Form Inspector

The Form Inspector window allows you to edit all form properties and properties of the selected form control: its position, size, data source, etc. To show or hide this window use the Properties tool bar item in the Form Designer or press F11.

The upper drop-down list allows you to select another control for editing by its type and name. The Control Name property is defined in the first row of the grid and is intended for unique identification of a control within the form.

All control properties available for editing are described below, divided by categories.

Control Bounds - these properties define the position and the size of the control. Note, that if the control is placed within another control, its Left and Top are relative to this control.

Control Data

Source Type - select if control takes its data from a table column or from custom SQL.
Table Name - this property is used only if Source Type is Table and defines the source table of the control.
SQL - this property is used only if Source Type is SQL and defines the source SQL query for the control. Note, that the defined SQL query should return only one column. You can use columns of other tables, used as data source in this form, as SQL parameters, e.g. you can add to the source SQL a condition like this: where `match` = :matches.match_id.
Field Name - this property is used only if Source Type is Table and defines the source field of the control.

Lookup Properties (used with Lookup Combo Box controls only)

Lookup Source Type - select whether the lookup source query is built basing on Lookup Table and Lookup Field (Table selection), custom SQL (SQL selection), or similar to the data grids through the profile relationships.
Lookup Table - this property is used only if Lookup Source Type is Table and defines the source table for the control lookup query.
Lookup Field - this property is used only if Lookup Source Type is Table and defines the source field for the control lookup query.
Display Field -this property is used only if Lookup Source Type is Table and defines the field which control actually displays.
Lookup SQL - this property is used only if Lookup Source Type is SQL and defines the custom SQL text for the lookup query.

Control Behavior

Align - determines how the control aligns within its container (form or parent control).
Auto Size - specifies whether the control sizes itself automatically to accommodate its contents.
Tab Order - indicates the position of the control in its parent's tab order.
Read Only - indicates whether an editor is used for display purposes only or whether users can edit data within it.
Anchors - specifies how the control is anchored to its parent.

Control View

Caption - specifies a text string that identifies the control to the user.
Horizontal Alignment - determines how the text in the edit component is aligned.
Vertical Alignment - specifies the vertical placement of the text within the label.
Parent Color - determines where a control looks for its color information - in its own Color property or parent form (control) color.
Parent Font - determines where a control looks for its font information - in its own Font property or parent form (control) font.
Color - specifies the background color of the control.
Font - controls the attributes of text written on or in the control.

Grid Options (used with Grid controls only)

Master Field - select a master field for building the master-detail relation from the list of form table columns.
Detail Field - select a detail field from the table you set as Table Name for for building the master-detail relation.
Columns - select columns to display in the grid or keep blank to display all fields.
Grid Type - select the type of displaying grid rows.
Card Width - this property is used if Grid Type is Card View and defines the width of a single row card.
Show Group by Box - specifies whether the grid displays area for row grouping.
Show New Item Row - specifies whether the grid displays a row for inserting new records at the top of the grid.
Show Navigator - specifies whether the grid displays navigator bar for moving along the grid and editing its records.
Show Blobs as Images - specifies whether the grid displays all BLOB columns as images.
Allow Column Sorting - specifies whether the user can sort column values by clicking on column captions.
Allow Column Filtering - specifies whether the user can filter the grid data quickly by clicking on the column caption and selecting its filter value.

Image Options (used with Image controls only)

Stretch - stretches the image along the control.
Center - centers image on the control.
Show Image Popup Menu - specifies whether the image popup menu is displayed.

Button/Label Options (used with Label, DB Label, and Button controls only)

Component Action - this property defines the actions, which occurs when user clicks on the control. The following actions are available:

None - nothing happens;
Open Object - DBACentral opens new object, using properties Target Type, Target Object, Target Parameter Usage, Target Navigation Parameter, and Target Filter Parameter;
Switch to Object - DBACentral opens new object, using all other button/label properties and closes the current form;
Close Form - DBACentral closes the current form;
Exit Application - DBACentral closes itself.

Target Type - this property is used only if Component Action is Open Object or Switch to Object and defines the type of the object to be opened (table, query, or form).
Target Object - this property is used only if Component Action is Open Object or Switch to Object and defines the name of the object to be opened.
Target Parameter Usage - on opening another object you can pass an open parameter, which can be either a parameter for filtering the target gird/form or a parameter for initial navigating to a specified record in the target grid/form. This property allows you to select how you want to use target parameters.
Target Navigation Parameter - this property is used only if Target Parameter Usage is Navigation and defines the navigation parameter for the target grid or form. This parameter can be either a constant value or a value from one of the form fields.
Target Filter Parameter - this property is used only if Target Parameter Usage is Filter and defines the filter parameter for the target grid or form. This parameter can be either a constant value or a value from one of the form fields.

The Form Name property is defined in the first row of the grid and is intended for unique identification of the form within the profile.

All form properties available for editing are described below, divided by categories.

Form Options

Description - an optional description for the form, which you can see in the Detail view of the Profile Window | Forms page;

Allow Editing - if this option is off, then all form controls will be read-only, and no inserting will be available;

Allow Deleting - this option enables the Delete button in the form navigator bar.

Form View

Style Sheet - defines the main color scheme of the form, i.e. background and text colors of the main form elements.
Color - specifies the background color of the control.
Font - controls the attributes of text written on or in the control.

Form SQL

Master Table - the main table of the form, used for navigation, applying data modifications, and master-detail relations within the form.
Order by Field - this property allows you to select a field, by which the source table should by ordered.
Select Distinct - check this option to select only distinct records from the source table.