Paradox 8: Modifying a Table Frame at Run Time??? 1

[SercoSteve]

Hi,

I am trying to find an example, or hint, that will allow me to modify the structure of a Paradox 8 Table Frame at run time.

I suppose what I am looking for is a way of selecting a number of fields, by Field Name, from a database and then have the Frame automatically update with the fields selected in the run time environment.

In design mode the 'Define Table' option from a right click on the Frame allows me to do the type of modification I need, but I cannot find any help for doing it at Run Time.

One limitation is that the DB file I am selecting the Fields from is Read Only.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Steve

 

[Langley]

I don't know about doing a direct modification of the field list, maybe someone else has experience there. An alternative might be to base the tableframe on answer tables, change the query as needed then refresh the tableframe. I haven't tried it, just throwing out ideas.

Another thought is to use an MRO (instead of a table frame) and hide the unwanted fields as required (field.visible = False). Not too pretty, though.

Mac

"Gurth a choth-en-America! Tôl acharn..."


langley_mckelvy@cd4.co.harris.tx.us

 

[footpad]

Steve,

I do have pretty extensive experience with on-the-fly table frame manipulation and it's not always the easiest thing in the world to do, for there are often unintended side-effects that occur. Examples: fields (and columns) get resized dynamically, row heights can change unexpectedly, and so on.

There are several properties available for modifying the contents of a table frame. Many of these are listed in the Version 5.0 ObjectPAL Properties Help topic.

To get to this:

1. Choose Help | ObjectPAL Reference.
2. When the index tab appears, choose Contents.
3. Double-click the What's New book.
4. Double-click the Properties book.
5. Double-click the Version 5.0 Properties topic.

There aren't many examples showing how to use these in a real application. If you'd like to see one, though, check out

http://www.techtricks.com/paradox/quickrpt.php3

for an idea of the some of the things you need to do. It shows how to create "quick" reports from forms, much the same way that Shift+F7 creates quick reports from Table windows. While it doesn't cover every possible variation, it does show the basic techniques.

The article shows how to bind an empty table frame in a report to a table at runtime. As you'll see there are some specific design techniques needed to provide a fully-professional appearance.

You can accomplish similar results by opening blank documents with different MasterTable values, though there are some similar design issues.

Hope this helps...

-- Lance

 

[SercoSteve]

footpad and Langley

Thanks for your time guys, I appreciate it.

Steve