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4D v19
4D Write Pro Reference
Using 4D Write Pro standard actions

Chapter Using 4D Write Pro standard actions    


 

The user interface of 4D Write Pro areas can be handled through a wide set of standard actions. Standard actions can be assigned to:

  • menu commands, available through the menu bar or the Dynamic pop up menu command
  • list items, available through pop-up/drop-down lists or hierarchical pop-up menus,
  • buttons, check boxes,
  • or executed by the INVOKE ACTION command.

When assigned to interface objects, standard actions handle the activation/disabling of the object depending on the context. For more information, please refer to the Standard actions section.

Two kinds of actions are available for 4D Write Pro areas:

  • 4D Write Pro specific actions, that can be used only with 4D Write Pro areas,
  • Other actions, including fonts, expressions, spell check, and editing actions, that can be used with 4D Write Pro areas and other 4D areas (see Standard actions).

The following standard actions are available with 4D Write Pro areas.

Notes:

  • Actions that display an automatic menu/list can only be attached to menu commands, pop-up/drop-down lists or hierarchical pop-up menus objects (see Submenu).
  • Check boxes and 3D check boxes should be associated with status actions, such as "section/differentFirstPage" or "visibleHorizontalRuler". Three-states option is supported with standard check boxes only.
  • A section action status is always equal to the selected section actual status (inherited status if attribute is inherited from parent section or from default attribute) as it must reflect the selected section status (the status which is applied currently to the section). However, modifying a section attribute with a standard action will only override the selected section attribute.
  • Submenu: When used without any parameters and associated to a menu command, a pop-up/drop-down list or a hierarchical pop-up menu object, these actions display an automatic submenu/list. For example, if you assign the "backgroundColor" action to a menu command, selecting this menu command at runtime will display the Background color submenu items. If you assign the "zoom" action to a hierarchical pop-up menu, it will automatically contain a list of predefined zoom values. Note that these actions cannot be assigned to buttons.
  • showDialog: Adding the "/showDialog" string to the action name allows the display of the associated standard dialog box for the action. For example, you can use "paragraph/styleSheet/showDialog" to open the input dialog allowing the entry of a new stylesheet name. 

 

 Action Constant (if any)  Syntax  Available with  Description 
anchorHorizontalAlign  wk anchor horizontal align  anchorHorizontalAlign?value={left | center | right}  Image,
Submenu		 Defines the horizontal alignment of the image, relative to the anchorOrigin for images in page, or to the layout box for images in embedded mode. This action will reset the horizontal offset to 0. (not enabled for inline images). 
anchorLayout wk anchor layout anchorLayout?value={inline | front | behind} Image,
Submenu		 Defines the anchor layout type for an image. May be used to transform an inline image to an anchored image in front of or behind text, or the reverse.

Note: if an image is moved from front/behind text to inline, the image is inserted at the beginning of the current selected text.
anchorOrigin wk anchor origin anchorOrigin?value={paper-box | header-box | footer-box} Image,
Submenu		 Defines the area relative to the absolute position of an anchored image. If an image is relative to the header-box/footer-box which is not visible on a page, the image is not displayed. This action will reset horizontal and vertical offsets to 0.

Page mode only, not enabled for inline images.
anchorPage wk anchor page anchorPage?value={all | current | currentSubSection} Image,
Submenu		 Defines the page(s) where the selected image is displayed (not enabled for inline images).

Page mode only.
anchorSection wk anchor section anchorSection?value={all | current} Image,
Submenu		 Defines the section(s) where the selected image is displayed. (not enabled for inline images).

Page mode only.
anchorVerticalAlign wk anchor vertical align anchorVerticalAlign?value={top | center | bottom} Image,
Submenu		 Defines the vertical alignment of the image, relative to the anchorOrgin for images in page, or to the layout box for images in embedded mode. This action will reset the vertical offset to 0 (not enabled for inline images).
avoidPageBreakInsideEnabled _o_wk page break inside avoidPageBreakInsideEnabled Paragraph Allows/disallows page break inside paragraphs.
background    {doc | paragraph | image | section | header | footer | table | row | column | cell}/background Document,
Paragraph,
Image,
Section,
Header,
Footer,
Table,
Row,
Column,
Cell,
Submenu		 For menu commands only. Default submenu for all background attributes.
backgroundClip wk background clip {doc | paragraph | image | section | header | footer | table | row | column | cell}/backgroundClip?value={paper-box | border-box | padding-box | content-box} Document,
Paragraph,
Image,
Section,
Header,
Footer,
Table,
Row,
Column,
Cell,
Submenu		 Changes target background clipping box (default target is paragraph). Paper-box targets document and section only.
backgroundColor wk background color {doc | paragraph | image | section | header | footer | table | row | column | cell}/backgroundColor?value={<Css_color> | transparent} Document,
Paragraph,
Image,
Section,
Header,
Footer,
Table,
Row,
Column,
Cell,
Submenu,
showDialog		 Changes target background.
backgroundImage wk background image {doc | paragraph | image | section | header | footer | table | row | column | cell}/backgroundImage?value=none Document,
Paragraph,
Image,
Section,
Header,
Footer,
Table,
Row,
Column,
Cell,
Submenu,
showDialog		 Clears target background image. (default target is paragraph)
backgroundOrigin wk background origin {doc | paragraph | image | section | header | footer | table | row | column | cell}/backgroundOrigin?value={paper-box | border-box | padding-box | content-box} Document,
Paragraph,
Image,
Section,
Header,
Footer,
Table,
Row,
Column,
Cell,
Submenu		 Changes target background image origin box (default target is paragraph). Paper-box targets document and section only.
backgroundPositionH wk background position horizontal {doc | paragraph | image | section | header | footer | table | row | column | cell}/backgroundPositionH?value={left | right | center} Document,
Paragraph,
Image,
Section,
Header,
Footer,
Table,
Row,
Column,
Cell,
Submenu		 Changes target background image horizontal alignment (default target is paragraph).

Ex: paragraph/backgroundPositionH?value=left
backgroundPositionV wk background position vertical {doc | paragraph | image | section | header | footer | table | row | column | cell}/backgroundPositionV?value={top | bottom | center} Document,
Paragraph,
Image,
Section,
Header,
Footer,
Table,
Row,
Column,
Cell,
Submenu		 Changes target background image vertical alignment (default target is paragraph).

Ex: paragraph/backgroundPositionV?value=top
backgroundRepeat wk background repeat {doc | paragraph | image | section | header | footer | table | row | column | cell}/backgroundRepeat?value={no-repeat | repeat | repeat-x | repeat-y} Document,
Paragraph,
Image,
Section,
Header,
Footer,
Table,
Row,
Column,
Cell,
Submenu		 Changes target background image repeat mode. (default target is paragraph)
backgroundSizeH wk background width {doc | paragraph | image | section | header | footer | table | row | column | cell}/backgroundSizeH?value={<Css_length> | <Css_percentage> | auto | cover | contain} Document,
Paragraph,
Image,
Section,
Header, 
Footer,
Table,
Row,
Column,
Cell,
Submenu		 Changes target background image width (default target is paragraph).

Ex: paragraph/backgroundSizeH?value=100%. section/backgroundSizeH?value=cover
backgroundSizeV wk background height {doc | paragraph | image | section | header | footer | table | row | column | cell}/backgroundSizeV?value={<Css_length> | <Css_percentage> | auto} Document,
Paragraph,
Image,
Section,
Header, 
Footer,
Table,
Row,
Column,
Cell,
Submenu		 Changes target background image height (default target is paragraph).

Ex: paragraph/backgroundSizeV?value=50%. Ex: section/backgroundSizeV?value=40pt
bookmark   bookmark?index=<number> Submenu Selects the Nth bookmark.

Ex: bookmark?index=2 // selects the second bookmark
borderCollapse   borderCollapse Paragraph Collapses selected paragraph borders and interior margins.
borderColor wk border color {doc | paragraph | image | section | header | footer | table | row | column | cell/}{inside | outside/}{borderColor | borderColorLeft | borderColorRight | borderColorTop | borderColorBottom | borderColorLeftRight | borderColorTopBottom}?value=<Css_color> Document,
Paragraph,
Image,
Section,
Header, 
Footer,
Table,
Row,
Column,
Cell,
Submenu,
showDialog		 Changes target border color (default target is paragraph).

Ex: paragraph/borderColorLeft?value=green
borderRadius wk border radius {doc | paragraph | image | section | header | footer}/borderRadius?value=<Css_length> Document,
Paragraph,
Image,
Section,
Header, 
Footer,
Submenu		 Changes target border radius (default target is paragraph).

Ex: paragraph/borderRadius?value=4pt
borders wk border color {doc | paragraph | image | section | header | footer | table | row | column | cell/}{inside | outside/}borders Document,
Paragraph,
Image,
Section,
Header, 
Footer,
Table,
Row,
Column,
Cell,
Submenu		 Default submenu for target borders.
borderStyle wk border style {doc | paragraph | image | section | header | footer | table | row | column | cell/}{inside | outside/}{borderStyle | borderStyleLeft | borderStyleRight | borderStyleTop | borderStyleBottom | borderStyleLeftRight | borderStyleTopBottom}?value={none | hidden | dotted | dashed | solid | double | groove | ridge | inset | outset} Document,
Paragraph,
Image,
Section,
Header, 
Footer,
Table,
Row,
Column,
Cell,
Submenu		 Changes target border style (default target is paragraph).

Ex: paragraph/borderStyleLeft?value=double. Ex: outside/borderStyle?value=solid //set selected paragraphs exterior borders to style solid. Ex: inside/borderStyle?value=none //remove selected paragraphs interior borders
borderWidth wk border width {doc | paragraph | image | section | header | footer | table | row | column | cell/}{inside | outside/}{borderWidth | borderWidthLeft | borderWidthRight | borderWidthTop | borderWidthBottom | borderWidthLeftRight | borderWidthTopBottom}?value=<Css_length> Document,
Paragraph,
Image,
Section,
Header, 
Footer,
Table,
Row,
Column,
Cell,
Submenu		 Changes target border width (default target is paragraph).

Ex: paragraph/borderWidthLeft?value=4pt
columnCount wk column count {section/}columnCount?value={1<=number<=20} Document, Section,
Submenu		 Number of columns in the current document and/or section. (default target is doc)

Ex: section/columnCount?value=3
columnRuleColor wk column rule color {section/}columnRuleColor?value={CSS color} Document,
Section,
Submenu,
showDialog		 Color for the decorative line between document or section columns.

Ex: columnRuleColor?value="#FFFFFF"
columnRuleStyle wk column rule style {section/}columnRuleStyle?value={none | dotted | dashed | solid | double | groove | ridge | inset | outset} Document,
Section,
Submenu		 Style for the decorative line between document or section columns.

Ex: columnRuleStyle?value="solid"
columnRuleWidth wk column rule width {section/}columnRuleWidth?value={CSS length} Document,
Section,
Submenu		 Width of the decorative line between document or section columns.

Ex: columnRuleWidth?value="2pt"
columns   {section/}columns Document,
Section,
Submenu		 Only for a menu item: creates automatically a complete Columns sub-menu with all column actions sub-menus (except insertColumnBreak)
columnSpacing wk column spacing {section/}columnSpacing?value={CSS length} Document,
Section,
Submenu		 Space between two columns in the current document and/or section.

Ex: columnSpacing?value="1cm"
deleteColumns   deleteColumns Table Deletes all selected columns.
deleteRows   deleteRows Table Deletes all selected rows.
deleteStyleSheet   {paragraph | image}/deleteStyleSheet?index={1<= number <= number of target style sheets} Paragraph,
Image,
Submenu		 Removes the Nth stylesheet from the stored stylesheets for the selected target (default target is paragraph). Menu item name is replaced at runtime with style sheet name.
direction wk direction direction?value={ltr | rtl} Paragraph,
Submenu		 Paragraph direction.
doc   doc Document,
Submenu		 Default submenu for document body layout (embedded mode attributes or default attributes for sections – but for margin which is reserved for embedded mode only).
dpi wk dpi Modifies the dpi of the current view (independent of the document attribute wk dpi used internally for pixel conversion <-> points). Submenu Change view dpi.

Ex: dpi?value=72
fontStyleWrite   fontStyleWrite Submenu For menu commands only. Displays default font styles submenu for 4D Write Pro.
fontSubscript wk style sheet fontSubscript   Toggles subscript font attribute.
fontSuperscript wk superscript fontSuperscript   Toggles superscript font attribute.
footer   footer Submenu Displays the Footer submenu.
footer/remove   footer/remove Footer Removes the selected footer.
header   header Submenu Displays the Header submenu.
header/remove   header/remove Header Removes the selected header.
height wk height {image | row}/height?value={<Css_length> | auto} Image,
Row,
Submenu		 Target height.

Ex: image/height?value=50pt. For image/width, see width.

Ex: row/height?value=12pt
htmlWYSIWIGEnabled wk html wysiwyg htmlWYSIWIGEnabled Document Toggles between html wysiwyg mode.
image wk image image Image,
Submenu		 Displays image layout submenu.
image/verticalAlign wk vertical align image/verticalAlign?value={top | middle | bottom | baseline | super | sub} Image,
Submenu		 Image vertical alignment.

Ex: image/verticalAlign?value=super
insertColumnBreak wk column break insertColumnBreak Paragraph Inserts a column break at the selection.
insertColumnToTheLeft   insertColumnToTheLeft Table Inserts a column to the left of the first selected column(s).
insertColumnToTheRight   insertColumnToTheRight Table Inserts a column to the right of the last selected column(s).
insertImage   insertImage   Opens a picture selection dialog box and inserts the selected picture (if any) as a character in the area.
insertPageBreak   insertPageBreak Paragraph Inserts a page break at the selection.
insertRowAbove   insertRowAbove Table Inserts a row above the selected row(s).
insertRowBelow   insertRowBelow Table Inserts a row below the selected row(s).
insertSectionBreak   insertSectionBreak Paragraph Inserts a section break at the selection.
insertSoftHyphen   insertSoftHyphen   Inserts a soft hyphen at the cursor position.
lineHeight wk line height lineHeight?value={<Css_length> | <Css_percentage>} Paragraph,
Submenu		 Paragraph line height.

Ex: lineHeight?value=120%
listStartNumber wk list start number listStartNumber?value={<number> (longint) | auto} Paragraph,
Submenu		 List start number.
Ex: listStartNumber?value=10
listStyleImage wk list style image listStyleImage/showDialog Paragraph,
showDialog
 Opens a file dialog to choose a image to display as list style bullet; it will set also list style type to disc – style to be used if image is not found.
listStyleType wk list style type listStyleType?value={none | disc | circle | square | hollow-square | diamond | club | decimal | decimal-leading- zero | lower-latin | lower-roman | upper-latin | upper-roman | lower-greek | decimal-greek | armenian | georgian | hebrew | hiragana | katakana | cjk-ideographic} Paragraph,
Submenu		 Paragraph list style type.
margin wk margin {doc | paragraph | image | section | header | footer | table/}{inside | outside/}{margin | marginLeft | marginRight | marginTop | marginBottom | marginLeftRight | marginTopBottom}?value={<Css_length> | auto} Document,
Paragraph,
Image,
Section,
Header, 
Footer,
Table,
Submenu		 Changes target margin (default target is paragraph).

Ex: margin?value=4pt //sets all paragraph margins to 4pt.

Ex: outside/margin?value=4pt //set exterior paragraph margins to 4pt.

Ex: doc/marginLeft?value=1cm //sets left margin to 1cm for the document as used in embedded mode.

Ex: section/marginLeft?value=1cm //sets left margin to 1cm for the pages of the first selected section
merge   merge Paragraph Merges paragraphs.
minHeight wk min height {paragraph | image}/minHeight?value=<Css_length> Paragraph,
Image,
Submenu		 Target min height (default target is paragraph).

Ex: paragraph/minHeight?value=50pt
minWidth wk min width {paragraph | image}/minWidth?value=<Css_length> Paragraph,
Image,
Submenu		 Target min width (default target is paragraph).

Ex: paragraph/minWidth?value=50pt
moveToBack   moveToBack Image Moves image to the back. (not enabled for inline images)
moveToFront   moveToFront Image Moves image to the front. (not enabled for inline images)
newLineStyleSheet wk new line style sheet newLineStyleSheet?index={1<=number<=number of paragraph stylesheets | newLineStyleSheet?value=auto Paragraph,
Submenu		 Selected paragraph elements will use Nth stylesheet as stylesheet to use for new paragraphs created on Return or while splitting paragraphs; If value=auto, new paragraphs will use the same stylesheet (default). (menu item name is replaced at runtime with stylesheet name)
padding wk padding {doc | paragraph | image | section | header | footer | column | row| cell/}{inside | outside/}{padding | paddingLeft | paddingRight | paddingTop | paddingBottom | paddingLeftRight | paddingTopBottom }?value=<Css_length> Document,
Paragraph,
Image,
Section,
Header, 
Footer,
Row,
Column,
Cell,
Submenu		 Changes target padding. (default target is paragraph)
pageMode   pageMode?value={embedded | page | draft} Submenu Changes view mode.

Ex: pageMode?value=page
pageOrientation wk page orientation {section/}pageOrientation?value={landscape | portrait} Section,
Submenu		 Changes document or first selected section page orientation (if section is not specified, it will apply to all sections otherwise to the first selected section).

Ex: pageOrientation?value=portrait //change orientation to portrait for the whole document.

Ex: section/pageOrientation?value=landscape //change orientation to landscape for the first selected section
pageSize wk page size pageSize?index=<number> Submenu Changes document page size: number is Nth page size in the list of available pages sizes in the current printer.

Ex: pageSize?index=1
paragraph   paragraph Paragraph,
Submenu		 Default submenu for paragraph layout.
print   print Document Prints document as rendered in page mode with view settings of the focused 4D Write Pro area.
refreshImages   refreshImages Image Reloads images from the network for images with URLs.
removeSoftHyphens   removeSoftHyphens   Removes all soft hyphens in the current selection (if the selection is empty, removes soft hyphen before or after the caret if any)
    section Section,
Submenu		 Default submenu for page layout for the first selected section.
section/differentFirstPage   section/differentFirstPage Section Section has different first page or not.
section/differentLeftRightPages   section/differentLeftRightPages Section Section has different left and right pages or not.
section/name/showDialog   section/name/showDialog Section,
showDialog		 Displays a dialog allowing to enter the first selected section name.
section/reset   section/reset Section Resets all first selected section attributes to default attributes - which are inherited from doc attributes for background, border and padding (same as for embedded mode) and 2.5cm for page margins. First selected section column properties are also removed (so only default section properties will apply).
split   split Paragraph Splits paragraphs.
styleSheet wk style sheet {paragraph | image}/styleSheet?value={1<=number<=number of target style sheets} Paragraph,
Image,
Submenu,
showDialog		 Applies Nth stylesheet to the selected target elements. With dialog, new stylesheet will use current attributes from the first selected target. (default target is paragraph)

Ex: styleSheet?value=1 //apply first paragraph style sheet to the selected paragraphs and set it as paragraph stylesheets.
styleSheets   {paragraph | image}/styleSheets Paragraph,
Image,
Submenu		 Default submenu for editing target stylesheets.
tabDecimalSeparator wk tab decimal separator tabDecimalSeparator?value={point | comma | pointOrComma | system} Document,
Submenu		 Defines the character used as decimal separator by decimal tabulations. 
tableAlign wk table align tableAlign?value={left | center | right} 

or

table/tableAlign?value={left | center | right} 		 Table,
Submenu		 Specifies horizontal alignment for a table.
textAlign wk text align textAlign?value={left | right | center | justify | initial} Paragraph Paragraph text alignment (initial=use right for rtl or left for ltr direction).
textIndent wk text indent textIndent?value=<Css_length> (may be negative) Paragraph,
Submenu		 Paragraph text indentation (first line indentation).

Ex: textIndent?value=2cm
textLinethrough   textLinethrough Submenu For menu commands only. Linethrough submenu (with style and color).
textLinethroughColor wk text linethrough color textLinethroughColor?value={<Css_color> | currentColor} Submenu,
showDialog		 Ex: textLinethroughColor?value=red
textLinethroughStyle wk text linethrough style textLinethroughStyle?value={none | solid | dotted | dashed | double | semi-transparent | word} Submenu Ex: textLinethroughStyle?value=dotted
textShadow   textShadow Submenu For menu commands only. Default submenu for text shadow (with color and offset).
textShadowColor wk text shadow color textShadowColor?value={<Css_color> | none} Submenu,
showDialog		 Changes shadow status or color for characters.

Ex: textShadowColor?value=green
textShadowOffset wk text shadow offset textShadowOffset?value=<Css_length> Submenu Only length in pt is supported.

Ex: textShadowOffset?value=2pt
textTransform wk text transform textTransform?value={none | capitalize | uppercase | lowercase | small-uppercase} Submenu Formats text.

Ex: textTransform?value=capitalize
textUnderline   textUnderline Submenu For menu commands only. Underline submenu (with style and color)
textUnderlineColor wk text underline color textUnderlineColor?value={<Css_color> | currentColor} Submenu,
showDialog		 Ex: textUnderlineColor?value=red
textUnderlineStyle wk text underline style textUnderlineStyle?value={none | solid | dotted | dashed | double | semi-transparent | word} Submenu Ex: textUnderlineStyle?value=dotted
updateStyleSheet   {paragraph | image}/updateStyleSheet Paragraph,
Image,
Submenu		 Updates first selected target stylesheet with first selected target current attributes (default target is paragraph)
userUnit wk layout unit userUnit?value={cm | mm | in | pt} Submenu Changes document layout unit (will be reflected on rulers).
verticalAlign wk vertical align {paragraph | row | column | cell}verticalAlign?value={top | middle | bottom} Paragraph,
Row,
Column, 
Cell,
Submenu		 Paragraph vertical alignment.

Ex: verticalAlign?value=top. The effect depends on the minHeight value of the paragraph.
view   view Submenu For menu commands only. Default submenu for view settings.
visibleBackground wk visible background visibleBackground Document Shows/hides background.
visibleFooters wk visible footers visibleFooters Document Shows/hides footers.
visibleHeaders wk visible headers visibleHeaders Document Shows/hides headers.
visibleHiddenChars wk visible hidden characters visibleHiddenChars Document Shows/hides hidden characters
visibleHorizontalRuler wk visible horizontal ruler visibleHorizontalRuler Document Shows/hides horizontal ruler.
visiblePageFrames wk visible page frames visiblePageFrames Document Shows/hides page frames.
visibleVerticalRuler wk visible vertical ruler visibleVerticalRuler Document Shows/hides vertical ruler (Page mode only).
widowAndOrphanControlEnabled wk avoid widows and orphans widowAndOrphanControlEnabled Paragraph Toggles between widow and orphan control mode.
width wk width {paragraph | image | column}/width?value=<Css_length> | auto Paragraph,
Image,
Column,
Submenu		 Target width (default target is paragraph). Auto value not available for columns.


Ex: image/width?value=50pt
zoom wk zoom zoom?value={25% <= percentage in Css <= 400%} Document,
Submenu		 Changes document view zoom.

Ex: zoom?value=120%


 

Several other standard actions are available in 4D forms and can be used in 4D Write Pro areas:

 
 



See also 

Download HDI database

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PROPERTIES 

Product: 4D
Theme: Using 4D Write Pro standard actions

 
HISTORY 

Created: 4D v16 R3
Modified: 4D v16 R4
Modified: 4D v16 R6
Modified: 4D v17
Modified: 4D v17 R4
Modified: 4D v18
Modified: 4D v18 R5


 
ARTICLE USAGE

4D Write Pro Reference ( 4D v19)