Groups

In X-Designer you can select one or more widgets and make them into a Group. A Group can be used as a shortcut means of referencing either large numbers of widgets or widgets which are performing a similar function. They are, however, the fundamental building block of Smart Code. Smart Code is the toolkit- independent layer of code which X-Designer can generate for you to help you move your Motif application to other platforms and make the most of Internet technology.

Three additional areas where groups can be used are:

Fast Multiple Selection

In the Group Editor, the "Select" button underneath the list of Groups highlights all the widgets of the Group in the design area. This allows you to set up Groups of widgets which may need to be selected again and again. Using Groups in this way generates very little extra code. The Group is simply defined as an array of widgets.

Quick Find

The "Go to" button next to the list of Group components in the Group Editor, causes X-Designer to display the selected component in the design area, unfolding nodes in the hierarchy if necessary. By making particular widgets into Groups by themselves, you can mark them for finding later.

Links

Groups can be used as a link destination in the Edit Links dialog. Using Groups as link destinations provides you with a quick and simple means of, for example, hiding or disabling whole groups of widgets at once.

See also: