Custom Control Labels

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Control labels are used to label buttons, options, and fields in MainBoss windows. For example, button labels like Save or Cancel are control labels.

Each control label used by MainBoss has an associated key. This is a string that MainBoss uses internally to identify the label. Typically, the key is the same (or similar) to the English language version of the label.

For some controls, the label has a short form and a long form. For example, the label used for the field where you specify a service contract has two forms: the full name "Service Contract" and the short form "Svc Cont.". The short form is used in windows that don't have enough room to display the full name. If a label has both a short form and a long form, you can edit either or both; if a label only has a short form or a long form, the edit window will only let you edit the one form that is used (although it will fill in both the "Default Full Text" and "Default Short Text" fields).

The ampersand (&) character has a special meaning for Windows control labels. Putting an ampersand immediately in front of a character in a control label makes that character a keyboard shortcut. For example, writing &Delete makes D a keyboard shortcut for the Delete button. The letter will be underlined in the button label; it can also be used as a way to click the button instead of using the mouse. (Press <Alt+D>.)

If you want a control label to contain a real ampersand character (as in "Save & Close") you must type two ampersand characters so that the ampersand is not mistaken for a keyboard shortcut. For example, you must type Save && Close if you want the user to see Save & Close.

To specify a new control label, you start in the Custom Text window (described in Creating Custom Text). Click the message file whose label you want to change, then click Controls. MainBoss displays a window that contains the following:

• Control Key: This drop-down list shows all the control keys used by MainBoss. To change a particular label, you must first find the key in this list.
• Default Full Text: The default label associated with the selected "Control Key".
• Custom Full Text: The new label that you want to use. Note that you cannot type the new label into this field until you clear the checkmark for Use Default Full Text.
• Use Default Full Text: This box starts out checkmarked. To specify custom text, you must click the box to clear the checkmark. This will enable the "Custom Full Text" field so that you can enter a new label.
• Default Short Text: The default short form associated with the selected "Control Key".
• Custom Short Text: The new short form that you want to use. Note that you cannot type in this field until you clear the checkmark for Use Default Full Text.
• Use Default Short Text: This box starts out checkmarked. To specify a new short form, you must click the box to clear the checkmark. This will enable the "Custom Short Text" field so that you can enter a new label.
• Save: Saves any changes you have made, then closes the window.
• Cancel: Closes the window without saving any changes.

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