Grid to Dialog Form

[rlgiordano]

Hi,
Does anybody know of any examples in which a dialog form is used for new, update, delete on a grid list instead of using a detail view option?

Thanks
Bob Giordano

[Pat Bremkamp]

Re: Grid to Dialog Form

Bob,

I used to do that all the time, but with what Alpha is doing lately, the motivation is much less.

In the old days, V7 and V8, the speed of the grid was slow enough that I got regular complaints from my clients. Going to a dialog was a way to get more speed.

The advantages were:
More speed
I could add,edit and delete all in one form
The dialog offers more events for initializing values and using autoincrement values after saving the data.
It was also easier to save into multiple tables.
I could put advanced buttons on the form and process some data during data entry.

The disadvantages were:
You have to do everything yourself like opening and closing tables and converting data types back and forth to character. As a result, it takes a good knowledge of Xbasic, more trouble shooting and takes much longer to create.

With Version 9, the speed improved a lot, and lately ZebraHost has created a VPS version optomized for Alpha that makes another nice speed improvement.

After I figured out how the page worked, I was also able to put the grid for adding records and the grid for editing and deleting records on the same page which also saves me time and reduces the dialog's advantage.

Now, with Version 10 on the horizon and the "automatic" AJAX grid, speed should take another leap.

I still use dialogs for certain types of processes, but more and more I'm switching to grids.

Pat

[rlgiordano]

Re: Grid to Dialog Form

Thanks Pat for you re response. I started out with the grid but I had to intialize a bunch of fields, so I tried the dialog which solved the problem. But we all know when one problem is solved another takes it place. Their are examples for going from dialog to grid but I was looking for the opposite gird to dialog.

Take Care
BobG

[Pat Bremkamp]

Re: Grid to Dialog Form

Bob,

It would be easier to help you if you would state what your problem is.

Pat

[rlgiordano]

Re: Grid to Dialog Form

In a grid (tabular) a want to link a field to a dialog form which when opened would be in edit mode. So I set that field ( on grid) to a link control and the address link to open the a5w page which has the dialog ( properities) . But I need to fetch that record which is selected on the grid.

Thanks
BobG

[Pat Bremkamp]

Re: Grid to Dialog Form

Sure, here's an example.

Screen1 shows setting up a link in the grid, and screen2 shows how it looks on the form.

Then in the initialize event of the dialog, is code like the following. If I want a new record, I link with session.DMR.Id = "new" or blank:

 
Dim session.DMR.Id as C
if left(session.DMR.Id,3)="DMR" '==== an edit
 tbl=table.open("[PathAlias.ADB_Path]\DMR_Log")
 tbl.order("DMR_Id","DMR_ID="+quote(session.DMR.Id))
 CurrentForm.Controls.vDMR_Id.value = alltrim(tbl.Dmr_id) 
 CurrentForm.Controls.vDMR_Date.value = dtoc(tbl.Dmr_date,"1/")
 CurrentForm.Controls.vQty_Rework.value = alltrim(str(tbl.Qty_Rework,6,0,","))
 CurrentForm.Controls.vAttach.value=if(tbl.Attach,"Yes","No")
.
.
.
tbl.close()
else '==== an add
session.DMR.Id="New"
 CurrentForm.Controls.vDMR_Id.value = "" 
 CurrentForm.Controls.vDMR_Date.value = dtoc(date(),"1/")
 CurrentForm.Controls.vDMR_Status.value = "< status >"
 CurrentForm.Controls.vAttach.value="No"
.
.
.
end if

Then in AfterValidate, again check the session variable so I know whether to enter or change the record:

 
Dim tbl as P
tbl=table.open("[PathAlias.ADB_Path]\DMR_Log")
If left(session.DMR.Id,3)="DMR"
 tbl.order("DMR_Id","DMR_ID="+quote(session.DMR.Id))
 tbl.change_begin(.t.)
else
 tbl.enter_begin(.t.)
 session.DMR.Id="New"
end if
tbl.Dmr_date=convert_type(CurrentForm.Controls.vDMR_Date.value,"D")
tbl.Mrb_date=convert_type(Currentform.Controls.vMrb_Date.value,"D")
tbl.Dmr_status=if(left(CurrentForm.Controls.vDMR_Status.value,1)="<","",alltrim(CurrentForm.Controls.vDMR_Status.value))
tbl.Part_no=alltrim(CurrentForm.Controls.vPart_No.value)
tbl.Part_rev=alltrim(CurrentForm.Controls.vPart_Rev.value)
.
.
.
if session.DMR.Id="New"
 tbl.enter_end(.t.)
else
 tbl.change_end(.t.)
end if
session.DMR.Id=tbl.Dmr_id
tbl.close()
Currentform.RedirectTarget = "DMR_Form.a5w"

Pat

[rlgiordano]

Re: Grid to Dialog Form

Thanks Pat,

This works, but loading my dlg form is awful slow compared to the detail view link on the grid. Do you know how to set default values on a detail view (form) link to the grid. This is the only reason I wen to a dlg form in the first place.

Thanks
BobG

[Pat Bremkamp]

Re: Grid to Dialog Form

I believe Steve Workings had some posts about using strtran() in the page header to set initial values.

Try a search on strtran or strtran().

Pat