You can change the name and type of the field by using
the options in the Field Options panel on the right. All
the fields have these common options listed below.
The next chapter, Making Classes Classy
describes the different types of field available in more detail.
| Field Name |
This lets you give your field a name, for
example if you want the field to display the name
of a region, you can call it a `Region'.
|
| Field Type |
This indicates what type of information you
can enter in the field. Allowed types include
Text, Text Box, Menu and Number.
A full list of the available types is provided in
the next section.
|
| Help |
This text box lets you enter information about
the field, for example what the purpose of the
field is, or what type of value a user can
enter. This information is displayed as a pop-up
tool tip when the user places the mouse over the
 information icon
next to the field.
|
| Color |
This field lets you color code the background
of a field, for example
if you want to make mandatory fields
red.
|
The following field types are available for you to add
to a class:
| Text |
a single line of text
|
| Text Box |
a piece of text that may be longer than
one line
|
| Checkbox |
a small box that you can select to make a
value true (a tick is displayed) or leave blank to
make it false
|
| Choice |
a list of items, either all displayed at once
or in a drop-down list
|
| Color |
a color |
| Date |
a date; you have a choice of formats
|
| List |
a list. You can set the element type of items in the list;
the default is "Record", which is the most useful, as it lets
you add any class of records to the list. You can also make lists of Checkbox, Date, Number,
Resource, Text and Time.
|
| Menu |
a hierarchical menu |
| Number |
a number, optionally with decimal places and scientific
notation
|
| Radio Buttons |
mutually exclusive options presented as buttons
|
| Record |
an embedded record, i.e. a record within a
record
|
| Reference |
a reference to another record that is
stored elsewhere in the catalog
|
| Resource |
a pathname to an external resource, for
example a file or a URL
|
| Time |
a time of day; you have a choice of
formats
|
