Aesthetic Controls

Use aesthetic controls to help organize, display, or emphasize information on a page. Usually, aesthetic controls are not associated with a particular record field that is defined in a record definition and maintained in a database. With the exception of the image control, these controls never update data in the database. Aesthetic controls include:

Term	Definition
Chart	Draws a frame that serves as a placeholder for a chart that you instantiate using the GetChart function in PeopleCode. Using the chart control, you draw a box in which the chart appears to the user at runtime. Associate the chart control with a record field in a record definition.
Frame	Draws a display-only box of variable size to visually group a set of controls on a page. You can draw a frame around almost any control. You can isolate controls, such as HTML areas, from other controls on a page and then hide the frame. Frames generate HTML tables for viewing in a browser.
Group Box	Draws a display-only box of variable size with a text label to visually group and identify related controls, such as radio buttons. Like a frame, you can resize a group box to any length or width. However, with a group box you can assign a visible label. Like frames, group boxes generate HTML tables for viewing in a browser.
Horizontal Rule	Draws a horizontal line to separate parts of a page. Use a horizontal rule control as a visual break between controls.
Image	Draws a frame that you can associate with a variable image from a record field in a database. The record field stores a graphic, such as a scanned image of an employee or a picture of an asset, in the format that you defined in the record definition. Because an image can change at runtime and is associated with a record and field definition, it is considered a data entry control and an aesthetic control. The field that you associate with your image can be either a standard Image type field or an ImageReference type field, where images might be associated with it depending on user input. The ImageReference field type is a pointer to an image definition, which enables you to display images dynamically. An example of this is referencing a red, yellow, or green light image definition on a page, depending on the context when the page runs. See Specifying Image Field Attributes. See Specifying ImageReference Field Attributes.
Static Image	Draws a frame that you can associate with an image definition. It can help organize or identify information that appears on a page. A static image is different from an image because it does not change at runtime, and it is not associated with a record field but instead with a predefined image definition. For example, you might select a static image, such as the yellow Clear button, from the image catalog and place it on top of a push button control so that the user knows to click that button to clear the contents of the page. See Understanding Image Definitions.
Static Text	Adds a static text item, a display-only alphanumeric field with a maximum length of 60 characters, to describe a page, control, or group of controls. You might use static text for a static note, an extension of a control label, and occasionally a control label itself. You should avoid using text items because they make it more difficult to translate pages to other languages. Instead, you should reference message catalog text to facilitate translation and other maintenance issues. Other methods of displaying text on a page are display-only edit boxes, field labels, and display-only long edit boxes. The system disables the static text button when you