Contents | Index | < Browse | Browse >

    VISUAL EDITING
 ===============================================================

 Gui4Cli GUIs can be edited while they are running. This is done 
 by using the CONTROL key together with the mouse :


    Moving Gadgets :

 Press CONTROL-MouseClick on a Gadget or Graphic to Select it.
 You will see that an outline of the gadget is drawn. You can
 now let go of the CONTROL button and move the gadget outline
 around in your window.

 When you are satisfied with the new position, just click the
 mouse and the gadget/graphic will be redrawn to this new position.

 You can also use CONTROL-H instead of CONTROL-MouseClick to
 select a gadget, and CONTROL-H again to place it where you
 want. 

 This comes in handy if :
 (a) you are running programs like CycleToMenu etc which may 
 interfere with your mouse clicks, or
 (b) you are trying to paste some gadget over another gadget
 in which case GadTools may eat-up the mouse clicks.  

 There is also a GRID available, which makes lining up the gadgets much
 easier. By default the grid size is 1 which means "no grid".
 You can set the grid size to any size you want, with "SET GRID 5" 
 (5 is a good size..) - or through the Prefs gui.


    Resizing Gadgets :

 You can resize a gadget by clicking on it's bottom right corner.

 Note that some gadgets (such as ICONs, Images, xICONs and
 CTEXT) can not be resized.

 Also note that to resize a listview you have to click on the
 listview's bottom right corner - *not* on the arrow buttons
 (unless you use control-h).

 Since LVs adjust their size automatically to show as many 
 lines as possible, they may be a little difficult to select
 correctly for resizing..


    Resizing the window :

 You can enlarge or reduce the window size by resizing the 
 window while holding down the CONTROL key. In this case, the
 window is resized, while the gadget sizes/positions remain the
 same.


    Cloning gadgets :

 After selecting a gadget you can "clone" it (i.e. make a copy) by
 using the CONTROL-J shortcut. In this case a copy of the gadget will 
 be created and drawn where the mouse is at.

 Note that *only* the gadget information is copied.
 The gadgets modifiers and it's commands are *not* copied.


    Inter-GUI Cloning :

 After selecting a gadget you can also place it in another
 Gui4Cli window. In this case a copy of the gadget will be created
 and drawn into the window where you clicked.

 This enables you to make new guis by copying gadgets from other
 guis - in effect, a gui editor.

 Here also, *only* the gadget information is copied.


     Deleting gadgets :

 You can delete a gadget or graphic by selecting it and pressing
 the DELETE key.


     Saving your GUIs :

 Once you have made the GUI of your dreams, you can save it by
 pressing CONTROL-G. A simple requester will ask you if you
 want to save the gui.

     IMPORTANT notes on saving :

 - NEVER - load a gui, then change it's file by manually editing
   it and then edit & save the gui. To keep all your file notes
   etc in tact, Gui4Cli remembers the line numbers of the gadgets
   when the file is loaded, and then, when saving, it goes and
   changes only these lines, leaving everything else untouched.

   So if you have meanwhile changed the gui manually the gadget
   line numbers will have changed and ... well you're looking
   for trouble, that's what!

   Same will happen if you visually edited the file before and
   added 1 or more xCYCLER or xRADIO type gadgets. Since these need
   extra lines to describe the fields they'll have, it throws the
   whole numbering scheme off if you try to save the gui again
   without having reloaded it first.

   Hitting CONTROL-R to reload the gui (if you have changed it
   manually or have added cycler/radio gads) *before* starting 
   to visually edit it, will reload and thereby refresh the correct 
   line numbers etc. 

   Gui4Cli will check and tell you if it doesn't find the edited
   gadget where it should be in the file.

 - BE VERY CAREFUL when saving multi-gui files, if you are trying
   to edit more than one of the file's guis at the same time.
   Reloading the gui will *not* refresh the gadget line numbers
   of the other guis, since only the active gui is reloaded..

   If you must edit many guis of a multi-gui file at the same time,
   then reload *all* the file's guis everytime you save any one of 
   them.

 - If you have deleted existing gadgets, then the lines of
   the original GUI describing the gadget and all it's attached
   commands will be commented (i.e. a ; will be added in front)

   This will be done for all the lines following the gadget, until
   the next gadget is declared, or the end of file is reached.

 - If you have created new gadgets, these will be added at the
   bottom of the GUI file. If it's a multi-gui file, then at
   the end of the given gui within the file.

 - Any RESIZE_BIG/RESIZE_SMALL commands that the gui file may
   contain will be commented out and the gui will be saved at 
   it's current size.


      Quirks :

 - Circles are selected by clicking on their lower right quarter.

 - Boxes (even filled ones) are selected by clicking on their border.
   You have to click *exactly* on a pixel on their border.

 - TextIn gads (and maybe some others) will give you a little
   trouble if you try to paste them over themselves (i.e. move
   them a tiny bit. Try to pick them up from their edges.. 


      Final word :

 Visual editing is very helpful for creating and setting up a gui 
 just the way you want it. However, a gui will do nothing unless you
 tell it what to do - this can only be achieved by actually 
 programming them.

 So Press CONTROL-E and get on with it..

 Example :  Run Gui   Source