# Grid Control

Named Columns |

Grid columns can be given logical names. This feature allows applications to assign names to columns that are the same as the variables used within the underlying application; i.e. ITEMID$, DESC$, PRICE, QTY. It also facilitates dealing with swapped columns. Naming may be handled in NOMADS through the Grid Format Definition dialogue (see Formatting a Grid) or programmatically using PxPlus Control Object Properties.

## NOMADS Definition

In the Grid Format Definition dialogue, enter the Column Name. The name can represent a string or numeric variable. The column name is optional. The NOMADS format definition applies to the FMT= option when the Grid is created:

> GRID 10,@(10,10,60,10), FMT="[Item](Normal:ITEMID$)L15,[Description] (Normal:DESC$) L20,[Price](Normal:PRICE)L12,[Qty](Normal:QTY)L10"

## PxPlus Properties

Control Object properties can also be used to set column names. This is done by setting the 'Row to -1 and assigning a variable to the 'Text$:

> GRID 10,@(10,10,50,10) ! Define grid
> X=10
> X'COLUMNSWIDE=4,X'ROW=-1
> X'COLUMN=1,X'VALUE$="Item",X'TEXT$="ITEMID$",X'COLUMNWIDTH=15
> X'COLUMN=2,X'VALUE$="Description",X'TEXT$="DESC$",X'COLUMNWIDTH=20
> X'COLUMN=3,X'VALUE$="Price",X'TEXT$="PRICE",X'COLUMNWIDTH=12
> X'COLUMN=4,X'VALUE$="Qty",X'TEXT$="QTY",X'COLUMNWIDTH=10

For a list of properties that can be applied to an entire grid, a cell, a column or a row, see Grid Properties.

## Referencing a Column

Use the 'Column$ property to reference a column:

> X'COLUMN$="QTY",X'ROW=4,X'VALUE$="200" ! Assign cell value 200

If you set 'Column$ with the name of a variable, then internally, the column number is used as a pointer. If you read the property 'Column, then the column number is returned. 'Column$ returns the name of the column. Column swapping has no impact on an application that uses logical column names to identify a column.