Dialog Label will not display in Tab/RadioGroup

gtdalsanto · Post by **gtdalsanto** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 11:42 pm

I am probably trying to make the Dialog Designer to do something it was not designed to do. But I have been able to do it in other VBA applications using the VB Forms in MS Access and was hoping this functionality would work here in the dialog designer also.

What I am trying to do is have a Dialog box that has multiple tabs on it. Each tab has multiple input boxes, labels, and radio groups. This all works fine. However, what I am trying to do is use the RadioGroup control as a wrapper around a group of objects, i.e. labels with edit boxes. The following combinations work:

Create a dialog box, with a radiogroup box with no items. Inside the radiogroup, I have labels/edit boxes. The radiogroup box is acting like a wrapper, with the title of the radio groupbox defining the items in the box. It would be code something like the following:
RadioGroup=msRadioGroup1,msRadioGroup1,88,72,225,121,,-1
Edit=msEdit1,160,104,121,msEdit1
Button=msButton1,152,216,75,25,0
Label=test1,112,104,true

Second, creating a Dialog with a TAB, with multiple pages, and on the first tab, just putting the label/edit box. This works. However, if you put a TAB, then add a radiogroup box, and inside the empty radiogroup box you try to put a label and an edit box. In this case, the label is always put behind the radiogroup when on a tab. I have tried putting the radiogroup "behind" the label, but it still does not display. Is there something I am doing wrong?

In the dialog code below, the item that will not display is MSLabel3 - Label=test3,48,64, which is located on Page2 of the Tab, and is behind/under the radiogroup box. Below is the dialog example that I am trying to make work.

Dialog>Dialog1
Caption=Dialog1
Width=774
Height=400
Top=104
Left=16
Max=1
Min=1
Close=1
Resize=1
RadioGroup=msRadioGroup1,msRadioGroup1,88,72,225,121,,-1
Edit=msEdit1,160,104,121,msEdit1
Button=msButton1,152,216,75,25,0
Label=test1,112,104,true
TabBook=msTabBook1,384,72,289,193,0
TabPage=Page1
Label=test2,16,32,true
Edit=msEdit2,56,32,121,msEdit2
TabPage=Page2
Label=test3,48,64
RadioGroup=msRadioGroup2,msRadioGroup2,32,24,185,105,,-1
Edit=msEdit3,96,64,81,msEdit3
Edit=msEdit4,72,136,121,msEdit4
Label=test4,40,144,true
EndTabBook
EndDialog>Dialog1

Show>Dialog1,Result

I am trying to use the radiogroup control as a wrapper around multiple objects. I use the RadioGroup Caption as the group name. It tends to make the dialog box GUI look more clean. Again, I realize the dialog designer is a basic interface, but it would be great if this would work.

Any help or insight on how to do this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

JRL · Post by **JRL** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 4:51 am

I don't know how to make the labels show through the radiogroup but I would suggest using progress bars instead. They make nice separator lines when slimmed down to 1 pixel thick.

[code]
Dialog>Dialog1
Caption=Dialog1
Width=774
Height=400
Top=223
Left=167
Max=1
Min=1
Close=1
Resize=1
RadioGroup=msRadioGroup1,msRadioGroup1,88,72,225,121,,-1
Edit=msEdit1,160,104,121,msEdit1
Button=msButton1,152,216,75,25,0
Label=test1,112,104,true
TabBook=msTabBook1,384,72,289,193,0
TabPage=Page1
Label=test2,16,32,true
Edit=msEdit2,56,32,121,msEdit2
TabPage=Page2
Label=test3,48,64
Edit=msEdit3,96,64,81,msEdit3
Edit=msEdit4,88,96,121,msEdit4
Label=test4,40,96,true
ProgressBar=msProgressBar1,32,32,209,1,0
ProgressBar=msProgressBar2,32,136,209,1,0
ProgressBar=msProgressBar3,32,32,1,105,0
ProgressBar=msProgressBar4,238,32,1,105,0
EndTabBook
EndDialog>Dialog1

Show>Dialog1,Result
[/code]

gtdalsanto · Post by **gtdalsanto** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:38 am

Thanks for the workaround. Possibly this could be an enhancement down the road in the dialog designer to allow labels to be displayed in a radiogroup box.

jpuziano · Post by **jpuziano** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:57 am

gtdalsanto wrote:Thanks for the workaround. Possibly this could be an enhancement down the road in the dialog designer to allow labels to be displayed in a radiogroup box.

Ditto, thanks for sharing this workaround JRL, very useful.

JRL · Post by **JRL** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:04 pm

Thanks for the workaround.

You're welcome. But since I've been doing this since the progress bars first became available, I don't see it as a workaround, I see the progress bar used as a separator as a reasonable use of the progress bar. Using the radiogroup object is clever but will have very distinct limitations. One being you will always have the radiogroup label to contend with, another being you can only do a rectangle, another being since it is an object it can cover up other objects.

armsys · Post by **armsys** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 8:47 am

I'm sorry. I still can't see the purpose of ProgressBar being used here. When running JRL's script, I don't see the progress bar per se. Please help. Thanks.

JRL · Post by **JRL** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 3:36 pm

armsys,

Run the sample. Pick the tab called "Page2". The box drawn around the labels and edit boxes under Page2 is made up of four progress bars. That's the potential usefulness of the progress bars, to be used as visual separators in a dialog.

Hope this helps,
Dick

armsys · Post by **armsys** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 4:19 pm

Dick,
Thanks for revealing the secret. I was perplexed by the dark border. Of course, it's useful becuase the Dialog> doesn't support line drawing.
Appreciate your help.