User Guide > Working with objects and properties > Types of objects > Windows

Windows are base objects of every project. The window object stores a collection of pages containing all other objects and determines the basic screen properties of your application: size, position, and caption. Other properties of the window – background, starting page, shape, style and others – set the appearance of the window.

There are few types of windows in Autoplay Menu Designer:

Main window

The main window is a window that is displayed on the screen when the application is running. Technically, you can say the main window is a “face” of your app. You can have multiple main windows, though, however only one of them is displayed on the screen at the same time.

Every project must have at least one main window, so this object is automatically created when you create a new project.

Whenever you edit a window you can see on the Artboard how your application will look with this window. To see the mock-up of the main window on the Artboard double-click the window object in the Project Panel. Alternatively, if you modify parameters of the main window in the Properties Panel, the window preview is opened on the Artboard.

Popup window

Functionally, popup windows are much like the main window object. They can have multiple pages with individual interface and design, and you can address variables and execute actions in such windows.

You can use popup windows to display confirmation dialogs, configuration windows and other modal dialogs that require some input from a user, ask him or her about settings, execution options and so on.

To add a popup window object, right-click the Project object in the Project Panel and use the context menu to add a popup window.

Subwindow

Subwindows allows you to create nested hierarchy of pages, elements and controls. A subwindow can be placed on a page and can contain child pages or special objects (timers, variables etc.).

In design time subwindows are displayed as rectangle objects on their parent pages. To add other objects to a subwindow right-click it on the Artboard or in the Project Panel and select Add command. In order to edit the page in a subwindow, double-click the corresponding page object in the Project Panel.

Note that subwindows as objects also have properties, such as Filling, Shape and others. To edit those parameters simply select the subwindow object in the Project Panel just like as with any other object.

In run-time subwindows show nested pages and objects and allow the user to interact with them.

The hierarchy of windows implies that the main window always belongs to the project, and subwindows always belong to their corresponding parent pages. Modal windows stay out of the hierarchy, but are modal for the main window that evokes them. The Project Panel displays this hierarchy visually:

Note: all windows have their own sizes that can be smaller or larger than the size of the corresponding child pages. If the size of a window is larger than the size of a child page, the page is placed inside the window and is aligned according to page settings. On the contrary, if the size of the window is smaller than its contents, the page or pages will be scrollable.

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