How to Tutorials Introduction

The How To Tutorials section provides an alphabetical list of tutorials with step-by-step instructions for using some of the development tools available in PxPlus.

Use these links to access a particular tutorial.

"How To" Topic

Description

Add Color to Menu Definitions

How to add color to Menu definitions to easily update the appearance of a PxPlus application for both NOMADS and non-NOMADS environments.

(Additional options for defining menu colors were added in PxPlus 2024.)

Copy a Theme

How to use the Copy Theme utility to copy and create Themes.

(The Copy Theme utility was added in PxPlus 2024.)

Create a Custom Title Bar

How to create and apply a custom title bar that can be used to replace or work in conjunction with the Windows title bar.

Customize the PxPlus Progress Bar

How to Customize the Progress Bar appearance. Includes examples on how to set the progress bar global variables to further customize the appearance.

(The ability to customize the progress bar appearance was added in PxPlus 2025.)

Default to INSERT Mode in *IT Program Editor

How to default to Insert mode (rather than Override mode) in the *IT Program Editor.

Include Bar Charts in List Boxes

How to include Bar Charts within formatted List Boxes to present a more visual representation of the data.

JSON Object

Several How To Tutorials are available:

	Convert JSON to XML Using the XML Object	How to convert JSON data to XML using the XML object.
	Convert XML to JSON	How to set up XML data and then convert the XML data to JSON.
	Work with the PxPlus JSON Object	How to use some of the functions that come with the PxPlus JSON object.

(The JSON object *OBJ/JSON was added in PxPlus 2025.)

.NET Interface

Several How To Tutorials are available:

	Create a .NET Button (NOMADS)	How to create a .NET button control in NOMADS.
	Create a .NET Button (Program)	How to create a .NET button control in a program.
	Create a .NET Calendar Control (NOMADS)	How to create a .NET calendar control in NOMADS.
	Create a .NET Calendar Control (Program)	How to create a .NET calendar control in a program.
	Display a Date in PxPlus Multi-Line from NOMADS .NET Calendar	How to select and display a date in a PxPlus multi-line from a NOMADS .NET calendar query button.

(The .NET Interface was added in PxPlus 2025.)

Process Multiple Files with the Report Writer

How to process multiple files with the PVX Plus Report Writer.

Projects

Several How To Tutorials are available:

	Copy a Project	How to copy an existing project to a new project.
	Create and Edit a Project	How to create and edit a Project, which is useful for organizing and managing the tasks and settings used in application development.
	Delete a Project	How to delete a project.
	Use Projects from the NOMADS Session Manager	How to use project-related tasks (i.e. set a project, create/edit a project, etc.) from the NOMADS Session Manager, which is invoked from PxPlus Command line).

(The Projects menu in NOMADS Session Manager was added in PxPlus 2025.)

Rounded Corners on Controls

Several How To Tutorials are available:

Apply Rounded Corners to Controls (NOMADS)	How to apply rounded corners to individual controls in NOMADS.
Apply Rounded Corners to Controls (Themes and Visual Classes)	How to define reusable styling for rounded corners using Themes and Visual Classes and apply it to controls in NOMADS.
Apply Rounded Corners to Controls (Non-NOMADS)	How to apply rounded corners to controls outside of NOMADS.

(The Corner Radius property for rounded corners was added in PxPlus 2026.)

Set a Toolkit Theme

How to set and apply a Toolkit Theme to the development toolkit.

(The Toolkit Theme option was added in PxPlus 2024.)

Set Up PxPlus Visual Studio Code Extension

How to set up the PxPlus Extension in Visual Studio Code, as well as edit a PxPlus program and create a new program using this extension.

(The PxPlus Visual Studio Code Extension was added in PxPlus 2024.)

Speed Up Grid Loading and Processing

How to speed up grid loading and processing. Includes different ways to load data into a grid, retrieve grid contents, and how to get/set various grid properties.

Speed Up WindX Using Turbo Mode

How to speed up some of the PxPlus toolkit programs that were slow over WindX by using the 'TU' system parameter (WindX Turbo Mode).

(Support to speed up WindX using Turbo Mode was added in PxPlus 2026 Update 1.)

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

Several How To Tutorials are available:

Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)	How to enable Two-Factor Authentication system wide and configure verification method settings.
Set Up 2FA Email Verification	How to set up email verification for individual users.
Set Up 2FA SMS Verification	How to set up SMS text message verification for individual users.
Set Up 2FA Authenticator App Verification	How to set up authenticator app verification for individual users.

(Two-Factor Authentication Setup was added in PxPlus 2023.)
(The ability to integrate with a third-party authenticator app was added in PxPlus 2026.)

Use Dynamic Control Properties

How to use dynamic control properties as an effective way to apply changes to existing panels and controls and speed up development when application changes are required.

Use Enhanced Layout in File Maintenance Generator

How to use the Enhanced Layout in the File Maintenance Generator to create new NOMADS panels and/or Webster+ HTML pages.

(The Enhanced Layout was added in PxPlus 2024.)

Use Extended Class Validation and Display

How to use the Extended Class Validation and Display functionality when designing NOMADS panels to validate against a data file and display selected data.

Use Library Bulk Edit and Search Utility

How to use the Library Bulk Edit and Search Utility to find controls with specific characteristics, bulk edit the filtered controls and use the Search Library functionality to view records.

Use Navigation Buttons in *IT Program Editor

How to use the enhanced navigation buttons to move efficiently between key areas of large programs.

(The enhanced navigation buttons were added in PxPlus 2026.)

Use NOMADS Environment Maintenance Utility

How to use the NOMADS Environment Maintenance Utility to set %NOMADS properties for your application.

Use PxPlus IDE Launcher

How to use the PxPlus IDE Main Launcher (Windows) and the four main sections of the Enhanced view: Project, Tasks, Ribbon Toolbar and Web Page Folder Tabs.

Use PxPlus Query Definitions in Non-NOMADS Environments

How to use PxPlus query definitions in non-NOMADS (and NOMADS) environments to:

Display a Lookup Table

Read a Query Dataset

Load List Box and Grid Controls

Create Charts

Generate Spreadsheet Data

Print a Simple Report

Supply Data to the PxPlus Report Writer

Display Information in a Browser

Display Data in Webster+

Webster+ Web Development Toolkit

Several How To Tutorials are available:

Create a Top Menu Bar with Sub-Menus	How to create a top menu bar with sub-menus in Webster+.
Create a Webster+ Web Page Using a Text File	How to create a Webster+ Web page using short codes saved in a simple text file.
Work with Styles in Webster+	How to work with custom styles in Webster+ to enhance the appearance of Web pages generated from your applications.

See Also