How To Programmatically Embed and Link Part of a File

• Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, version 3.0
• Microsoft FoxPro for Windows, versions 2.5x, 2.6x

SUMMARY

The APPEND GENERAL command embeds or links an entire source file. To embed or link part of a file, select the part of the source file you want to embed or link, copy the text to the Windows Clipboard, and in FoxPro choose Paste or Paste Special from the Edit menu.

MORE INFORMATION

The following steps can be used to perform this operation programmatically:

1. Open the server application for the file you want to link or embed in a FoxPro general field.

2. In the server application, open the file you want to link or embed.

3. Select the information that you want to link or embed.

4. Copy the selection to the Windows Clipboard.

5. In FoxPro for Windows, run the following code:

         USE C:\FOXPROW\SAMPLE\OLE\OLETABLE
         APPEND BLANK
         MODIFY GENERAL object NOWAIT
   

         KEYBOARD "{ALT+E}"
   

         x = 1           && Begin delay loop.
         DO WHILE x < 10
           x = x + 1
         ENDDO           && End delay loop.
   
         KEYBOARD "{S} {L}"
   
   

1. In Visual FoxPro for Windows, use one of the following methods:

       - To embed data, run the following code:
   

            CREATE TABLE lnktest (OBJECT G)
            USE lnktest
            APPEND BLANK
            MODIFY GENERAL object NOWAIT
            KEYBOARD "{ALT+E}"
            x = 1           && Begin delay loop.
            DO WHILE x < 10
              x = x + 1
            ENDDO           && End delay loop.
            KEYBOARD "{S} {Alt+P} {Enter}"
   
       - To link data, run the following code:
   
            CREATE TABLE lnktest (OBJECT G)
            USE lnktest
            APPEND BLANK
            MODIFY GENERAL OBJECT NOWAIT
            KEYB '{ALT+E}{S}{TAB}{TAB}{TAB}{TAB}{TAB}{DNARROW}{ENTER}'
   
   

The above code links the contents of the Windows Clipboard to a new record. To embed the contents of the Clipboard, change the last KEYBOARD command to KEYBOARD "{S} {P}".

The delay loop is needed to ensure that FoxPro interprets the keystrokes properly. Depending on your CPU's processor speed and the amount of memory available to FoxPro, you many need to make the delay loop longer.