Control Size

Most PowerBuilder controls such as RadioButton, CheckBox, SingleLineEdit, StaticText, whose default sizes are appropriate for finger tapping on the mobile device, therefore, you can directly use them at the default size, but remember to leave enough Spacing between them.

For some controls such as CommandButton, DatePicker, and EditMask, whose default sizes are too small to be easily tapped by the finger, it is very important to remember to set proper size for them. The following table lists these small controls and recommends the minimum height. The recommended minimum height mainly comes from the default height of the Cocoa Touch controls, for example, a Rounded Rectangle Button is 37 points high by default.

Table 3. Small controls and recommended minimum heights

PB Controls

Height (in Points)

Height (in PBUs)

CommandButton

37

148

DatePicker

EditMask


A general rule of thumb is for controls whose size can be set in PowerBuilder IDE, you should set proper size for them (44 points = 176 PBUs is recommended), for controls whose size cannot be set in PowerBuilder IDE, PowerServer Mobile will take care of this for you by automatically setting proper size for them at runtime.

Control width for text display

The same font may be displayed at different width under different platforms, therefore, it is recommended that you leave extra space (for example, 20 to 30 PBUs in width) in the control for the text to display properly, otherwise, the text may go over the control border or display in the new line.