The layout of a form is organized into a table of controls, with each control located within
a certain column and row. The columns and rows are defined by PXLayoutRule
components added to the layout of the form. The properties of the
PXLayoutRule component provide the position of the underlying controls
and their size and appearance in the UI.
You can use the PXLayoutRule component to do the following to manage the
layout of UI elements within a container:
Place controls in multiple rows and columns to uniformly distribute them on the form or
tab area of a form (see the diagram below)
Cause controls to span multiple columns
Merge controls into one row of the column to align them horizontally
Adjust the widths of controls and labels
Hide the labels of controls
Group controls for users' convenience
Figure 1. Layout rules to arrange controls within a container
A layout rule, as the diagram below shows, can be immediately added to the following types of
containers:
PXFormView
RowTeplate
PXTabItem
PXSmartPanel
Figure 2. Nesting rules for a layout rule in an ASPX page
The MYOB Advanced Customization
Platform supports the following properties for a PXLayoutRule component.
Property
Description
ColumnSpan
Specifies the number of columns spanned by a control placed below the target
PXLayoutRule component. This property applies to a single
control that is under the layout rule in the ASPX code. (See Use of the ColumnSpan Property of PXLayoutRule in
the MYOB Advanced Framework Guide for details.)
ColumnWidth
Defines the width (in pixels) of a column containing controls. You can set the
property to a predefined value (see Predefined Size Values in
the MYOB Advanced Framework Guide for details) or to a value in pixels. The specified width is applied to the
column and is not changed when the LabelsWidth property value is
specified for the same PXLayoutRule component and when the
Size, Width, or
LabelWidth property value is specified for a control contained
within a column. (See Use of the ColumnWidth, ControlSize, and LabelsWidth Properties of PXLayoutRule in the
MYOB Advanced Framework Guide for details.)
ControlSize
Defines the width for the controls placed within a column. The
ControlSize property value is assigned from the predefined list
of items. (See Predefined Size Values in
the MYOB Advanced Framework Guide for details.) The specified size is applied to all controls contained
within the column if you do not override the size separately for a control by
specifying the Size or Width property values.
(See Use of the ColumnWidth, ControlSize, and LabelsWidth Properties of PXLayoutRule in the MYOB Advanced Framework Guide for details.)
GroupCaption
Specifies the caption for the group of controls that is started from the
control placed under this rule in the ASPX code. Any rule that has the
GroupCaption property value set requires a rule with the
EndGroup property value set to True below the last
control of the group in the code. All controls between the starting and ending group
rules are included in the group. (See Use of the GroupCaption, StartGroup, and EndGroup Properties of PXLayoutRule in the
MYOB Advanced Framework Guide for details.)
EndGroup
Indicates that the control above the rule in the ASPX code is the last control
in the group that starts from the PXLayoutRule component with a
specified GroupCaption property value. (See Use of the GroupCaption, StartGroup, and EndGroup Properties of PXLayoutRule in the
MYOB Advanced Framework Guide for details.)
LabelsWidth
Defines the width (in pixels) of the control labels placed within a column. You
select the LabelsWidth property value from the predefined list of
items (see Predefined Size Values in
the MYOB Advanced Framework Guide for details) or by typing the width in pixels. The specified size is
applied to all control labels contained within the column if you do not override the
size separately for a control by specifying the LabelWidth
property value. (See Use of the ColumnWidth, ControlSize, and LabelsWidth Properties of PXLayoutRule in the
MYOB Advanced Framework Guide for details.)
Merge
Is used to merge controls into one row and to horizontally align the controls
that are placed under this rule in the ASPX code. The first
PXLayoutRule component added under this rule in the code stops
the merging, and the next control is placed alone beneath the merged controls as the
leftmost control of the current column. To cancel merging for all controls that
follow, you must add the PXLayoutRule component without the
adjusted property value. (See Use of the Merge Property of PXLayoutRule in the
MYOB Advanced Framework Guide for details.)
StartGroup
Starts the group of controls from the control placed under this rule in the
ASPX code. If the GroupCaption property value is not set to
True, the group is displayed without a caption. Any rule that has the
StartGroup property value set requires a rule with the
EndGroup property value set to True below the last
control of the group in the code. All controls between the starting and ending group
rules in the code are included in the group. (See Use of the GroupCaption, StartGroup, and EndGroup Properties of PXLayoutRule in the
MYOB Advanced Framework Guide for details.)
Hides all control labels within a column. All control labels placed within the
column are hidden if you do not override them separately for a control by specifying
a SuppressLabel property value. (See Use of the SuppressLabel Property of PXLayoutRule
in the MYOB Advanced Framework Guide for details.)
By specifying the values of these properties, you can make a variety of changes to the UI.
Some properties affect only the next control under the PXLayoutRule
component in the ASPX code. Other properties affect all controls under the rule until the next
rule is encountered in the code. Still other properties require a corresponding ending rule.
For instance, the rule with the GroupCaption property value specified
requires that a corresponding rule be set with the EndGroup property value.
All controls in the code between the GroupCaption and
EndGroup rules become part of the group.
To create a layout rule in a container, follow the instructions described in To Add a Layout Rule.
