Selecting and Creating Displays

Displays are components of the user interface for your application. A display can have multiple elements in it, including controls, data display areas, static areas that always display and more. Elements of the display can be static, that is, they always display, such as a menu bar, toolbar, or status bar. Displays can also change depending on what the user clicks or selects.


On this page:




Select displays

  • Go to Edit > Displays > Displays.
  • Select CardView or TableView.

See the list of available displays.

Column

Description

Name

Read-only. Name of the Display. Configured in Draw.

ClientType

Read-only. Shows the type of the client, either NET or HTML5.

Mode

Read-only. Shows whether the display is used as a Page, a Popup, or a Dialog. Configured in Draw.

Preview

Read-only. Shows a thumbnail of the display.

AllowSelection

Select to allow users to select the display from the PageSelector.

Width

Read-only. Display width in WPF units (one WPF unit = 1/96 inch). Configured in Draw

Height

Read-only. Display height in WPF units. Configured in Draw

Left

Read-only. Left margin, in WPF units, for Canvas layouts. Configured in Draw

Top

Read-only. Top margin, in WPF units, for Canvas layouts. Configured in Draw

Dimension

Read-only. Configured in Draw

Size

Read-only. Configured in Draw

EditSecurity

Select which categories of users have access to edit this display.

RunSecurity

Select which categories of users have access to this display at runtime.

Description

Enter a description for this display.

[Other columns]

For definitions of other columns that are available in many tables, see "Common Column Definitions".



In order to edit a display, select the display and press the  DRAW button. 

When you are in the Drawing environment you can also switch displays using the dropdown list on the top toolbar. 

Create a new display

  • Go to Draw > Drawing.
  • Click Close Display and Create New One. (If you do not see this button in the toolbar, make your window wider.) The New Display window displays.
  • Enter information, as needed.

Column

Description

Display Name

Enter a name for the display.

Description

Enter a description for the display.

.NET Smart Client

Select this option if the display is designed to be presented natively on the host platform.

HTML5

If you plan to use this display as HTML5 on browsers, select this option when you create the display. You cannot change it later.

  • Select to be able to use this display with any browser. When you select this option, display settings in other parts of the Draw area only show options that are compatible with the HTML5 feature.

iPad/iPhone iOS Target

If you plan to use this display for iPad and iPhone users, select this option when you create the display. You cannot change it later.

  • Select to be able to use this display with iPads and iPhones. When you select this option, display settings in other parts of the Draw area only show options that are applicable to both Windows and iPads/iPhones. 
  • Select the default view for iPad and iPhone users: Landscape or Portrait.| 


  • Click OK.
  • On the left side of the window in the DisplaySettings, enter or select information, as needed. If you selected the iPad/iPhone iOS Target or HTML5 option when you created the display, not all of the DisplaySettings are available.

Column

Description

Mode

Select the type of display you want to create:

  • Page—Default. Opening a page automatically closes the last page on the current layout and displays in the area last in the list on Displays > Layouts page. Only pages display in the layout. 
  • Popup—A popup opens on the top of all other displays. When you open a new page, by default, all popup displays are closed. Controls on other displays are available. 

  • Dialog—A dialog opens as a modal dialog, which disables the controls on all other open displays until you close the dialog. Clicking OK executes an appropriate method on the display CodeBehind.

  • PopupWindow-A window popup opens on the top of all other displays. When you open a new page, by default, the popup window displays are not closed. Controls on other displays are available. 

Background

Select the background color for the display.

Width

Enter the width of the display, in WPF units (device-independent pixels; one WPF unit = 1/96 inch). Be sure to take into account the size of the layout.

Height

Enter the width of the display, in WPF units (device-independent pixels; one WPF unit = 1/96 inch). Be sure to take into account the size of the layout.

Border

Select the type of border.

CloseButton

Select to display Close button. Available only for Popups, Dialogs and PopupWindows.

Animation

Select the type of animation to use when starting this display.

Show on PageSelector Object

Select to include this display in the page selector that lets users go directly to a different display in the application.

iPad/iPhone iOS target

Read-only. Shows whether you selected the iPad/iPhone iOS Target option when you created the display.

Placement

Select where on the layout you want to place the display. Available only for Popups and Dialogs.

Target

Select whether the display appears relative to the mouse position or relative to the whole window. Available only for Popups and Dialogs.

DialogButtons

Select the buttons you want on the dialog. Available only for Dialogs.

Title

Enter a title that appears at the top the display.

Title Background

Select a color for the title background.

Stays Open on Page Change

Leave the popup window open when the user clicks something that opens a different display. Available only for Popups.

Stays Open After Losing Focus

Leave the popup window open when the user clicks a different display. Available only for Popups.

Left

Enter how far from the left of the layout the display should appear, in WPF units. Available only for Canvas layouts.

Top

Enter how far from the top of the layout the display should appear, in WPF units). Available only for Canvas layouts.


  • Use the drawing tools to create the display.
    • Select a button in the vertical toolbar. Place the cursor on the display area, then click and hold the left mouse button while dragging the cursor across the display area.
    • To see a menu of options, right-click the drawing object. The context menu provides actions that are specific to the selected object.
    • To select multiple objects, press Shift + left mouse-click on each object.
    • The horizontal toolbar (at the bottom of the Drawing tab) contains buttons to group, combine, align, and lock the selected objects. For more information about the drawing tools, see Designer Drawing Tools, below.

When selecting multiple objects, the last object selected is the "master," whose properties are shown on the left. If you then align the objects, the alignment is based on the master. If you change other properties, the properties are changed for all selected objects.