A widget is a unit of a user interface, a single element doing a
single thing, for example, a tappable button, or an editable text
field. A form contains various widgets, the user interacts with
them, and the application is notified via events. See
the PalmOS documentation and the example application included with
Guikachu for more information on handling widget events.
Labels are static text that can't interact with the user and can't be changed by the application at run-time either. For non-static labels, use a non-editable text field.
A unique string ID used for accessing the resource at run-time from the program
Non-usable widgets are not rendered on the screen and don't
receive events. You can set/unset the "usable"
property at run-time with the CtlSetUsable
function.
The textual contents of the widget. It will be rendered using the specified font.
Guikachu currently only supports the built-in fonts.
Horizontal and vertical position relative to the parent form, in pixels, counted from left to right and top to bottom. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, both X and Y are integer values between 0 and 159.
A text field contains text that is changeable at run-time, either by the application or by the user.
There are several ways to set/get the currently displayed text of a text field, see the PalmOS SDK for details.
A unique string ID used for accessing the resource at run-time from the program
Non-usable widgets are not rendered on the screen and don't
receive events. You can set/unset the "usable"
property at run-time with the CtlSetUsable
function.
The font used to display the contents of the text field
Guikachu currently only supports the three default built-in fonts: #0 is the "normal", #1 is the "bold" and #2 is the "large" font.
Controls whether the user is able to change the field's contents.
Multi-line text fields automatically wrap input at the end of visible lines. They also accept newline and tab as input.
Set this property to restrict input by the user to numbers only. Since it only controls user input, it makes sense only for editable text fields.
Maximum allowed length of text entered by the user. Set this to 0 to force no restrictions (actually, there is still a restriction on length due to the PalmOS architecture).
It is usually a good idea to underline editable text fields, since otherwise the user has no visual clue about the existence of the field.
If you set this property, the graffiti shift state will behave "smartly", e.g. shift will be turned on for new sentences.
If this flag is set, fldHeightChangedEvents
are generated when the number of lines needed to display
the contents changes. The application then needs to
handle this event by optionally changing the size of the
field.
This only makes sense for multi-line text fields.
Alignment of the text contents.
Right-aligned text fields don't accept the Tab character as input.
Set this to have a scrollbar on the right-hand side of the text field when the contents are larger than the size of the widget.
The scrolling itself will be automatically done by the OS, you don't need to do anything on your own.
Horizontal and vertical position relative to the parent form, in pixels, counted from left to right and top to bottom. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, both X and Y are integer values between 0 and 159.
Horizontal and vertical size, in pixels. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, both width and height are integer values between 1 and 160.
You can also use automatic values calculated from the size of the widget's contents.
This widget displays an icon showing the current state (like upper-case input, or punctuation marks) of the Graffiti input system. It is automatically connected to the input system, so you don't have to bother implementing it. Just place it on a form and you're set.
A unique string ID used for accessing the resource at run-time from the program
Horizontal and vertical position relative to the parent form, in pixels, counted from left to right and top to bottom. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, both X and Y are integer values between 0 and 159.
A button is a (rounded) rectangular user interface element that emits a specific signal to the application when the user taps it with the stylus.
A unique string ID used for accessing the resource at run-time from the program
Non-usable widgets are not rendered on the screen and don't
receive events. You can set/unset the "usable"
property at run-time with the CtlSetUsable
function.
The textual contents of the widget. It will be rendered using the specified font.
Guikachu currently only supports the built-in fonts.
Select a Bitmap or Bitmap Group resource to be displayed instead of the textual caption.
Usually, you should specify a separate bitmap for the widget's selected state, since otherwise the normal bitmap is used.
Buttons can optionally have one of two types of frame around them. It is usually a good idea to give buttons a frame as this helps users distinguishing it from a simple label
Repeating buttons emit several ButtonPress
signals when kept pressed by the user.
If the widget's size changes at run-time and this flag is set, the new horizontal position is calculated to leave the widget's right edge at place.
Horizontal and vertical position relative to the parent form, in pixels, counted from left to right and top to bottom. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, both X and Y are integer values between 0 and 159.
Horizontal and vertical size, in pixels. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, both width and height are integer values between 1 and 160.
You can also use automatic values calculated from the size of the widget's contents.
A check box contains a state icon and a text label. The state
icon shows whether the widget is "checked", this
state can then be handled by the application via the
CtlGetValue function.
A unique string ID used for accessing the resource at run-time from the program
Non-usable widgets are not rendered on the screen and don't
receive events. You can set/unset the "usable"
property at run-time with the CtlSetUsable
function.
The textual contents of the widget. It will be rendered using the specified font.
Guikachu currently only supports the built-in fonts.
Initial checked/unchecked state of the widget
If a check box or pushbutton belongs to a group, only one per group can be checked by the user. This is automatically enforced by PalmOS. Note that check boxes and pushbuttons share their groups.
Set the group ID to 0 if you don't want to include it in any group.
If the widget's size changes at run-time and this flag is set, the new horizontal position is calculated to leave the widget's right edge at place.
Horizontal and vertical position relative to the parent form, in pixels, counted from left to right and top to bottom. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, both X and Y are integer values between 0 and 159.
Horizontal and vertical size, in pixels. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, both width and height are integer values between 1 and 160.
You can also use automatic values calculated from the size of the widget's contents.
A pushbutton behaves a lot like a check box, except it has no initial state and is rendered as a rectangular button.
A unique string ID used for accessing the resource at run-time from the program
Non-usable widgets are not rendered on the screen and don't
receive events. You can set/unset the "usable"
property at run-time with the CtlSetUsable
function.
The textual contents of the widget. It will be rendered using the specified font.
Guikachu currently only supports the built-in fonts.
Select a Bitmap or Bitmap Group resource to be displayed instead of the textual caption.
Usually, you should specify a separate bitmap for the widget's selected state, since otherwise the normal bitmap is used.
If a check box or pushbutton belongs to a group, only one per group can be checked by the user. This is automatically enforced by PalmOS. Note that check boxes and pushbuttons share their groups.
Set the group ID to 0 if you don't want to include it in any group.
Horizontal and vertical position relative to the parent form, in pixels, counted from left to right and top to bottom. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, both X and Y are integer values between 0 and 159.
Horizontal and vertical size, in pixels. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, both width and height are integer values between 1 and 160.
You can also use automatic values calculated from the size of the widget's contents.
Selector triggers are a lot like buttons, the only difference is in the looks. The real difference is in intention: selector triggers should be used in cases where input is done by tapping the trigger, and then filling in the form that pops up.
A unique string ID used for accessing the resource at run-time from the program
Non-usable widgets are not rendered on the screen and don't
receive events. You can set/unset the "usable"
property at run-time with the CtlSetUsable
function.
The textual contents of the widget. It will be rendered using the specified font.
Guikachu currently only supports the built-in fonts.
Select a Bitmap or Bitmap Group resource to be displayed instead of the textual caption.
Usually, you should specify a separate bitmap for the widget's selected state, since otherwise the normal bitmap is used.
If the widget's size changes at run-time and this flag is set, the new horizontal position is calculated to leave the widget's right edge at place.
Horizontal and vertical position relative to the parent form, in pixels, counted from left to right and top to bottom. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, both X and Y are integer values between 0 and 159.
Horizontal and vertical size, in pixels. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, both width and height are integer values between 1 and 160.
You can also use automatic values calculated from the size of the widget's contents.
Popup triggers are usually called "drop-down lists" or "combo boxes" on other platforms. On tapping, the popup trigger displays a list of items and waits for the user to select a list item.
The list linked to the trigger is usually placed at the same spot as the trigger, with the list set to unusable so it isn't displayed until the trigger is tapped.
A unique string ID used for accessing the resource at run-time from the program
Non-usable widgets are not rendered on the screen and don't
receive events. You can set/unset the "usable"
property at run-time with the CtlSetUsable
function.
The textual contents of the widget. It will be rendered using the specified font.
Guikachu currently only supports the built-in fonts.
Select a Bitmap or Bitmap Group resource to be displayed instead of the textual caption.
Usually, you should specify a separate bitmap for the widget's selected state, since otherwise the normal bitmap is used.
The ID of the list widget to pop up when the trigger is tapped by the user.
If the widget's size changes at run-time and this flag is set, the new horizontal position is calculated to leave the widget's right edge at place.
Horizontal and vertical position relative to the parent form, in pixels, counted from left to right and top to bottom. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, both X and Y are integer values between 0 and 159.
Horizontal and vertical size, in pixels. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, both width and height are integer values between 1 and 160.
You can also use automatic values calculated from the size of the widget's contents.
Scroll bars are vertical rulers displaying a user-changeable value in a given interval. The user can change this value by dragging a slider up or down.
You can use the
SclGetScrollBar/SclSetScrollBar
functions to retrieve/modify the value and state of the
scroll bar at run-time.
A unique string ID used for accessing the resource at run-time from the program
Non-usable widgets are not rendered on the screen and don't
receive events. You can set/unset the "usable"
property at run-time with the CtlSetUsable
function.
Minimal and maximal value of the slider.
Due to limitations of the PalmOS platform, both the minimal and the maximal value need to be integers between 0 and 32767 (this is enforced by the property editor in Guikachu)
The initial value of the scroll bar at start-up, within the valid interval.
The amount of change when the user taps the scroll bar instead of dragging the slider or tapping one of the arrows at the end of the bar.
Horizontal and vertical position relative to the parent form, in pixels, counted from left to right and top to bottom. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, both X and Y are integer values between 0 and 159.
Horizontal and vertical size, in pixels. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, both width and height are integer values between 1 and 160.
You can also use automatic values calculated from the size of the widget's contents.
This widget is a list of one-line text items. Selecting a list
item emits a lstSelectEvent. You can then use
LstGetSelection in the event handler to get the
currently selected item.
Lists are also used by popup triggers: the list linked to the trigger is shown when the trigger is tapped by the user.
A unique string ID used for accessing the resource at run-time from the program
Non-usable widgets are not rendered on the screen and don't
receive events. You can set/unset the "usable"
property at run-time with the CtlSetUsable
function.
Number of items displayed at a time. There needs to be at least that many items in the list, or undefined things may happen (including the possibility of the PalmOS device freezing).
If there are more items than displayed at a time, the user is able to scroll through items.
The font used to display the list items
Guikachu currently only supports the three default built-in fonts: #0 is the "normal", #1 is the "bold" and #2 is the "large" font.
Horizontal and vertical position relative to the parent form, in pixels, counted from left to right and top to bottom. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, both X and Y are integer values between 0 and 159.
Horizontal size, in pixels. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, this is an integer value between 1 and 160.
You can also use an automatic value calculated from the width of the first list item.
The height of the widget will be automatically calculated from the number of visible items and the font used.
Use tables to show multi-column data. The PalmOS API makes it very easy to bind table cells to database fields and other persistent data.
Most of the behavior of tables are defined at run-time instead of the resource file. Refer to the PalmOS API documentation for further information on the related library functions.
A unique string ID used for accessing the resource at run-time from the program
The number of rows visible. The height of the rows will be calculated at run-time based on cell type and content.
The Form Editor displays rows at the default height of 11 pixels.
Only the number of columns, and each column's width is stored in the resource file. All other aspects of columns (most notably, their content type) is set at run-time.
Horizontal and vertical position relative to the parent form, in pixels, counted from left to right and top to bottom. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, both X and Y are integer values between 0 and 159.
Although PilRC allows you to include height and width information for tables, these values are not used, and an automatic size based on column width and number of rows. Due to this, Guikachu doesn't confuse the user with bogus size settings.
A unique string ID used for accessing the resource at run-time from the program
Non-usable widgets are not rendered on the screen and don't
receive events. You can set/unset the "usable"
property at run-time with the CtlSetUsable
function.
ID of the Bitmap/Bitmap Group resource to display.
Horizontal and vertical position relative to the parent form, in pixels, counted from left to right and top to bottom. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, both X and Y are integer values between 0 and 159.
Gadgets are placeholders for widgets implemented by the app author. The application is responsible for rendering the widget and maintaining any associated state data.
A unique string ID used for accessing the resource at run-time from the program
Non-usable widgets are not rendered on the screen and don't
receive events. You can set/unset the "usable"
property at run-time with the CtlSetUsable
function.
Horizontal and vertical position relative to the parent form, in pixels, counted from left to right and top to bottom. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, both X and Y are integer values between 0 and 159.
Horizontal and vertical size, in pixels. Due to the size of the screen of PalmOS devices, both width and height are integer values between 1 and 160.
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