Map Editor

You use the DP4 map editor to define all the screens and forms in your database application. Maps are stored on your application database, and are displayed or printed by your application programs.

The map editor utility lets you manage the maps on your database. A powerful feature of the DP4 map architecture is that you can store a separate set of maps on your database for each language your application must support. This allows applications to be completely independent of the country or locale they are running in.

You organise your maps into named mapsets, that store the different types of maps on your database. For example, you might store all the message maps used by your database application in a mapset called MESSAGE, and all the maps for a customer enquiry program in a customer enquiry (CUST_ENQ) mapset:

As well as using the Map Editor described below you can export maps to a file, and make full use of the text editing facilities of your editor or word processor. (This is particulary useful in the text based version of DP4 as the format used is very simple.) When the changes are completed, the maps are posted back to the database.

Editing Maps, Map and Control Properties

The details of the Map Editor program vary according to whether you are using a text based (4.5xx), or GUI version (4.6xx), of DP4 , as does the structure of and details held in map information. (An upgrade program will automatically create 4.6xx GUI maps from 4.5xx ones). In both cases you can specify the following information.

• Text and field layout: You can position the text, edit fields and other controls such as buttons and icons on the screen

• Cosmetic Attributes: You can draw boxes and lines on a map, or in 4.6xx define frame styles for each field or control. You can choose the text colour (or `ink') and the background colour (or `paper'). In 4.6xx you can assign colours for each part of objects such as buttons, and select the font to be used for each control.

• Control Properties:You can specify a range of other properties which reduce the amount of code required in a program:

  • Validation: You can specify a field definition from the database which can eb used to validate a number or date is within a certain range. In 4.6xx you can also specify a custom validation on a field by field basis.
  • Security: You can enter read and write access levels for a field on a map
  • Data formatting:You can specify how the value in a field is to be formatted for display purposes (for example whether and how to separate thousands in a numer) . It is even possible to use a completely different type of control, for example a set of radio buttons instead of a numeric entry field, without the need for application changes.
  • You can define things such as the Tab order of the fields in a dialog or mnemonic or short cut keys for menus.
  
  
  
• Copying and pasting: You can copy an entire map, and you can copy a part of a map to another point in the map
  
  

• As well as editing maps you are likely to need to perform various Map Management tasks, which MAPEDIT and associated utilities also handle.