Auto increment feature

[Linda Bronson]

I am working on creating a Proposal form and have a few questions:
1. Is it possible to override the auto increment feature without manually turning it off. My form sometimes requires multiple pages which should have the same number.
2. For the rich text field that I set up for the body of the proposal - is there a way to establish when the first page of typing is full? Currently I can type more than will fit on one page and don't know where to stop and go to a second page.
3. I have a hidden field where I want to type the Proposal amount but not have it show when I print the form.

Any help is appreciated.

[Stan Mathews]

Re: Auto increment feature

1. Is it possible to override the auto increment feature without manually turning it off. My form sometimes requires multiple pages which should have the same number.

No

2. For the rich text field that I set up for the body of the proposal - is there a way to establish when the first page of typing is full? Currently I can type more than will fit on one page and don't know where to stop and go to a second page.

No

3. I have a hidden field where I want to type the Proposal amount but not have it show when I print the form.

Question is?

Most will advise you that forms are for viewing and reports are for printing. You can import your form into a report.

[DaveM]

Re: Auto increment feature

Is it possible to override the auto increment feature without manually turning it off. My form sometimes requires multiple pages which should have the same number.

It should not be necessary. The autoincrement should be for the current record not something elase in most cases.

For the rich text field that I set up for the body of the proposal - is there a way to establish when the first page of typing is full? Currently I can type more than will fit on one page and don't know where to stop and go to a second page.

May i suggest a little trial and error in sizing the rich text field so you don't go past the end. Meaning the square you make, you wouldtype down to the bottom and stop? You can also have a tab system and more than one rich text field(1 on each tab?).

I have a hidden field where I want to type the Proposal amount but not have it show when I print the form.

A conditional object can handle that. You can also mark a field to not print(I believe).

As Stan so nicely suggested, PUT IT IN A REPORT for printing. It will solve so many of the problems. Believe me, most all of us have tried printing a form. Few have succeeded and most of thosed were with mixed success.



.

[MikeC]

Re: Auto increment feature

Linda,
If there are other circumstances that dictate to not follow Stan or Dave's advice (unlikely!!), then it is possible to alter or take away field rules via xbasic and then reinstate them--as Stan said, no way to override. You also could use the form's OnTimer event to count the characters in the RTF field and have a message show up to let you know when that amount shows up---not accurate but would give you an idea. There may be a way to check number of lines and would be better but did not find a way. The following could be used for this if wanted....change the number of characters to suit and maybe have 1 second for the form's timer (too much "flicker" otherwise).

topparent.commit()
dim tbl as p
dim sv_cnt as n
tbl=table.get("Your_Table_Name")

string=RTF_FIELD_TO_TEXT("RTF_Name")
sv_cnt=len(alltrim(string))

if sv_cnt>=25 'change to however many is deemed necessary.
msgbox("The page is full...")
sys_send_keys("{BACKSPACE}")
end if

LATER EDIT: Just tried something else and seems to work fine for counting lines....so if you know how many lines in your rtf field coincide with a printed page then the following may be of use.

dim tbl as p
dim shared sv_line_cnt as n
tbl=table.get("Your_Table_Name")

string=RTF_FIELD_TO_TEXT("RTF_Name")
sv_line_cnt=line_count(string)
if sv_line_cnt>=3 'However many lines make up a printed page
msgbox("The page is full...")
sys_send_keys("{BACKSPACE}")
end if

[Mike Wilson]

Re: Auto increment feature

Is it possible to override the auto increment feature without manually turning it off. My form sometimes requires multiple pages which should have the same number.

As MikeC said, it is possible to alter or take away field rules via xbasic and then reinstate them. I have the following user defined function that I believe Stan helped me with that changes the Field Type Field Rule as desired. I don't know about what "manually" might mean for you. I have this on buttons, so it is manual, I guess, but I don't have to got to control panel and open the table in design mode and go to field rules. I'm sure there is a way to create some script with conditions to run it if absolutely neccessary. Here it is for what it's worth.

I don't remember how I came up with the value for auto increment being - AutoInc - but that's what it is. I don't know what it is for Calculated, maybe - Calc ?. Anyway....To change from auto increment to user entry it would be:

FRFT_change("<tablename>","<fieldname>","AutoInc","User")

To change from user entry to auto increment it would be:

FRFT_change("<tablename>","<fieldname>","User","AutoInc")

FUNCTION FRFT_change AS C (tablename as C, fieldname as C, start_type as C, end_type as C)
	
'This function is used to changes the Field Rule Entry Type between Auto increment, User Entry, and calculated

DIM VMESS AS C
VMESS = "This function requires exclusive use of the table and cannot be run when others are accessing the database"

Ui_msg_box("FIELD RULE CHANGE MESSAGE",VMESS)

dim tablename as C
dim fieldname as C
dim start_type as C
dim end_type as C
dim vpre as C

vPre = "rul." +fieldname+".Data_type="

dim ptr as P

ptr = table.open(tablename,FILE_RW_EXCLUSIVE)
rul = ptr.rules_get()
rul.change_begin()
evaluate_template(vpre + s_quote(start_type))
rul.change_end()
ptr.close()

ptr = table.open(tablename,FILE_RW_EXCLUSIVE)
rul = ptr.rules_get()
rul.change_begin()
evaluate_template(vpre + s_quote(end_type))
rul.change_end()
ptr.close()

END FUNCTION

[PAUL TOMPERT]

Re: Auto increment feature

Make Another Table With An Autoincrement Field And Use That As A Lookup For Your Proposal Number Field. If You Need A New Number Just Add It To Your Autoincrement Table Then Select That No For Your Proposal Number.?????????? Good Luck