DEFAULT-WINDOW system handle

A handle to the static window of the current ABL session. Every ABL session has one static window. This window displays all frames until the CURRENT-WINDOW system handle is set to the handle of another [dynamic] window or unless a displayed frame is explicitly parented to another window. Its message area also displays messages that have no other available display destination. Use the DEFAULT-WINDOW handle to set or examine the attributes of this unnamed session window.

DEFAULT-WINDOW [ :`attribute` ]

If you display or view a frame without the IN WINDOW option and without first explicitly or implicitly setting CURRENT-WINDOW to the handle of a non-default window, the ABL virtual machine (AVM) displays the frame in the default window.

If the CURRENT-WINDOW does not have a message area and you execute the MESSAGE statement without an explicit or implicit VIEW-AS ALERT-BOX option, the AVM displays the default window in order to display the message in its own message area.

In a character interface, or at the start of a GUI client session, the ACTIVE-WINDOW, CURRENT-WINDOW, and DEFAULT-WINDOW handles all return the handle of the static window for the current ABL session.

You can make the default window the current window by assigning DEFAULT-WINDOW to CURRENT-WINDOW.

You can enable or disable the default window by changing the value of DEFAULT-WINDOW:SENSITIVE (the SENSITIVE attribute).

You can set the menu bar for the default window by assigning the handle of a menu bar to DEFAULT-WINDOW:MENUBAR (the MENUBAR attribute).

You can make the default window visible or invisible by changing the value of DEFAULT-WINDOW:VISIBLE (the VISIBLE attribute).

Because DEFAULT-WINDOW is the initial default parent for ABL frames, you cannot set DEFAULT-WINDOW to the handle of a .NET form’s shadow window. If allowed, this would make the associated .NET form a possible parent for ABL frames, and ABL cannot parent ABL frames to .NET forms. A .NET form’s shadow window handle is provided by the ProWinHandle property of the Progress.Windows.Form class, which an OpenEdge .NET class designed for instantiating .NET forms in an ABL session. Therefore, any attempt to set DEFAULT-WINDOW to a ProWinHandle property value raises a run-time error.