Global OCX/VCL Specifics

There are a few properties that are specific to the OCX/VCL interfaces.

hObject is a read only property that specifies the handle to the ProEssentials object being managed by the OCX/VCL interface. All OCX/VCL interfaces define this property as the default property. This property can be used to bypass the visual interface and use ProEssentials DLL calls directly. ProEssentials DLL functions usually have the hObject property as the first argument in the function call.

PEactions, PEnarg1, PEnarg2, and PEstrarg1 are properties which allow the developer to perform various DLL function calls via a property interface. In most cases, this saves you from having to worry about external DLL declarations.

For the following PEactions that call ProEssentials API Functions that need arguments, use:

PEnarg1 to set the width argument

PEnarg2 to set the height argument

PEstrarg1 to set the path\filename argument

* Be sure to initialize these argument properties before setting the PEactions property.

Code Action

PEactions = 0 calls PEreinitialize, PEresetimage, and InvalidateRect

PEactions = 1 calls PEreinitialize

PEactions = 2 calls PEresetimage

PEactions = 3 calls the Windows InvalidateRect function to cause the control to redraw itself

PEactions = 4 calls PElaunchmaximize

PEactions = 5 calls PElaunchcustomize

PEactions = 6 calls PElaunchexport

PEactions = 7 calls PElaunchtextexport, use PEnarg1 to represent bToFile 0=false, 1=true

PEactions = 8 calls PElaunchprintdialog

PEactions = 9 calls PElaunchcolordialog

PEactions = 10 calls PElaunchfontdialog

PEactions = 11 calls PElaunchpopupmenu

PEactions = 12 calls PEcopymetatoclipboard

PEactions = 13 calls PEcopymetatofile

PEactions = 14 calls PEcopybitmaptoclipboard

PEactions = 15 calls PEcopybitmaptofile

PEactions = 16 calls PEcopyoletoclipboard

PEactions = 17 calls PEreinitializecustoms

PEactions = 18 calls PEprintgraph

PEactions = 19 Undo Zoom

PEactions = 20 calls PEreset

PEactions = 21 calls PEcopyjpegtoclipboard

PEactions = 22 calls PEcopyjpegtofile

Delphi VCL Enumerations for the PEactions property. Note that you will replace the x prefix with either g(graph), sg(scientific graph), td(3D scientific graph), ps(polar/smith), or pc(pie chart).

ePEactions = (

xReinitAndReset,

xReinitialize,

xResetImage,

xInvalidateImage,

xMaximize,

xCustomize,

xExportDialog,

xTextExportDialog,

xPrintDialog,

xColorDialog,

xFontDialog,

xPopupMenu,

xMetaToClip,

xMetaToFile,

xBmpToClip,

xBmpToFile,

xOleToClip,

xReinitCustoms,

xPrintGraph,

xUndoZoom,

xReset,

xJpegToClip,

xJpegToFile,

xPngToClip,

xPngToFile);

Coding All Property Settings

This has several advantages. 1) If you have problems, you can email/fax us your code and we have a record of what properties you are setting. 2) If you go back to your code a couple months later, or someone else inherits your project, theres a documented list of properties which have been set. 3) If you ever port your code to another SDE, you have a documented list of properties you are setting. 4) If a form file gets corrupted, you will need to rebuild the form and theres no need to reset properties within the property window. The bottom line is that coding your property settings will result in the safest and most maintainable implementation.

DLL Still Required

The OCX and VCL interfaces are provided to simplify the integration of the ProEssentials controls into your applications. These are pure interfaces, and the DLL (PEGRP16A.DLL/16 bit or PEGRP32A.DLL/32bit) is still required and supplies the charting functionality. Because of this, you can make ProEssentials DLL calls in combination with using the OCX or VCL interface. You can quickly pass large amounts of data into the ProEssentials object with the PEvset function. Look for tech-note files VBPEVSET.TXT and DELPVSET.TXT for more information on using PEvset.

Property References

Each property in the property reference has a bold Ocx|Vcl heading which identifies the respective property name also in bold type. The property reference main headings are C-Style constants because they represent the common denominator of property access. There are actually more properties defined in the DLL than defined in the OCX/VCL interfaces, however, the OCX/VCL interfaces define most of the DLLs possible properties.

Property Arrays

Property arrays are properties like YData, SubsetLabels, and PointColors that have multiple values defined by one or two indices. On occasion you will need to empty or reduce the size of a property array. This can be accomplished by setting the index to (-1) or in the case of a two dimensional property array (0,-1) and supplying the new size. For example, RandomSubsetsToGraph is a common property array that needs to be emptied or resized. The following code shows how to empty this property array.

PEGraph1.RandomSubsetsToGraph(-1) = 0

Two dimensional property arrays are emptied like:

Pego1.YData(0, -1) = 0

String property arrays are emptied like:

PEGraph1.PointLabels[-1] = '0';