'Last used' values in navigators between sessions

Build 1501 on 14/Nov/2017  This topic last edited on: 2/Sep/2014, at 11:02

By default, navigators do not 'remember' the last used values between sessions, but restart with empty fields.

There's a mechanism to load and save last used values for certain navigator fields (but not for all). You have to script it in add-ins, individually for each navigator and each main tab.

In this topic you can find examples of how that is achieved for title, edition, and object library on the navigators of the Pages main tab.

Click to toggle expandLoading last used values

You have to provide for loading of last used values in scripting, individually for each navigator.

In the below examples, we load the last values on Fred4 startup (example OnInitialize), but also when you open the Pages main tab (example AddPagesTabItem), if you closed it in the mean time.

In Fred.vb, in the Protected Overrides Sub OnInitialize(ByVal isStartUp As Boolean), there's the initialization part that auto-fills specified navigator fields. In this example, the fields title and edition on the Pages navigator, and lib on the Libraries navigator are filled with last used values.

  Dim sw As IShellWindow = ShellWindow

  If (sw IsNot Nothing) Then

    Dim values As New List(Of Common.IdName)

    If SystemUserOptions.F_LastTitle <> 0 Then

       values.Add(New Common.IdName(SystemUserOptions.F_LastTitle, "title"))

    End If

    If SystemUserOptions.F_LastEdition <> 0 Then

       values.Add(New Common.IdName(SystemUserOptions.F_LastEdition, "edition"))

    End If

    If SystemUserOptions.F_LastObjLib <> 0 Then

       values.Add(New Common.IdName(SystemUserOptions.F_LastObjLib, "lib"))

    End If

     sw.SetElementOnSearch(values, False)

  End If

In Fred.vb, in the Public Sub AddPagesTabItem(), the last used values are loaded when you load the Pages main tab.

Public Sub AddPagesTabItem()

  Dim tab As IShellTabItem = NewTab("Fred4Pages")

  If Not SystemUserOptions.fr_NoDefToolbars Then

     ShowDefToolbarsPages()

  End If

  ' restore settings

  If tab IsNot Nothing Then

    If SystemUserOptions.F_LastTitle <> 0 Then

       tab.SetElementOnSearch("title", SystemUserOptions.F_LastTitle)

    End If

    If SystemUserOptions.F_LastEdition <> 0 Then

       tab.SetElementOnSearch("edition", SystemUserOptions.F_LastEdition)

    End If

    If SystemUserOptions.F_LastObjLib <> 0 Then

       tab.SetElementOnSearch("lib", SystemUserOptions.F_LastObjLib)

    End If

  End If

End Sub
Click to toggle expandSaving last used values

Last used values are saved indirectly, thus not on selecting the value in the navigator, but on doing some action on it.

For example, if you open a page of the specified edition, the title and edition are stored in SystemUserOptions.F_LastTitle and SystemUserOptions.F_LastEdition.

This means you cannot save, for example, the last selected folder, as it does not perform any other action than just to display results.

Public Overridable Sub OnPageOpen() Implements IFredEvent.OnPageOpen

  If (Page IsNot Nothing) Then

    Dim window As IShellWindow = DirectCast(Main.Window, IShellWindow)

 

    If Fred.GetWindowType = 1 Then ' do this only for pages - not for masters or libraries

      ' synchronize title and edition with the current page

       window.SetElementOnSearch("title", Page.GetPageEdition.titleRefAttr)

       window.SetElementOnSearch("edition", Page.GetPageEdition.idAttr)

       SystemUserOptions.F_LastTitle = Page.GetPageEdition.titleRefAttr

       SystemUserOptions.F_LastEdition = Page.GetPageEdition.idAttr

For other type of values, e.g. last used object library, this is achieved in OnDrop method in Page.vb:

        ElseIf selectedObject.IsKindOf("libObj") Then

           Page.AddLibObjId(selectedObject.Id, 0, 0, 6)

           SystemUserOptions.F_LastObjLib = UtilsBase.GetObjAttrValue(selectedObject.Id, "libRef")