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DataEase 8 is storming forward and it is no secret that we are getting our inspiration more from the Web and Mobile devices than where DataEase for WIndows have gotten it's inspiration from in the past...

The latest addition is PlaceHolder which should be well known to most of you from the web.

In compact design it is not always practical to have to put in a label in front of/over/under a field. What about just putting inside the field? 

Exactly and that is what a placeholder is.

So how do I go about to replicate this functionality?

In DataEase 8 we want to pack in as much useful functionality as possible without causing the normal migration/conversion/compatibility issues that DFW is so famous for (sorry infamous).

One of the main problems with OML for instance is the way the code is stored in the form (or in some cases not stored). 

We don't want to change the FRM format, so we have decided that we will fool and exploit the functionality that is already there. This is what we have done with the Memo functions like MemoExecDQL that exploit memo for storage and all the other functions we have opted for because we know that function storing and execution in DFW is "bulletproof".

When we wanted to add PlaceHolders we had a challenge. We either had to create new storage...i.e. expanding the FRM format or be smart.

Since we in the past had opted for the first, we now opted for the latter in the hope that it would be a more successful strategy.

We discovered that Field Help can store up to 20k pr. field...(don't ask us why) and that it is close to never used. Maybe this is some storage that we can take advantage of?

Placeholder is the first go, but we think not the last. This space can be used for all kind of nice stuff, and we intend to do exactly that ;-)

However, placeholder is simply a tag:

[@placeholder:This is what I want to display in this field...@]

Result: This is what I want to display in this field....

As simple as that....