changing field on current form

[gkeramidas]

what is the best way to address the currently viewed record in a form, no matter which index is selected, so a field value can be changed with a button click? i have it working withe the following, but i'm wondering what the preferred method is.

tbl = table.open("table.dbf")
record_number = current_record_number()
tbl.FETCH_GOTO(record_number)

[Stan Mathews]

Re: changing field on current form

I'm not clear on the issue. What happens after the code given? What type of change takes place?

The easiest way to address a field in the current record in the table upon which a form is based is to refer to the field's value on the form. That form object needn't be visible.

[gkeramidas]

Re: changing field on current form

sorry, just thought you could tell me how to make sure i was editing the current record.


tbl = table.open("pfs1.dbf")
record_number = current_record_number()
tbl.FETCH_GOTO(record_number)
tbl.change_begin()
fld1 = tbl.field_get("acct")
acctnum1 = fld1.value_get()
fld2 =tbl.field_get("acct2")
fld2.value_put(acctnum1)
tbl.change_end(.T.)

[Tom Cone Jr]

Re: changing field on current form

Gary, why would you think the record on screen is not the current record? Are you trying to update a field that's visible on screen? Are you trying to update a field that's hidden? Is the field in the primary table, is it in a child table in a set supporting your form?

[gkeramidas]

Re: changing field on current form

tom:

when i ran this code without:
record_number = current_record_number()
tbl.FETCH_GOTO(record_number)

i was returning a value from another record, not the one that was visible on the form. so i added those 2 lines and it seemed to work. i think it was always returning a value from the first record until i added those 2 lines.

[Tom Cone Jr]

Re: changing field on current form

hmmm... sadly, color me confused...

[gkeramidas]

Re: changing field on current form

sorry, so am i. you can see what i want to do in this example, copy the value from one filed to the next in the currently viewd record on a form.

how would you do it?

[Tom Cone Jr]

Re: changing field on current form

First, I'd familiarize myself with the object names in the form. These are often the same as the table fieldnames, but not necessarily.

Then, I'd review the help file discussion of Objects and Object Addresses. You can address an Object in code using it's actual name (Absolute Addressing) or by Reference to its relative position in the form (Relative addressing). This is fundamental for anyone writing code to manipulate field values in forms with scripts.

Then, I'd check the properties of the field objects in question to discover that they have both TEXT and VALUE properties. The object explorer is the tool to use to learn how to do this.

Depending upon the data type of the information being moved from one field to another I'd either

:actualformname:actualfield1name.text = :actualformname:actualfield2name.text

or

:actualformname:actualfield1name.value = :actualformname:actualfield2name.value

Notice the colons and the periods. As explained in the reference materials colons are used sort of like slashes in a DOS path statement, to permit you to describe a specific object in a layout. These snippets would tell Alpha Five to find a particular form, then look for a particular object, then assign either TEXT or a VALUE to a property of that particular object.

Notice also that these snippets assume that object to be manipulated is found in the form, and does not "live" in a different object. This may not be obvious, but if you were trying to manipulate the column value in the currently selected row of a browse named "browse1", your syntax would have to be changed:

:Parentform:Browse1:Columname.text

See the difference?

Understanding how to reference objects in your layouts is fundamental, and well worth the time it takes to work through the related help file materials.

[gkeramidas]

Re: changing field on current form

thanks for the explanation, but maybe i'm expecting too much here. in the excel progamming forums where i hang out, i and a lot of others actually write the code to the op can see what's happening. a lot of us write some elaborate code, recreate forms and spreadsheets to help the op see what's going on. if i was responding to this question in the excel forums, i actually would have created the form and written the few lines of code to show the user how to accomplish this.

but, i guess that's a different animal. that's why i don't know or remember everything about alpha, 95% of my apps are done in excel. it's hard to remeber the syntax going between both apps.

just my opinion here.

[gkeramidas]

Re: changing field on current form

oh, and i wasn't taking issue with what you posted, it does help to a point, i was merely pointing out the differences between the 2 forums.

sorry if it came out the wrong way

[Tom Cone Jr]

Re: changing field on current form

No offense taken.

Here the practice is more often for the initial poster to attach a sample that illustrates the problem, so that volunteers can furnish specific advise. You asked a general question. You got a general answer. Sorry it didn't meet your expectations.

[gkeramidas]

Re: changing field on current form

ok, good. is there anything wrong with the way i'm doing it?

[MikeC]

Re: changing field on current form

Gary,

Changing/setting values using table methods as you are doing is fine but more work and unnecessary when you have the means on the form right on the screen. After doing so you may very well have to do a :actual_form_name.resynch() as well as the view of the data the form has, does not "know" that the table values it is based on has changed.

Tom was attempting to teach you how to fish instead of simply giving you a fish. Without the very basics of how to use Alpha means that you would always be struggling--none of us like to see that with anyone for any length of time.

Regarding how other forums respond--I have done some researching on many various forums (excel, access, quickbooks, filemaker,....) just to see how members/posts/etc. are treated and none have come close to this forum. ...Maybe I just hit the other forums at the wrong time but I see the responders here go WAY beyond what would normally be expected of anyone giving their time for free!!

Just another opinion... :)

[gkeramidas]

Re: changing field on current form

i think you would get a response in the excel forum. i know i have about 200 posts since sept. i don't always come up with what the op is looking for, but i do write some code, and a lot of others write some elaborate code, all for free, too.

if i saw my post in excel, i would have responded with the following. it took me 5 minutes and struggling in alpha takes me an hour. that's why i help in excel, so people see actual code examples.

Private Sub CommandButton1_Click()
Dim newacct As String
Dim acct1 As String
Dim acct2 As String
newacct = Application.InputBox("enter new acct number", , , , , , , 1)
With UserForm1
.TextBox2.Value = .TextBox1.Value
.TextBox1.Value = newacct
End With
End Sub

[Tom Cone Jr]

Re: changing field on current form

Gary, did my code suggestions not work for you?

While your approach will work I prefer to minimize traffic on the network. Your code opens another instance of the table, finds the correct record, updates the field value, and then closes the table. You should resynch your form if you use this code, since the form will not display the new value automatically.

If the field is available on the form (one of several questions I asked of you which were never answered) it's much better to use the current instance of the table, than to open another.

Even if the desired field is not available in the form layout you can update the field's value using a pointer to the current instance of the table, rather than open a completely new instance. I'll spare you the details since I've apparently overstayed my welcome in the first place. Bye.

-- tom