Controls that you add to a form—either by using a wizard or manually—have a default set of properties that define how the control and the data it displays are formatted. While this ensures a consistent visual design throughout your application, it cannot cover all your needs. You may need to change some properties that affect the way your forms and their controls are displayed.
Controlling the Display of Numbers
The following table shows how properties determine the way numbers are displayed.
| Property name | Description |
|---|---|
|
DecimalPlaces |
This property (that specifies both the minimum and maximum allowed values) determines how many decimals are displayed, as well as how many decimal places can or must be entered. A typical situation where you would use this property is when amounts are stored in the database with 5 decimal places for high precision but you only want to see the customary number of decimal places for the currency, for example 2. The table field would then have the DecimalPlaces property set to 2:5, while the + property of the text box is set to 2:2. |
|
BlankNumbers |
You can select from an option list whether a range of numbers will be displayed. |
|
BlankZero |
The default is No. If you change it to Yes, zero values and Booleans that would have been displayed as a No are not displayed. |
|
Divisor |
The default is Undefined. If a number is entered, numeric values are divided by this number when they are displayed. Any remainder is discarded. You could, for example, use the Divisor property to display only the thousands part of a number by entering 1000 (then 16400 and 16800 would each be displayed as 16). |
Formatting Data Display
The following table shows how the properties determine the way data is formatted.
| Property name | Description |
|---|---|
|
Format |
This property defines how to format the SourceExpr of a text box. For each data type, there is a default. There is also a set of standard formats that you can select. You can also build your own formats if needed. |
|
HorzAlign and VertAlign |
These properties define how data in a text box or a caption on a label is aligned horizontally and vertically. |
|
MultiLine |
This property determines whether labels and text boxes can contain multiple lines of text. The default is No with one exception; the label of a column in a table box will have this property set to Yes. |
|
PadChar |
This property specifies the character that should be used to pad a string. The character will be added to the left or right, or both, depending upon the text alignment defined by the HorzAlign property. |
|
LeaderDots |
This property specifies whether there are leading dots before the data. The dots are placed according to the data's horizontal alignment. If the data is left aligned, the dots are placed on the right and if it is right aligned, dots are placed on the left. If centered, there are dots both before and after the data. If this property is set to Yes, the PadChar setting is overruled. |