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Q193404: INFO: IntelliSense and Visual FoxPro 6.0

Article: Q193404
Product(s): Microsoft FoxPro
Version(s): WINDOWS:6.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 13-AUG-1999

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, version 6.0 
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SUMMARY
=======

IntelliSense, or Automatic Statement Completion, is the ability of an editor to
complete design time function declarations, object references and other editing
functions. This ability, which is integrated into other Visual Studio
components, is not natively available in Visual FoxPro.

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

In order for IntelliSense to work, the editor needs to know explicitly, at
design time, the referenced object type. Since Visual FoxPro is a weakly typed
language, this information is not available during design time and is not
available until run-time, with some exceptions. In order for the editor to know
what object to examine for the appropriate methods and properties, a type
declaration similar to the following is needed:

     PUBLIC oForm
     LOCAL oADO, oRef

With the following statements, Visual FoxPro cannot resolve the references until
run-time. The class for "myForm" actually depends upon the SET CLASSLIB setting
at run-time. Similarly, oForm and oADO could potentially change on subsequent
executions of that line of code. You cannot be sure what the references are
until the code actually executes. Here is an example:

     oForm = CREATEOBJECT('myForm') && Visual FoxPro Class
     oADO  = oForm.myRecordSet      && Component Object Model (COM) Class
     oRef  = oADO                   && Unknown object reference

In Visual FoxPro, without a strongly typed language, we cannot know at design
time that "oForm" is derived from the "myForm" class. In other Visual Studio
languages, such as Visual C++, Visual Basic, and Visual J++, the strong language
typing gives the editor and compiler system the ability to make use of
IntelliSense.

As an alternative to having native IntelliSense, there is a public domain utility
called SuperClass available for download from the following World Wide Web URL:

  http://www.classx.com

This utility makes IntelliSense functionality available within Visual FoxPro. On
the toolbar, click Tools and then locate the SuperClass utility.

NOTE: The third-party contact information included in this article is provided to
help you find the technical support you need. This contact information is
subject to change without notice. Microsoft in no way guarantees the accuracy of
this third-party contact information.

REFERENCES
==========

Visual C++ User's Guide in the Microsoft Developer Network Library 6.0.

Additional query words: kbVFp600 kbMiscTools

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Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbVFPsearch kbAudDeveloper kbVFP600
Version           : WINDOWS:6.0
Issue type        : kbinfo

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