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Q191502: HOWTO: Use Component Gallery to Build an Application

Article: Q191502
Product(s): Microsoft FoxPro
Version(s): WINDOWS:2.5,6.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbMiscTools kbvfp600 kbXBase kbMDAC250
Last Modified: 22-FEB-2000

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, version 6.0 
- Microsoft Data Access Components version 2.5 
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SUMMARY
=======

This article describes the process of using new Visual FoxPro 6.0 tools to
create applications with minimal coding required. The new Application Wizard
automatically creates a full featured, robust application framework that handles
common application functionality and features. This Application Builder ties
directly into the framework to automate alteration of framework settings.

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

Building an application in Visual FoxPro 6.0 is greatly simplified from prior
versions of the product. The process for creating an application follows.

Creating a New Project with the Application Wizard
--------------------------------------------------

The wizard generates a new project containing the application framework. The
framework is a set of files that constitute the "glue" that ties the various
components of your application together. To create a new application, do one of
the following:

a. From the Tools menu, point to Wizards, then click Application.

b. From the File menu, choose New. In the New dialog box, select Project and
  then click the Wizard button.

c. From the Tools menu, choose Component Gallery and double-click the New
  Application item in the Catalogs folder.

The application framework handles many common framework functions including the
following:

- Menu and Toolbar management
- Data handling
- Document management (forms and reports)
- Environment state
- Error handling

In addition, the framework also supports the following built-in features:

- Login password dialog
- Quickstart screen
- Splash screen
- About dialog
- Favorites menu
- Options dialog
- Application style (normal, top-level, module)

Set the Application Framework Options Using the Application Builder
-------------------------------------------------------------------

All of the preceding features mentioned can be set using the Builder. The Builder
is reentrant and allows you to go back into it later (right- click the Project
Manager and select Builder). The Builder also has Credit information to display
on the Splash screen and the About dialog box.

Create Data using the Database Wizard
-------------------------------------

The Application Builder has a Database Wizard button located on the Data tab. You
can use this or you can call the Wizard directly from the Tools menu. The
Database Wizard contains over 20 common database templates that are ready to
use. If you like, you can even populate tables with sample data. If you use the
Application Builder to call this Wizard, the data is stored, by default, in the
Data subfolder created by the Application Wizard.

Generate New Forms and Reports
------------------------------

Once you have created database(s) and tables for your application, you may want
to generate forms and reports for these data sources. The Application Builder
allows you to do this from the Data tab. The Data tab automatically generates
forms and reports for the tables selected and allows you to select the same
visual styles that are available for forms and reports.

NOTE: If you prefer, you can also do this from the Component Gallery. The main
catalog has a Templates folder that lets you create wizard Forms and reports
programmatically.

Using the Component Gallery to Enhance and Customize the Application
--------------------------------------------------------------------

The following ideas are just a few of the things you can do with the Gallery to
enhance your application.

- Create a new form: The Component Gallery contains a number of form templates
  in the Visual FoxPro catalog that let you select certain fields from a data
  source. The template dialog box includes an option to have the generated form
  automatically added to your project. If you desire a more complex form such
  as a 1-to-Many form, choose the appropriate Form Wizard.

- Add a hyperlink to a form: The Visual FoxPro catalog contains a number of
  hyperlink classes in the Internet folder. You can select a hyperlink label,
  image or button. When you drag-and-drop the control onto a form, a builder
  opens prompting you for the caption and target URL. In addition, the
  Component Gallery includes a World Wide Web (WWW) catalog containing a
  variety of common Web sites. If you find a Web site that you like and for
  which you would like to create a hyperlink, drag-and- drop that item to your
  form (or choose Add to Form from the shortcut menu).

- Add Wallpaper to your form: The Multimedia catalog contains a number of
  images as well as access to the entire Visual Studio media gallery. With your
  form already open, create form wallpaper by right-clicking the desired image
  then selecting Select Form Wallpaper from the shortcut menu. Alternatively,
  you can drag the image from the gallery and drop it on the form to create an
  Image control on your form.

- Add an ActiveX control to your form: The ActiveX catalog contains a list of
  all registered ActiveX controls. If the Installed Controls folder in your
  catalog is empty, click the Installed Controls item, then from the shortcut
  menu select Refresh Controls. The Property dialog box for this item provides
  the option to refresh from all controls in your system, or only those
  registered in the Visual FoxPro Options dialog box.

- Place a data-bound grid on your form: The Component Gallery allows you to
  create Data items in any catalog. A form displays a grid when you
  drag-and-drop one of these tables or views onto the form. You can also try
  examples from the Testdata database in the Visual FoxPro catalog.

- Add a video image to your report: The Visual Studio media gallery in the
  Multimedia catalog contains a number of videos you might want to use in your
  application. You can simply drag-and-drop one of these files onto a form or
  you might add the Video Player class and select a video of your choosing.

- Add a shortcut menu to your form: The Visual FoxPro catalog contains several
  shortcut menu classes in the Menus folder. You can use the Navigation
  Shortcut Menu class on any form to add record navigation functionality. You
  can use the Shortcut Menu class to create any kind of shortcut menu.

- Incorporate a thermometer to show progress of an activity: The Thermometer
  form class in the Dialogs folder is similar to the common thermometer used
  internally by Visual FoxPro. You can use this class to show progress of an
  operation that takes some time to perform.

- Create a new report: The Component Gallery contains a number of report
  templates in the Visual FoxPro catalog that let you select certain fields
  from a data source. The template dialog includes an option to automatically
  add the generated report to your project. The Report Wizards offer most
  options including summary and grouping features as well as support for
  percent-of-total type reports.

- Add highlighting effects to your forms: The MouseOverFx class can provide the
  raised-control look of Microsoft Office 97 toolbars to any form or toolbar.

- Send e-mail from a form button: The MAPI ActiveX controls let you automate
  e-mail to your clients. You can also use the Send Mail class in the Buttons
  catalog to send the current record to an e-mail address.

- Lookup information in the Registry: Use the Registry classes in the Utilities
  catalog for accessing critical Registry information. For example, you might
  need to find an ODBC driver or shared tool.

- Output data to Word Mail Merge: The Automation catalog contains a Mail Merge
  class that is used by the Mail Merge Wizard to output data to Word as a Mail
  Merge document.

- Create a Web browser for your application: The Web Browser control in the
  Internet catalog can be the basis for your Visual FoxPro Web Browser form.
  The control allows you to integrate Visual FoxPro code with browser
  interaction. For example, you can intercept or log (and optionally redirect)
  URL sites before navigation. The Webvwr.scx file in the Vfp98\Ffc folder
  illustrates how to create this type of form.

- Add a data mover to your form: The User Controls catalog contains an
  assortment of mover classes. A mover is a set of list boxes that enable you
  to move an item from one list box to another list box. With the data mover
  classes, you need to drop the class onto a form. These movers are similar to
  those used in the Visual FoxPro Wizards.

- Output data to Excel Pivot Table: The Automation catalog contains a Pivot
  Table class that is used in the PivotTable Wizard to output data to Excel as
  a Pivot Table document.

- Create data-bound charts: Start with the Graph By Record class in the
  Automation catalog to bind your chart to data, record-by-record. This and the
  Graph class share the engine used by the Graph Wizard.

- Add Web Publishing to your application: The new Web Publishing Wizard and
  Genhtml engine provide HTML generation tools for data. The wizard, a friendly
  layer on Genhtml, lets you select a variety of data layout and visual style
  options. You can create dynamic output so that the HTML updates as data
  changes.

You can now build and Run your application. You should build your application
frequently to test and debug the application.

REFERENCES
==========

Visual FoxPro 6.0 Help: search on: "Developing Applications Using the
Application Framework"

Additional query words: PGFest600

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbMiscTools kbvfp600 kbXBase kbMDAC250 
Technology        : kbVFPsearch kbAudDeveloper kbMDACSearch kbMDAC250 kbVFP600
Version           : WINDOWS:2.5,6.0
Issue type        : kbhowto

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