To create or edit a screen, load your application then in the header bar, click 

Insert excerpt
_screen _screen nopanel true

. PhixFlow opens the screens window.

Opening an Existing Screen

1. To open an existing screen:
   • either, in the header bar, click

     Insert excerpt
     _screen _screen nopanel true

      and in the list, click on the screen name you want to open
   • or in the repository, expand your application's Screens section and double-click a screen name.
     Alternatively, right-click the name and select Display.
2. PhixFlow opens the screen in the canvas with the screen locked.
3. To unlock the screen for editing, right-click anywhere on the screen to open the popup menu and select 

   Insert excerpt
   _layout_unlock_layout _unlock nopanel true

   .
4. PhixFlow displays the toolbar for the screen so that you can begin to make changes.
5. Click 

   Insert excerpt
   _palette _palette nopanel true

    to display the palette on the right. Drag components from the palette into the screen.

Unlocking and Locking a Screen for Editing

When you first open an existing screen in

Insert excerpt
_design_mode _design_mode nopanel true

, it is locked so that you do not accidentally move any of the components. There is no canvas toolbar visible. To edit the screen, you must unlock it. Right-click on the canvas and select

Insert excerpt
_layout_unlock_layout _unlock nopanel true

. 

An unlocked screen has all the toolbar and pop-up menu options that you need to move components and edit their properties. If you click on a component, such as a button, PhixFlow opens its properties.

Creating a New Screen

1. To create a new screen:
   • either, in the header bar, click 

     Insert excerpt
     _screen _screen nopanel true

     .
     PhixFlow displays the list of available screens with an 

     Insert excerpt
     _add _add nopanel true

      button on the left.
   • or in the repository, expand your application's Screens section, which includes an 

     Insert excerpt
     _add _add nopanel true

      button.
2. Click 

   Insert excerpt
   _add _add nopanel true

   . PhixFlow opens a window with basic options for your screen. These options are saved in the screen properties.
   • Enter a Name for the screen.
   • By default, the screen opens maximised in the PhixFlow window.
     Untick Open Maximised if you want a popup window.
   • Select one of the screen layout options. To design your own, screen, select the empty layout.
3. PhixFlow creates a new screen with the selected layout.
   The screen is unlocked and the palette is open in the right panel.

More Screen Properties

There are additional screen properties that affect how the screen behaves. In the toolbar, click 

Insert excerpt
_property_tabs _property_tabs name _basic nopanel true

 to open the Screen properties in the right panel. Here are some example screen setups. 

For a popup screen, for example for data entry:

• in 

  Insert excerpt
  _property_tabs _property_tabs name _basic nopanel true

   → Basic Settings:
  • tick Always On Top
  • tick Allow Manual Resizing
• in

  Insert excerpt
  _property_tabs _property_tabs name style nopanel true

   → Style Settings
  • set Position to Floating
  • PhixFlow has defaults for the size and position of a screen. To change these defaults, set:
    
    • the size of the window using Width and Height
    • the position of the window, using Top, Left, Right and Bottom.

For a maximised screen, for example to display data:

• in 

  Insert excerpt
  _property_tabs _property_tabs name _basic nopanel true

   → Basic Settings:
  • tick Open Maximised
  • untick Always On Top
• if you intend to make your own navigation or screen controls, untick Show Window Button Bar
• optionally, untick Allow user to resize.

Testing Screens

When you are creating and editing screens that make up an application, you are working in

Insert excerpt
_design_mode _design_mode nopanel true

 .

PhixFlow runs applications in 

Insert excerpt
_app_mode _app_mode nopanel true

, with only essential PhixFlow options displayed in the header bar. All other PhixFlow options are hidden. Instead the application user interacts with the screens and menus you have created.

To switch modes, click the icon in the right of the header bar.

When you have configured part of a screen, you may want to test how it behaves for an application user. For example, you may want to click a button and run its action, or have a URL component display its content. To do this:

• either, in 

  Insert excerpt
  _design_mode _design_mode nopanel true

  , in the screen toolbar, click on 

  Insert excerpt
  _layout_lock_layout _lock nopanel true

  .
• or, in the header bar on the right, click

  Insert excerpt
  _app_mode _app_mode nopanel true

   to run your application as an application user.