Basic Settings

Basic Settings panel defines the title, size, and startup behavior of a form after you run it.

Title sets the form window title.

  • Show form title bar: window title bar is visible or hidden upon form startup.

  • Allow closing form: form close using the window Close button is allowed or not.

    Tip

    With this option disabled, the form can be closed from taskbar.

  • Allow resizing form: form size customizable or fixed.

    Tip

    Disable this option to lock the form size.

  • Minimizing forms

    You can enable forms (solutions) you design to minimize to your taskbar or to your taskbar notification area (system tray). Minimizing your forms allows them to run them in the background and reduces inputs and prevents human errors from your operators. Use minimize options on forms with limited inputs that don't require human interaction.

    Allow minimizing form is enabled by default in Form Properties and allows minimizing your form to the taskbar. Allow minimizing form is also possible when you disable Allow resizing form.

    Note

    When you open forms made in versions earlier than V2019.3, Allow minimizing form option automatically disables when you disable Allow resizing form.

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    Enabling Allow minimizing form in Form Properties.

    Minimize to tray enables minimizing your form to the taskbar notification area. This is useful when you want to run your form in the background. For example, if your form is automated and doesn't need your operators to interact with your form user interface. Your only form input is barcode scanner data, and all your form actions execute automatically when operators scan barcodes.

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    Enabling Minimize to tray in Form Properties.

    Enabling Minimize to tray with your Command Prompt

    With running solutions from your Command Prompt, you can force your form to start minimized in your taskbar (system tray). When minimized, right-click on the taskbar icon to open or exit your running forms.

    1. Open Command Prompt (CMD).

    2. Navigate to your "LoftwareWebClient.exe" or "LoftwarePrint.exe".

    3. Add the path to the form you want to minimize.

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    4. Type "-startAsMinimized:true" after your filepath.

    5. Press Enter.

    Your Form loads and immediately minimizes.

    Minimizing forms to your taskbar or taskbar notification area (system tray) reduces human errors and prevents your operators from intervening on your forms.

Size group defines the form's Width and Height.

Initial form state group defines form state upon startup.

  • Maximized: form opens in full screen mode.

  • Default form size: when run, the form appears with manually defined sizes.

Startup form position group defines the on-screen position of a form upon its startup.

  • As defined: the form appears at a location defined by the distance in pixels from Left (left edge of the form) and Top (top edge of the form).

  • Screen center: screen center is the startup form position.

Settings in Scroll bars group optimize forms for smaller screens or computers with low screen resolution. As an alternative to making forms and objects small, and hard to read and use, enable Show scrollbars and stop resizing form objects at:. This option defines form Width and Height in pixels. These are minimum dimensions at which:

  • The form gets scroll bars. You can continue reducing the form size beyond these dimensions and make the form area scrollable.

  • The objects stop adapting their sizes to the reducing form size. This makes sure the objects remain usable because they retain their current size beyond minimum dimensions of the form.

    Note

    To make the objects resize along with changing form size, enable horizontal and vertical resizing with form under Object Properties > Position > Size > Horizontally/Vertically resize with form.