"Alias" versus "SQL Statement" Property

[Toman]

Could someone explain the real difference between RecordSourceType "Alias" and "SQL Statement" in a grid when data for a grid comes from SQL. I don't mean slight differences in coding (I'm able to use them both), but like to know which method is preferable.

Thank you, Tom.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Hi Tom,

It's really fairly simple. When you set the RecordSourceType to "SQL Statement", you have to actually type a SQL SELECT statement into the RecordSource property. The statement will then generate a cursor, which becomes the data source for the grid.

By contrast, when you use "Alias", you supply the alias of any view, cursor or open table.

Personally, I've never seen the point of using "SQL Statement" because "Alias" in effect lets you do the same thing, and more. If I want to use a SELECT to populate a grid, I would run the SELECT first (to create a cursor), then use that cursor as the RecordSource.

If anyone knows any good reason to use "SQL Statement", I'd be interested to hear it. Otherwise, I suggest you just ignore it.

Mike

__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

My Visual FoxPro site: www.ml-consult.co.uk

 

[Toman]

Hi Mike,

well, that’s probably me, the only one person using "SQL Statement" property for grid data.

I though "FoxPro wants me" to do it when using data from SQL. Nevertheless I was in doubt (it was the reason to post to TekTips). But only you freed me now from writing thisform.grid1.RecordSource = "SELECT * … into cursor temp" instead of simple SELECT * … into cursor temp.

One question remains: how this practically needless property could live out 9 version of our beloved program or what was the sense of it in the beginning.

Thank you, Tom

 

[Olaf Doschke]

In a listbox or combobox, where you have a rowsource and rowsourcetype of SQL Statement and you have a Requery()-Method, that Requery() really does requery using that SQL Statement.

For Grids there is no requery(), only refresh(), but I also do not make use of sql statement recordsourcetype in grids.

In fact if you don't want a browse caused you need to write INTO CURSOR xyz and then xyz is the recordsource alias anyway.

Bye, Olaf.