The override component statement is used only with extended composite fields. The statement sets the keyable length of a component in an extended composite. It also specifies the character whose width will be used as the base width for the component.
override component component of field composite_field, component_length, width_base_character
• component – An integer specifying the component to format.
• of field composite_field – The name of the extended composite field that’s being formatted.
• component_length – An integer specifying the component’s keyable length.
• width_base_character – A single-character string whose width will be used as the base width when displaying the component.
The override component statement changes the formatting for a composite component throughout the application. To do this, the statement should be in the form pre script for the Main Menu form of the main dictionary. If the statement is used in an integrating dictionary, it should be executed before opening any forms with windows that display the composite.
The width_base_character parameter ensures the component has enough room to be displayed. For example, if the component will be displaying only numbers, 9 can be used as the width-base character. If text will be displayed in the component, W can be used since it’s the widest letter.