How to Determine the Coordinates of an Object

ID: Q136328

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, version 3.0

SUMMARY

This article shows by example how to determine the coordinates of an object on a form in Visual FoxPro. This could be useful when you want to position the mouse pointer over an object programmatically, and then fire that object's Click event.

MORE INFORMATION

Step-by-Step Example

You can use the Top, Left, Height, and Width properties to determine the exact area occupied by an object. Then position the mouse pointer in that area, and fire the object's Click event. The following procedure gives an example.

1. Create a new form.

2. Place a command button (Command1) on the form.

3. Place the following five lines of code in the Debug window:

   _SCREEN.ActiveForm.Command1.Top
   _SCREEN.ActiveForm.Command1.Left
   _SCREEN.ActiveForm.Command1.Height
   _SCREEN.ActiveForm.Command1.Width
   _SCREEN.ActiveForm.Command1.ScaleMode

   These commands return numeric values indicating the coordinates of the
   Command1 button relative to the form on which it is located. The Top
   property indicates the distance between the top edge of the control
   and the top edge of its parent object. (For form objects, Top give the
   distance between the top edge of the form and the main Visual FoxPro
   window.)

   The Left property indicates the left-most edge of an object relative to
   its parent object. (For form objects, Left gives the distance between
   the left edge of the form and the main Visual FoxPro window.)

   The Height property indicates the height of the object on the screen.

   The Width property indicates the width of the object.

   The ScaleMode property indicates the unit of measurement for coordinates
   of an object when using graphics methods or when positioning controls.
   The two measurements Visual FoxPro uses are pixels and foxels. The
   ScaleMode property uses foxels if set to 0 and pixels if set to 3.

   window. Knowing what these values represent, you can simulate
   clicking the Command1 button on this form by using this code:

   tRow = _screen.activeform.command1.top
   tCol = _screen.activeform.command1.left
   MOUSE CLICK AT tRow, tCol PIXELS WINDOW (_SCREEN.ACTIVEFORM.Name)