KnowledgeBase Archive

An Archive of Early Microsoft KnowledgeBase Articles

View on GitHub

Q138914: FoxPro Advisor Magazine Articles July 1995

Article: Q138914
Product(s): Microsoft FoxPro
Version(s): 3.00 2.50x 2.60 2.60a | 2.00 2.5
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kb3rdparty kbvfp300 kbvfp600
Last Modified: 30-JUL-1999

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, versions 3.0, 6.0 
- Microsoft FoxPro for Windows, versions 2.5x, 2.6, 2.6a 
- Microsoft FoxPro for MS-DOS, versions 2.0, 2.5x, 2.6, 2.6a 
- Microsoft FoxPro for Macintosh, versions 2.5x, 2.6a 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTE: The "FoxPro Advisor" is published by Data Based Solutions, Inc., a
publisher independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty or endorsement,
implied or otherwise, regarding the accuracy or reliability of information
published in the "FoxPro Advisor." Please contact Data Based Solutions if
you have questions or want to order the "FoxPro Advisor."

SUMMARY
=======

This article lists the table of contents of the July 1995 FoxPro Advisor, a
magazine published by Data Based Solutions, Inc., 4010 Morena Blvd., Suite 200,
San Diego, CA 92117. For more information, please call Data Based Solutions at
619-483-6400, or to place an order, please call them at 800- 336-6060. You may
also contact them by Fax 619-483-9851 and Internet 70007.1614@compuserve.com.

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

FoxPro News, page 6. Develop Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Applications in
FoxPro. Imaging and Multimedia OLE Controls for Windows Developers. Customizable
Business System for Visual FoxPro. Same (ProMatrix) Applications Run in FoxPro
2.x and Visual FoxPro 3.0 Customizable Medical Practice Software Now Available
for Windows. Add Caller ID Information to Windows Applications.

Editor's View, page 8. Support is a Big Job. Microsoft's FoxPro product support
facility is an impressive place. By Tamar E. Granor. Tamar talks about a visit
to Microsoft and muses on volunteer software projects. Plus, why you should
attend conferences.

Multi-User Programming, page 12. Visual FoxPro 3.0 Locking Strategies - Then and
Now. Visual FoxPro offers new strategies for detecting and handling collisions.
By Y. Alan Griver. Alan reviews the old ways to handle multi-user contention
issues and describes the new methods provided in Visual FoxPro. Direct READs,
Indirect READs, Semaphore locking, Concurrency issues, Pessimistic Row
Buffering, Optimistic Row Buffering, Pessimistic Table Buffering, Optimistic
Table Buffering.

Tips, Tricks, & Traps, page 18. By Drew Speedie. This issue's tips include
some ideas for improving screens and forms, a routine to check on Windows
resources, an update to an old tip, and more.

Tip: FoxPro 2.x., Visual FoxPro 3.0. Using RUN /N to call any Windows
Application, such as Control Panel.

Tip: FoxPro 2.x, Visual FoxPro 3.0. Custom ORDER BY Situations. When two SQL
SELECTs with a UNION will not do since it is limited to one order by clause.
Ascending and Descending order.

Tip: Visual FoxPro 2.x. A Fix for Corrupted Project Files. Simple fix for the
errors: "Project file is invalid" or "MEMO file is missing or invalid". Project
FILE, SAVE AS ... with a new file name forces a rebuild of the supporting
table.

Tip: FoxPro 2.x. Nested Arrays, Brackets, and #DEFINEd Constants. Compiler
interprets nested array using brackets, along with #DEFINEd constant as a
character string, resulting in error of "Variable xxx not found."

Tip: FoxPro 2.x, Visual FoxPro 3.0. PAD() Functions Work on Numerics and Dates,
Too! Return is always a character string from PADC(), PADR(), and PADL().

Tip: FoxPro 2.x, Visual FoxPro 3.0. Push Buttons Instead of check boxes, Anyone?
Check Boxes require prompts, which consumes screen real estate, so use push
buttons with a symbol font checkmark for a prompt instead.

Tip: Visual FoxPro 3.0 Richt-Click Strikes Again! Right-Click empty portion of
standard toolbar gives menu of toolbar choices for controls, queries, etc, to
quickly see toolbars or add one.

Tip: FoxPro 2.x, Visual FoxPro 3.0. Simple Editing Bookmarks. Using EDIT, UNDO,
or CTRL+Z to return to last edit within the editor. Also using a keyboard macro
to insert '* BookMark <date> <time>' in order to later be able to
find this place holder by using EDIT, FIND or Ctrl+F.

Tip: FoxPro 2.x, Visual FoxPro 3.0 Using \? and \! Replacements Visual FoxPro
equivalents for push button default and selection on ESC key.

Tip: FoxPro 2.x, Visual FoxPro 3.0 Check Windows System Resources. Procedure to
return the amount of free Windows Resources as a percentage, in order to prevent
application errors.

FoxPro Fundamentals, page 22. Visual FoxPro 3.0. Persistent Relationships and
Referential Integrity. Visual FoxPro's support for these makes your job easier.
By Miriam Liskin. Miriam explains the various relationships available in Visual
FoxPro and describes Visual FoxPro's approach to referential integrity rules.
Persistent relationships, SET RELATION, RI, Cascade, Restrict, Ignore, Triggers,
Stored Procedures, and database integrity.

Functional FoxPro, page 28. Visual FoxPro 3.0. Why Client-Server?.
Client-server's scalability makes a compelling argument to do it. By Malcolm C.
Rubel. Mac points to scalability as a prime reason to take advantage of Visual
FoxPro's client-server capabilities. Discussion of reasons for us of
client-server solutions to business problems as compared to performance.
mobility, nomadic.

Form Designer, page 32. Visual FoxPro 3.0. Create a Default Form. Visual FoxPro's
template forms let you base every form you create on a standard you define. By
John V. Petersen. With form templates, you can create master forms and base new
forms on these. Changes to the master automatically change the other forms. John
shows you how to build our own base classes with native form and formset
objects. Design, create class, Tools, Options, .vcx, class library,
inheritance.

User Interface, page 36. FoxPro 2.x, Visual FoxPro 3.0 Keep Your Users Alert.
With just a little code, you can let users know when data is ordered or if a
filter is in effect. By Peter Sam. It's nice to tell users when data is ordered
or if there's a filter in effect. This handy function adds a pair of pads to the
menu bar for just that purpose. AlertPad.

Report Writer, page 40. FoxPro 2.x, Visual FoxPro 3.0 Too Many Relations? Design
reports involving multiple one-to-many relations. By Gary Zaika. Some reports
need to handle a lot of one-to-many relations. Gary presents a technique that
works regardless of the actual data involved. Multiple one-to-many relations,
reference to article in October 1993 FoxPro Advisor, SCAN ... ENDSCAN, SCATTER
MEMVAR MEMO BLANK, CHR(13), group header.

Drag-and-Drop, page 44. Visual FoxPro 3.0. Life Is a Drag! Visual FoxPro makes it
easy to incorporate drag-and-drop in your applications. By Andy Griebel.
Drag-and-drop is a big part of the Windows interface. Discussion of when and how
to use. DRAG() method parameter values, DragMode property, MROW(), MCOL(),
DragDrop event, MouseDown method, DragOver event and method, DragIcon property,
CUR files, event-driven programming.

Data Integrity, page 48. FoxPro 2.x, Visual FoxPro 3.0. Detecting Data Loss.
Undetected data loss can have devastating consequences. By George Allen. Users
might not always notice subtle errors that can lead to bad data. George provides
valuable suggestions for catching these errors. FLUSH, UPDATED(), DOS
ERRORLEVELS, SETVER, BACKUP, RESTORE, network environments, normal versus
abnormal terminations.

Data Integrity, page 54. FoxPro 2.x, Visual FoxPro 3.0. Detect Corrupted Indexes.
A simple technique lets you find broken indexes before they corrupt your data.
By Bryant Ingram. Indexes do get corrupted. Bryant offers a function to test a
table's indexes and find out if any index is corrupt. CHECKDBF, .CDX,

User Groups, page 56. Birth of a User Group. If there's no FoxPro user group in
your area, consider starting your own. Here's what it takes. By Steven Miller. A
FoxPro User Group can be a vital resource. Steve talks about the process of
getting one started. Constitution, SIGs, Microsoft Mindshare User Group Program
FoxPro contact is Kerri Grubb, kerrig@microsoft.com or corporate switchboard
phone (206)882-8080, fax (206) 936-7329, APCUG.

Screen Builder, page 60. FoxPro 2.x. Add "QuickFill" to FoxPro. Make data entry
easier for your users with fields that jump to the first matching entry. By
Edward Leafe. QuickFill fields in Quicken(tm) make it easy to either choose an
existing item or add a new one. Ed shows us how to do the same thing in FoxPro
2.x. INKEY(), WHEN, VALID, ON KEY LABEL, QFInit, ClrKey, QFWhen, invoice entry.

Developer's Toolkit, page 70. FoxPro 2.x, Visual FoxPro 3.0. That Message Rings a
Bell. Give users audible and visual signs of a problem. By Shar Feldheim. We
often need to display a message and sound the bell. Shar offers a function that
does both with a single call. CHR(7), WAIT ... TIMEOUT, WAIT WINDOW NOWAIT,
WindTone, Cherps, and Talkback.

FoxPro Advisor Q&A, page 74. By Tamar E. Granor, and Ted Roche. Tamar and Ted
tackle questions on registering MSGraph, naming conflicts in Visual FoxPro,
modal READs, and displaying multiple pictures. FoxPro 2.x, POPUP WINDOW MODAL
screen, #READCLAUSES MODAL. FoxPro 2.x, Visual FoxPro 3.0, MSGRAPH and REGEDIT
/V on network, REG.DAT. Visual FoxPro 3.0, A through J and M single letter
objects, SELECT workareas, OOP, and memory variables, memvars, ALIAS FoxPro 2.x
for Windows/Macintosh, Thumbnail image files in general field, gallery view,
print preview, report layout, USE ... AGAIN, bitmaps, bmp, image controls.

Additional query words: VFP VFoxWin FoxWin FoxDos FoxMac 2.50 2.50a 2.50b 2.50c dba fpa

======================================================================
Keywords          : kb3rdparty kbvfp300 kbvfp600 
Technology        : kbHWMAC kbOSMAC kbVFPsearch kbAudDeveloper kbFoxproSearch kbZNotKeyword3 kbFoxPro260aMac kbFoxPro200DOS kbFoxPro260DOS kbFoxPro260aDOS kbFoxPro260 kbFoxPro260a kbVFP300 kbVFP600
Version           : 3.00 2.50x 2.60 2.60a | 2.00 2.5

=============================================================================

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY.

Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1986-2002.