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SOLUTIONS

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    SOLUTIONS

    As promised (or threatened), this post is meant to be a collection of solutions to problems that many of us might encounter. I'm hoping that it can help us all by sharing ideas, and serve as a FAQ for newer users.

    #2
    Giving focus to msg_box upon starting a program

    If you display a ui_msg_box or ui_get_password when your program first loads, you've probably noticed that it rarely gets focus in Win98 (this didn't happen as much with Win95). While it's not a big deal, it's still annoying.

    A real easy solution is to press ESC when the box appears. Here's how to do it with scripting:

    sys_send_keys("{esc}")
    pw = ui_get_password("","Enter Password")

    Comment


      #3
      Auto-increment script

      A5 has auto-increment in the field rules. For single-user machines, this works fine.

      However, it is not as foolproof as it might be. Sometimes it will reset to 000 if you inadvertently create a blank record (it's not supposed to happen, but rarely it does). Also, if you're using the app on a network, it's rather easy for two users to get the same ID if they start entering a new record at nearly the same time.

      Using an article I saw in Learn Alpha, I developed an auto-increment script, as follows:

      dim global new as c
      dim global old as c

      tbl = table.open("menu")

      old = lookupc("f",1,"id","menu.dbf","")
      new = padl(ltrim(str(val(old)+1,5,0)),5,"0")

      tbl.change_begin(HONOR_FIELD_RULES)
      tbl.id = new
      tbl.change_end(.t.)

      :members:tables:members.id = new
      :members:id.refresh()
      end

      MENU is a table that I use to create the Main Menu, and it also has a field called ID in which I store the ID number. Whenever a new record is entered, the first thing that happens is retrieving the current value of ID (the LOOKUPC function), incrementing it by one and padding the left with zeros, and then changing the value in MENU to the new value.

      One advantage is that the value is changed immediately (rather than waiting to save the record in MEMBERS), so another user on the network can start a new record immediately after the first user and get a new number. Another advantage is that, if a blank record is created, the incrementing continues as it should, rather than resetting to zero.

      One potential disadvantage is that, if you start a new record and decide to cancel it, you will end up with a "hole" in the incremented numbers (i.e., going from 1111 to 1113 because you stared 1112 and then cancelled it).

      Overall, I've had much more success with this than with the autoincrementing. Plus, you also have the option (with some more scripting) of incrementing several different ways, depending on starting conditions

      Comment


        #4
        UNDELETE script

        I had to look this up on the board (so it's not mine), and thought it would be good to post for reference:

        t = table.open("table_name")
        del = t.records_deleted()
        delrecs = t.records_get() + del
        fld = t.field_get(0) ' pointer to marker field

        FOR n = 1 to delrecs
        t.fetch_goto(n)
        IF t.is_deleted()
        t.change_begin()
        fld.value_put("")
        'blank=normal,dash=marked, asterik=deleted
        t.change_end(.t.)
        END IF
        NEXT i

        Comment


          #5
          Tabbed Form - Advance to next page

          Make a button on the first page of the tab form, set this button to be the last "tab order" on the first page. Set the properties of the button to the same as the background form, so basically its invisible to the user. For the "Onarrive" action for this invisible button its:

          dim pagenum as n
          pagenum=Tabbed1.Tab_Get()
          tabbed1.tab_set(pagenum+1)

          sys_send_keys("{TAB}")

          Once the user gets to this invisible button, it will go to the next page in the form.

          Comment


            #6
            RE: Serial Number Increment

            This is a spin on Bills auto-increment. This script is for unique barcode serial numbers for packing labels on a network. The user enters the number of labels to be printed. The script gets the current serial number from a seperate database which has 1 record, adds the number of number of labels to print and saves the new serial number back to the database. This occurs with a "Print Labels" button on the form.

            parent.commit()
            dim tbl as p
            dim global vserial as n
            dim global vlabels as n
            dim global wlabels as n
            dim global wserial as n

            tbl=table.open("serialno")
            tbl.fetch_first()
            vserial=tbl.serial
            tbl.close()
            vlabels=labels
            wlabels=labels

            wserial=vserial+vlabels

            tbl=table.open("barcodedata")
            tbl.fetch_last()
            tbl.change_begin()
            tbl.serial=vserial
            tbl.serialend=wserial-1
            tbl.printed="Y"
            tbl.change_end(.t.)
            parentform.close()

            tbl=table.open("serialno")
            tbl.fetch_first()
            tbl.change_begin()
            tbl.serial=wserial
            tbl.change_end(.t.)

            while vlabels>0
            preview:
            current_record = alltrim(str(recno(),10,0))
            :Form.preview("Printlbl","BETWEEN(RECNO(),"+ current_record+ "," + current_record+")")
            goto cleanup
            cleanup:

            vlabels=vlabels-1
            vserial=vserial+1
            end while
            end

            Comment


              #7
              Re-evaluate a calculated field (like ALT-C in A4)

              Thanks to Tom Scholis for this one:

              Here's the situation: You have a calc field on a form whose calc is based on values from another table. When the other table's value is changed, you want to see the correct value on your form.

              If you change the value in another field on the form, you will see the new value in the calc field. But changing another field is not always desirable.

              Here's a script that will recalc the record you're viewing:

              t=table.current()
              t.change_begin()
              t.change_end(.t.)
              parentform.resynch()

              Note that you should NOT use HONOR_FIELD_RULES in the change_begin, because then it will NOT work! Also, the .t. forces the program to accept the change even though you haven't changed any values.

              Tom also had this script to re-evaluate a table:


              tbl = table.current()
              tbl.fetch_first()
              while .not. tbl.fetch_eof()
              tbl.change_begin()
              tbl.change_end(.t.)
              tbl.fetch_next()
              end while

              Comment


                #8
                Show message while script is running

                Some operations, such as updating indexes, take a while to run, so I wanted to let the user know that something was happening (many users don't notice that a button might be depressed). So I thought it would be nice to display a message during the script's execution. After many failed attempts, and many responses to my post (thank you all), Cal Locklin came up with a good, workable solution.

                On my MENU form I have a button, UPDATE INDEXES (the object name is UPDATE). I also have a text box (MSG) which will display while the INDEX_UPDATE script is running. Here's the script for the ONPUSH event of the button:

                :Menu:update.hide()
                :Menu:msg.show()
                ui_freeze(.t.)
                parentform.restore()
                parentform.maximize()
                ui_freeze(.f.)
                script_play("index_update")
                :Menu:msg.hide()
                :Menu:update.show()

                The INDEX_UPDATE script has a message box at the end. When this box is cleared, the button reappears, and MSG disappears.

                I'm also working on a progress bar for the message (yeah, there's the status bar in the lower left, but it tracks one index at a time...I'd like to have my progress bar go from 0 to 100 to indicate total completion). If I can make it work, I'll post it here.

                Comment


                  #9
                  RE: Tabbed Form - Advance to next page

                  This is for Data Entry ONLY forms I presume? I'm feeling kind of slow here. I would have wanted a button on page 1 that says "Next" and on all but the last page (Which gets only a "Prev") a "Next and "Prev" buttons.

                  If I understand what was being said, the "Next" button would have code identical to that shown where the "Prev" button would have "tabbed1.tab_set(pagenum-1)"

                  Did I understand ??? or should I go back to school again?

                  Thanks!
                  [%-{)>
                  T-Rex

                  Comment


                    #10
                    RE: Show message while script is running

                    If you keep shaming us by our not adding to this thread I guess we'll just have to start. But, then again, I guess that's what it's al about. Is it time to start v5 stuff yet? That's all we've bee nsuing in our shop for a long time (yes, v5 is stable and good - except where I can break it, which is hard to do)

                    Comment


                      #11
                      RE: Auto-increment script

                      I wanted to add a little to the above script by Bill.

                      I too, have been having problems with Alpha5 and auto-incrementing. It seems to work in some examples I've seen, but never for me, at least not with any consistency.

                      My code is as follows:

                      dim mval as c
                      dim tlast as c
                      dim shared partno as c
                      t=table.open("partnames")
                      t.index_get("partid")
                      t.fetch_last()
                      tlast=t.partid
                      mval="P"+ltrim(str(val(substr(tlast,2,5))+1))
                      topparent:partid.value=mval
                      partno = mval
                      t.close()

                      Partnames is the name of the active database. What this script does is find the last record in that existing database and add one to it. The number does NOT have to be stored in another database and as long as you don't have a lot of user access, this will work fine. Also, the code increments the number and then adds a preface letter "P". I only did this so that you could see how it was supposed to operate with this append. You can feel free to remove it, if you want.

                      Good luck to all!

                      Charlie

                      Comment

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