DesktopX 2.4 Developer’s Guide
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must have a different Object Controller to the original one to close them. Think of them like a
normal program. Clicking a link to a program will open it, but clicking the link again will not
close the application. A separate 'Object Controller', the close button, is required to do this.
'Toggle' popups - Are the simplest types. If the popup is hidden when you click the Object
Controller it will be shown. If the popup is visible when you click the Object Controller it will be
hidden.
'Menu' popups - These popups once displayed, will only remain until the user interacts with the
desktop in anyway. They have this name because they function just like menus; unless you click
them immediately to carry out the function they are there to do they disappear.
'Volatile' popups - Once a 'Volatile' popup is shown, it will remain until either the controller is
toggled or another popup is opened.
'Volatile (No toggle)' popups - This is just like the previous version, except that toggling the
Object Controller is disabled like in a 'Static' popup, so the only way to make it disappear is to
activate another popup.
Position Adjustment
When you are developing for yourself you will design everything so it fits your screen perfectly.
So, what happens if you change your screen resolution or you give your work to another user
who runs at a different resolution?
Well, DesktopX can make a fairly good guess but it is certainly not perfect, so if you are going to
make good objects you should pay attention to the two options you see above.
By specifying values in here, you can define how the object will reposition itself when the screen
resolution changes. DesktopX logs what resolution the screen was designed on and therefore
detects changes and reacts according.
The 'Dock to Left' and 'Dock to Right' options mean that the object will remain the same distance
from that edge as it was when originally designed.
'Dock to Nearest xxxx Border' means that the object will align itself to the nearest edge of the
screen (vertical or horizontal depending on option). For example, if you have an object against
the tight edge of the screen then increase the resolution, you run the risk that it will end up
floating away from the new edge.
An object that repositions based on the 'Center' option will be relatively the same distance from
the center of the screen as it was in the resolution for which it was developed.
The final option 'Rescale' means that the object will be relatively the same distance across the
screen at different resolutions. For example, and object positioned at 200,200 on an 800x600
screen would be positioned at 320x341 on a 1280x1024 screen (25% across, 33% down).
