How to Simulate a Tabbed Dialog Box with Vertical Tabs

• Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, version 3.0

SUMMARY

Currently, there is no built-in means in the Form Designer to provide vertical tabs on PageFrame Pages. This article shows by example how to simulate PageFrame vertical tabs.

MORE INFORMATION

The following code sample shows how to create a form with multiple pages and vertical tabs. Clicking the appropriate tab displays a WAIT WINDOW that identifies the current page selected.

Code Sample

************************ Start of Example ***********************

frmForm=CREATEOBJECT("verticaltab") frmForm.SHOW READ EVENTS

DEFINE CLASS verticaltab AS form

   Top = 0
   Left = 0
   DoCreate = .T.
   Caption = "Form1"
   LockScreen = .F.
   Name = "Form1"

   ADD OBJECT pageframe1 AS pageframe WITH ;
      ErasePage = .T., ;
      PageCount = 2, ;
      Top = 24, ;
      Left = 96, ;
      Width = 253, ;
      Height = 192, ;
      Tabs = .F., ;
      Name = "Pageframe1", ;
      Page1.Caption = "Page1", ;
      Page1.Name = "Page1", ;
      Page2.Caption = "Page2", ;
      Page2.Name = "Page2"

   ADD OBJECT commandgroup1 AS commandgroup WITH ;
      AutoSize = .F., ;
      ButtonCount = 2, ;
      BackColor = RGB(192,192,192), ;
      Value = 1, ;
      Height = 193, ;
      Left = 0, ;
      Top = 24, ;
      Width = 97, ;
      Name = "Commandgroup1", ;
      Command1.AutoSize = .F., ;
      Command1.Top = 1, ;
      Command1.Left = -1, ;
      Command1.Height = 85, ;
      Command1.Width = 98, ;
      Command1.Picture = "..\", ;
      Command1.Caption = "page1", ;
      Command1.Name = "Command1", ;
      Command2.AutoSize = .F., ;
      Command2.Top = 85, ;
      Command2.Left = 0, ;
      Command2.Height = 108, ;
      Command2.Width = 97, ;
      Command2.Caption = "page2", ;
      Command2.Name = "Command2"

   ADD OBJECT line1 AS line WITH ;
      BorderWidth = 2, ;
      Height = 85, ;
      Left = 96, ;
      Top = 26, ;
      Width = 0, ;
      Name = "Line1"

   ADD OBJECT line2 AS line WITH ;
      BorderStyle = 1, ;
      BorderWidth = 2, ;
      Height = 105, ;
      Left = 96, ;
      Top = 110, ;
      Width = 0, ;
      Name = "Line2"

   PROCEDURE commandgroup1.Command1.Click
      thisform.line1.bordercolor=rgb(192,192,192)
      thisform.line2.bordercolor=rgb(0,0,0)
      thisform.pageframe1.activepage=1
      WAIT WINDOW "Page 1"
   ENDPROC

   PROCEDURE commandgroup1.Command2.Click
      thisform.line1.bordercolor=rgb(0,0,0)
      thisform.line2.bordercolor=rgb(192,192,192)
      thisform.pageframe1.activepage=2
      WAIT WINDOW "Page 2"
   ENDPROC

************************ End of Example *************************

Step-by-Step Example

Use the following steps to create the vertical tabs through the interface:

1. Open the appropriate form.

2. In the Form Controls toolbar, select the page frame button, and drag it to size on the form. (Visual FoxPro creates a page frame with two pages and a tab on each page by default.)

   NOTE: If you want more than two pages, set the PageCount property of the PageFrame to the appropriate number.

3. Set the Tabs property of the page frame to False (.F.), so you don't create horizontal tabs.

4. In the Form Controls toolbar, select the Builder Lock button, if it's not already selected.

5. In the Form Controls toolbar, select the Command Group button, and drag it to create a vertical button group on either side of the page frame. The buttons in this group will simulate the PageFrame tabs.

6. In the Command Group builder:

   a. Set the number of buttons (tabs) equal to the number of pages, or

         set the ButtonCount property of the command button group when you
         exit the builder.
   

   b. Label the buttons with captions or graphics, or set the Caption or

         Picture property of each button when you exit the builder.
   

         NOTE: Adjust the Command Buttons, as appropriate, to obtain the
         desired size and shape.
   

   c. Click OK when you're finished with the builder.

7. On the Form, double-click the Command Group to display the Code window.

8. In the Code window, select each button from the Object list, and enter code that specifies the page corresponding to that button. For example, to assign the first page of a page frame named pgfMyframe to a button, enter this code:

   THISFORM.pgfMyframe.ActivePage = 1

9. Save and Run the Form.