Defining invisible controls

For controls with a run-time user interface (such as the CSSpin control provided with OpenEdge), you can make them initially invisible by setting the Hidden option in the control-frame Property Sheet. (This sets the control-frame widget HIDDEN attribute to TRUE.)

For controls without a run-time user interface (such as the PSTimer control provided with OpenEdge), the AppBuilder automatically sets the control-frame HIDDEN attribute to TRUE. For such controls, you cannot change this attribute from the Property Sheet.

Also, for a control without a run-time user interface, location, size, and tab order generally have no run-time significance. At design time, however, you might want to position (and resize, if possible) the control's design time representation for ease of maintenance.

Note: ABL automatically removes some controls from the tab order if they have a flag indicating that they should not receive input focus. These controls might be visible. For example, the Status bar control is visible, but never gets focus.