Using the Editors

About This Document

Using the Editors contains detailed information and instructions about using Panther's editors and wizards to build applications, including the screens, their components, and the control flow. The editors are:

Screen editor for building screens, service components, and reports
Menu bar editor
Styles editor
JIF editor

Using the Editors is organized into the following sections:

Section One: Overview: Introduces you to the basic principles of using the authoring environment to design and build a presentation interface.
Section Two: Wizards: Gives information about the wizard applications which help you quickly and easily build screens and reports.
Section Three: User Interface Components: Provides the instructions you need to enhance the look of your application.
Section Four: The Editors: Explains the Styles editor, the JIF editor, and the Menu Bar editor.

What You Need to Know

The guide takes the users of your application into account by presenting information from the end-users perspective. Consider what you want the user to see. Use the guide as a reference throughout the development process.

For the most part, the guide assumes that you are new to Panther. However, as an application development tool, it also assumes that you have familiarity with your development environment and with database terminology.

If you are new to Panther, you should first go through the Getting Started book. It guides you through the process of building a Panther application.

The Panther documentation set assumes you are using a mouse in your development environment. Refer to Appendix A, "Keyboard Interface," for a listing of keyboard alternatives and accelerator keys for using the editors in character mode environments that don't support a mouse.

Documentation Website

The Panther documentation website includes manuals in HTML and PDF formats and the Java API documentation in Javadoc format. The website enables you to search the HTML files for both the manuals and the Java API.

Panther product documentation is available on the Prolifics corporate website at http://docs.prolifics.com/panther/.

How to Print the Document

You can print a copy of this document from a web browser, one file at a time, by using the FilePrint option on your web browser.

A PDF version of this document is available from the Panther library page of the documentation website. You can open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader and print the entire document (or a portion of it) in book format.

If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can get it for free from the Adobe website at https://get.adobe.com/reader/otherversions/.

Documentation Conventions

The following documentation conventions are used throughout this document.


Convention	Item
Ctrl+Tab	Indicates that you must press two or more keys simultaneously. Initial capitalization indicates a physical key.
italics	Indicates emphasis or book titles.
UPPERCASE TEXT	Indicates Panther logical keys. Example: XMIT
boldface text	Indicates terms defined in the glossary.
`monospace text`	Indicates code samples, commands and their options, directories, and file names and their extensions. Monospace text also indicates text that you must enter from the keyboard. Examples: `#include <smdefs.h>` `chmod u+w *` `/usr/prolifics` `prolifics.ini`
`monospace italic text`	Identifies variables in code representing the information you supply. Example: `String` `expr`
`MONOSPACE UPPERCASE TEXT`	Indicates environment variables, logical operators, SQL keywords, mnemonics, or Panther constants. Examples: `CLASSPATH` `OR`
`{ }`	Indicates a set of choices in a syntax line. One of the items should be selected. The braces themselves should never be typed.
`\|`	Separates mutually exclusive choices in a syntax line. The symbol itself should never be typed.
`[ ]`	Indicates optional items in a syntax line. The brackets themselves should never be typed. Example: `formlib [-v]` `library-name` `[``file-list``]...`
`...`	Indicates one of the following in a command line: That an argument can be repeated several times in a command line That the statement omits additional optional arguments That you can enter additional parameters, values, or other information The ellipsis itself should never be typed. Example: `formlib [-v]` `library-name` `[``file-list``]...`
`. . .`	Indicates the omission of items from a code example or from a syntax line. The vertical ellipsis itself should never be typed.

Contact Us!

Your feedback on the Panther documentation is important to us. Send us e-mail at support@prolifics.com if you have questions or comments. In your e-mail message, please indicate that you are using the documentation for Panther 5.50.

If you have any questions about this version of Panther, or if you have problems installing and running Panther, contact Customer Support via:

When contacting Customer Support, be prepared to provide the following information:

Your name, e-mail address and phone number
Your company name and company address
Your machine type
The name and version of the product you are using
A description of the problem and the content of pertinent error messages