Designing screens and reports

Screen Designer provides the capability to graphically design and modify the content of DDS display files. Report Designer provides the capability to graphically design and modify the content of DDS printer files.

To open Screen Designer for editing a DDS display file, in the Remote Systems view, right-click the display file and select Open With > Screen Designer from the pop-up menu.

To open Report Designer for editing a DDS printer file, in the Remote Systems view, right-click the display file and select Open With > Report Designer from the pop-up menu.

You can use the DDS Design perspective to work with your DDS files. This perspective contains the following views:

Open the DDS Design perspective by selecting Open Perspective from the workbench Window menu. Then select DDS Design from the Open Perspective dialog.

You can use the DDS Design preferences page, to set the font, background color, and ruler preferences. The settings are valid for both, Screen Designer and Report Designer. You can access this page by pressing the Configure preferences button in the editor above the design area.

When Screen Designer or Report Designer open, you can use one of two tabbed pages to edit a DDS file. Use the Design page to graphically modify screens or reports, records, and fields. In the Source page, you can directly edit your DDS file source code. Screen Designer and Report Designer update all related views when you make changes to either the Source page, or the Design page.

The Design page provides an integrated palette. To create a new item in the design area, select the item on the palette and drag it onto the design area. You can also use the workbench Palette view instead of the integrated palette.

Use the controls area above the design area, to define and manage screens and reports. Screens and reports are design-time concepts. Screens and reports are defined as groups of records.

You can define new screens and reports, and delete and modify existing screens and reports. To add a screen, press the New button to the left of the controls and give the new screen a meaningful name. To add records to a screen, select the Records tab on the right side of the controls, select the records in the Excluded list and press the Add button. This associates the records with the selected screen and moves the records to the Included list. To remove a record from a screen, select the screen, select the records in the Included list and press the Remove button. Follow the same steps to create reports and to add records to a selected report. You can add the same record multiple times to a report.

Use the toolbar buttons immediately above the design area to:

Use the controls below the design area to set the font size for the design view, and the grid brightness.

For Screen Designer, the Properties view shows the properties of the currently selected element and you can change the properties in this view. The tabs shown in the Properties view depend on the selection and are different for a file, a record, or a field. Any changes you make in the Properties view, are automatically reflected in the design area and in the DDS source code of the Source page.

Note: Report Designer does not support the Properties view. To change properties when working with Report Designer, use the Source Prompter instead.

To add a database reference field to a record in the design area, drag the field from the Field Table view and drop it onto the design area.

You can modify a constants without leaving the design area by clicking on an already selected constant.


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