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Q111672: How to Use a Portion of a Memo Field in a List Box

Article: Q111672
Product(s): Microsoft FoxPro
Version(s): MACINTOSH:2.5b; MS-DOS:2.0,2.5,2.5a,2.5b; WINDOWS:2.5,2.5a,2.5b,3.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbcode
Last Modified: 05-FEB-2000

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, version 3.0 
- Microsoft FoxPro for Windows, versions 2.5, 2.5a, 2.5b 
- Microsoft FoxPro for MS-DOS, versions 2.0, 2.5, 2.5a, 2.5b 
- Microsoft FoxPro for Macintosh, version 2.5b 
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SUMMARY
=======

This article describes how to effectively use a portion of a memo field in a
list box object that is part of a user-defined screen.

MORE INFORMATION
================

To illustrate how to use a portion of a memo field in a list box object, suppose
that the first 40 characters of the memo field are needed for the list box.

If a list box object is created using the Screen Builder and the List Items From
Field option is selected, then a reasonable expression to enter in the field
expression dialog window is:

  LEFT(<memo field name>,40)

This expression will work well as long as all the first lines of all the memo
fields in each record are at least 40 characters. If this is not the case, for
example, if some of the memo fields have first lines that are less than 40
characters, the above statement will return the carriage return (CR) and
linefeed (LF) characters and display them in the list box. Since this is not a
desirable side-effect, the following two expressions will correct this
situation.

NOTE: Although the first expression works well, the second expression provides a
more concise solution.

  LEFT(<memo field name>,IIF(AT(CHR(13), <memo field name>);
  <40,AT(CHR(13),<memo field name>)-1,40))

  -or-

  LEFT(MLINE(<memo field name>,1),40)

The second expression works because the MLINE() function is going to return the
characters for the first line of the memo field, up to but not including the
CR/LF characters.

The only thing to watch out for concerning the second expression is the current
SET MEMOWIDTH value (the default line length is 50 characters). If the MEMOWIDTH
is less than 40, no error will result, but only the number of characters
corresponding to the MEMOWIDTH value will be returned. For example, if the
MEMOWIDTH value is 35, only 35 characters will be returned from the second
expression.

Additional query words: VFoxWin FoxMac FoxDos FoxWin listbox

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Keywords          : kbcode 
Technology        : kbHWMAC kbOSMAC kbVFPsearch kbAudDeveloper kbFoxproSearch kbZNotKeyword3 kbFoxPro250bMac kbFoxPro200DOS kbFoxPro250DOS kbFoxPro250aDOS kbFoxPro250bDOS kbFoxPro250 kbFoxPro250a kbFoxPro250b kbVFP300
Version           : MACINTOSH:2.5b; MS-DOS:2.0,2.5,2.5a,2.5b; WINDOWS:2.5,2.5a,2.5b,3.0

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