The palette tools are not available and a Template cannot be changed in any way if an icon that uses this Template is open. This could either be a View icon, or a Query icon. To work on a Template, either close these other icons, or de-select this Template in them.
If this does not work, select Close All from the Icon menu. This will make sure that all icons have been closed (in case you missed one). Then select Show Collection from the Icon menu to regain access to the Relation and the Template.
• Why doesn’t my Template show up in the View window?
The Template is not valid. When it was closed, there was a dialogue box that announced this fact. Re-open the Template and correct the problem.
• I can’t get rid of a Rectangle.
Merely click inside it (but not inside any Rectangles it may surround) to select it. If there is no free space inside, draw a Rectangle through an edge of the Rectangle and release the mouse button.
If you have trouble grabbing the grow box with the cursor, turn off the Grid option on the Check menu.
Drag the grow box to the upper left to collapse the Rectangle. The Rectangle may seem to hang-up as the cursor passes over other Rectangles. Just ignore this and keep dragging until the Rectangle snaps closed. Release the mouse button, and the Rectangle will disappear.
• “…The Repeat rectangle overlaps some other Rectangle…”
If you receive this message when you try to close the Template, check to make sure that the Repeat rectangle is not overlapping the dashed outline that indicates a page break. Also, the Repeat rectangle may be drawn too tightly around other Rectangles. Enlarging the Repeat rectangle usually solves this.
• How do I move multiple Rectangles?
A group of Rectangles can be selected in several ways:
Shift-click on the Rectangles that you want.
Use the cursor to draw a selection Rectangle (sometimes called a "marquee" or a "rubber band" around the Rectangles.
Use the Select All command, and then shift-click to de-select the Rectangles that you don't want included in the group.
Once you have selected the group, it can be moved using the drag bar of any of the selected Rectangles.
• I’ve drawn a Data rectangle this size before, but now it
disappears!
Check which point size and font is currently selected for that Rectangle. A smaller font will allow a smaller Rectangle.
If you draw a Rectangle, and then try to select a font larger than allowed for that size of Rectangle, your selection will not be recognized.
• How do I get rid of a Repeat rectangle used for a subform?
Select the grow box, then drag to expand the Rectangle below the page outline marked on the Template.
• How do I copy a Template into another Relation?
You don’t … icons cannot be transferred between Relations.
• What is are "hot spots," and how do I put them on
my forms?
A hot spot is like a dialogue button; it's an area on a form that accepts a mouse click as a go-ahead to perform some action. Hot spots are often marked by pictures; for example, a picture of a LaserWriter could mark a hot spot that will perform a Print command.
The following steps in creating a hot spot are a general guideline; the order is somewhat flexible.
1) Paste the picture for your hot spot into the Scrapbook.
2) In the Collection window, drag out a Sequence icon. Define the Sequence to carry out whatever you want the hot spot to do.
3) Open the Template.
4) Paste the picture into a background rectangle.
5) Draw a Command rectangle, and position it over the picture. Put the Sequence into the Command rectangle. While the Command rectangle is selected, press the space bar ONCE. The command rectangle will now be transparent on the From View, and the picture will show through.
If you paste a picture directly into a Command rectangle, it is only visible on the Template in Preview mode.
