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Messages - PxPlus

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Tips and Techniques / Using Library Bulk Edit to modify your screen libraries

« on: June 22, 2018, 05:34:59 PM »

The Library Bulk Edit utility was first introduced in PxPlus 2017 and further enhanced in PxPlus 2018. This powerful new utility allows you to modify selected control properties en masse within selected panels, and within selected libraries. Additionally, the ability to do the same with panel header and library defaults properties is also an option.

How to Use Library Bulk Edit.

Select Library Bulk Edit from the Utilities Menu, under Graphical Application Builder (Nomads) menu in the IDE.
At the Type dropbox, select Library to change an individual screen library or select Directory to change a group of screen libraries. Once selected, enter a screen library or a directory or use the file browse. If directory was chosen, the ability to include sub-directories is an option.
From the Control Type, select the control type to change.
Note: Panel Header or Library Defaults can also be selected.
Click the Search button to display the controls in the Selected Controls tree view. In the Properties to Edit grid all the properties that can be modified for the selected control are loaded.
In the Properties to Edit grid, select a control property or group of control properties to modify.
In the Selected Controls tree view, select the controls to change by selecting individual controls, or selecting the entire panel or selecting the entire library. The Collapse, Reset, Select All buttons can be used to help with selections.
Once the desired controls are selected, the OK or Apply buttons are used to apply the changes. The OK button will apply the changes and close Library Bulk Edit when complete. The Apply button will apply the changes, but the leave screen open for further changes.

Filtering Options

Library Bulk Edit has additional filtering capabilities that can be used to help find specific controls. When using the filtering, the entire NOMADs record will be searched. Here are some examples you can use.

Entering {! as a search value will find all controls that have a bit map.
Entering {! as a search value and selecting the Is Not checkbox will find all controls that don’t have a bit map.
Entering msg as a search value will find all controls that have msg regardless of case.
Entering msg as a search value and selecting the Case-Sensitive checkbox will find all controls that have msg in lower case
Selecting the Expression checkbox and entering a selection criteria such as _obj_visual_class$=”ActionBtn” as a search value will find all controls that have a “ActionBtn” visual class.
Note: Hovering over the name of the property in the Properties to Edit grid will display the property’s variable name.
If control type is a Multi-line and in the search value pos(“L”=_obj_sts$) is entered and the Expression checkbox is selected, all multi-lines that are locked will be found.

Go to Library Bulk Edit to learn more about this utility.

Tips and Techniques / Using Dynamic Control Properties

« on: June 22, 2018, 04:31:38 PM »

Dynamic data controls and dynamic data classes were introduced in PxPlus 2018. Using Dynamic control properties in your application is an effective way to speed up new development. More importantly, when future enhancements are required, applying these changes to your application will be less invasive.

How to Create Dynamic Control Properties

In Data Class Definition, create a new data class and enter the desired properties. When data class is saved it is automatically created as “dynamic”. Dynamic data classes are available for multi-lines, drop boxes, list boxes and check boxes. Dynamic properties for each data class are identified with an “*”.
In NOMADS bring up the panel(s) and access the properties for the specific control. In the Class field, enter the data class or select it from the Query. Note: You can only select a data class that is specific to that control type.
All the information from the data class entered will be copied to the control. In addition, certain control properties are created as dynamic automatically, as indicated by the “Dynamic” setting and by the %nomad’class (field) object property which is locked. Note: The settings for individual dynamic properties can be overridden at any time for each control.

At run time, the values for the dynamic control properties will be rendered based on the contents of the data class.
Once the data class is entered for the control, future changes are only required at the data class level.

How to Convert Existing Data Classes and Controls to Dynamic Properties

In Data Class Definition, bring up the appropriate data class and select the Dynamic check box and make any additional modifications as required.
In NOMADS, bring up the appropriate panel(s) and access the properties for the specific control. The Dynamic Class checkbox is selected, indicating that the data class is dynamic.
To make the control dynamic, select the Reapply Data Class button beside the Class field. When the message displays, respond Yes to copy the current information from the data class to the control properties and make the appropriate properties dynamic.

In a future release, this process of converting controls to dynamic will be available using the Library Bulk Edit utility.

Go to Dynamic Control Properties to learn more about this new PxPlus 2018 feature.

FAQs / How to share PxPlus Activation file

« on: June 22, 2018, 02:32:50 PM »

PxPlus allows you to share a common license file (ACTIVATE.PVX) between different instances and versions of PxPlus. Sharing the license file allows you to distribute the user counts between either different systems or to enable PxPlus version testing of your application.

Prerequisites

In order to share the license file, all installations must be of the same operating system and the same PxPlus machine class, an example would be Microsoft Windows (machine class 001), X86 Linux platforms (all 32 or all 64 bit), etc.

Each individual installation must have access to the PxPlus activation file and the directory it resides in. This can be either direct access (both on the same computer), a shared mapped drive or the UNC name such as "//mainserver/pxplus/PxpKeys/ACTIVATE.PVX".

Methods to share license file

While there are many ways to share the license file, the following are the most common approaches:

For Windows and current UNIX/Linux environments the application INI (pxplus.ini) file can be used by including an ActivationKey setting as shown below.
[Config] ActivationKey=C:\PVX Plus Technologies\PxpKeys
The ActivationKey entry in the Config section of the pxplus.ini must point to the common activation file.

Reference: PxPlus INI file
For Windows and UNIX/Linux environments back to and including ProvideX v9 you can include a –K: command line activation parameter when launching PxPlus:
pxplus.exe –k:”//MyMainServer/lib/KEYS”
Reference: PxPlus Command Line Activation Parameters
For Windows and UNIX/Linux environments back to and including PxPlus (v8) the PVXKEY environment variable can set to the directory where the ACTIVATE.PVX file is found.
PVXKEY=//MyMainServer/lib/KEYS

The best method to use would depend on your intended use and the environment you are working in such as Production vs Test/Development and Windows vs Linux.

Special Linux/UNIX sharing option

While all the above will work on Linux/Unix systems, the simplest approach on these systems would be to use a Linux/Unix file system link between the multiple installations.
For example if you had two versions of PxPlus installed, one in /usr/pxplusv11 and another in /usr/pxplusv12, you could first register and activate the software in /usr/pxplusv11 then issue the following Linux command to share the ACTIVATE.PVX:
ln /usr/pxplusv11/lib/ACTIVATE.PVX /usr/pxplusv12/lib/ACTIVATE.PVX
You can use either a hard link or symbolic link (ln -s) should the two installations be on different systems.

FAQs / How can I make arrow keys work in a locked grid

« on: June 21, 2018, 03:23:18 PM »

By default the PxPlus GRID will skip locked cells when responding to the arrow keys on the keyboard. This provides for easier/faster data entry.

If however you want to allow the user to enter locked cells by using the arrow keys you need to turn off the 'SkipLockedCells property for the GRID.

See SkipLockedCells property for details.

Wish List / Add ability to suppress locked background color of Locked grid cells

« on: June 21, 2018, 03:16:09 PM »

Often it may be desirable to use a Grid in lieu of a list box to display static information however when grid cells are locked (to prevent changes) the background color changes to light gray.

We would like a new property to be added to the grid that would allow us to control what the background color of locked cells would be with an option to be able to let locked cells background color be the same as an unlocked cell and thus respond to row highlights etc.

FAQs / Why is my Database text field truncated

« on: June 21, 2018, 02:48:40 PM »

When PxPlus access an external data using the ODBC, MySql, Oracle, ADO, or DB2 interface it needs to set aside a buffer into which the records returned to the program will be build. This internal buffer will be allocated during the open based on the total length of the data fields in the table.

When referencing text fields, such as CHAR of VARCHAR, the database interfaces set a default text field maximum of 8192 characters. You can change this by specifying TEXTMAX=nnnn as an option in the OPEN directive.

Note: This default can also be set in the PxPlus INI in the respective database definition section: [ODBC], [MYSQL], [OCI], [ADO], and [DB2]

Tips and Techniques / How to Create a Custom Title Bar in PxPlus 2017

« on: June 21, 2018, 01:56:33 PM »

The Custom Title Bar feature was first introduced in PxPlus 2017. This enhancement allows you to design a title bar to help with branding and improved accessibility of your application. The Custom Title bar can be used to replace or work in conjunction with the Windows title bar.

Creating the Custom Title Bar

The easiest way to start is to make a copy of the PxPlus title bar – “Titlebarhdr” that is found in *win/scrnlib.en.
In NOMADS, call up the copied object, and make the appropriate changes by adding your logo, color scheme, etc. This is just a standards NOMADS dialog, so you can virtually add any type of control to satisfy your needs. Note: All controls on the title bar must be unique so that they do not conflict with your other screens.
If your title bar is going to replace the Window title bar, make sure you keep the Min, Max, Close buttons in place, if not they can be removed. Note: Do not change the control names of the Min, Max Close buttons.
The standard PxPlus title bar replaces the Windows title bar. If you want to use the Window title bar, go to the Panel Header/Attributes tab and change the Frame Style drop box to either Default or Thick border with caption.
Once done you can now apply it to the rest of your application.

Applying the Custom Title Bar

There are a number of ways you can apply the title bar. You can apply custom title bars to:

All screens by using the NOMADS Property and add it to your Start_up. %NOMADS’Titlebar$=”Mypanel,MyLibrary”.
Specific screen libraries by going to the Titlebar tab in Library Defaults.
Specific screens by going to the Titlebar tab in the Panel Header.
Multiple selected screen libraries and/or selected screens by using Library Bulk Edit.

Go to Custom Title Bars to learn more about this feature

Using the Forum / Likes and what they do

« on: June 18, 2018, 11:44:42 AM »

Likes are helpful for you and others to help narrow in on the best answer(s) when reading a topic.

Liking a post helps identify good solutions since generally the post with the most likes will be considered the best answer/solution.

Likes are not fixed. If you decide later on that there was a better response, you can either like it as well and/or 'unlike' your original choice.

To Like
After reading a posting on the forum, you have the option of letting others know if you believe this to be a good suggestion or a correct answer.

You can do this by clicking on the Like at the top right hand side of the post.
You may also come back into the post and remove the like by selecting the Unlike.

Using Likes
When reviewing a particular topic, at the top right hand side, you’ll see the total number of Likes found for this topic.

Click on the Likes and a window will appear displaying all the posts that received a ‘Like' sorted by the most liked posts at the top of the list.
Click on the n Like(s) entry in the list and the system will take you directly to that particular post.

Note:
The answer with the most likes is not necessarily correct or the best solution to a problem, it is merely the answer that most forum members preferred.

Using the Forum / How to setup email notifications

« on: June 18, 2018, 09:35:48 AM »

There are two ways to setup your email notifications:

Notification on every new topic in a Child Board
For example, you want a notification for every topic posted in "Discussions."
- To do so, click on Discussions
- At the bottom, under the table of topics, you will see a button that says "Notify"
- Click on Notify and this will sign you up for email notifications for any topic that is posted in Discussions
Notification on a single Topic
- Click on the desired topic
- You will see the "Notify" button on the top right menu bar, as well as, on the bottom right
- Click on Notify and you will receive a notification for every message posted in that topic

Note:
Not all boards offer the ability to be notified when a message is posted. Static boards such, as this board, do not offer notifications.

Tips and Techniques / Parsing XML files

« on: June 15, 2018, 11:21:09 AM »

While there are many ways to parse XML files, we generally recommend *obj/XML to parse, build, and modify XML. It's documentation with examples can be found at: https://manual.pvxplus.com/page/utilities/obj_xml.htm

It's primary method/function set_xml(xml$) takes XML input and parses it into a node tree that you can then walk through and process. You can also create a tree yourself using the various methods/function found in this object or make changes to and existing XML tree. To get the resultant XML use the method get_xml$() to have it generate the XML for you.

Here is a sample program using this object:

Code: [Select]

open (1,isz=-1)"xml.txt"
read record (1,siz=1000000)R$ ! Read full file assuming < 1MB
close (1)
!
oXml=new("*obj/xml" for program)
if oXml'set_xml(R$)<>1 then print "Bad XML"; stop
!
oBatch=oXml'Find_Node("batch")
!
oAcct=0
while oBatch ! >> Account loop
oAcct=oBatch'Find_Node("account",oAcct)
if oAcct=0 then break
print "Client:",oAcct'Find_Node("cust_name")'value$
!
oInvoice=0
while oAcct ! >> Invoice loop
oInvoice=oAcct'Find_Node("invoice",oInvoice)
if oInvoice=0 then break
print "  Invoice:",oInvoice'Find_Node("invoice_number")'value$
!
oLine=0
while oInvoice ! >> Item loop
oLine=oInvoice'Find_Node("invoice_item",oLine)
if oLine=0 then break
print "    Qty:",oLine'Find_Node("quantity")'value$,
print " of ",oLine'Find_Node("product_cd")'value$,
print " @ ",oLine'Find_Node("price")'value$
wend ! << End item loop
!
wend ! << End Invoice loop
!
wend ! << End Account loop
!
drop object oXml
end

The test XML file for the above code is attached to this post and when run it should output something like this:

-:run Client:ABC Construction Invoice:1000 Qty:10 of Wall Brackets @ 10.0000 Qty:20 of Cover Plates @ 2.5000 Invoice:1001 Qty:1 of Wire Wrap @ 2.5000 Client:Boat Outfitters Invoice:1002 Qty:10 of 40-Volt Lithium-ion Battery @ 150.0000

Video Library / How to create and use a 'Drop Query'

« on: June 15, 2018, 10:11:50 AM »

In this video you will learn how to create a Drop Query.

Unlike other query types which display as separate windows, a Drop Query is embedded in the panel and displays below the user input field when invoked.

Video Library / Using PxPlus 'Smart' controls with your application

« on: June 15, 2018, 10:09:08 AM »

In this video you will learn how to create a List Box Smart Control using a Query List. Using Smart Controls will help you minimize your coding efforts when developing using the PxPlus Nomads development toolkit.