Working in painters

In InfoMaker, you edit objects such as reports in painters. In addition to painters that edit objects, other painters such as the Library painter and the Database painter provide you with the ability to work with libraries and databases.

Opening painters

Painters that edit objects

There are several ways to open painters that edit objects:

From here

You can

PowerBar

Click New (to create new objects) or Open (to open existing objects)

Library painter

Double-click an object or select Edit from the object's pop-up menu


Other painters

Most other painters are accessible from the New dialog box. Some are also available on the PowerBar and from the Tools menu.

Painter summary

The InfoMaker painters are listed in the following table.

Painter

What you do

Report painter

Build and preview reports of data in your database

Form painter

Build and run forms to display and change data in your database

Database painter

Maintain databases, control user access to databases, manipulate data in databases, and create tables

Data Pipeline painter

Transfer data from one data source to another and save a pipeline object for reuse

Library painter

Manage libraries and create executable versions of reports, forms, and pipelines

Query painter

Graphically define and save SQL SELECT statements for reuse with reports, forms, and pipelines

Select painter

Graphically define SQL SELECT statements for reports, forms, and pipelines


Using views in painters

Most of the InfoMaker painters and tools have views. Each view provides a specific way of viewing or modifying the object you are creating or a specific kind of information related to that object. Having all these views available in a painter window means you can work on more than one task at a time.

Views are displayed in panes in the painter window. Some views are stacked in a single pane. At the bottom of the pane there is a tab for each view in the stack. Clicking the tab for a view pops that view to the top of the stack.

Each painter has a default layout, but you can display the views you choose in as many panes as you want to and save the layouts you like to work with. For some painters, all available views are included in the default layout; for others, only a few views are included.

Each pane has:

  • A title bar you can display temporarily or permanently

  • A handle in the top-left corner you can use to drag the pane to a new location

  • Splitter bars between the pane and each adjacent pane

Displaying the title bar

For most views a title bar does not permanently display at the top of a pane (because it is often unnecessary). But you can display a title bar for any pane either temporarily or permanently.

To display a title bar:

  1. Place the pointer on the splitter bar at the top of the pane.

    The title bar displays.

  2. To display the title bar permanently, click the pushpin at the left of the title bar or select Pinned from its pop-up menu.

    Click the pushpin again or select Pinned again on the pop-up menu to hide the title bar.

    After you display a title bar either temporarily or permanently, you can use the title bar's pop-up menu.

To maximize a pane to fill the workspace:

  • Select Maximize from the title bar's pop-up menu or click the Maximize button on the title bar.

To restore a pane to its original size:

  • Select Restore from the title bar's pop-up menu or click the Restore button on the title bar.

Moving and resizing panes and views

You can move a pane or a view to any location in the painter window. You might find it takes a while to get used to moving panes and views around, but if you do not like a layout, you can always revert to the default layout and start again. To restore the default layout, select View>Layouts>Default.

To move a pane, you select and drag the title bar of the view that is at the top of the stack. If the pane contains stacked views, all views in the stack move together. To move one of the views out of the stack, you drag the tab for the view you want to move.

To move a pane:

When you move the pointer to a corner

When you move the pointer to a corner, you will find that you have many places where you can drop the outline. To see your options, move the pointer around in all directions in the corner and see where the outline displays as you move it.

  1. Place the pointer anywhere on the title bar of the view at the top of the stack, hold down the left mouse button, and start moving the pane.

    A gray outline appears in the pane:

  2. Drag the outline to the new location.

    The outline changes size as you drag it. When the pointer is over the middle of a pane, the outline fills the pane. As you drag the pointer toward any border, the outline becomes a narrow rectangle adjacent to that border. When the pointer is over a splitter bar between two panes, rows, or columns, the outline straddles the splitter bar:

  3. Release the mouse button to drop the outline in the new location:

    To move a pane here

    Drop the outline here

    Between two panes

    On the splitter bar between the panes

    Between a border and a pane

    At the side of the pane nearest the border

    Into a new row

    On the splitter bar between two rows or at the top or bottom of the painter window

    Into a new column

    On the splitter bar between two columns or at the left or right edge of the painter window

    Onto a stack of panes

    On the middle of the pane (if the pane was not already tabbed, tabs are created)


To move a view in a stacked pane:

  • Place the pointer anywhere on the view's tab, hold down the left mouse button, and start moving the view.

    You can now move the view as in the previous procedure. If you want to rearrange the views in a pane, you can drag the view to the left or right within the same pane.

To resize a pane:

  • Drag the splitter bars between panes.

Floating and docking views

Panes are docked by default within a painter window, but some tasks may be easier if you float a pane. A floating pane can be moved outside the painter's window or even outside the InfoMaker window.

When you open another painter

If you have a floating pane in a painter and then open another painter, the floating pane temporarily disappears. It reappears when the original painter is selected.

To float a view in its own pane:

  • Select Float from the title bar's pop-up menu.

To float a view in a stacked pane:

  • Select Float from the tab's pop-up menu.

To dock a floating view:

  • Select Dock from the title bar's pop-up menu.

Adding and removing views

You may want to add additional views to the painter window. If there are some views you rarely use, you can move them into a stacked pane or remove them. When removing a view in a stacked pane, make sure you remove the view and not the pane.

To add a new view to the painter window:

  1. Select View from the menu bar and then select the view you want to add.

    The view displays in a new pane in a new row.

  2. Move the pane where you want it.

    For how to move panes, see Moving and resizing panes and views.

To remove a view in its own pane from the painter window:

  1. If the view's title bar is not displayed, display it by placing the pointer on the splitter bar at the top of the pane.

  2. Click the Close button on the title bar.

To remove a view in a stacked pane from the painter window:

  • Select the tab for the view and select Close from its pop-up menu.

To remove a stacked pane from the painter window:

  1. If the title bar of the top view in the stack is not displayed, display it by placing the pointer on the splitter bar at the top of the pane.

  2. Click the Close button on the title bar.

Saving a layout

When you have rearranged panes in the painter window, InfoMaker saves the layout in the registry. The next time you open the painter window, your last layout displays. You can also save customized layouts so that you can switch from one to another for different kinds of activities.

To save customized layouts for a painter window:

  1. Select View>Layouts>Manage from the menu bar.

  2. Click the New Layout button (second from the left at the top of the dialog box).

  3. Type an appropriate name in the text box and click OK.

Restoring the default layout

You can restore the default layout at any time by selecting Views>Layout>Default.

Using pop-up menus

InfoMaker provides a context-sensitive pop-up menu that lists:

  • Actions appropriate to the currently selected object or the current position of the pointer

  • Where appropriate, a Properties menu item for accessing the Properties view or the Properties dialog box associated with the current object or the current position of the pointer

The pop-up menu is available almost everywhere in InfoMaker.

Example

For example, the following screen shows the pop-up menu for a column in a report:

To display a pop-up menu:

  1. Select an object, or position the pointer on an object or in a view.

  2. Click the right mouse button.

Defining colors

You can define custom colors to use in most painters and in objects you create.

To define custom colors:

  1. In a painter that uses custom colors, select Design>Custom Colors from the menu bar.

    The Color dialog box displays:

  2. Define your custom colors:

    Area of the Color dialog box

    What you do

    Basic colors

    Click the basic color closest to the color you want to define to move the pointer in the color matrix and slider on the right

    Custom colors palette

    Modify an existing color -- click a custom color, then modify the color matrix and slider. Define a new color -- click an empty box, define the color, and click Add to Custom Colors

    Color matrix

    Click in the color matrix to pick a color

    Color slider

    Move the slider on the right to adjust the color's attributes

    Add to Custom Colors button

    After you have designed the color, click this button to add the custom color to the Custom colors palette on the left