Setting Up Your Grids

Each form has two grids, Grid 1 and Grid 2. Grid 1 is the default grid and Grid 2 is the alternate grid. They are predefined for you with default measure­ments. You may redefine them to suit your own purposes. Using two grids gives you the advantage of having two different sets of measure­ments. You may, for example, want to use one grid for aligning text and another grid for aligning objects or for fine movement. The grid settings are form specific, so you can set them up the way you want for a given form.

Moving between grids

If you use two grids, you can easily switch between them. The number on the grid button on the tool bar indicates which grid you are currently viewing:

To move between the two grid options

Click the grid button:

Button Action
Displays Grid 1.
Displays Grid 2.

or

1. Open the View menu.

2. Select Grid Selection to display the submenu:

3. Select the grid you want to display.

or

Press + to toggle back and forth between the two grids.

Changing the grid display

You can change the style of the grid lines from solid lines to dots. The dot option may be parti­cularly useful if you are working on a form that con­tains many solid lines and you need to easily distinguish between grid lines and actual lines on the form page.

You may also change the color of the grid lines to ensure that they stand out from the form. If you are using both grids, you may want to set a different color for each grid. Unlike the other grid settings, grid color is not form specific. It applies to all forms. However, you can easily change it whenever you need to.

To display the grid with solid lines

1. Select the form name in the tree to display the Form property page.

2. In the property group for the grid you are defining (Grid 1 or Grid 2), click on Style in the value field.

3. Select Line from the drop-down list.

4. Your grid will be displayed with solid lines:

To display the grid with dots

1. Select the form name in the tree to display the Form property page.

2. In the property group for the grid you are defining (Grid 1 or Grid 2), click on Style in the value field.

3. Select Dots from the drop-down list.

4. Your grid will be displayed in dots:

To change the color of the grid lines

1. Open the Tools menu and select Options. The Options dialog will appear.

2. Select the Colors tab.

3. Click in the field for the grid you want to set (Grid 1 or Grid 2). A Color drop-down box will appear.

4. Select the color you want for the grid.

Note:

If your grid appears in gray and you have not selected gray as your grid color, you have selected a color that your display does not recognize.

Changing the grid measurements

The position and number of grid lines or dots are based on your selected unit of measure:

  • For a line grid, the measure number indicates the number of rows and columns per unit of measure. One line will be displayed for each row or column. You can change the line frequency to display fewer lines per inch if you choose.

  • For a dot grid, the measurement number indicates the number of dots per unit of measure. Each dot represents one grid row or column.

The number of rows and columns is relative to the unit of measure and will change if you change your unit of measure. If for example, your unit of measure was inches and you entered 5 as the number of rows for a line grid, the grid would be divided into five rows per inch. If you changed to centimeters, the grid would change to five rows per centimeter.

To change the number of grid lines per unit of measure

1. Select the form name in the tree to display the Form property page.

2. Find the property group for the grid you are defining (Grid 1 or Grid 2).

3. Select Lines as your style:

4. Enter the following to define the grid lines:

  • Enter the line frequency in the Frequency value field. 1 will display every grid line. 2 will display every other line and 3, every third line, etc.

  • Click on the Columns per[unit of measure] value field and enter the number of col­umns (vertical grid lines) per unit of measure.

  • Click on the Rows per[unit of measure] value field and enter the number of rows (hor­i­zontal grid lines) per unit of measure.

To change the number of dots per unit of measure

1. Select the form name in the tree to display the Form property page.

2. Find the property group for the grid you are defining (Grid 1 or Grid 2).

3. Select Dots as your style:

4. Enter the following to define your grid dots:

  • Click on the Dots per[unit of measure]Horizontal value field and enter the number of dots per horizontal unit of measure (columns).

  • Click on the Dots per[unit of measure]Vertical value field and enter the number of dots per vertical unit of measure (rows).