MDI Plug-in Window

This document covers the following topics:


Description

An MDI (Multiple Document Interface) plug-in window is very similar to an MDI Child Window. However, instead of being opened as a child of an MDI frame window created in Natural, it is used to create a dialog to appear as an MDI child window within Natural Studio itself. Note, however, that the creation of such a plug-in window is a two-step process. Firstly, the dialog is created as usual, with the PARENT attribute set to NULL-HANDLE. At this point in time, the dialog is always invisible. Secondly, the plug-in code creates an instance of the generic document wrapper class, specifying the dialog's ID as parameter, causing a new MDI child window to be opened containing the specified dialog.

Note:
Because plug-ins should harmonize with the existing Natural Studio environment, accelerator key combinations used by Natural Studio (e.g., CTRL+N to open a new program editor window) are processed by Natural Studio and are not forwarded to the plug-in. Therefore, you cannot use the ACCELERATOR attribute of any dialog elements created in the plug-in to redefine the behavior of these reserved key combinations.

Attribute Name Query Set/Modify In Attr. Window
AUTO-ADJUST X -/X X
BACKGROUND-COLOUR-NAME X X/X X
BACKGROUND-COLOUR-VALUE X X/X X
BITMAP-FILE-NAME X X/- X
CLIENT-DATA X X/-  
CLIENT-HANDLE X X/X  
CLIENT-KEY X X/X  
CLIENT-VALUE X X/X  
COMPATIBILITY X X/- X
CONTEXT-MENU X X/X X
DEFAULT-BUTTON X X/X X
DPI X X/-  
DROP-MODE X X/X X
ENABLED X X/X X
EVENT-QUEUEING X X/X X
FIRST-CHILD X -/-  
FOLLOWS X -/-  
FONT-HANDLE X -/-  
FONT-STRING X X/- X
HAS-TOOLTIP X X/X  
HELP-FILENAME X X/X X
HELP-ID X X/X X
HORIZ-SCROLLABLE X X/X X
LAST-CHILD X -/-  
MAXIMIZED X -/-  
MINIMIZED X -/-  
MODIFIED X X/X  
MODIFIED-SUCCESSOR X -/-  
NAME X -/-  
PARENT X X/-  
POPUP-HELP X X/X X
PREDECESSOR X -/-  
RECTANGLE-H X X/- X
RECTANGLE-W X X/- X
RECTANGLE-X X X/- X
RECTANGLE-Y X X/- X
SCROLLRANGE-X X X/X  
SCROLLRANGE-Y X X/X  
STRING X X/- X
STYLE X X/- X
SUCCESSOR X -/-  
SUPPRESS-CLIENT-SIZE-EVENT X X/X  
SUPPRESS-DRAG-DROP-EVENT X X/X  
SUPPRESS-DRAG-ENTER-EVENT X X/X  
SUPPRESS-DRAG-LEAVE-EVENT X X/X  
SUPPRESS-DRAG-OVER-EVENT X X/X  
SUPPRESS-ENTER-EVENT X X/X  
SUPPRESS-LEAVE-EVENT X X/X  
TYPE X X/- X
VERSION X -/-  
VERT-SCROLLABLE X X/X X
WALLPAPER X X/X X

Events

After-Any Event, After Open Event, Before-Any Event, Before Open Event, Client-Size Event (may be suppressed), Close Event, Drag-Drop Event (may be suppressed), Drag-Enter Event (may be suppressed), Drag-Leave Event (may be suppressed), Drag-Over Event (may be suppressed), Enter Event (may be suppressed), Error Event, Leave Event (may be suppressed).