Use Gridboxes

Tip

Use gridboxes instead of multi-record displays.

Background

Gridboxes have rich functionality, which you get at low cost.

A special feature of gridboxes is that they support multiple selection. The user can select more than one record. You can for instance define a button action that performs an action for each selected record.

When to use

If you need a multi-record display, consider using gridboxes instead of the default multi-record display. Instead of a conventional multi-record display, where each field technically is a separate object, a gridbox can be handled much faster because it is a single object.

To define spreadsheet look:

1.	Use the Class Catalog to open the appropriate window or dialog.

2.	Select the info box to which you want to apply spreadsheet look.

3.	Open the Property Inspector, and click the Layout tab.

4.	Set the Column Manager Class property to Spreadsheet.

5.	Set the No Of Records Displayed field to a value higher than 1.

Limitations

Gridboxes also have drawbacks. For instance, you cannot design the individual spreadsheet columns. Also, if a window contains several info boxes, you may define spreadsheet look for each of these info boxes separately. For layout reasons, however, you are advised to define spreadsheet look for only ONE info box per window or dialog.