULTILINE entry fields.

SPINNER (Available only for Windows-based systems.) This style attaches up and down arrow buttons to the right side of the entry field. When the user clicks on the up arrow, your program receives a MSG-SPIN-UP event. Clicking on the down arrow generates a MSG-SPIN-DOWN event. Your program would normally respond to these events by incrementing or decrementing the entry field's value. Refer to the AUTO-SPIN style for simplified handling.

Note that the SPINNER style may be used only with a single-line entry field. It is ignored if you specify MULTILINE, or if you have an entry field that has more than two lines. In addition, a technical limitation of Windows prevents spinners from being used by entry fields with RIGHT or CENTER justification. This limitation stems from the fact that Windows requires a multiline entry field to use these styles (even if the entry field shows only one line). Windows interprets the up and down arrows as vertical scrolling messages to this "multiline" field. (create)
Using the SPINNER with a 3-D entry field produces a look significantly different when you use the WIN32-3D configuration option.

AUTO-SPIN Similar to the SPINNER style, AUTO-SPIN provides a more simplified way of handling spinners by automatically updating the value of the entry field. When the user clicks the up arrow, the control's value is incremented by one. The down arrow decrements the value by one. The entry field uses the properties MIN-VAL and MAX-VAL to set the allowed range of values. When the user modifies the entry field's value, the AUTO-SPIN style interprets the current value as an integer and sets the resulting value as an integer. This could have non-obvious results if the field contains something other than an integer when the arrows are clicked.

Entry fields with the AUTO-SPIN style still generate MSG-SPIN-UP and MSG-SPIN-DOWN events. This occurs before the value is changed. If your program sets EVENT-ACTION to EVENT-ACTION-FAIL in response to these events, AUTO-SPIN does not change the value of the entry field. This allows you to do additional range checking; you can also substitute a different value by setting the entry field's value directly in response to the event. (create)

AUTO This style causes the entry field to terminate as soon as it is filled by the user. A field is considered filled when the number of characters it contains equals its MAX-TEXT setting (see below). You may also use the words "AUTOTERMINATE" and "AUTO-SKIP" as synonyms for AUTO. This provides compatibility with text-mode COBOL.

NOTIFY-CHANGE This style causes the entry field to generate NTF-CHANGED events. An NTF-CHANGED event is generated whenever the user changes the value of the entry field. Use this style when you need to track character-by-character changes to an entry field. Note that if you use this style with AUTO, the auto-termination status will take precedence over the NTF-CHANGED event (i.e., when the user fills the field, the field will auto-terminate instead of generating an NTF-CHANGED event).