Prompts

A prompt provides a label for a field. All fields or controls displayed in a window must have a prompt; however, push buttons, single check box controls and radio buttons store prompts as static text within the data type definition for each. The following illustration shows a typical prompt.

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Creating prompts

Use the following procedure when creating prompts so they appear like standard prompts in Microsoft Dynamics GP.

  1. Create the prompt.

Using the text tool, type the name of the prompt, then link it to its associated field.

  1. Set properties for the prompt.

Using the Arrow tool, select the prompt and set the following properties:

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Appearance

3D Highlight

BackColor

System - Button Face

Border

True

FontColor

System - Button Text

Pattern

None

PatternColor

Black

  1. Resize the prompt.

Select the prompt using the arrow tool. Drag the resize handles until the right edge of the prompt touches the left edge of its associated field.

Linking prompts to fields

The Link Prompt menu item available when the Dexterity Layout window is open allows you to link a field to its associated prompt. There are three primary reasons for linking fields to their prompts:

To link a prompt to its field, open the Layout window and choose Link Prompt from the Tools menu. Click the field you want linked, and drag the pointer to the prompt you want the field linked to. Once you’ve positioned the pointer over the prompt, release the mouse button; a highlight will flash to indicate that the link was successful. Link the remainder of the fields, then choose Link Prompt again to unmark the menu item.

General prompt guidelines

The following standards apply to all prompts in a window.

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Standard

Description

Naming

Fields should use short prompts (such as “Name” instead of “Lead Name”) only when a previous prompt has used the full name within the same window.

Abbreviations

Use abbreviations consistently. If an abbreviation could also be another word, use a period after the abbreviation. For example, use “No.” as the abbreviation for “Number,” but “Acct” for “Account”.

Punctuation

Prompts should never use punctuation other than a colon (:). Use a colon after prompts for list fields, radio button groups and check box groups.

Capitalize the first letter of each word in the prompt.

General

Prompt text should appear left-justified in all cases.

By default, prompts use the System font. Prompts should be wide enough to display properly when the operating system is set to display large fonts.

International

Design your prompts to allow for translation into other languages. Since translating prompts can result in longer prompts, always make the prompt approximately 30% wider than the size required to accommodate the text.

Positioning

Position prompts no less than 8 pixels from the left edge of the window area.

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