BUG: "Invalid Coordinates" Error Sending @ SAYs to Text File

• Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, version 5.0, 5.0a

SYMPTOMS

The "Invalid coordinates" error message is received when sending @..SAYs to a text file when the coordinates for the @..SAY reach a certain number. The certain number is dependent on the FontSize property of _SCREEN. The smaller the _SCREEN.FontSize, the larger the coordinate values can be.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

The "Invalid coordinates" error message is error number 1959. The Help file states that the coordinate values must be between -32768 and 32767. Visual FoxPro 3.x for Windows and Macintosh, and FoxPro for Windows, can use coordinates within the range specified by the Help file without error.

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

1. Enter the following commands in the Visual FoxPro Command window:

         SET DEVICE TO PRINTER
         SET PRINTER TO test.txt
         @ 32700,1 SAY "Hello"     && This line will cause the error
         SET PRINTER TO
         SET DEVICE TO SCREEN
   
      Although these few lines of code are all that is needed to reproduce
      the error, it may be useful to find out what the maximum coordinate
      can be in a particular situation. Continue with the next few steps to
      determine the maximum coordinate that can be used.
   
   

2. Place the following code in a new program file and save it.

         IF FILE("test.txt")
              DELETE FILE "test.txt"
         ENDIF
   
         _SCREEN.FONTNAME="Arial"
         _SCREEN.FONTSIZE=10
   
         SET DEVICE TO PRINTER
         SET PRINTER TO test.txt
         FOR i=1 TO 32770
         @ i, 1 SAY "Hello "+ STR(i)
         ENDFOR
   
         SET PRINTER TO
         SET DEVICE TO SCREEN
         MODIFY FILE test.txt
   
   

3. Run the program. Because you should get the "Invalid coordinates" error, cancel the program when the error dialog box comes up.

4. Finish out the program by entering the following commands in the Visual FoxPro Command window:

         SET PRINTER TO
         SET DEVICE TO SCREEN
         MODIFY FILE test.txt
   

5. If the text file is not at the bottom, scroll down until the end is reached. The maximum coordinate should be listed. With _SCREEN.FontSize set to 10, the maximum coordinate should be about 2,047. If the _SCREEN.FontSize is set to 4, the maximum coordinate should be about 5,461. _SCREEN.FontSize won't accept sizes less than 4 point. The program code in step 2 above has a command for changing the FontSize property of _SCREEN.