Drag and Drop

version 11 (Modified)

4D allows built-in drag and drop capability between objects in your forms and applications. You can drag and drop one object to another, in the same window or in another window. In other words, drag and drop can be performed within a process or from one process to another.

You can also drag and drop objects between 4D forms and other applications or the desktop of the operating system, and vice versa. For example, it is possible to drag and drop a GIF picture file onto a 4D picture field. It is also possible to select text in a word processing application and drop it onto a 4D text variable.

Finally, it is possible to drop objects directly onto the application without necessarily having a form in the foreground. The On Drop Database Method can be used to manage the drag and drop action in this case. This means, for example, that you can open a 4D Write document by dropping it onto the 4D application icon.

Note: As an introduction, we assume that a drag and drop action "transports" some data from one point to another. Later, we will see that drag and drop can also be a metaphor for any type of operation.

To drag and drop an object to another object, you must select the Draggable property for that object in the Property List window. In a drag-and-drop operation, the object that you drag is the source object.

To make an object the destination of a drag and drop operation, you must select the Droppable property for that object in the Property List window. In a drag-and-drop operation, the object that receives data is the destination object.

Automatic Drag and Automatic Drop: These additional properties are available for text fields and variables as well as for combo boxes and list boxes. The Automatic Drop option is also available for picture fields and variables. They can be used to enable an automatic drag and drop mode based on copying the contents (the drag and drop action is no longer managed by 4D form events). Please refer to the "Automatic Drag and Drop" paragraph at the end of this section.

By default, newly created objects can be neither dragged nor dropped. It is up to you to set these properties.

All objects in an input or dialog form can be made to be dragged and dropped. Individual elements of an array (i.e., scrollable area), items of a hierarchical list or rows in a list box can be dragged and dropped. Conversely, you can drag and drop an object onto an individual element of an array or an item of a hierarchical list or a list box row. However, you cannot drag and drop objects from the detail area of an output form.

You can also manage dragging and dropping onto the application, outside of any form, using the On Drop Database Method.

You can easily create a drag-and-drop user interface, because 4D allows you to use any type of active object (field or variable) as source or destination objects. For example, you can drag and drop a button.

Notes:

•To drag a text or a button labeled "draggable," you must first press the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) keys.

• By default, in the case of picture fields and variables, the picture and its reference are both dragged. If you only want to drag the reference of the variable or field, first hold down the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) key.

• When the "Draggable" and "Movable Rows" properties are both set for a List box object, the "Movable Rows" property takes priority when a row is moved. Dragging is not possible in this case.

An object that is capable of being both dragged and dropped can also be dropped onto itself, unless you reject the operation. For details, see the discussion below.

The following figure shows the Property List window with the Droppable and Draggable properties set for the selected object:

Management of drag and drop by programming is based on three form events: On Begin Drag Over, On Drag Over and On Drop.

Note that the On Begin Drag Over event is generated in the context of the source object of the drag while On Drag Over and On Drop are only sent to the destination object.

In order for the application to process these events, they must be selected in an appropriate manner in the Property List:

• Property List:

The On Begin Drag Over form event can be selected for any form objects that can be dragged. It is generated in every case where the object has the Draggable property.

Unlike the On Drag Over form event, On Begin Drag Over is called within the context of the source object of the drag action. It can be called from the method of the source object or the form method of the source object.

This event is useful for advanced management of the drag action. It can be used to:

• Get the data and signatures found in the pasteboard (via the GET PASTEBOARD DATA command).

• Add data and signatures to the pasteboard (via the APPEND DATA TO PASTEBOARD command).

• Accept or refuse dragging via $0 in the method of the dragged object. To indicate that drag actions are accepted, the method of the source object must return 0 (zero); you must therefore execute $0:=0. To indicate that drag actions are refused, the method of the source object must return -1 (minus one); you must therefore execute $0:=-1. If no result is returned, 4D considers that drag actions are accepted.

4D data are put in the pasteboard before calling the event. For example, in the case of dragging without the Automatic Drag action, the dragged text is already in the pasteboard when the event is called.

The On Drag Over event is repeatedly sent to the destination object when the mouse pointer is moved over the object. In response to this event, you usually:

• Call the DRAG AND DROP PROPERTIES command, which informs you about the source object.

• Depending on the nature and type of both the destination object (whose object method is currently being executed) and the source object, you accept or reject the drag and drop.

To accept the drag, the destination object method must return 0 (zero), so you write $0:=0. To reject the drag, the object method must return -1 (minus one), so you write $0:=-1. During an On Drag Over event, 4D treats the object method as a function. If no result is returned, 4D assumes that the drag is accepted.

If you accept the drag, the destination object is highlighted. If you reject the drag, the destination is not highlighted. Accepting the drag does not mean that the dragged data is going to be inserted into the destination object. It only means that if the mouse button was released at this point, the destination object would accept the dragged data.

If you do not process the On Drag Over event for a droppable object, that object will be highlighted for all drag over operations, no matter what the nature and type of the dragged data.

The On Drag Over event is the means by which you control the first phase of a drag-and-drop operation. Not only can you test whether the dragged data is of a type compatible with the destination object, and then accept or reject the drag; you can simultaneously notify the user of this fact, because 4D highlights (or not) the destination object, based on your decision.

The code handling an On Drag Over event should be short and execute quickly, because that event is sent repeatedly to the current destination object, due to the movements of the mouse.

WARNING: If the drag and drop is an interprocess drag and drop, which means the source object is located in a process (window) other than that of the destination object, the object method of the destination object for an On Drag Over event is executed within the context of the source process (the source object's process), and not in the process of the destination object. This is the only case in which such an execution occurs. The advantages of this type of execution are described at the end of this section.

The On Drop event is sent once to the destination object when the mouse pointer is released over the object. This event is the second phase of the drag-and-drop operation, in which you perform an operation in response to the user action.

This event is not sent to the object if the drag was not accepted during the On Drag Over events. If you process the On Drag Over event for an object and reject a drag, the On Drop event does not occur. Thus, if during the On Drag Over event you have tested the data type compatibility between the source and destination objects and have accepted a possible drop, you do not need to re-test the data during the On Drop. You already know that the data is suitable for the destination object.

An interesting aspect of the 4D drag-and-drop implementation is that 4D lets you do whatever you want. Examples:

• If a hierarchical list item is dropped over a text field, you can insert the text of the list item at the beginning, at the end, or in the middle of the text field.

• Your form contains a two-state picture button, which could represent an empty or full trash can. Dropping an object onto that button could mean (from the user interface standpoint) "delete the object that has been dragged and dropped into the trash can." Here, the drag and drop does not transport data from one point to another; instead, it performs an action.

• Dragging an array element from a floating window to an object in a form could mean "in this window, show the Customer record whose name you just dragged and dropped from the floating window listing the Customers stored in the database."

• And so on.

So, the 4D drag-and-drop interface is a framework which enables you to implement any user interface metaphor you may devise.

The DRAG AND DROP PROPERTIES command returns:

• A pointer to the dragged object (field or variable)

• The element or item number, if the dragged object is an array element or a list item

• The process number of the source process.

The Drop position command returns the element number of the item position of the target element or list item, if the destination object is an array (i.e., scrollable area), a hierarchical list, a text or a combo box, as well as the column number if the object is a list box.

Commands like RESOLVE POINTER and Type are useful for testing the nature and type of the source object.

When the drag-and-drop operation is intended to copy the dragged data, the functionality of these commands depend on how many processes are involved:

• If the drag and drop is limited to one process, use these commands to perform the appropriate actions (i.e., simply assigning the source object to the destination object).

• If the drag and drop is an interprocess drag and drop, you need to be careful while getting access to the dragged data; you must access the data instance from the source process. If the dragged data comes from a variable, use GET PROCESS VARIABLE to get the right value. If the dragged data comes from a field, remember that the current record for a table is probably different for the two processes, so you need to access the right record.

In this last case, several solutions are available:

• If the On Drag Over event for the destination object method is executed in the context of the source process, you can copy the field data or the record number to an interprocess variable that will be reused during the On Drop event.

• You can get the required data by starting an interprocess communication during the On Drop event.

If the drag and drop is not intended to move data, but is instead a user interface metaphor for a particular operation, you can perform whatever you want.

If the drag and drop operation involves the moving of heterogenous data or documents between two 4D applications or a 4D application and a third-party application, the commands of the "Pasteboard" theme will provide you with the tools needed.

In fact, these commands can be used to manage both the copy/paste and the drag and drop of data. 4D uses two pasteboards: one for copied (or cut) data, which is the actual clipboard, and the other for data being dragged and dropped. These two pastebaoards are managed using the same commands. You access one or the other depending on the context.

For more information about using the commands of the "Pasteboard" theme for drag and drop operations, please refer to the Managing Pasteboards section.

Text areas (fields, variables, combo boxes and List boxes) as well as picture objects allow the automatic drag and drop, which is the movement or copy of a text or picture selection from one area to another by a single click. It can be used in the same 4D area, between two 4D areas, or between 4D and another application, for example WordPad.

Note: In the case of automatic drag and drop between two 4D areas, the data are moved, in other words, they are removed from the source area. If you want to copy the data, hold down the Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) key during the action.

Automatic drag and drop can be configured separately for each form object via two options of the Property List: Automatic Drag and Automatic Drop:

• Automatic Drag: When this option is checked, the automatic drag mode is activated for the object. This mode takes priority for pictures, even if the Draggable option is checked. In this mode, the On Begin Drag form event is NOT generated.

If you want to "force" the use of the standard drag, hold down the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) key during the action.

• Automatic Drop: This option is used to activate the automatic drop mode. In this mode, 4D automatically manages — if possible — the insertion of dragged data of the text or picture type that is dropped onto the object (the data are pasted into the object). The On Drag Over and On Drop form events are not generated in this case. On the other hand, the On After Edit (during a drop) and On Data Change (when the object loses the focus) events are generated.

In the case of data other than text or pictures (another 4D object, file, etc. ) or complex data being dropped, the application refers to the value of the Droppable option: if it is checked, the On Drag Over and On Drop form events are generated; otherwise, the drop is refused. This also depends on the value of the "Prevent drop of data not coming from 4D" option (see below).

Beginning with version 11, 4D allows drag and drop of selections, objects and/or files external to 4D, like picture files for example. This possibility must be supported by the database code.

In databases converted from previous versions of 4D, this possibility may lead to malfunctioning if the existing code is not adapted accordingly. For this reason, an option in the Preferences can be used to disable this function: Prevent drop of data not coming from 4D. This option is found on the Application/Compatibility page. It is checked by default in converted databases.

When this option is check, the drop of external objects into 4D forms is refused. Note however that the insertion of external objects remains possible in objects having the Automatic Drop option, when the application can interpret the dropped data (text or picture).

DRAG AND DROP PROPERTIES, Drop position, Form event, GET PROCESS VARIABLE, Is a list, RESOLVE POINTER, Type.