All labels are blank in form designer

[yocosha]

Hi,

All labels are blank in the form designer (As can be seen in the attached screen).
I tried to play with the font (under Tools->Options->IDE->font), but nothing changed it. (BTW "scripts" is empty and control is disabled)


Thanks for any help.

Yo

VFP9 SP2,WinXP Prof. SP3

 

[yocosha]

Additional information:
1. Uninstalled VFP and reinstall again + SP2 + hotfix KB 968409
Didn't help...

2. removed foxuser.* from "C:\Documents and Settings\xxxxxx\Application Data\Microsoft\Visual FoxPro 9"
Didn't help....

Thanks again,
Yo

 

[Mike Lewis]

Yo,

Are you sure you mean the form designer? Your screen shot shows the table designer.

A few more bits of information might be useful:

1. Does the problem happen with one particular table, or with all tables?

2. Have you tried it on a different computer? (That might tell us if they problem lies in your data in your system.)

3. Is the table in a DBC? If so, have you tried it with a free table?

Mike



__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro tips, advice, training, consultancy
Custom software for your business

 

[yocosha]

Mike,

Thanks for your note, it is the table designer, my oops...

It happens to all tables, new, old, free, etc.

I will try on another computer and update

Yo

 

[yocosha]

Hi,
Additional update:
I have an older PC with WinXP SP2 and VFP 9 SP1 installed from a couple of years ago.
There the Table Designer shows labels OK.

Just to rule out VFP SP2: when I tried earlier to re-install VFP, I checked after each installation step - same problem.
(after initial VPF 9, then after SP1 and then after SP2).
VFP9 and SP1 are from the original MS distribution DVD. SP2 - downloaded.

Is it possible that something is wrong in my "code page" setup of windows, or something else that has to do with fonts?
Where does VFP stores the display settings of the table designer? (rest of IDE interfaces seems OK).
Thanks,
Yo

 

[TamarGranor]

No great ideas on your problem, but I want to point out that it's not a good idea to install SP1 before SP2. Just install VFP, then SP2 on top of that.

Tamar

 

[Olaf Doschke]

As you did reinstall VFP and see no difference, it may be a font issue, have you tried another computer yet?

Bye, Olaf.

 

[yocosha]

Hi,
I have re-installed VFP9 + SP2 + hotfix KB 968409, skipping SP1. Problem still exists.

As mentioned before, I have an older PC with VFP9+SP1. There the problem doesn't exists. I copied the project to there and opened the Table Designer with the project's DBFs - no problem with labels.

I think the either (1) some wrong settings information is left, though I have uninstalled and reinstalled several times, or (2) There is something in the WinXP settings (fonts?) or (3) something wrong with the Code Page definitions in DBF files (combined with mismatch WinXP settings??)

Anyone have an idea? I will appreciate even thoughts, leads, possible directions to explore....

Thanks,
Yo

 

[Olaf Doschke]

You could check the dpi setting of XP, too. Take a look at the Tahoma Font, I think that's what Foxpro uses for it's system forms like table designer. But the problem would not be limited to the table designer, if it's a font problem.

Bye, Olaf.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Yo, I would doubt the problem is connected with fonts or code pages, because, if it was, you would have seen similar behaviour in other parts of VFP. The fact that you can see some of the labels to the right of the dialogue and in the tabs would confirm that.

Mike

__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro tips, advice, training, consultancy
Custom software for your business

 

[Olaf Doschke]

If there are problems with only some or one and not all fonts, you could see only some labels without their caption.

I also have seen Tabs of Pageframes and Buttons not working if the general OS Specific font size setting is changed from the typical 96 dpi. Display options.

Resetting to a standard XP Theme might also work, but this general Font Size setting needs a reboot to work.

Bye, Olaf.

 

[Olaf Doschke]

In fact it does not need a reboot. I tried that and it didn't change the look of the table designer. Some special font setting, which you can set in Windows Themes for different types of things could influence this, then reverting to a standard XP theme would resolve the problem.

Bye, Olaf.

 

[yocosha]

I tried to reset WinXP Theme to the standard using the procedure described in:

http://www.mynetnuke.com/Blog/tabid/525/ID/215/How-to-Fix-Windows-XP-Theme-Problems.aspx

Unfortunately, problem still exists...
I also tried "Windows Classic" theme, didn't help either.
(restarted after theme change)

I didn't mention it before, if it matters at all, my PC is Dell Latitude E5400.

Is there a place were FoxPro stores the display settings (that affect the table designer appearance) in registry? in something similar to foxuser.dbf?
Thanks,
Yo.

 

[Olaf Doschke]

Many of the forms and dialogs in the VFP IDE are written in VFP, (also see XSource).

But the Table designer and the project manager are native forms of C++, they should not have any setting in foxuser.dbf or registry. Even if, after a reinstall you would have reset that.

You might deinstall and see, if anything in the registry remains, if anything in the VFP home folder remains which could make a reinstall useless. In fact the problem has to be somewhere in something you don't get rid off by de- and reinstall.

Bye, Olaf.

 

[yocosha]

As opposed to the Table Designer, the Project Manager shows all labels OK.
I will try to uninstall again and see if there are any leftovers in the directories or the registry.

 

[Olaf Doschke]

If you don't find anything, then rename your computer to a Dell Attitude.

Bye, Olaf.

 

[yocosha]

Uninstalled again, removed any leftover in directories and in registry (found plenty...)
Installed, and got the same problem.

Since this is the only place labels are blank, I decided to give up for now and find other ways to bypass this issue: write in the table designer "blindly" and check it with "display structure".
I know it's lame, but I tried everything else except re-installing Windows which is not an option for me.

Still, I will appreciate more ideas and suggestions.
And of course if I find something I will update here.

Many thanks to Olaf, Tamar and Mike.
Regards,
Yo

 

[Mike Lewis]

Yo,

I'm sorry we haven't been able to solve it. Let us know if you ever find a solution.

Rather than using the Table Designer "blindly", you could consider using CREATE TABLE and ALTER TABLE in the command window or a PRG file. I know it's not as convenient as the design tool, but it might not be too bad.

Another option might be to create your own table design form. That would be a bit of effort, but it would have the advantage that you could add any additional functionality that might be useful to you.

Mike

__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro tips, advice, training, consultancy
Custom software for your business

 

[Mike Lewis]

I see there's an embryo Table Designer replacement at:

http://vfpx.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=Table Designer X

Might be worth a look.

Mike

__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro tips, advice, training, consultancy
Custom software for your business

 

[yocosha]

Thanks mike, it seems like a great idea, however I registered to VFPx and tried to download "Table Designer X" - couldn't find to add-on itself, only the doc that describes it.
Emailed the guy, will update if he replies.
Yo