New in V1.5: InputPrompt and ShowStatusMessage!

This upgrade price is available to all registered PopupUtils 1.x owners who have either purchased PopupUtils 1.x directly or have purchased it via the MegaBundle. If you do not qualify for the upgrade, you need to purchase the full version of PopupUtils V1.5.

PopupUtils is a SatForms plugin extension that provides some handy methods for making your SatForms application more "escape-proof". By escape-proof, I mean more resistant to a user exiting the application at times when you don't want them to exit. PopupUtils also provides convenience by enabling you to pop up keyboards, date and time pickers, etc., completely under script control.

You are probably already aware that you can trap virtual keypresses of the hard buttons and silkscreen keys in the form's OnKey event. See the Puma Tech Support FAQ on this topic if you are not already familiar with the process. What you may not be aware of is that the OnKey event cannot always catch these keypresses, depending on what is displayed in your SatForms program.

PopupUtils addresses ALL of these circumstances and blocks unauthorized user exits, completely.

PopupUtils provides the following escape-proofed features:

• InputPrompt provides a popup prompt with an edit field, with a customizable title, prompt, and button captions. The edit field font is programmable, giving you the ability to use one of the Symbol fonts for obscured password entry.
• ShowStatusMessage is a very simple routine to display a single line of text in a box on top of your form, and then erase it at a later point. It is intended for short status or progress type messages that do not require or allow any user input.
• MaximumShields single function call for complete escape prevention
• standard popup alpha, numeric, and international keyboards
• standard popup date selector with settable title
• popup single time selector with settable title
• standard popup Graffiti Reference Chart
• extra-escape-proofed version of the PromptUser msgbox and prompt replacement dialog from PocketUtils (lets you define the prompt's title, message, and button labels)
• As well, PopupUtils includes a trio of very powerful methods (IgnoreKey, RestoreKey, GetIgnoredKeyList) enabling you to tell SatForms to ignore specified keys or buttons globally throughout your application, without you needing to trap them in the OnKey event for every single form. For example, to tell SF to ignore the Find silkscreen key throughout your application, you would simply call IgnoreKey(264) once at the start of your app. Keys are specified by their PalmOS ASCII code, and can refer to standard alphabet keys or virtual keys like the Launch button or hard buttons. A handy text PalmOS keycode reference table is included in the PopupUtils documentation. IgnoreKey works everywhere that the OnKey event works, but does not work where OnKey does not work either. That is what the other popup methods are designed to address.

A sample application is included demonstrating the various methods, and also demonstrating how to simulate the "autokeyboard" attribute for edit controls to make a keyboard pop up automatically when you tap on an edit field (simply by placing a blank button underneath the date or time edit field).

Evaluation Version Download

An evaluation version of this extension is available so you can try it out before deciding to purchase. To download an evaluation version of this extension, complete the Product Evaluation Request Form with your full address information. Eval version download instructions will be supplied upon completion of the request form.