Picture objects

Picture objects encapsulate the pictures used in picture enabled controls such as toolbars and picture buttons. Such controls have a picture property which can be set to the name of a picture object e.g.

.picObj1.cache$="clouds.bmp"
.picButton1.picture = &.picObj1

User defined picture objects can reference either a local picture on the client (not recommended) using the objects Filename$ property or they can reference a server filename using the Cache$ property. Small pictures can also be inlined in the form using the Immediate$ property. This will be done automatically by the Forms Designer for local pictures less than 2kb in size and can be optionally done for pictures larger than that up to a maximum of 8kb.

Picture objects must be created and named in the forms designer but their properties can be changed at runtime by server logic. There are a number of stock picture objects built into the client which can also be selected.

.picButton1.picture = &.Stop

The usual way to create an object is to highlight the control in the Forms Designer's property browser and to click on the picture property. This will bring up a Picture Open dialog allowing the selection of a picture already defined in the form, a stock picture or allow the definition of a new picture.

You can also add a picture object to a form directly with the Add Picture option from the Tools menu in the Forms Designer. This has the additional capability of being able to FTP a picture from your workstation to the server. Picture objects added this way must be referenced in the Picture property of some control or they will be stripped from the form when it is saved back into the program in the workbench.