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Build 881
Hands-on tutorial · Layout & Forms

Give a group a visible boundary

Use a captioned container to explain related input fields.

1 Form / control designs1 complete BASIC filesGuided sample project

A Frame is both a parent and a visual label for its group. The group caption should explain the relationship between the fields. Keep it short enough to remain readable when resized, and verify that children truly belong to the Frame.

Step 1Prepare a safe practice project#

Extract the archive into a new writable folder, separate from your own application. Open Frame.mcproj in McBasic™. Keep every declared source, layout, resource and migration file together.

To reconstruct it yourself, create a DesktopApp project and add the files declared below. In the complete project, follow these steps as a guided rebuild: replace each named source file once and Check after all its procedures are present.

Exact project configuration
Frame.mcproj
{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "projectId": "b6b0a67b-46d6-4c75-b11a-66c88ed314b0",
  "name": "FrameSample",
  "kind": "DesktopApp",
  "language": {
    "dialect": "McBasic1",
    "requireExplicit": true,
    "compare": "Binary",
    "defaultArrayBase": 0
  },
  "application": {
    "bundleIdentifier": "com.mcbasic.samples.frame",
    "version": "0.1.0",
    "buildNumber": "1",
    "startupFormId": "form-main",
    "shutdownMode": "OnStartupFormClosed"
  },
  "forms": [
    {
      "id": "form-main",
      "typeName": "frmMain",
      "layout": "Forms/frmMain.form.json",
      "code": "Forms/frmMain.bas"
    }
  ],
  "modules": [],
  "classes": [],
  "tests": [],
  "references": [],
  "resources": [],
  "targets": [
    "osx-arm64"
  ],
  "capabilities": []
}

Step 2Build the Form and set its properties#

frmMain

Select the Form first and set its properties. Add containers before their children. These are initial Designer values, not statements to paste into a procedure.

Form propertyValue
Caption"Frame — McBasic"
Width620
Height380
MinWidth480
MinHeight280
TypeNameParent
FramefraMainForm
LabellblPromptfraMain
TextBoxtxtNamefraMain
StatusBarstaStatusForm
CommandButtoncmdCloseForm
fraMain · exact Inspector values
PropertyValue
Left44
Top34
Width532
Height236
Caption"Customer details"
Padding12
TabIndex0
Anchor edgesLeft, Right, Top
lblPrompt · exact Inspector values
PropertyValue
Left24
Top34
Width300
Height30
Caption"Name"
TabIndex0
Anchor edgesLeft, Top
txtName · exact Inspector values
PropertyValue
Left24
Top70
Width300
Height32
Text"Ada"
TabIndex1
Anchor edgesLeft, Top
staStatus · exact Inspector values
PropertyValue
Left44
Top302
Width380
Height26
Text"Ready"
TabIndex1
Anchor edgesLeft, Bottom
cmdClose · exact Inspector values
PropertyValue
Left448
Top296
Width128
Height36
Caption"Close"
TabIndex2
Anchor edgesRight, Bottom

Step 3Connect the events explicitly#

frmMain

ObjectEventProcedureParameters
cmdCloseClickcmdClose_ClickClick()
FormLoadForm_Load()

Step 4Enter the complete behavior#

Open the named source file. Enter declarations first, then every procedure. Expand a procedure for its full body, or copy the complete file. Helpers are required: do not stop after entering the first Click handler.

Forms/frmMain.bas

Enter these declarations at file scope, before the procedures.

Forms/frmMain.bas · declarations
Option Explicit
Private Sub Form_Load()

Initialize state before enabling dependent actions. Keep the shared declarations and startup dependencies with this procedure.

Forms/frmMain.bas · Form_Load
Private Sub Form_Load()
    fraMain.Caption = "Customer details"
    fraMain.Padding = 12
    staStatus.Text = "Frame ready"
End Sub
Private Sub cmdClose_Click()

Enter the complete action, including its input checks and calls to helper procedures.

Forms/frmMain.bas · cmdClose_Click
Private Sub cmdClose_Click()
    Unload Me
End Sub
Copy the complete Forms/frmMain.bas file

Replace the file once; do not append duplicate procedures.

Forms/frmMain.bas
Option Explicit

Private Sub Form_Load()
    fraMain.Caption = "Customer details"
    fraMain.Padding = 12
    staStatus.Text = "Frame ready"
End Sub

Private Sub cmdClose_Click()
    Unload Me
End Sub

Step 5Keep resources and storage reproducible#

No external resource or migration files are declared. Any inline migration, seed data or local JSON is present in the code above. Runtime application data and private preferences are not included in the archive.

Step 6Check, run and test the result#

Save all files and run Check. Resolve diagnostics before Run. Developer CLI users can work from the extracted folder:

Developer CLI
mcbasic check Frame.mcproj
mcbasic run Frame.mcproj

Acceptance checklist

  • Inspect the frame caption and its child controls.
  • Edit the field inside it.
  • Resize and verify the group remains readable.

Step 7Make one change and repeat the tests#

Add a second group with its own caption and independent child controls.

Save a working Git checkpoint first. Change one behavior, Check again and repeat the acceptance checklist. Compare with the downloaded solution if a regression appears.

Source baseline 20f4bfed6b · Build manifest