OpenSheetWithParmAsDocument

Description

Opens a sheet as a document within an MDI frame window for dockable windows. OpenSheetWithParmAsDocument also stores a parameter in the system's Message object so that it is accessible to the opened sheet.

Applies to

Window objects

Syntax

OpenSheetWithParmAsDocument ( sheetrefvar, parameter {, windowtype }, mdiframe, sheetname {, tabalign } )

Argument

Description

sheetrefvar

The name of any window variable that is not an MDI frame window. OpenSheetWithParmAsDocument places a reference to the open sheet in sheetrefvar.

parameter

The parameter you want to store in the Message object when the sheet is opened. Parameter must have one of these datatypes:

  • String

  • Double

  • PowerObject

windowtype (optional)

A string whose value is the datatype of the window you want to open. The datatype of windowtype must be the same or a descendant of sheetrefvar.

mdiframe

The name of an MDI frame window.

sheetname

A unique string identifier for the sheet, which is used when layout is persisted.

tabalign (optional)

A boolean that, when used, creates a new tab group and indicates the alignment of the sheets in the group. When true, the tabs in the group align vertically. When false, the tabs align horizontally.


Return value

Integer.

Returns 1 if it succeeds and -1 if an error occurs. If any argument's value is null, OpenSheetWithParmAsDocument returns null. In some cases, such as if the windowtype argument is invalid, OpenSheetWithParmAsDocument throws a runtime error and does not return a value; therefore, it is recommended that you both test the return value and wrap the function call in a try-catch block.

Usage

Tabbed documents can be in more than one tab group. Users can create additional tab groups by dragging one tab outside of the current group. If there is more than one tab group, use the mdiframe argument to specify in which one to open a sheet. Instead of specifying the parent window, specify an already open sheet in the tab group where you want to open your new sheet.

The system Message object has three properties for storing data. Depending on the datatype of the parameter specified for OpenSheetWithParmAsDocument, scripts for the opened sheet would check one of the following properties.

Message object property

Argument datatype

Message.DoubleParm

Double

Message.PowerObjectParm

PowerObject (PowerBuilder objects, including user-defined structures)

Message.StringParm

String


In the opened window, it is a good idea to access the value passed in the Message object immediately (because some other script may use the Message object for another purpose).

Avoiding null object references

When you pass a PowerObject as a parameter, you are passing a reference to the object. The object must exist when you refer to it later or you get a null object reference, which causes an error. For example, if you pass the name of a control on a window that is being closed, that control will not exist when a script accesses the parameter.