The control's template uses the X-Script language to initialize the control's content. You configure this through the Template property page of the control, which lets you edit the control's Template property. The Template property lets you execute code by passing it a string of instructions (the "template string"). The ExecuteTemplate property runs a template script and returns the result.

Most of our UI components include a Template page you can access in design mode. Regardless of which programming language you're using, this WYSIWYG Template editor lets you preview the component's features quickly.

• Place the control on your form or dialog.
• Right-click the control in design mode and select "Properties" from the context menu. If your environment doesn't offer this option there, look for the Properties browser instead.
• Open the Properties panel and go to the Template page.
• Click the Help button. On the left, you'll see the component itself; on the right, you'll see sample x-script code that calls the control's methods and properties.

The Template page lets you set up the control's look and feel visually, using the simple but powerful x-script language. The control preview appears on the left side of the page, and an editor for writing initialization code appears on the right. As you type new instructions, the control's appearance updates immediately. When you click Apply, the script is saved with the container and will run automatically whenever the control initializes at runtime. Any component with a WYSIWYG Template page also exposes a Template property, which runs code supplied as a string (the template string).

A template (x-script) consists of lines of instructions. Instructions are separated by newline characters ("\n\r") or by a semicolon (";"). The template string can contain any number of instructions, and each instruction can be a property call, a method call, or an assignment statement. The template string can also contain comments, which start with a single quote (') and continue to the end of the line.

The BNF notation for the x-script language is as follows:

<script> ::= <statement> | <statement> <separator> <script>
<separator> ::= "\n\r" | ";"

<statement> ::= "Dim" <variables> | <expression> "=" <value> | <expression>
<expression> ::= <identifier> <suffix> | <expression> "{" <script> "}"
<suffix> ::= <empty> | "." <identifier> <suffix> | "(" <arguments> ")" <suffix>

<variables> ::= <identifier> | <identifier> "," <variables>
<arguments> ::= <empty> | <value> | <value> "," <arguments>
<value> ::= <identifier> | "True" | "False" | <number> | <date> | <string>

Each x-script line can take one of the following forms:

• Dim <list of variables> Declares one or more variables. Separate multiple variables with commas.

  Example: Dim h, h1, h2, declares three variables named h, h1, and h2.

• variable = property(<arguments>) Assigns the result of a property call to a variable. "variable" is a previously declared variable name; "property" is the name of a property on the current object; "arguments" is a comma-separated list of values or variables.

  Example: h = InsertItem(0, "New Child") inserts a new item at index 0 and assigns the handle of the new item to the variable h.

• property(<arguments>) = value Sets a property's value. The value can be a variable, a string, a number, a boolean, or an RGB value.

  Example: Background(0) = RGB(255,0,0), changes the background color of the control's part with index 0 to red.

• method(<arguments>) Calls a method. "arguments" is a comma-separated list of values or variables.

  Example: Images("c:\temp\copy.ico") calls the Images method with the specified ICO file path as an argument.

• { Opens an object context. Any properties or methods called between { and } apply to the object most recently returned by the preceding property call.

  Example: Columns.Add("Column1"){HeaderAlignment = 2;Alignment = 2;} adds a new column and sets its HeaderAlignment and Alignment properties to 2 (right).

• } Closes the current object context.
• object.property(<arguments>).property(<arguments>)... The dot (.) separates an object from its property, and lets you chain calls together.

  Example: Columns.Add("Column1").Def(7) = RGB(255,0,0) adds a new column and sets its header background color.

X-script also supports the following literal (constant) expressions:

• Boolean - either True or False.

  Example: True is the boolean value true, equivalent of -1; False is the boolean value false, equivalent of 0.

• Numeric - starts with 0x for hexadecimal, or with a digit (optionally preceded by + or -) for decimal, using "." as the decimal separator.

  Example: 13 is the integer 13; 12.45 is the decimal value 12.45.

• Date - enclosed in # characters, in the format #mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss#.

  Example: #12/31/1971# represents December 31, 1971.

• String - enclosed in " or ` characters. If you use the backtick (`), make sure not to confuse it with the single quote ('), which is used for inline comments.

  Example: "text" represents the string "text".

X-script also provides these general-purpose functions:

• Me - refers to the original (current) object.

  Example: Me.BackColor property refers to the control's BackColor property.

• RGB(R, G, B) - returns an RGB color value, where R, G, and B are byte values specifying the red, green, and blue components.

  Example: BackColor = RGB(255,0,0) sets the control's background to red.

• LoadPicture(file) - loads an image from a file or a Base64-encoded string and returns a Picture object, as required by picture-related properties.

  Example: Picture = LoadPicture("C:\MyImage.jpg") loads the image from the specified file and assigns it to the Picture property.

• CreateObject(progID) - creates and returns a new, uninitialized instance of the class identified by the given program ID.

  Example:

  CreateObject("Exontrol.Print")
  {
  	AutoRelease = False
  	PrintExt = Me
  	Preview()
  }

  creates a new instance of the Exontrol.Print class, sets its AutoRelease property to False, assigns the current control to its PrintExt property, and calls its Preview method (preview the control's content and release the object when closing the preview window). The print and print preview features is not available for all exontrol controls, please check the control's documentation for more information.