To set the appearance of Rich UI items in the EGL editor:
- From the main menu, click . The Preferences window
is displayed.
- Expand EGL and Rich UI;
and then click Appearance. The Appearance pane
is displayed with three tabs: General, Browser
size, and Languages.
For information about setting preferences in each tab, see the
"General tab," "Browser size tab," and "Languages tab" sections in
this topic. After you set the preferences on the tabs, do as follows:
- If you want to return the settings on the Appearance pane to the
original product settings, click Restore Defaults.
- To save your changes and remain in the Preferences window,
click Apply. To save your changes and exit
the window, click OK. To cancel the changes
and exit the window, click Cancel.
General tab
On the
General tab,
do as follows:
- In the Editor tab section, select Design, Source,
or Preview to indicate which tab to use when
you open the EGL editor.
- In the Widget creation section, indicate whether the EGL editor
must prompt you for a variable name each time that you drag a widget
from the palette to the Design surface. If you clear Prompt
for a variable name, the EGL editor creates its own variable
name, which is the widget type name (for example, Button) that
is followed by a sequentially assigned integer. For example, the assigned
names might be Button1, Button2, Box1, and so
forth.
- In the Transparency section, indicate how to handle the transparency
controls, which set how the widgets are displayed in the Design tab
of the EGL editor. The transparency controls are particularly useful
when you work on a Design surface with many widgets that are close
together.
The Design surface is composed of two layers. The bottom
layer is the Web browser, which displays widgets, including initial
text values. The top layer is an editing overlay, including angle
brackets at each corner of each widget. The background of the top
layer can have any of the following characteristics: transparent,
or a pattern of white and transparent dots, or (on Windows® platforms) a white layer with a varying
level of transparency.
The transparency options provided in
the
Appearance pane affect the behavior of
the EGL editor every time you open the editor. However, when you are
working in the editor, you can change the transparency options that
are in use for the editing session. The options are as follows:
- To indicate whether to display the transparency control, either
select or clear Show transparency controls.
When you start working with Rich UI, you might prefer hiding the controls,
as is the default setting for this preference.
- Select one of the following transparency modes, which affect the
background of the top layer of the Design surface:
- Fully transparent means that the background
is transparent.
- Dotted transparency pattern means that
the background is a pattern of white and transparent dots. The refresh
rate of your monitor might cause the pattern to shimmer.
- On Windows platforms, Variable
transparency means that the background is a white layer
with a varying level of transparency. You can adjust the level by
changing the numeric value of a slider. The dotted transparency pattern
described earlier is roughly equivalent to the variable transparency
pattern at 38%.
- To use a temporary transparency mode as you drag a widget from
the palette to the Design surface or from one location on the Design
surface to another, select Enable semi-transparency while
dragging. If you select this option, the temporary mode
is the dotted transparency pattern; otherwise, your usual transparency
mode remains in effect. If your usual transparency mode is the dotted
transparency pattern, this option has no effect.
- In the Colors section, specify details about the following issues:
- The border of the currently selected widget
- The potential drop locations for a widget that is dragged from
the palette to the Design surface or from one location on the Design
surface to another
- The selected drop location, which is a potential drop location
over which the widget is hovering during a drag-and-drop operation
For the border and each location, you can click the adjacent
button to display a color window from which you can choose or refine
a color. Also, for the border and the selected drop location, you
can select or clear a check box to include or exclude the displayed
pattern.
- In the Performance section, select the radio button that reflects
your current need, whether for greater responsiveness or for less
usage of runtime resources, such as memory. If you select Optimize
to use fewer resources, you increase the amount of time
needed to display content when you select the Design or Preview tab.
- In the Dependencies section, you can specify that the EGL editor
prompt you before adding a project to the EGL build path. The nature
of project dependencies is described in "The EGL build path."
In
this case, the dependency issue arises because the Widget types in
the palette can be from any project in the workspace. The prompt,
if any, occurs when you attempt to drop a widget for which the type
is defined in a project that is not in the EGL build path.
To
cause a prompt, which you use to add an entry to the EGL build path
or to cancel the operation, select the check box. To add the entry
automatically, clear the check box.
Browser size tab
In the Browser
size tab, you set the browser size that is appropriate
for a specific kind of device, such as a cell phone. Specifically,
you use this tab to set options that are in effect whenever you open
the EGL editor. However, when you are working in the editor, you can
change the browser-size options for the file that you are editing.
In
the
Browser size tab, you can set the following
options:
- To indicate whether to display the controls when a file is opened
in the EGL editor, either select or clear Browser size
controls. When you start working with Rich UI, you might
prefer hiding the controls, as is the default setting for this preference.
- To specify the default height and width in pixels, change the
numeric values of the sliders. The default that you set becomes the
browser size that is provided initially in the EGL editor. You can
also change the numeric values of the sliders to specify the minimum
and maximum height and width that are valid in any file open in the
EGL editor. You can change the maximum and minimum on the Appearance
page only.
Languages tab
On the Languages tab,
you assign values that determine what messages to use when you run
Rich UI applications in the Preview tab of the EGL editor or in an
external browser. For details about the use of locales, see "Use of
properties files for displayable text."
When you work in the
Languages tab,
you choose among locales that are listed in the Rich UI pane, as described
in "Setting preferences for Rich UI." To set preferences in the
Languages tab:
- From the Runtime messages locale list,
select the locale for the EGL runtime messages, which are provided
by the EGL Runtime and are distinct from the messages that are included
in a properties file that you customize.
- From the Rich UI handler locale list, select
the locale for the messages that are included in a properties file,
if any, that you customize.