Release 10.1A: OpenEdge Development:
Progress 4GL Handbook

Label handling

You must provide a separate text object as a label for dynamic data representation objects, including fill-ins, combo boxes, editors, radio sets, selection lists, sliders, and text fields. When you drop fill-ins into the AppBuilder’s design window, for example, the AppBuilder is actually generating separate, dynamic label objects so that you see how the label will look at run time, since it is creating dynamic objects at design time to build up the contents of what will become a static frame and static field-level objects when you save it and it generates code for the frame and object definitions. When you create your own dynamic objects, you have to supply the dynamic text label yourself.

If you want a side label for a fill-in field, or one of the other dynamic data representation object types, you must create a separate text object and then assign its handle to the SIDE-LABEL-HANDLE attribute of the object it is a label for. For any other type of label, such as vertical columns, you must create and manage the text object completely separately. You must also position text objects used as labels explicitly, even for side labels. Progress assigns no positioning information for dynamic side labels, as it does for button or toggle box labels. The SIDE-LABEL-HANDLE attribute on the fill-in does not actually provide any automatic services such as moving the label together with the field. It is simply a useful way to help you navigate between the field object and its label object when you need to.

The example code described in the "Adding dynamic fields to the test window" section shows you how to define side labels for dynamic fill-ins.