Object Information Area

The object information area provides information about the object directly beneath the cursor--either on one of the primary window palettes or in the user interface. It includes the following information fields:

Object Type

The type of object beneath the cursor (main window, control pane, text field, for example). This field is active in the App Builder primary window, so you can use it to identify object types in the object palettes.

Object Name

The name of the interface object beneath the cursor. This name, in combination with the module name, uniquely identifies App Builder objects. Palette objects do not have names, so the field will be blank if the cursor is over the App Builder primary window. Note that all palette objects are given unique names when they are instantiated in the interface; you can change the name in the property editor for the object.

Position

The (x,y) pixel coordinates of the top-left corner of the object beneath the cursor, measured in the coordinate system of the object that contains it. If the object is a window object (main window, custom dialog, or file selection dialog), the position will be relative to the top-left corner of the monitor screen.

If the object is a pane that was dropped on the top-left corner of a window, its position will be 0,0, since 0,0 are the coordinates of the top-left corner of the parent window. A pane that is dropped on another pane and made a layered pane also has coordinates of 0,0.

If the object is a control or a pane that has been made a child of a control pane, its coordinates are measured from the top-left corner of the parent object to the top-left corner of the child object.

Size

The size, in pixels, of the object beneath the cursor, in the form "width X, height Y."

Cursor Position

The (x,y) pixel coordinate location of the cursor, measured in the coordinate system of the object that contains it. Every object, including controls, has its own coordinate system. Some compound objects, comprised of more than one widget, have multiple coordinate systems; a custom dialog, for instance, includes a control pane, a tool bar, and buttons, each with its own coordinate system.

Editing Module

The name of the module currently being edited. Any window dragged from the Windows palette becomes part of that module. If more than one module is shown on the workspace, you can change the current module by selecting an object in another module.