Contents

# SFDialogs.DialogControl service

The DialogControl service manages the controls belonging to a dialog defined with the Basic Dialog Editor. Each instance of the current service represents a single control within a dialog box.

The focus is set on getting and setting the values displayed by the controls of the dialog box. Formatting is accessible via the XControlModel and XControlView properties.

Note that the unique DialogControl.Value property content varies according to the control type.

A special attention is given to controls of type tree control. It is easy to populate a tree, either branch by branch, or with a set of branches at once. Populating a tree control can be performed statically or dynamically.

The SFDialogs.DialogControl service is closely related to the SFDialogs.Dialog service.

## Service invocation

Before using the DialogControl service the ScriptForge library needs to be loaded or imported:

• Basic macros require to load ScriptForge library using the following statement:
GlobalScope.BasicLibraries.loadLibrary("ScriptForge")
• Python scripts require an import from scriptforge module:
from scriptforge import CreateScriptService

The DialogControl service is invoked from an existing Dialog service instance through its Controls() method. The dialog must be initiated with the SFDialogs.Dialog service.

          Dim myDialog As Object, myControl As Object
          Set myDialog = CreateScriptService("SFDialogs.Dialog", "GlobalScope", myLibrary, DialogName)
          Set myControl = myDialog.Controls("myTextBox")
          myControl.Value = "Dialog started at " & Now()
          myDialog.Execute()
          ' ... process the controls actual values
          myDialog.Terminate()

         from time import localtime, strftime
         dlg = CreateScriptService('SFDialogs.Dialog', 'GlobalScope', lib_name, dlg_name)
         text = dlg.Controls('myTextBox')
         text.Value = "Dialog started at " + strftime("%a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S", localtime())
         dlg.Execute()
         # ... process the controls actual values
         dlg.Terminate()

## Retrieving the DialogControl instance that triggered a control event

An instance of the DialogControl service can be retrieved via the SFDialogs.DialogEvent service, provided that the dialog was initiated with the Dialog service. In the example below, oControl contains the DialogControl instance that triggered the control event.

          Sub aControlEventHandler(ByRef poEvent As Object)
              Dim oControl As Object
              Set oControl = CreateScriptService("SFDialogs.DialogEvent", poEvent)
              ' ...
          End Sub

Or using Python:

         def control_event_handler(event: uno):
             oControl = CreateScriptService('SFDialogs.DialogEvent', event)
             # ...

Note that in the previous examples, the prefix "SFDialogs." may be omitted when deemed appropriate.

## Handling exceptions in event handlers

When creating an event handler for control events it is good practice to handle errors inside the subroutine itself. For instance, suppose the event handler below is called when button is clicked.

        Sub OnButtonClicked(ByRef oEvent As Object)
        On Local Error GoTo Catch
            Dim oControl As Object
            oControl = CreateScriptService("DialogEvent", oEvent)
            ' Process the event
            Exit Sub
        Catch:
            MsgBox SF_Exception.Description
            SF_Exception.Clear
        End Sub

Call SF_Exception.Clear if you do not want the error to propagate after the dialog execution ended.

In Python use native try/except blocks for exception handling as shown below:

        def on_button_clicked(event=None):
            try:
                oControl = CreateScriptService("DialogEvent", event)
                # Process the event
            except Exception as e:
                # The object "bas" below is an instance of the Basic service
                bas.MsgBox(str(e))

## Control types

The DialogControl service is available for these control types:

• Button • CheckBox • ComboBox • CurrencyField • DateField • FileControl | • FixedLine • FixedText • FormattedField • GroupBox • Hyperlink • ImageControl | • ListBox • NumericField • PatternField • ProgressBar • RadioButton • ScrollBar | • TableControl • TabPageContainer • TextField • TimeField • TreeControl

TabPageContainer control type is not defined in the Dialog Editor.

## Properties

Name | ReadOnly | Type | Applicable to | Description
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Border | Yes | String | Button, … | The Border property refers to the surrounding of the control: "3D", "FLAT" or "NONE".
Cancel | No | Boolean | Button | Specifies if a command button has or not the behaviour of a Cancel button.
Caption | No | String | Button, CheckBox, FixedLine, FixedText, GroupBox, Hyperlink, RadioButton | Specifies the text associated with the control.
ControlType | Yes | String | All | One of the types listed above.
CurrentNode | No | UNO object | TreeControl | The currently upmost node selected in the tree control. Refer to XmutableTreeNode in Application Programming Interface (API) documentation for detailed information.
Default | No | Boolean | Button | Specifies whether a command button is the default (OK) button.
Enabled | No | Boolean | All | Specifies if the control is accessible with the cursor.
Format | No | String | DateField, TimeField, FormattedField (read-only) | Specifies the format used to display dates and times. It must be one these strings: For dates: "Standard (short)", "Standard (short YY)", "Standard (short YYYY)", "Standard (long)", "DD/MM/YY", "MM/DD/YY", "YY/MM/DD", "DD/MM/YYYY", "MM/DD/YYYY" , "YYYY/MM/DD", "YY-MM-DD", "YYYY-MM-DD". For times: "24h short", "24h long", "12h short", "12h long".
ListCount | Yes | Long | ComboBox, ListBox, TableControl | Specifies the number of rows in a ListBox, a ComboBox or a TableControl.
ListIndex | No | Long | ComboBox, ListBox, TableControl | Specifies which item is selected in a ListBox, a ComboBox or a TableControl.
Locked | No | Boolean | ComboBox, CurrencyField, DateField, FileControl, FormattedField, ListBox, NumericField, PatternField, TextField, TimeField | Specifies if the control is read-only.
MultiSelect | No | Boolean | ListBox | Specifies whether a user can make multiple selections in a listbox.
Name | Yes | String | All | The name of the control.
Page | No | Integer | All | A dialog may have several pages that can be traversed by the user step by step. The Page property of the Dialog object defines which page of the dialog is active. The Page property of a control defines the page of the dialog on which the control is visible.
Parent | Yes | Dialog service | All | The parent SFDialogs.Dialog class object instance.
Picture | No | String | Button, ImageControl | Specifies the file name containing a bitmap or other type of graphic to be displayed on the specified control. The filename must comply with the FileNaming attribute of the ScriptForge.FileSystem service.
RootNode | Yes | UNO object | TreeControl | An object representing the lowest root node (usually there is only one such root node). Refer to XmutableTreeNode in Application Programming Interface (API) documentation for detailed information.
RowSource | No | Array of strings | ComboBox, ListBox | Specifies the data contained in a combobox or a listbox.
TabIndex | Yes | Numeric | All | The TabIndex property specifies a control's place in the tab order in the dialog.
Text | Yes | String | ComboBox, FileControl, FormattedField, PatternField, TextField | Gives access to the text being displayed by the control.
TipText | No | String | All | Specifies the text that appears as a tooltip when you hold the mouse pointer over the control.
TripleState | No | Boolean | CheckBox | Specifies if the checkbox control may appear dimmed (grayed) or not.
URL | No | String | Hyperlink | The URL to open when the control is clicked.
Value | No | Variant |  | Refer to Value property
Visible | No | Boolean | All | Specifies if the control is hidden or visible.
XControlModel | Yes | UNO object | All | The UNO object representing the control model. Refer to XControlModel and UnoControlDialogModel in Application Programming Interface (API) documentation for detailed information.
XControlView | Yes | UNO object | All | The UNO object representing the control view. Refer to XControl and UnoControlDialog in Application Programming Interface (API) documentation for detailed information.
XTreeDataModel | Yes | UNO object | TreeControl | The UNO object representing the tree control data model. Refer to XMutableTreeDataModel in Application Programming Interface (API) documentation for detailed information.
XGridColumnModel | Yes | UNO object | TableControl | The UNO object representing the table control data model. Refer to XGridColumnModel in Application Programming Interface (API) documentation for detailed information.
XGridDataModel | Yes | UNO object | TableControl | The UNO object representing the grid control data model. Refer to XGridDataModel in Application Programming Interface (API) documentation for detailed information.

## The Value property

Control type | Type | Description
--- | --- | ---
Button | Boolean | For toggle buttons only
CheckBox | Boolean or Integer | 0, False: not checked 1, True: checked 2: grayed, don't know
ComboBox | String | The selected value. The ListIndex property is an alternate option.
CurrencyField | Numeric |
DateField | Date |
FileControl | String | A file name formatted in accordance with the FileNaming property of the ScriptForge.FileSystem service
FormattedField | String or Numeric |
ListBox | String or array of strings | The selected row(s) as a scalar or as an array depending on the MultiSelect attribute
NumericField | Numeric |
PatternField | String |
ProgressBar | Numeric | Must be within the predefined bounds
RadioButton | Boolean | Each button has its own name. They are linked together if their TAB positions are contiguous. If a radiobutton is set to True, the other related buttons are automatically set to False
ScrollBar | Numeric | Must be within the predefined bounds
TabPageContainer | Numeric | A dialog may have several numbered tabs identifiable or modifiable by their Value property.
TableControl | Array | One-dimensional array with the data of the currently selected row.
TextField | String | The text appearing in the field
TimeField | Date |

There is no Value property for GroupBox, Hyperlink, ImageControl and TreeControl dialog controls.

## Event properties

On… event properties are URI strings that reference a script triggered for an event. Read its specification in the scripting framework URI specification.

Name (event API link) | Description as labeled in the Basic IDE
--- | ---
OnActionPerformed | Execute action
OnAdjustmentValueChanged | While adjusting
OnFocusGained | When receiving focus
OnFocusLost | When losing focus
OnItemStateChanged | Item status changed
OnKeyPressed | Key pressed
OnKeyReleased | Key released
OnMouseDragged | Mouse moved while key presses
OnMouseEntered | Mouse inside
OnMouseExited | Mouse outside
OnMouseMoved
OnMousePressed | Mouse button pressed
OnMouseReleased | Mouse button released
OnNodeExpanded | (Not in Basic IDE) when the expansion button is pressed on a node in a tree control
OnNodeSelected | (Not in Basic IDE) when a node in a tree control is selected
OnTabSelected | (Not in Basic IDE) when a tab in a TabPage control is selected
OnTextChanged | Text modified

Tip: All On… properties can be set programmatically.
How to display data in a tree control example in LibreOfficeDev Wiki demonstrates such.

Assigning events via the Basic IDE and assigning events via macros are mutually exclusive.

## Methods

List of Methods in the DialogControl Service
AddSubNode AddSubTree CreateRoot | FindNode Resize SetFocus | SetTableData WriteLine

## AddSubNode

Create and return a new node of the tree control as a UNO object subordinate to a parent node. Refer to XMutableTreeNode in Application Programming Interface (API) documentation for detailed information.

This method may be called before displaying the dialog box to build the initial tree. It may also be called from a dialog or control event - using the OnNodeExpanded event - to complete the tree dynamically.

### Syntax:

svc.AddSubNode(parentnode: uno, displayvalue: str, opt datavalue: any): uno

### Parameters:

parentnode: A node UNO object, of type com.sun.star.awt.tree.XMutableTreeNode.

displayvalue: The text appearing in the tree control box.

datavalue: Any value associated with the new node. datavalue may be a string, a number or a date. Omit the argument when not applicable.

### Example:

LibreOfficeDev Basic and Python examples pick up current document's myDialog dialog from Standard library.

##### In Basic

          Dim oDlg As Object, myTree As Object, myNode As Object, theRoot As Object
          Set oDlg = CreateScriptService("Dialog",,, "myDialog")
          Set myTree = oDlg.Controls("myTreeControl")
          Set theRoot = myTree.CreateRoot("Tree top")
          Set myNode = myTree.AddSubNode(theRoot, "A branch ...")

##### In Python

         dlg = CreateScriptService('SFDialogs.Dialog', None, None, 'myDialog')
         tree = dlg.Controls('myTreeControl')
         root = tree.CreateRoot('Tree top')
         node = tree.AddSubNode(root, 'A branch ...')

## AddSubTree

Return True when a subtree, subordinate to a parent node, could be inserted successfully in a tree control. If the parent node had already child nodes before calling this method, the child nodes are erased.

This method may be called before displaying the dialog box to build the initial tree. It may also be called from a dialog or control event - using the OnNodeExpanded event - to complete the tree dynamically.

### Syntax:

svc.AddSubTree(parentnode: uno, flattree: any, opt withdatavalue: bool): bool

### Parameters:

parentnode: A node UNO object, of type com.sun.star.awt.tree.XMutableTreeNode.

flattree: a two dimension array sorted on the columns containing the display values. Such an array can be issued by the GetRows method applied on the SFDatabases.Database service. When an array item containing the text to be displayed is Empty or Null, no new subnode is created and the remainder of the row is skipped.

          Flat tree    >>>>    Resulting subtree
          A1	B1	C1             |__   A1
          A1	B1	C2                   |__   B1
          A1	B2	C3                         |__  C1
          A2	B3	C4                         |__  C2
          A2	B3	C5                   |__   B2
          A3	B4	C6                         |__  C3
                                 |__   A2
                                       |__   B3
                                             |__  C4
                                             |__  C5
                                 |__   A3
                                       |__   B4
                                             |__  C6

withdatavalue: When False default value is used, every column of flattree contains the text to be displayed in the tree control. When True, the texts to be displayed (displayvalue) are in columns 0, 2, 4, ... while the data values (datavalue) are in columns 1, 3, 5, ...

### Example:

##### In Basic

          Dim myTree As Object, theRoot As Object, oDb As Object, vData As Variant
          Set myTree = myDialog.Controls("myTreeControl")
          Set theRoot = myTree.CreateRoot("By product category")
          Set oDb = CreateScriptService("SFDatabases.Database", "/home/.../mydatabase.odb")
          vData = oDb.GetRows("SELECT [Category].[Name], [Category].[ID], [Product].[Name], [Product].[ID] " _
              & "FROM [Category], [Product] WHERE [Product].[CategoryID] = [Category].[ID] " _
              & "ORDER BY [Category].[Name], [Product].[Name]")
          myTree.AddSubTree(theRoot, vData, WithDataValue := True)

##### In Python

         SQL_STMT = "SELECT [Category].[Name], [Category].[ID], [Product].[Name], [Product].[ID] \
             FROM [Category], [Product] WHERE [Product].[CategoryID] = [Category].[ID] \
             ORDER BY [Category].[Name], [Product].[Name]"
         tree = dlg.Controls('myTreeControl')
         root = tree.CreateRoot('By Product category')
         db = CreateScriptService('SFDatabases.Database', '/home/.../mydatabase.odb')
         sub_tree = db.GetRows(SQL_STMT)
         tree.AddSubTree(root, sub_tree, withdatavalue=True)

## CreateRoot

Returns a new root node of the tree control, as a node UNO object of type com.sun.star.awt.tree.XMutableTreeNode. The new tree root is inserted below pre-existing root nodes. Refer to XMutableTreeNode in Application Programming Interface (API) documentation for detailed information.

This method may be called before displaying the dialog box to build the initial tree. It may also be called from a dialog or control event to complete the tree dynamically.

### Syntax:

svc.CreateRoot(displayvalue: str, opt datavalue: any): uno

### Parameters:

displayvalue: The text appearing in the tree control box.

datavalue: Any value associated with the new node. datavalue may be a string, a number or a date. Omit the argument when not applicable.

### Example:

##### In Basic

          Dim myTree As Object, myNode As Object
          Set myTree = myDialog.Controls("myTreeControl")
          Set myNode = myTree.CreateRoot("Tree starts here ...")

##### In Python

         tree = dlg.Controls('myTreeControl')
         node = tree.CreateRoot('Tree starts here ...')

## FindNode

Traverses the tree and finds recursively, starting from the root, a node meeting some criteria. Either - 1 match is enough - having its display value matching displayvalue pattern or having its data value equal to datavalue. The comparisons may be or not case-sensitive. The first matching occurrence is returned as a node UNO object of type com.sun.star.awt.tree.XMutableTreeNode. Refer to XMutableTreeNode in Application Programming Interface (API) documentation for detailed information.

When not found, the method returns Nothing, to be tested with the IsNull() builtin function.

This method may be called before displaying the dialog box to build the initial tree. It may also be called from a dialog or control event.

### Syntax:

svc.FindNode(displayvalue: str = '', opt datavalue: any, casesensitive = False): uno

### Parameters:

One argument out of displayvalue or datavalue must be specified. If both present, one match is sufficient to select the node.

displayvalue: The pattern to be matched. Refer to SF_String.IsLike() method for the list of possible wildcards. When equal to the zero-length string (default), this display value is not searched for.

datavalue: Any value associated with the new node. datavalue may be a string, a number or a date. Omit the argument when not applicable.

casesensitive: Default value is False

### Example:

##### In Basic

          Dim myTree As Object, myNode As Object
          Set myTree = myDialog.Controls("myTreeControl")
          Set myNode = myTree.FindNode("*Sophie*", CaseSensitive := True)

##### In Python

         tree = dlg.Controls('myTreeControl')
         node = FindNode('*Sophie*', casesensitive=True)
         if node is None:
             # ...

## Resize

Move the top-left corner of a dialog control to new coordinates and/or modify its dimensions. Return True if resizing was successful.

### Syntax:

svc.Resize(opt Left: int, opt Top: int, opt Width: int, opt Height: int): bool

### Parameters:

All distances are expressed in Map AppFont units and are measured from the top-left corner of the parent dialog. Without arguments the method resizes the control to its "preferred size", a size adjusted depending on its actual content. Missing arguments are left unchanged.

Left: The horizontal distance from the top-left corner

Top: The vertical distance from the top-left corner

Width: the horizontal width of the rectangle containing the control

Height: the vertical height of the rectangle containing the control

### Example:

##### In Basic

          Dim oControl As Object
          Set oDlg = CreateScriptService("SFDialogs.Dialog",,, "myDialog")
          Set oControl = oDlg.Controls("thisControl")
          oControl.Resize(100, 200, Height:=6000) ' Width is unchanged

##### In Python

          dlg = CreateScriptService('Dialog', None, None, 'myDialog')
          ctrl = dlg.Controls('thisControl')
          ctrl.Resize(300, 200, 1500)  # Height is unchanged

## SetFocus

Set the focus on the control. Return True if focusing was successful.

This method is often called from a dialog or control event.

### Syntax:

svc.SetFocus(): bool

### Example:

##### In Basic

          Dim oControl As Object
          Set oDlg = CreateScriptService("SFDialogs.Dialog",,, "myDialog")
          Set oControl = oDlg.Controls("thisControl")
          oControl.SetFocus()

##### In Python

          dlg = CreateScriptService('Dialog', None, None, 'myDialog')
          ctrl = dlg.Controls('thisControl')
          ctrl.SetFocus()

## SetTableData

Fills a TableControl with the given data. All preexisting data is cleared before inserting the new data passed as argument.

When the TableControl is added to the dialog, it is possible to use the Basic IDE to define whether column and row headers will be shown in the table. If the TableControl has column and/or row headers, the first column and/or row in the provided data array are used as labels for the table headers.

This method returns True when successful.

### Syntax:

svc.SetTableData(dataarray: any[0..*, 0..*], widths: int[0..*], alignments: str, RowHeaderWidth = 10): bool

### Parameters:

dataarray: Data to be entered into the table represented as an Array of Arrays in Basic or a tuple of tuples in Python. The data must include column and row headers if they are to be displayed by the TableControl.

widths: Array containing the relative widths of each column. In other words, widths = (1, 2) means that the second column is twice as wide as the first one. If the number of values in the array is smaller than the number of columns in the table, then the last value in the array is used to define the width of the remaining columns.

alignments: Defines the alignment in each column as a string in which each character can be "L" (Left), "C" (Center), "R" (Right) or " " (whitespace, default, meaning left for strings and right for numeric values). If the length of the string is shorter than the number of columns in the table, then the last character in the string is used to define the alignment of the remaining columns.

RowHeaderWidth: width of the row header column expressed in Map AppFont units. Default = 10. The argument is ignored when the TableControl has no row header.

### Example:

##### In Basic

The following example assumes that the dialog myDialog has a TableControl named Grid1 with "Show row header" and "Show column header" properties set to "Yes".

         Dim myDialog As Object, oTable As Object, tableData As Variant
         myDialog = CreateScriptService("Dialog", "GlobalScope", "Standard", "myDialog")
         oTable = myDialog.Controls("Grid1")
         tableData = Array("Column A", "Column B", "Column C")
         tableData = SF_Array.AppendRow(tableData, Array("Row 1", 1, 2))
         tableData = SF_Array.AppendRow(tableData, Array("Row 2", 3, 4))
         tableData = SF_Array.AppendRow(tableData, Array("Row 3", 5, 6))
         vAlignments = "LCC"
         vWidths = Array(2, 1, 1)
         oTable.SetTableData(tableData, vWidths, vAlignments)
         myDialog.Execute()

The Value property returns the selected row in the table. If no row is selected, an empty Array object is returned. The following code snippet shows how to test if any row is selected in the table.

         rowValues = oTable.Value
         If UBound(rowValues) < 0 Then
             MsgBox "No row selected."
         Else
             MsgBox "Row " & oTable.ListIndex & " is selected."
         End If

##### In Python

         dlg = CreateScriptService("Dialog", "GlobalScope", "Standard", "myDialog")
         table_control = dlg.Controls("Grid1")
         table_data = (("Column A", "Column B", "Column C"),
                       ("Row 1", 1, 2),
                       ("Row 2", 3, 4),
                       ("Row 3", 5, 6))
         alignments = "LCC"
         widths = (100, 50, 50)
         table_control.SetTableData(table_data, widths, alignments)
         dlg.Execute()

         bas = CreateScriptService("Basic")
         row_values = table_control.Value
         if len(row_values) == 0:
             bas.MsgBox("No row selected.")
         else:
             bas.MsgBox(f"Row {table_control.ListIndex} is selected.")

## WriteLine

Add a new line at the end of a multiline text field. A newline character will be inserted when appropriate. The method returns True when successful.

An error is raised if the actual control is not of the type TextField or is not multiline.

### Syntax:

svc.WriteLine(opt line: str): bool

### Parameters:

Line: The string to insert. Default is an empty line.

### Example:

##### In Basic

          Dim oDlg As Object, oControl As Object
          Set oDlg = CreateScriptService("SFDialogs.Dialog",,, "myDialog")
          Set oControl = oDlg.Controls("thisControl")
          oControl.WriteLine("a new line")

##### In Python

         dlg = CreateScriptService('SFDialogs.Dialog', None, None, 'myDialog')
         ctrl = dlg.Controls('thisControl')
         ctr.WriteLine("a new line")

All ScriptForge Basic routines or identifiers that are prefixed with an underscore character "_" are reserved for internal use. They are not meant be used in Basic macros or Python scripts.

Related Topics

SFDialogs.Dialog service

ScriptForge.String service

ScriptForge.UI service

Please support us!