Automating Form Closure

[Red Abicht]

We have an application that starts by opening a form that contains a number of buttons. An icon for this form appears in the task bar. When a button on this form is clicked an application starts that opens a new form. An icon for this form is added to the task bar and the original form still appears but is grayed out. . When the second form is closed both the second form and the original (grayed out) form disappear and the icon for the second form is removed from the task bar. However, the icon for the original form still appears on the task bar to represent a minimized copy of the original form. If the foregoing process is repeated we end up with two icons on the task bar each of which represents a copy of the original form. This gets to be confusing and can lead to processing diffuculties.

Is there a way to automatically close the original form when the second form is closed?

Thank you.

Red Abicht

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[JerryBrightbill]

RE: Automating Form Closure

On the OnExit event for the second form try something like this

if is_object("FirstFormName")
FirstFormName.close()
end if

Jerry

[Red Abicht]

RE: Automating Form Closure

Jerry:

This doesn't work.

When the first form is opened the window (at the top) shows the file name (.dbf) and form name.

When a button is clicked and a second form opens the first form contents are grayed out and the file name (.dbf) and form name disappear. This window now appears to represent Alpha Five and not the first form The file name and form name associated with the second application appear in the second window.

The name of the first form is "MainScreenTacMuni". To test the accessibility of this form I entered the following code in the OnInit event for the second form:

IF .not. is_object(":MainScreenTacMuni") THEN
trace.writeln("This is test 2")
END IF

Is this good code to test access to the form?

This message appears in the Trace Window after the second form opens.

And, the icon for the first form still appears on the task bar.

Red Abicht

[JerryBrightbill]

RE: Automating Form Closure

Attached is a zip file with a database and two tables. Unzip this into a folder and open the database. Open form1 and then Form2. When you close form2, form1 closes. I think that is what you requested.

Jerry

[Red Abicht]

RE: Automating Form Closure

Jerry:

Thank you for the zop file. I tried out you test application and it worked fine.

However, your design is different from the the one I'm working with. Both of your forms are in the same database.

My application opens a form which has a button on it. When this button is clicked a second application (different database) runs. The new application opens a second form. I am unable to "see" the first form when the second application is running.

Is there some way to focus on an object in the first database from the second database?

Thank you,

Red Abicht

[Tom Cone Jr]

RE: Automating Form Closure

Maybe you can use sys_focus_put() and sys_send_keys() to shift focus to the orphaned form window and close it.

-- tom

[Red Abicht]

RE: Automating Form Closure

Tom:

Two copies of Alpha Five are running when the second form is opened. On the task bar the first icon represents the initial program that opens "Form1"; the second icon represents the program that opened "Form2". When I use the statement sys_focus_put("Alpha Five") which copy is the focus set on?

Thank you.

Red Abicht

[Tom Cone Jr]

RE: Automating Form Closure

Red,

I have no experience doing what you describe. However, it ought to be possible to change the name in the caption of the orphaned window, as the new app is being opened. Wouldn't that distinguish the two?

-- tom

[Red Abicht]

RE: Automating Form Closure

Tom:

I was running both form windows in normal mode. In this situation the Alpha Five window is visible in back of the form window and the caption of the Alpha Five window is just "Alpha Five" and this ("Alpha Five") is what appears in the Task Manager Application listing. So, I had the same entry for both my applications. When I maximized the first form the window caption was expanded to include reference to the form view (i.e., it became "Alpha Five - [Test1.dbf :Form View(Form1)]").

I put this information between the parentheses in a sys_focus_put() statement that I entered into the OnExit event for the second form. When I closed the second form (clicked on the 'X' in the upper right corner of the window) I got the Action Program Error "Error: not found".

My Version 4 Xbasic Reference Manual (page 336) for the sys_focus_put() instruction says: Sends focus to a specific program that is identified in the Windows Title. Can you help me in constructing a valid entry for the Windows Title?

Thank you,

Red Abicht

[JerryBrightbill]

RE: Automating Form Closure

Red

While I am not sure why you have two instances of A5 open, you can change the A5 window title to anything you want. After starting a databse, run

a5.window_title = "YourTitle"

Then to send focus back to that instance of A5, use

sys_focus_put("YourTitle")

Jerry

[Red Abicht]

RE: Automating Form Closure

Jerry:

The first instance of Alpha Five opens Form1 which contains a button. When this button is clicked the first instance of Alpha Five is minimized and a new instance of Alpha Five runs and opens Form2. Both instances are running and focus is on the second instance (I think).

I changed the name of the first instance to "Test1". In the OnInit event of Form2 (second instance) I entered
sys_focus_put("Test1")
if is_object(":Form1")
trace.writeln("Form1 is accessible.")
end if
if is_object(":Form2")
trace.writeln("Form2 is accessible.")
end if

I start the first instance of Alpha Five, click the button to run the second instance, and then check the trace window. Only "Form2 is accessible." appears.

What is the best way to verify that focus has been sent to the first instance (Test1) of Alpha Five?

How can I communicate with the first instance of Alpha Five (e.g., close it down)?

Thank you.

Red Abicht

[Tom Cone Jr]

RE: Automating Form Closure

Red,

I fear you're exploring uncharted territory. You're using Alpha Five in ways most of us would not. Having never attempted such a thing I was assuming that once you succeeded in shifting Windows' focus to the desired "window" you could close it by passing Alt-F4 to it using sys_send_keys(). -- tom

[Red Abicht]

RE: Automating Form Closure

Tom:

You are absolutely correct. In the OnInit event of the second A5 instance I sent focus on the first A5 instance and then used sys_send_keys("{ALT-F4}") to close the first instance of A5.

Where are the keyboard entries documented? I didn't know that ALT-F4 would shut down Alpha Five.

The design I'm working with uses a form that contains numerous buttons each of which starts a different application. You seem to indicate that this is an unusual design approach. How would this idea normally be handled?

Thank you.

Red Abicht

[Tom Cone Jr]

RE: Automating Form Closure

Alt-F4 is not an Alpha Five command. It's a Windows keyboard shortcut. It will close the active item, or quit the active program. It's a distant cousin of the three finger salute (Ctrl-Alt-Del) -- tom

[Red Abicht]

RE: Automating Form Closure

Tom:

Once focus is sent to a different program is any control other than sys_send_keys() available to handle the application that is in focus?

Thank you.

Red Abicht