Rules For Naming Layout Elements
- Layout Element (LE) names can be any length, but it is advisable to keep them short
- You can use any capitalization
- LE names cannot be a number, or start with a number
- LE names can include spaces, but you may encounter problems if you use an LE name that includes spaces AND a Reserved Word. Examples of such names are "Date of Birth", "Not Entered", or "Next Step". Unless you are certain that you will never need to refer to such an element in programming, you should avoid spaces in its name by running the words together (e.g. DateOfBirth), or by using an underscore (e.g. Date_Entered), or using an alternative name (e.g. DOB). It is also more convenient to work in the program editor with LE names which are concise and do not have spaces. (This applies to the layout element NAME only. There is no reason why you should not use a safe LE Name and set the LABEL to whatever you like. If you have differing LE names and labels then you need to take care that you use the layout NAME in programming, not the label on the form; when programming you can refer to the drop-down list in the programming editor, which shows the LE names.)
- Designer will not allow you to create an LE with a name that is a Reserved Word. These include the names of programming functions, data types, etc. For a list of these Reserved Words, see the Reserved Words article in this Knowledge Base, or Appendix 3 of the Sesame Programming Guide
- If you type a name that is a Reserved Word, Designer will retain that as the label for the element (and show it on the form), but will change the name of the underlying field to one in the LE sequence (LE0, LE1, LE2, etc.) so that it is both legal and unique. To see this, show the Property Viewer / Other tab as you work.