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Confusion over when to use PAGE commands
Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 7:02 am
by rbytes
TBA
Re: Confusion over when to use PAGE commands
Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 7:55 am
by Mr. Kibernetik
There is an example in Interactive interface section, called "pages.txt". It shows animated overlapping pages. You can experiment with it.
In general, pages are like sheets of paper on the table. PAGE SET command makes the page on the top of other pages and "active". Active means that since that moment all newly created interface objects become children of that page.
Re: Confusion over when to use PAGE commands
Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 9:21 am
by GeorgeMcGinn
In my testing for the programmer's guide I took the approach that pages are really like FORMS and POP-UP boxes in Visual Basic.
I wrote an application for an agency that took people's information, and some questions were YES/NO, and if they answered "YES" most of the time the person needed to get more information.
For example, have you lived at your current address for less than 5 years. If they said "YES" then the person, in this case a mortgage broker, needed to have another FORM appear where all the addresses up to the last 5 or 10 years, depending on the lender, wanted. But when he/she was done entering all those other addresses, the FORM when it closed had to go back to the original FORM without losing their place, and even marking that part of the application completed.
You could have 3 or even 5 Forms open depending on the questions and answers.
So far my testing with pages performs the functions of forms like in VB, and more.
I have more testing to do for the programmer's guide, but part of this guide is to program smart, and using pages over hiding a bunch of FIELD/TEXT/BUTTONS makes coding and understanding what the program is doing much easier. Here you just have to either SHOW or HIDE a page. All the objects are affected by that one statement. Show a page and all its TEXT, FIELDS, BUTTONS become available.
As I said I have just started to test and code in pages for the guide, so if I got something wrong or missed something very important, please, don't be shy. This guide is to give not only a more detailed description on the statements, but how they are best used when writing programs.
George.
Re: Confusion over when to use PAGE commands
Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2017 9:53 am
by Dutchman
In order to get some experience in the usage of pages, I have made a demo program:
viewtopic.php?p=4457#p4457
Re: Confusion over when to use PAGE commands
Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 8:22 am
by Henko
I use the page command as a window mechanism for no other reason than that the old background under a window is automatically restored when the window is closed. A second advantage is the local coordinate system of pages.
Re: Confusion over when to use PAGE commands
Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 3:27 pm
by rbytes
Thanks to all for your suggestions. I had already tried the examples mentioned, but had not been able to discern the underlying principle behind the use of the PAGE N$ SET command. Your response made it clear, Mr. K.
In general, pages are like sheets of paper on the table. PAGE SET command makes the page on the top of other pages and "active". Active means that since that moment all newly created interface objects become children of that page.
That was the "aha" moment I needed. I hope that this information will be added to the manual.
Re: Confusion over when to use PAGE commands
Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2017 4:34 pm
by GeorgeMcGinn
That aha moment – became mine in my question to you about my rectangular message box did not work and you said because I could not do that on top of an active object (the was a PM on the project you're helping on?).
Had I made them pages instead, all i need to do was move my message to the MessageBox page and just set it on.
I may take a look into that as it may save me on lines of code. I still think most of what I wrote as far as fields and draw statements still work, I just do it like you did in RadioStar. Set pages and just set them on and off as required.
My aha moment (but I may have written to many lines of code to change it now
George.
rbytes wrote: ↑Sun Jan 22, 2017 3:27 pm
Thanks to all for your suggestions. I had already tried the examples mentioned, but had not been able to discern the underlying principle behind the use of the PAGE N$ SET command. Your response made it clear, Mr. K.
In general, pages are like sheets of paper on the table. PAGE SET command makes the page on the top of other pages and "active". Active means that since that moment all newly created interface objects become children of that page.
That was the "aha" moment I needed. I hope that this information will be added to the manual.