field.value, field.text, field???

[enstorms]

I don't quite understand what is necessary and what is just good practice in writing xbasic code. I do understand that referring to a field.value is the value that is in the table field tied to the form field and the field.text refers to what the form field is displaying. I seem to spend a lot of time trying:

field1 = field2.value   or
field1.value = field2.value   or
field1 = field2.text

Could someone explain to a newbie in xbasic what is necessary and what is just good practice. Also what are some pitfalls to watch out for when writing code such as:

if field1 = field2  then
  do something
  hide this control, etc.
end if

It just seems that a lot of the time nothing seems to be happening. It could just be that form fields need refreshing, which it seems I do a lot of, too.
Any enlightenment in this area would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Ernie

[Stan Mathews]

Re: field.value, field.text, field???

I do understand that referring to a field.value is the value that is in the table field tied to the form field and the field.text refers to what the form field is displaying.

No.


Given a field named "customer" in a table. If you create a form based on the table and place the "customer" table field on the form, it will default to having the object name "customer" on the form. This object name can be changed to almost anything.

The form field "customer" object has the properties (among multiple others)

.value and .text.

The customer.value is the contents of the form field (same as the table field unless you change it). If you change the contents of customer.value the new contents are not saved to the table until you save the record visible on the form.

The customer.text is the character equivalent of the customer.value. This would be a different thing for a numeric or date or logical field.

If a table numeric field "amount" is on a form with the object name "amount", the amount.value could be 123.45 but the amount.text would then be "123.45", entirely different in practice. You could not multiply amount.text times 2.

You can refer to the underlying table field's contents with the appropriate construction like

formname:Tables:tablename.fieldname

[enstorms]

Re: field.value, field.text, field???

Stan,
Thanks so much for getting back to me. The attachment from the help file is where I "misinterpreted" my information.

formname:Tables:tablename.fieldname

What is "Tables"?

Ok, so I pull up a form and all the field values showing are reflecting the fields in the table. If I make a change to one of the fields, nothing happens to the table field until the record is saved. So in order to refer/get the value in that form field I just changed, I can use the syntax:

if frm.myfield = something then
  do something
end if

Or do I need this syntax:

if frm:myfield.value= something
  do something
end if

Ernie

[Tom Cone Jr]

Re: field.value, field.text, field???

if frm:myfield.value= something
  do something
end if

This will work if 'myfield' is the object name, and if 'frm' is the form name.

As Stan indicated the object name may or may not be the same as the table field name.

Think of it this way:

if Form_name:Object_name.Value = X  'X will have data type of the table field
   do something
end if

[enstorms]

Re: field.value, field.text, field???

Tom,

if 'frm' is the form name

Is this the same as the pointer to the form? i.e.

dim frm as p
frm = topparent.this
frm:myfield1.value = something......

Ernie

[Tom Cone Jr]

Re: field.value, field.text, field???

Yes, I believe so. Why not try it?

I don't usually bother to create the pointer. Following principles of KISS I would do:

if [COLOR="Red"]parentform[/COLOR]:Object_name.Value = X  'X will have data type of the table field
   do something
end if

Suggest you review the help file topics on objects and object addresses. It might make more sense to you after these posts.

[enstorms]

Re: field.value, field.text, field???

Thanks for your help, Tom. I'll do some more studying.
Ernie

[Stan Mathews]

Re: field.value, field.text, field???

formname:Tables:tablename.fieldname

What is "Tables"?

To expand on this particular question...

"Tables" is used in the address to tell Alpha you want to refer to the underlying table objects rather than the form objects. The "Tables" is literal.

Read it as

Start on the form : Go to the tables : go to the named table . get the contents of the field

[MoGrace]

Re: field.value, field.text, field???

Man, you learn something new everyday in here! I never quite understood the difference between a fields's value and its text either. I am guessing that the purpose in using the text property is to utilize or standardize working with character properties in your script, when you might not know the type?

[MikeC]

Re: field.value, field.text, field???

Along with that Robin is something I gathered recently from another thread regarding numerical fields...you can test the text property of a numeric field as to whether it is null, but the actual field value cannot be used.

Just thought I'd throw this in.

[MoGrace]

Re: field.value, field.text, field???

Along with that Robin is something I gathered recently from another thread regarding numerical fields...you can test the text property of a numeric field as to whether it is null, but the actual field value cannot be used.

Just thought I'd throw this in.

Good point Mike. I started adding a default value of 0 to numeric fields for that reason. Are there any others?

[Stan Mathews]

Re: field.value, field.text, field???

Good point Mike. I started adding a default value of 0 to numeric fields for that reason. Are there any others?

May I enquire as to what your usage is? If you make all otherwise unpopulated numeric fields contain a zero you can't tell if they have been filled with zero for a reason. You can't test for a null value because the .text property will now be "0" as opposed to "".

[MoGrace]

Re: field.value, field.text, field???

May I enquire as to what your usage is? If you make all otherwise unpopulated numeric fields contain a zero you can't tell if they have been filled with zero for a reason. You can't test for a null value because the .text property will now be "0" as opposed to "".

Well one example: in my employee database I use 0 to show that a direct deposit should be entered when that amount varies from week to week. Those records are entered into an embedded browse when the employee id is entered, so it gives a visual signal.

I had not really thought about using a null test before.

[jaryder]

Re: field.value, field.text, field???

Ernie,

You might want to check out the post below to understand when you have to use field.text instead of field.value.

Jeff

http://msgboard.alphasoftware.com/al...ad.php?t=72006

[enstorms]

Re: field.value, field.text, field???

Thanks for that link, Jeff. Lots of good information. I've really learned a great deal from this discussion. Thanks to all.
Ernie