Window style attributes: Basics

Basic presentation style attributes for window elements.

Style attributes listed in this page are general and supported on several front-end types, when the platform allows it. See also other pages about window style attributes.

Table 1. Window style attributes: Basics
Attribute GDC GBC GMA GMI
border

Defines the border type of the window.

Values can be:
  • "normal" (default): the border is standard, with a normal window header with a caption.
  • "frame": only a frame appears, typically without a window header.
  • "tool": a small window header is used.
  • "none": the window gets no border.

On Mac® platforms, using "tool" is not effective.

 Yes No No No
defaultTTFColor

Defines the default color used for TTF icons.

All icons displayed in the window using this style default get the color specified in the defaultTTFColor attribute.

The value for this attribute must be an RGB specification or a named color as listed in Colors.

For more details about TTF icon usage see Using a simple image name (centralized icons).

 Yes Yes Yes Yes
errorMessagePosition

Defines the rendering of program errors displayed with the ERROR instruction.

Values can be:
  • "statusbar" (default): displays the comment in the window status bar.
  • "popup" will bring a pop-up window to the front; to be used with care, as it can annoy the end user.
  • "statustip" adds a small "down" arrow button that shows the pop-up once the user clicks on it; useful to display very long text.
  • "both" will display the comment text in a pop-up window and then in the status bar.
 Yes No No No
forceDefaultSettings

Indicates if the window content must be initialized with the saved positions and sizes. By default, windows are reopened at the position and with the size they had when they were closed. You can force the use of the initial settings with this attribute. This applies also to column position and width in tables.

Values can be "yes" or "no" (default).

 Yes Yes No No
position

Indicates the initial position of the window.

Values can be:
  • "default" (default): the windows are displayed depending on the window manager or browser rules.
  • "field": the window is displayed below the current field (works as "default", when current field does not exist). The windowType style attribute must be "modal".
  • "previous" the window is displayed at the same position (top left corner) as the previous window. (works as "default" when there is no previous window).
    Note: "previous" is not supported by GBC.
  • "center": the window is displayed in the center of the screen.
  • "center2": the window is displayed in the center of the current window.
    Note: "center2" is not supported by GBC.

For front-ends using stored settings, "field" and "previous" have higher priority than the stored settings.

 Yes Yes (see notes) No No
sizable

Defines if the window can be resized by the user.

Values can be "yes" (default), "no" or "auto".

Note: With GDC:
  • When using "auto", the window becomes resizable if the content of the first displayed form has resizable elements, for example when using a form with a TABLE container or an TEXTEDIT with STRETCH attribute.
  • On Linux® and Mac platforms, some window managers do not allow the size of a window to be frozen and therefore, sizable set to "no" may have no effect.
Note: With GBC:
  • On a normal window, the behavior is applied to the form instead of the window. When set to "no", the form content is not stretched, even if the form contains stretchable items.
  • On a modal window, when set to "no", the end-user cannot resize the modal window.
 Yes (see note) Yes (see note) No No
tabbedContainer

Values can be "yes" or "no" (default).

Note: For the GDC, tabbedContainer=yes indicates that the WCI container must display the child application windows in a folder tab.
Note: For the GBC (WCI is not supported), if a window of an application uses tabbedContainer=yes, every application except the one hosting the tabbed container is embedded in a tab container generated by GBC. When using this style attribute, the GBC side bar is replaced by the StartMenu, which is mandatory when tabbedContainer=yes.

See also Window container interfaces.

 Yes (see note) Yes (see note) No No
tabbedContainerCloseMethod

Defines the folder tab method of the container when tabbedContainer is set to "yes".

Values can be:
  • "container" (default): container gets a close button in the tab.
  • "page": each page has its own close button.
  • "both": each page and the container has its close button.
  • "none": no close button is shown.
 Yes No No No
thinScrollbarDisplayTime

Defines the display time (in seconds) of the automatic scrollbar displayed when scrolling on fixed screen array (a.k.a. "Matrix") and SCROLLGRIDs. After the delay, the scrollbar disappears.

A value of zero specifies an infinite time: The thin scrollbar remains visible while the record list can be scrolled (during dialog execution).

A negative value specifies that the scrollbar must always be hidden.

Default is 1 second.

 Yes Yes No No
toolBarDocking

Defines if the toolbar is movable and floatable.

Values can be "yes" (default) or "no".

 Yes No No No
toolBarPosition

Indicates the position of the toolbar, when a toolbar is defined.

Values can be "none", "chrome", "top" (default), "left", "bottom" or "right".
Note: GBC supports only the "chrome" value for the toolBarPosition attribute.
Note: The "chrome" value is specific to GBC: It indicates that action views must be displayed in the frame of the browser surrounding the HTML content. This is especially used on mobile devices. See Action views with GBC.
 Yes Yes (see note) No No
windowOptionClose

Defines if the window can be closed with a system menu option or window header button.

Values can be "yes", "no" or "auto" (default).

When value is "auto", the option is enabled depending on the window type.

This attribute may have different behavior depending on the front-end operating system. For example, when no system menu is used, it may not be possible to have this option enabled.

 Yes Yes No No
windowOptionMaximize

Defines if the window can be maximized with a system menu option or window header button.

Values can be "yes", "no" or "auto" (default).

When value is "auto", the option is enabled depending on the window type.

This attribute may have different behavior depending on the front-end operating system. For example, when no system menu is used, it may not be possible to have this option enabled.

 Yes No No No
windowOptionMinimize

Defines if the window can be minimized with a system menu option or window header button.

Values can be "yes", "no" or "auto" (default).

When value is "auto", the option is enabled depending on the window type.

This attribute may have different behavior depending on the front-end operating system. For example, when no system menu is used, it may not be possible to have this option enabled.

 Yes No No No
windowState

Defines the initial state of a window.

Values can be "normal" (default), "maximized", "minimized" or "fullscreen".

 Yes No No No
windowType

Defines the basic type of the window.

Values can be:
  • "normal" (default): Normal windows are displayed as typical application windows.
  • "modal": Modal windows are displayed over all other windows, typically used for temporary dialogs.
 Yes Yes No No