Layouts

This topic describes the layouts that are used to position controls in an XForm.

Layouts help you organize the interface of an XForm. You can apply layouts to an XForm as a whole, or to grouping controls in an XForm. Layouts do not apply to or affect the position of a toolbar in an XForm.

Process Platform XForms provides the following layout types.

Vertical Layout

You can use vertical layouts to stack controls one below the other. Controls in vertical layouts occupy the maximum available width.
A vertical layout has the following characteristics.

• Controls with default widths automatically resize on adjusting the window at run time.
  
• Placeholders indicate the locations where a control is to be added.
  
• Tab order is from left to right (for tables and nested controls) and top to bottom for controls with default widths.
  
• It is possible to resize the width of controls during design time, but such controls do not respond on resizing the window at run time.
  
• Resizing of control height is possible only for Textarea, List, Table, Button, Groupbox, Group, and Frame controls.
  

Horizontal Layout

You can use horizontal layouts to sequentially arrange controls in a row. By default, only two controls can be arranged in a row, each control occupying a part of the available width. If you add more than two controls, they are automatically shifted to the next row. However, you can manually resize the controls to arrange more controls in a row.
A horizontal layout has the following characteristics.

• Controls with default widths automatically resize on adjusting the window at run time.
  
• Tab order is from left to right (for tables and nested controls) and top to bottom for controls with default widths.
  
• Placeholders indicate the locations at which to add a control.
  
• It is possible to resize the width of controls during design time. However, controls with custom width do not respond to resizing of the window at run time.
  
• Resizing of control height is possible only for Textarea, List, Table, Button, Groupbox, Group, and Frame controls.
  

Free Layout

You can use free layouts when you need to position controls randomly in an XForm.
A free layout has the following characteristics.

• Control resizing is supported for all controls. However, for Input, Password, Output, Select, and Check only the width can be modified.
  
• Tab index is not supported in its default format.
  
• The anchoring feature is available for all controls.
  
• Controls must be anchored to respond to resizing of the window at run time.