How to Use Format and InputMask to Format Data

• Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, versions 3.0 and 3.0b

SUMMARY

It may be necessary to specify a special format for a column in a grid or a text box on a form. There are two properties that work together to provide this functionality in Visual FoxPro, InputMask and Format. The Format Property is applied to the entire input even though you only specify one character. The InputMask Property applies on a character by character basis.

The example in this article demonstrates how to format a phone number with dashes and parenthesis when the table only stores the numbers (no formatting).

MORE INFORMATION

In previous versions of FoxPro, you could format input data by using either the FUNCTION or the PICTURE clause. It was, for example, possible to use the PICTURE clause to apply to the entire input, as in this example:

   @ 3,3 GET cVar PICTURE "@R (999) 999 - 9999"

Step-by-Step Example

1. Create a table using the following code:

   CREATE TABLE phonelist (Company C(20), Phone C(10)) INSERT INTO phonelist VALUES ("Buggy Hut","1111111111") INSERT INTO phonelist VALUES ("More Huts","2222222222") USE

2. Create a form and put Phonelist.dbf in the Data Environment. Drag the phone field onto the form. Also, drag the phonelist table to the form to create a grid object.

3. Using the Properties Window, set the following properties of the phonelist.phone field to these values:

   Format - R InputMask - (999) 999 - 9999

4. From the object list in the Properties Window, select the grid object and set the ColumnCount property to 2.

5. Select the text box in Column2 and set the Format and InputMask properties to the same values as used in Step 3.

6. From the Property Window, select Column2 from the object list. Change the Sparse Property to false (.F.).

7. Save and run the form. Notice that the data is formatted with parentheses and a dash.

8. Change the phone field in the text box for the first record ("Buggy Hut") to 1112223333. Notice that the data you enter is still formatted the same way in the grid and the text box.