GEOS SDK TechDocs
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1 A First Look at GenDisplay
Applications communicate with users through a "user interface." The system needs a way of grouping the user-interface components together. For this reason, most applications will have a GenPrimary object. This object serves as the top-level object in the user interface tree.
GenPrimaryClass
is a subclass of
GenDisplayClass
. The GenDisplay object, like the GenPrimary object, manages other pieces of the user interface (menus, triggers, text objects, etc.). Furthermore, the GenDisplay object is a great boon to applications that need to perform several tasks at once (as, for example, a word processor which can have several files open at once). An application can have several GenDisplay objects, all of them children of a GenDisplayGroup object. Collectively, displays and primaries are called
windows
. All windows have certain functionality in common; that functionality can vary according to the specific UI.
The Document Control objects can be set to create GenDisplay objects when files are opened and to attach them automatically to a GenDisplayGroup. This enormously simplifies managing multiple documents. See the Documents chapter for information on the Document Control objects.
These objects are very simple to use. In particular, the GenPrimary is very easy to declare and use. Although all applications use the GenPrimary, many will not need the GenDisplay. However, because
GenPrimaryClass
is a subclass of
GenDisplayClass
, this chapter begins with an overview of
GenDisplayClass
, then continues with a full discussion of
GenPrimaryClass
, and concludes with advanced information about
GenDisplayClass
. Before reading this chapter, you should be familiar with the use and creation of generic user interface objects.
1 A First Look at GenDisplay
1.1 GenDisplay Object Structure
1.2 Minimizing and Maximizing
2 Using the GenPrimary
3 Using Multiple Displays
3.1 GenDisplayGroup
3.2 GenDisplayControl
3.3 Using GenDisplayClass Objects
GEOS SDK TechDocs
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| 1 A First Look at GenDisplay