The following sections provide information on functionality common to all ProEssentials components.

Exporting

All ProEssentials components have access to the Export Dialog. See AllowExporting.

The export dialog allows the user to export:

MetaFile Format

The MetaFile format is a good method to export the components image. The metafile will be able to adapt to varying output resolutions. However, since the image has textual attributes, the image should not be stretched or squeezed. If so, the text will also be stretched or squeezed. If re-sizing, be sure to maintain the length to width aspect ratio.

Bitmap Format

The Bitmap format is the most common image export format, however, it uses a large amount of memory and doesnt necessarily take advantage of high resolution printers.

JPEG Format

Similar to the Bitmap format, the JPEG format is compressed to take less memory but still doesnt take advantage of high resolution printers. This format is widely used on web pages. This format is best suited for photographs because line art will be fuzzy due to compression. A better format is the PNG.

PNG Format

Similar to the Bitmap format, the PNG format is compressed to take less memory but still doesnt take advantage of high resolution printers. This format is gaining use on web pages and is most similar to the GIF format. This format will produce the best looking compressed raster images.

Text / Data Format

When the Text / Data Only format is selected and the user presses the Export button, a Text / Data Export Dialog is invoked.

The Text / Data Export Dialog allows the components information to be exported in a variety of ways. The user selects the desired data and whether or not to include labels. The Data to Export section will change depending upon the component. The user then chooses either a Table or List style and output precision.

IMPORTANT TIP
The text export dialog is a useful tool for the developer as well as the end-user. If you are having trouble programmatically passing data into the component, you can use this export dialog to export the data into Notepad to verify what is currently inside the ProEssentials component. Its best to export in a List Style with Maximum Precision. This will usually shed light on the problem and allow you to adjust your logic to properly pass the data into ProEssentials. If you are having trouble passing data, please use this tip before calling for technical support. Our support staff will likely ask you to try this approach to resolve the problem.

ClipBoard Destination

The ClipBoard will be the most common destination. It provides a quick method of sharing information with other Windows applications.

File Destination

When exporting to a File, the user must supply a filename via a SaveAs File Dialog. It is not shown because it is a standard SaveAs Dialog.

Printer Destination

When the Printer destination is selected and the user presses the Print button, a Print Dialog is invoked.

The Print Dialog allows the user to select a printer, adjust printer setup, and if the component has a vertical scrollbar, allows the user to adjust Scrolling Subsets Print Options. The Scrolling Subsets Print Options enables the user to export multiple pages. The component is automatically scrolled one page at a time, and each page is in turn sent to the printer. This enables all the information of the component to be printed clearly and easily. See PEprintgraph.

Object Size Parameters

The Object Size section changes depending on the Format and Destination selected. When exporting a Bitmap, JPEG or PNG, the only unit size available is pixels. When exporting to the Printer, No Specific Size changes to Full Page. When exporting Text / Data, the Object Size section is hidden.

Maximization

All ProEssentials components have maximization capabilities. Maximization is the process of copying the component into a modal dialog box enlarged to fit the screen. When the user is finished working with the maximized version, they can click the title bar or press Esc to return to the normal sized component. See AllowMaximization.

IMPORTANT NOTE
The Maximization mechanism creates a copy of the component and maximizes this copy. This allows the underlying control to still receive data in a real-time data monitoring application. However, this also means that there is no DataHotSpot feedback between the maximized component and your program. To maintain DataHotSpot feedback, you will have to maximize the actual component by adjusting the Width and Height properties for VB/Delphi developers or via the MoveWindow API if you are a C/C++ developer.

Help

All ProEssentials Dialogs have Help buttons which access "PEGRAPHS.HLP". This help file contains end-user information about the use of ProEssentials components. Its pretty basic but if needed, Gigasoft provides the help context IDs outputted so that you can integrate your own help. Or, you can set NoHelp to TRUE to disable all help menus and buttons.

The ProEssentials provide everything necessary to adjust the contents of "PEGRAPHS.HLP". This enables the developer to adjust the help text to target a particular audience.

The property HelpFileName allows the developer to change the file which gets opened when the user selects a ProEssentials Help button or menu item.

Mouse Interface

ProEssentials components respond to the mouse as follows.

• Right-Button Single-Clicking invokes a popup menu.

• Left-Button Double-Clicking will show the customization dialog. 3D Scientific Graph components will auto-rotate upon Double-Clicking.

• Left-Button Single-Clicking will give the component the input focus. If user clicks on a hot-spot, the corresponding event or notification message will be invoked.

• Left-Button can be used to control scrollbars.

Keyboard Interface

ProEssentials components can also receive the following keyboard commands:

Version 5 adds much more control over the built-in user interface. All built-in menus and dialog tabs can be disabled if needed. There is also a new mechanism to add your own menu items if needed. See CustomMenuText. Also see Common Question 38.  Within the demo, see example 127.

AllowUserInterface can be used to disable all mouse and keyboard interfaces or just the mouse or just the keyboard portions.