Frontier 5: Table Menu

The Table Menu.

When a table is frontmost in Frontier, a menu labeled Table appears to the left of the Window menu.

New Script
New Text
New Outline
New MenuBar
New Sub-Table
New Scalar
New Special

These menu items each allow you to create a new entry in the current table. They all work fundamentally the same: they ask you for the name of the new object, then they add it to the table. The first set of objects are edited in their own window. Scalars (simple data types) can be edited right in the table.

Scalars are: Boolean, Character, Number, Float, Date, Direction, String.

Special types of data are: Binary, Color, File Spec, Fixed, List, Point, Record, Rectangle and String4

Format Windows

The Format Windows command runs a script to give the windows a common font and size, depending on their type. It also re-sizes and positions the windows so they'll open neatly on all kinds of systems. Further, it intelligently expands outlines, scripts and menubars, so there are no surprises when people open them.

To run the command, place the table cursor on the item or table of items that you want to format; then choose the Format Windows command. You can watch the command formatting windows or go get a cup of coffee.

If you're releasing code to the Frontier community, we ask that you run this script on your tables before you release them. Consistency counts. Thanks!

The script is at system.menus.scripts.windowFormatter.

Copy Address

This is a very simple command but it can be quite useful. It puts the address of the cell pointed to by the table cursor on the system clipboard.

Use this command when you're writing a script and want to get the address right the first time you enter it. It can be a big time-saver.

Outline Table...

If you want to quickly produce an outline of a table and all its sub-tables, place the table cursor on the table cell in its parent table, and choose the Outline Table command. The new outline is placed in the table you're outlining. When the command is finished it opens the new outline.

The script that produces the outline is at system.menus.scripts.buildTableOutline.

Get Info...

The Get Info command displays a dialog containing information about the cell you have highlighted with the table cursor.

Mac Specific Menu Items

New Mac Type

Alias, Card, Enumerator, Object Spec and Pattern

The New Card command will create an empty MacBird card object in the table. You can use the Edit with App command, Command-E, in the Main Menu to edit MacBird cards stored in Frontier's object database.