On each form, the moveable CAP tool bar (shown below from a recent version of CAP) will appear.
Try it on the Sample Form above.
Using the MOUSE
To begin, the first operational issue to understand is the use of the mouse buttons and the mouse scroll wheel.
The functions of the mouse buttons vary depending on the MODE you are currently in.
By default when a form is loaded you are in the CHOOSE mode. In CHOOSE, MOVE and RESIZE modes, clicking the right mouse
button will open a context menu at the location where the current mouse pointer is positioned. If you wish to relocate
the context menu, simply Right Click to close, reposition the mouse pointer and Right Click to open.
Right Click the mouse button and the context menu will appear.
Right Click when the context menu is open will close the context menu.
The location of the context menu is based on where the mouse pointer is positioned at the time you press the Right Mouse button.
When you are in PAINT mode (the paint bucket), a left mouse click will set the foreground color of the object
you click on with the color displayed or selected in the foreground color pallete. A right mouse click will set the background color
of the object you click on to the color in the color displayed or selected in the background color pallete.
When in Tab Order mode, the left mouse click will add to the tab number. A right click will decrement the tab
order. If you have a scroll mouse, scrolling up will add to the tab order and scrolling down will subtract from the
tab order.
Modes of Operation
The default mode is CHOOSE. This is reflected in the drop down list box at the left of the tool bar
{"Choose Item."} and also by the bordered ICON at the right end of the tool bar.
You can change MODES by simply clicking on the respecive ICON. (try it in the tool bar above).
Each area of the tool bar (other than Mode of Operation) has a tool tip that pops up when you hover your mouse over it.
The modes are:
Choose Item. Do a right mouse click to first open the context menu, if it is not already visible.
This mode is used to pick a display or data entry field when you want
to change. The change options are: make Bold, Italic, transparent, for data entry fields,
make them Read-Only, change the display text/label or hide the item. Picking an item will set the options
in the context menu as they currently are for the selected item. Make whatever change
you wish and press the option from the context menu, such as: "Update Text" push button or
the "Hide me" push button.
Note that when hiding an element, the element becomes "grayed" and the "Hide me" button
now says "Show me" (in case you change your mind). Also note that when you choose an item,
if the item has one of the 216 screen-independent colors for a foreground or background,
the color inside the drop color icons will reflect the chosen item's colors.
If you change your mind you can click on the Restore and the item will return to its original
attributes when the form was loaded.
Move. When in this mode, items are subject to the typical mouse left-click-and-drag actions.
Items can be moved almost entirely off the screen to the top and left. Note that the
CAP tool bar can be moved around on the screen as well, so you can easily move it out of your
way if need be (click in a background area of the tool bar). The context menu is functional
while in this mode.
Resize. When in this mode, click the lower right of the item to be resized and drag
that corner to the desired size. If the mouse seems to "stick" you may need to click again.
The context menu is functional while in this mode.
Set Tab Order. The order the cursor will move when the tab key is pressed is shown in a
small yellow box in each enterable field. As you adjust tab ordering, the original number
is shown followed by the number it will be changed to.
You may use the contents of the status line as a feedback to what you are doing. The active (chosen)
item's attributes are shown there. This will be helpful while moving items to line them up to an
exact pixel.
Display Data Entry
When you choose a text display, or data entry field, the text is shown in the context menu. If
you choose a graphical
image, the image's file name is shown. You make any desired changes (which could include HTML tags
for displays, if you are so inclined) and press the . . .
Update Text
If a data entry field is chosen, and you make an entry in the "Display" area, the entry will override
any value received from the host; thus you can "pre-fill" any data entry field with contents of you choice.
Background/Foreground Color Icons and Drop Down Color Charts
Push on the icon to drop the corresponding color chart (B=Background, F=Foreground). Try it on the tool bar.
After selecting the colors for background and foreground, you need to press on the paint ICON
and then click on an object inorder for that object to inherit the colors displayed in the
foreground background icons. Note that the active color in the icon will be surrounded by a white
border in the chart. Note also that when in "Move" mode, the charts can be individually moved around on
the screen to get them out of your way. Finally, note that you can choose a transparent background by
clicking on "Grab BG" (title of the background chart), or by selecting "Transparent On" from
the context menu then click the items you want to have a transparent background.
Hide me/Show me Push Button
Does what it says: Choose an item, then click on the Hide Me entry in the context menu or push the button
in the tool bar. The item is "grayed" but when the form is deployed,
the item will not be visible. In the CAP Painter, we keep it grey so you can see where it was. This way
you can change you mind simply by choosing the item and clicking the button again. (The button changes to
say "Show me" when you chose a hidden item.)
Save Results Push Button
After making all the changes you want, push this button. All of your changes will be shown in a codified
form along with instructions on how to send the changes to the CAP database. After following those
instructions, you may close the browser.
For this tutor, press the browser Refresh button or F5, to return to this page.