A window is a rectangular area of a video display screen that displays text to the user. A Vermont Views window acts as a sub-screen on the video display screen. All Vermont Views output, including forms and menus, is done through windows. You can also create and process windows yourself for even greater control of your application's behavior.
A window consists of four parts: (1) the border, (2) the margins, (3) the interior work area, which is the area where information is displayed, and (4) the buffer, which contains the information displayed in the work area. The border and the margins are optional, and create a around the work area. The frame may contain a border, titles, scroll bars, shadows, and margins. The frame is not part of the window contents. The interior work area is where the text written to the window or contained in the memory file is displayed. The buffer may be larger than the interior work area in which it is displayed.
The buffer stores information for the window. The buffer is either a memory screen or a memory file. The window's interior work area displays all or part of the information in the buffer.
Each window also has an associated , which is assigned when the window is created. When you process a window with wn_proc(), or when you process a non-modal window, Vermont Views calls the processing function associated with the window. The processing function controls whether the user can scroll through the information in the buffer.
The simplest Vermont Views windows have memory screen buffers the same size as the interior work area. These are called basic windows. Other windows, often referred to as virtual windows, have buffers that may be larger than the work area. Only part of a virtual window's buffer may be visible at any one time.
Windows can be created as you need them and freed when you are through with them. The only limit to the numbers of windows that can be established in Vermont Views is the amount of available memory.
The Four Types of Vermont Views Windows
