Copy field value to new record.

[jgodfrey]

I am new to Alpha 5. I have a form open with an existing record, and am trying to advance to a new record, populating a field (Household_code) with the value from the previous record. Here is the code:

'Get 'Value' property of 'Household_code' in Form 'frm_persons' .
DIM SHARED var_Hcode AS c
var_Hcode = parentform:Household_code.value

topparent.command("RECORD_ENTER")

'Set 'Value' property of 'Household_code' in Form 'frm_persons' .
parentform:Household_code.value = var_Hcode


Why is this not working for me?

Thanks,
Joe

[Stan Mathews]

Re: Copy field value to new record.

You may be working too hard. Have you checked out Default values, previous value.

Default Values

Use Default mode field rule to fill a field in a new record with a default value.

Setting a Default Value

In the Control Panel select the table and click Table > Edit Field Rules.

Display the Data Entry tab.

Select a Default mode. The options are:

"No defaults" - No default values.

"Simple default expression" - A simple expression that evaluates to the default value.

"Conditional default values" - Multiple expressions that evaluate to different default values.

"Use previous value as Default" - Uses the field value from the previous record.

Simple Default Expression

If you selected "Simple default expression" in step 3, enter an expression in the Default value field. The expression must evaluate to the same data type as the table field. Click to use the Expression Builder to help you define the expression. For example, if the default expression is "USA" for a COUNTRY field, Alpha Five inserts "USA" whenever the cursor arrives at the COUNTRY field in a new record.

Note : If the field is a character field, the default value must be a character value. All character values will be quoted. Likewise, if the field is numeric, the default must be numeric. This applies to all data types.

Conditional Default Expression

If you selected "Conditional default values" in step 3:

Enter a default value or expression into the first row of the Default column of the embedded browse. Click to use the Expression Builder to help you define the expression. All Default expressions must generate values of the same type as the field for which the rule is defined.

Enter a condition expression into the first row of the Condition column. The condition must evaluate to TRUE (.T.) or FALSE (.F.). Click to use the Expression Builder to help you define the expression.

You may add up to fifteen additional expressions on subsequent rows of the embedded browse.

During data entry, Alpha Five evaluates conditional expressions in the order you enter them. It uses the default of the first expression that evaluates to TRUE.

All the conditions may evaluate to FALSE for some records; if they do, no default value is used. To solve this problem, you can include a "fall-through" default using the Condition expression .T. (TRUE) as the last line in the table.

Previous Default Value

If you selected "Use previous value as Default" in step 3, Alpha Five will insert the value from the previous record.

You can use a value in a previous record as the default for a new record. This can be helpful when you enter a series of records that have the same values in some of the fields.

For example, if you have multiple sales slips that are entered weekly, you can set a previous default value to enter the date. For each day, you have to enter the date only once. From then on, the date is automatically inserted into the next record�s date field.

When Default Values Are Created

Normally a default value is created when the cursor enters the field for which the Default rule is defined. You can control when the default value is created.

Check Set default value at start of data entry to have Alpha Five apply default value(s) when the new record is created.

Check At end of enter, set default value if field not touched by user to have Alpha Five apply default value(s) when the record is saved.

[Stan Mathews]

Re: Copy field value to new record.

I am new to Alpha 5. I have a form open with an existing record, and am trying to advance to a new record, populating a field (Household_code) with the value from the previous record. Here is the code:

'Get 'Value' property of 'Household_code' in Form 'frm_persons' .
DIM SHARED var_Hcode AS c
var_Hcode = parentform:Household_code.value

topparent.command("RECORD_ENTER")

'Set 'Value' property of 'Household_code' in Form 'frm_persons' .
parentform:Household_code.value = var_Hcode


Why is this not working for me?

Thanks,
Joe

Meanwhile, back to your original question....

What event are you coding?

[jgodfrey]

Re: Copy field value to new record.

Stan,

Thanks for the response.

I was using the 'OnPush' event of a button to add this new record, maintaining the 'household_code' value.

And you may be right. I am accustomed to Access, and there is no 'Previous Value' option there. So if I set the default value in the table (as opposed to the form), this won't come back to haunt me as I use this field later in the Db?

Joe

[Stan Mathews]

Re: Copy field value to new record.

So if I set the default value in the table (as opposed to the form), this won't come back to haunt me as I use this field later in the Db?

Joe

It is merely a manual data entry default so I can't see any issues.

In your code attempt try.

'Get 'Value' property of 'Household_code' in Form 'frm_persons' .
DIM SHARED var_Hcode AS c
var_Hcode = parentform.Household_code.value

topparent.command("RECORD_ENTER")
xbasic_wait_for_idle() 'give the record time to be entered and the screen to synch to it
'before we populate any fields

'Set 'Value' property of 'Household_code' in Form 'frm_persons' .
parentform.Household_code.value = var_Hcode

Period instead of colon after parentform.

[jgodfrey]

Re: Copy field value to new record.

Thanks Stan. I'll give that a try.

[forskare]

Re: Copy field value to new record.

Why not use Action Scripting. It takes seconds to create and you can convert it to code if you'd like.

Open the Action Script window and choose "Fields" from the left column and then Get field value from the right column. After completing the prompts, you'll need to create another command to set the Set field value. These actions are very flexible because you can set the values between forms, etc.

kenn