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Special Features : GUI
GUI
isCOBOL offers some additional features that allows you to produce complex and flexible graphical user interfaces. The programmer can take advantage of:
•
The ability to render html in most all controls. The following code snippet shows how to show an animated GIF on the screen using the LABEL control:
03 LABEL
  line   2 
  col   25
  lines  5 cells
  size   9 cells
  title  '<html><img src="file:Files/lb.gif"></img></html>' 
  .
•
The ability to create tooltips for controls, with the new HINT property.
03 ENTRY-FIELD
   line     2 
   col      25
   size     9 cells
   value    w-name
   hint     "Write the name here"
   . 
•
The ability to use RGB values to set colors; e.g.:
03 LABEL
   line              2
   col               25
   size              9 cells
   title             "gray label" 
   background-color  rgb x#c0c0c0
   .
•
The ability to load GIF, PNG as well of BMP and JPG pictures for use both on the screen and while printing.
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The ability to retrieve user selected text from an entry-field. The following code snippet retrieves the text selected by the user from the entry-field named ef-1:
INQUIRE ef-1 SELECTION-TEXT w-text.
•
The ability to create a mask to help the user inputing data.
03 ENTRY-FIELD
   line     2 
   col      25
   size     9 cells
   value    w-date
   format-string "##/##/####"
   . 
•
The ability to display vertical labels.
03 LABEL
   vertical
   line     2 
   col      25
   lines    15 cells
   size     8 cells
   title    "vertical text"
   .
•
The ability to reorder and sort GRID columns (see Reordering-Columns and Sortable-Columns for details)
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The ability to copy the GRID content to clipboard and export it to xls/xlsx spreadsheets. See Heading-Menu-Popup.
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The ability to select multiple rows and columns in a GRID. See Selection-Mode.
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The ability to display more lines of text in a single GRID cell. Alignment of the column with multiline text must be “H”.
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The ability to merge cells in the GRID header. See Cell-Columns-Span and Cell-Rows-Span.
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The ability to mix different DATA-TYPES in the same column, for example:
DATA-TYPES ("U(1)L(0)", "9(3)X(2)")
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The ability to display controls inside GRID cells as explained at GRID.
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The ability to protect GRID cells both with read-only and skip approaches (see Row-Protection, Column-Protection and Cell-Protection for details)
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The ability to show and hide GRID rows and columns dynamically (see Row-Hiding and Column-Hiding for details)
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TREE-VIEW items can be edited by the user.
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The ability to add icons to COMBO-BOX items.
MODIFY ComboBoxHandle, ITEM = 1, BITMAP-NUMBER = 20
•
The ability to add icons to TAB-CONTROL page labels.
MODIFY TabControlHandle, TAB-INDEX = 1 BITMAP-NUMBER = 1
•
The ability to dynamically add and remove pages on TAB-CONTROL ( see Insertion-Index and Tab-To-Delete for details)
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The ability to change the text of TAB-CONTROL page labels without re-creating the page ( see Tab-Text for details)
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The ability to disable a TAB-CONTROL page to prevent users to select it ( see Tab-Enabled for details )
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A new style for TAB-CONTROL, Allow-Container, that allows to bind screen entries to TAB-CONTROL pages and have the page switch managed automatically by the runtime.
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A brand new graphical control: the SLIDER.
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The ability to intercept mouse events on BITMAP control (see MSG-MOUSE-CLICKED, MSG-MOUSE-ENTER and MSG-MOUSE-EXIT for details).
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The ability to interface JAVA-BEAN controls.
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The ability to show a custom icon on graphical windows ( see Icon for details ).
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The ability to add an icon to STATUS-BAR panels and to color them with different colors( see Panel-Bitmap, Panel-Bitmap-Number, Panel-Bitmap-Width, Panel-Bitmap-Alignment and Panel-Color).
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The ability to show both text and icons on a PUSH-BUTTON (see Title-Position for details).
•
The ability to unplug the TOOL-BAR from the window with the MOVEABLE style.
DISPLAY TOOL-BAR MOVEABLE
        HANDLE toolbar-handle.
•
The ability to create docking windows. This means that multiple windows can be attached to a single container window and they will resize accordingly.

The syntax to create the container is:
display docking window
                layout w-layout
                [...]
                handle h-main.
The syntax to create a window inside the container is:
display dockable window
                 upon h-main
                 upon-leaf leaf-name
                 [...]
•
The ability to create MDI windows. This means that multiple windows can be included into a single container window.

The syntax to create the container is:
display mdi-parent window
                [...]
                handle h-main.
The syntax to create a window inside the container is:
display mdi-child window
                 upon h-main
                 [...]
                handle h-child.
•
The ability to pop up a list of possible values while the user is editing an EntryField (see Proposal).
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The ability to display bitmaps inside an EntryField and to have events upon mouse over and mouse click on these bitmaps.
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The ability to show a placeholder text within EntryField and ComboBox.
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The ability to copy text from character based screens and to paste text to character based Accept.
The user can select text from the screen by dragging the mouse with left button hold. The text is automatically copied in the clipboard as soon as the user releases the mouse button. The user can also paste some text from the clipboard by pressing the middle mouse button (usually identified by the scroll wheel); the pasted text is put in the keyboard buffer and the active ACCEPT gets it.
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The ability to have more row headings in the Grid with the property Num-Row-Headings.
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The ability to intercept new events MSG-ICONIFIED and MSG-DEICONIFIED for the Window when user reduces the window to task bar or restores it.
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The ability to automatically scale a picture in the Bitmap control with the property Bitmap-Scale.
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An easier management of Tab-Control pages through the style Allow-Container.
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The ability to show a Tab-Control as an Accordion container.
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The ability to create modern tool-bars, also known as RIBBON.
For a quick demonstration of most GUI fSeatures, launch the isCOBOL Demo program.
 
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