the tab color!?

How can I change the background color of the only one tab on a multi-Tab Control (for example on a form).

AFAIK you cannot change the backcolor for one tab, only the backcolor for the entire control. Dennis van Es PerCom: Research & Development BV The Netherlands

And WHY on earth would you also do that? One of the rules is, that all development has to be transparent to the user - he/she may not have the possibility to see what’s standard and what’s not! - Just my 2 cents on that! Kind Regards – Henrik Helgesen, Navision Solution Developer

Yes yes. Why should he? I so much agrees to Henrik. In my mind it simply would destroy one of the most important reasons for selecting Navision Financials over another Windows product. Navision has keept it all transperant. Not only to other parts of Navision but also to other Microsoft Office products. They really treasure KISS (keep it simple stupid). Keeping the same fonts and colors and borders do that the user can focus on what’s really important. The data. But then again I’ve recently seen a Navision solution that, in my mind, where simply too much and really confusing to look at. But the users loved it . (I actually think I’ve seen colored tabs as well - I have just not been able to verify it yet). They used the colors to focus they users on the different areas of the form they had to fill out. I would just like to know how much time this company needs to train new employees in these multi colored and multi font solutions compared to a solution confirm with standard Navision. ============ Best regards, Erik P. Ernst, webmaster Navision Online User Group

It seems that one of our main jobs is to serve the client. If they want blue. Why not blue. In most situations the customer (in my experience) doesn’t know what std navision looks like in any depth and doesn’t care. He wants his problem solved and THATS the reason he bought Navision. Navision is highly programmable and can be made to work in a manner that best serves his business needs (“Business your way”, i think, is Navision US’s current theme). It should take no more time to train a new employee on a colorful interface than a grey one and in general color is a powerful mnemonic device that makes learning easier. That Navision is like other windows products has not been much of a consideration in choosing Navision for our customers.I would be less likely to change how navision posts to general ledger (which is transparent )at a customer request than to add a few colors to make a form’s use clearer. As far as what is important-The data. I would have to disagree What seems to be important is being able to use the data in a manner that serves the business needs of the client. Maybe I am misunderstanding what you mean by transparent to the user. I think this is a great topic for discussion and would love to hear other comments and opinions.

By transparent I mean that if you look at i.e. the Vendor Card and the Customer Card, then they look almost the same. They are organized the same way (General, Communication, Invoicing etc.). The user quickly learns where to find the data and training a user who knows Accounts Receivable to Accounts Payable is very easy, because the modules look very much alike. Therefor to me it’s very important to keep everything within the Navision standard. That does not mean that I don’t like to customize a solution the end-users, but that it should happen, whenever possible, within the given GUI standards of Navision. So what I object against is to change Navision into a color full and, to outsiders (and new employees) confusing system. Remember one of Navision’s slogans: “The beauty of simplicity”. Everything can go together, but it must be done with causion. ============ Best regards, Erik P. Ernst, webmaster Navision Online User Group

I believe in the One-stop shopping theory. Give the users one place to do all thier work rather than confusing them by “several uniform tabs & uniform cards”. I’ve organized the pertinent info onto ONE tab, per Card. I’ve colored and labeled the backgrounds on each Card/Form to remind the user where they are. Training an A/P user on a Card/Form that has a blue background with a label that states ACCOUNTS PAYABLE is just as easy to train them on an A/R granule that has a green background and clearly states ACCOUNTS RECIEVABLE. I eliminated the constant clicking to several Tabs just to set up one Vendor/Customer when it can be done on One card. No clicks. I’ve set up command buttons & menus so that the user can look-up all info from only one place rather than having “think” about what card has the tab that holds the information they are looking for. As for the “Beauty of Simplicity” … Janice Associated/ACC International Ltd.

Janice, That sounds very cool. In my experience few employees move from AR to AP to Human Resources so a card that works best in that specific area instead of cards that all look the same but sorta work in each area makes alot of sense. If you are willing to share more I would be interested. Steve

We have a customer that specifically wants colour too… and also coloured tabs… I think there are arguments on both sides that are valid… BUT it is very easy to follow Navision GUI guidelines and it is also VERY easy to make any product look very ugly. I have seen a competing product that was colour coded and it was so ugly… there would be no way I could work with it like that… and I even found it hard to look at/read. Just my 2 centr worth. Craig Bradney Technical Manager Criterion Technology Pty Ltd P:+61-2-9436-0436 F:+61-2-9436-1004 E:craigb@c-t.com.au

Well, let me just tell you annother “Navi-Way”-story. As most of you know, the font size on reports are extremely small, and most clients complain: “You have to enhance the fontsize”. to all those clients I say NO. - I tell them, that they have to “pay a lot of money to have us change the font, but give it 2 months or so, and come back it it’s still a problem” - Untill this day, no client have ever come back - and wanted to have us changing the font size. – You also need to remember on future updates :). Kind Regards – Henrik Helgesen, Navision Solution Developer Edited by - Henrik Helgesen on 3/15/00 3:02:08 PM