Form Wizard Basics and Differences from 2.6 Screen Wizard

• Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, version 3.0

SUMMARY

This article provides additional information to help you use the Form Wizard to create a simple single-table form. This information adds to that already available under the Help menu and in the reference manuals.

MORE INFORMATION

The process of creating a form in Visual FoxPro is similar to the same process in FoxPro version 2.6, but there are subtle differences, which Visual FoxPro users need to know about.

Menu Access Differences

In version 2.6, you access the Screen Wizard by choosing Wizard from the Run menu and selecting Screen. In Visual FoxPro, you access the Wizard programs by choosing Wizards from the Tools menu. Also, the Screen Wizard is now called the Form Wizard, in keeping with the syntactical changes in Visual FoxPro.

Form Type Differences

FoxPro version 2.6 allows you to create only a single-table screen; that is, your screen can based on one and only one table.

The Form Wizard in Visual FoxPro gives you the ability to create an additional form type (a one-to-many form) that involves two tables joined together in a parent-child relationship. For example, you can create a form based on the relationship between the Customer table (the parent) and the Orders table (the child). However, this type of form is not covered in this article.

Form Creation Steps Differences

There are some changes to some of the steps involved in using the Form Wizard to create a single-table form in Visual FoxPro. The required steps in Visual FoxPro are outlined below with the differences between FoxPro version 2.6 and Visual FoxPro noted.

Step 1 - Wizard Selection:

Select the Wizard you want to use. As noted earlier, you can create a simple single-table or a more complex multi-table form. Again, this article deals only with the creation and modification of a single-table form.

Step 2 - Field Selection:

Begin to design the finished form. This step integrates the process of selecting the data source for the fields on the form with that of selecting the actual fields to be placed on the finished form.

Visual FoxPro allows you to select fields from several different data sources. You can choose fields from "free tables" (tables that are not part of a database), from tables that are part of a database, and from updatable views defined in a database. FoxPro version 2.6 has no database object, so all fields come from what are now called "free tables."

You choose the form fields from those listed by the Form Wizard. Choosing a different field as data source after adding fields to the 'Selected Fields' box removes any previously-selected fields. Fields from different data sources cannot be combined in the Form Wizard when designing a single-table form.

Step 3 - Field and Button Styles:

Specify the style of field you want. As with FoxPro version 2.6, the supported styles are Standard, Chiseled, Shadowed, Boxed, and Embossed. In this step, you can also tell Visual FoxPro what type of command button (called push buttons in version 2.6) you want. Supported button styles are Text, Picture, or No Buttons. The No Buttons style does not exist in FoxPro version 2.6.

Step 4 - Sort Order:

Indicate how you want your data sorted. From the available fields for the data source, you can choose up to three sort fields. You can click a field, and then click the 'Add' button, or you can double-click the sort field to select it. You can choose the Ascending (A - Z) or Descending (Z - A) sort order. Note that the sort order applies to all fields selected for sorting; you can't specify that one field be sorted in ascending order and another field in descending order.

NOTE: If the fields for the form originate from a database that was not opened exclusively, Visual FoxPro isn't able to create index tags. For example, if you chose the fields Contact_title and Customer_ID from the Customer table, which is part of the Tastrade database, there is, by default, no index defined for Contact_title. As a consequence, when you attempt to finish the form, Visual FoxPro returns this error message:

   "The DBC containing the selected table was previously opened
   non-exclusively and the field(s) you chose for sorting are not in an
   existing index tag. Please select field(s) which already have an
   existing index tag or exit the wizard and reopen the DBC
   exclusively."

Step 5 - Finishing the Form:

Finish the design. You can save the form for later use, save and run the form, or save the form and modify it in the form designer. When you choose the Finish button, Visual FoxPro creates the form according to your definition. Depending on the action you specified on the last screen, you may end up running the form right away, modifying the form, or storing the form for later use.