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© 1997 ProMatrix Corporation. All rights reserved.
Published 1997.
Printed in the United States of America.
ProMatrix Corporation (“ProMatrix”) has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this document. ProMatrix makes no warranties with respect to this documentation and disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The information in this document is subject to change without notice. ProMatrix assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document. Names and data used in examples herein are fictitious unless otherwise noted.
The information contained herein is the exclusive and confidential property of ProMatrix Corporation and, except as otherwise indicated, shall not be disclosed or reproduced in whole or in part. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the express written permission of ProMatrix Corporation.
Trademarks
ProMatrix, Visual ProMatrix and the ProMatrix Corporation logo are trademarks of ProMatrix Corporation.
Microsoft, Visual FoxPro and FoxPro are registered trademarks, and Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
All other trademarks acknowledged.
January, 1997
Welcome
Why Use Visual ProMatrix?
Who Should Use Visual ProMatrix?
The Learning Curve
When You Need Help
Where to Go from Here
Visual ProMatrix Sample Application Installation
Installing the Sample Application
The Visual ProMatrix Sample Application
Introductory Form
Startup Form and Application Toolbar
Logo
Edit Menu
View Menu
Reports Menu
Admin Menu
Window Menu
Help Menu
To See What’s Behind the Data Menu Forms
Where to Go from Here
Welcome to the Visual ProMatrix Sample Application. Visual ProMatrix is the only professional application development system for Microsoft Visual FoxPro. The developers of ProMatrix are experienced business systems professionals who know the features that heavy-duty business applications must have. You’ll find those features in Visual ProMatrix.
Professional. An expert in a field of endeavor.
The American Heritage Dictionary
Something within which something else originates or develops.
The American Heritage Dictionary
The professional application development system for FoxPro.
ProMatrix Corporation
This manual is the place to begin with the Visual ProMatrix Sample Application. This manual shows you how to install it and provides a Guided Tour.
We recommend that you also download and print the Visual ProMatrix Getting Started manual from the ProMatrix Web (http://promatrix.com). The Getting Started manual is the first of the three documentation manuals that come with Visual ProMatrix. The Getting Started manual demonstrates the quality of Visual ProMatrix documentation. Visual ProMatrix documentation also includes:
The online Help in the Visual ProMatrix Sample Application includes the contents of the User's Guide and Technical Reference manual.
Here are only a few of the many reasons that you should use Visual ProMatrix for all your Visual FoxPro development:
Visual ProMatrix is for anyone who needs to create a Visual FoxPro application. You do not need to be a professional FoxPro application developer to use Visual ProMatrix, but your Visual ProMatrix applications will look like they were created by a professional.
While you don’t have to be a professional, you should know how to use Visual FoxPro and you should be familiar with the following:
We’re often asked: “What’s the Visual ProMatrix learning curve?”
Here’s our response:
When you need help while reviewing the Visual ProMatrix Sample Application, the first place to turn is the Visual ProMatrix online documentation, which consists of this Getting Started manual, the User’s Guide and the Technical Reference manual. You can access the Visual ProMatrix online documentation from the VPM Help menu. Chances are you’ll find the help you need in the Visual ProMatrix documentation.
If you have questions the online documentation doesn’t answer, send email to sales@promatrix.com.
Here’s the approach we recommend for using this Sampla Application manual:
The Visual ProMatrix Demo Sample Application is a Visual FoxPro 3.0 application. Although we have Visual ProMatrix versions for both Visual FoxPro 3.0 and 5.0, we chose Visual FoxPro 3.0 for the Demo Sample Application because it will run on any Windows version (i.e., Windows 3.1 or later). If you purchase Visual ProMatrix 5.0, you will receive a Sample Application created with Visual FoxPro 5.0.
To install the Visual ProMatrix Sample Application, you’ll need to download either of the following two Zip files from the ProMatrix Web:
The only advantage of the VPMSA.ZIP is that it’s smaller and takes less time to download from the ProMatrix Web (5.3 MB vs. 8.1 MB for VPMSAESL.ZIP). Therefore, if the VFP300.ESL file is on your computer, download VPMSA.ZIP.
Your computer can run the Visual ProMatrix Sample Application if it can run Visual FoxPro.
To run the Visual ProMatrix Sample Application, your computer system must meet these requirements and should meet the recommendations:
WinZip: WinZip is a Windows utility for managing Zip files developed by Nico Mak Computing, Inc. Evaluation copies are available on CompuServe and the Internet. Visit http://www.winzip.com.
3. Installation without WinZip: If you are installing the Sample Application without WinZip, create an empty directory and unzip the Sample Application Zip file into that directory. Run the SETUP.EXE program from the directory that contains the unzipped files.
The Visual ProMatrix Sample Application illustrates the kind of Visual FoxPro application you can create with Visual ProMatrix without writing a line of original Visual FoxPro code.
OK! We Confess! There are a few places in the Sample Application where we have inserted a little bit of code. We’ll point them out at the end of this chapter.
We’ve heard it said that a picture is worth a thousand words. So, as you read this chapter, fire up the Sample Application and go with us as we give you a brief tour of what’s there.
As you enter the Sample Application, you’ll discover some special features that you may want to use in your applications.
When User Access Security is turned on, you will be greeted by the Login dialog.
See the “Security” chapter in the User’s Guide to learn about all the security tools Visual ProMatrix provides for your applications.
You can’t go any farther until you enter a valid User ID and Password. Enter “User” (case sensitive) in the User ID field and “123456” in the Password field. Click OK.
From this point the Sample Application will be tracking where you go and what you do. Visual ProMatrix also provides menu, field and controls security.
Tip: You can turn off the Login dialog by unchecking “Security - User Access” on the Admin Tools dialog, which you reach through the Admin - Security menu.
After you log in, the Sample Application displays the Introductory Form.
Visit the “Introductory Form” section of the “Creating Forms: Tips & Techniques” chapter in the User's Guide to learn how to turn off the display of the Introductory Form and how to modify it.
You can use the Introductory Form in your applications to welcome users and to display an important message that users should see when they run your application.
A sample, or template, Introductory Form is automatically included when you create a new application.
Click the Continue button on the Introductory Form to move on.
The Sample Application displays a Startup Form and Application Toolbar.
See the “Startup Form” section of the “Creating Forms: Tips & Techniques” chapter in the User's Guide to learn how to display a Startup Form.
See “Appendix B” in the User’s Guide to learn all about the Application Toolbar
Some developers like to provide access to their applications by displaying a form when an application starts that replaces or supplements the menu. The Startup Form is a device that Visual ProMatrix provides for you to do this.
Click the buttons on the Startup Form to display the data maintenance forms.
You can close the Startup Form or leave it open as you continue your tour of the Sample Application. If you close the Startup Form, you can display it again by clicking the Startup Form button on the Application Toolbar or by selecting the Startup Form option on the Help menu.
The Application Toolbar allows you to provide toolbar access to any special application functionality that users might need at any time while your application is being run.
When Visual ProMatrix creates a new application for you, it automatically provides an Application Toolbar with Report Manager and Help buttons. You can easily add buttons that provide any other functionality users of your application need.
Visual ProMatrix helps you display a bitmap graphic logo and a copyright notice in the application window.
The Logo dialog on the Options menu in Visual ProMatrix lets you select and position a graphic logo that Visual ProMatrix will automatically display in your application’s main window. See the “Logo” section of the “Application Options” chapter in the User's Guide to learn all about the Logo dialog.
Visual ProMatrix automatically displays a copyright notice at the bottom of the application’s main window. Visual ProMatrix creates the copyright notice using the information you enter into the Developer Info dialog on the Options menu.
Note: The Demo version of the Visual ProMatrix Sample Application available for download from the ProMatrix Internet Web does not display the Graphic Logo. This is because the Demo version is designed to run on any Windows version. Some Windows 3.1 installations cannot display linked bitmap graphics from Visual FoxPro General fields.
After you make it through the Login dialog, the Introductory Form and the Startup Form, you’ll be ready to explore the Sample Application menu. The Sample Application menu is your window to:
Visual ProMatrix automatically puts the File, Edit, View, Reports, Admin, Window and Help menus into your applications. You don’t have to write a single line of code to populate your applications with all the tools and features you’ll find on those menus.
We created the forms you’ll find on the Data menu to illustrate some of the kinds of forms Visual ProMatrix will help you easily create. On the Data menu you’ll find forms that are typical of:
The File menu provides access to the Reindex / Pack Tables utility.
See the “Reindex / Pack Tables Utility” section of the User's Guide to learn how to use this valuable tool.
The Edit menu provides the standard Windows edit options plus menu access to the Visual ProMatrix Form Toolbar controls that can change data.
The View menu provides menu access to the Visual ProMatrix Form Toolbar controls that navigate through records or select records to view.
Tip: See the “Creating Forms: Form Toolbar” chapter in the User's Guide to learn all about the Visual ProMatrix Form Toolbar and the controls it provides.
The Reports menu contains the Visual ProMatrix Report Manager, which allows users of your applications to run, edit and create reports. If you have reports that you want to run directly from menu options, you can add those menu options to the Reports Menu.
If you open the Report Manager, you’ll see the administrative reports that Visual ProMatrix automatically includes in every application you create.
The Admin menu provides access to tools and features that allow users of your applications to administer an application.
Through the Admin menu users can set up application security, view the activity and audit trail logs, set up field validation and help, and modify the application environment.
The Window menu gives you access to the Visual FoxPro Debug and Trace features while you’re developing your application. Before you distribute your application to your customers, you’ll want to remove the Debug and Trace options.
As users open forms in an applications, the form captions are added to the bottom of the Window menu.
The Help menu provides access to application help and other items commonly found on a Visual FoxPro application Help menu.
Visual ProMatrix automatically creates an About option that displays a copyright notice.
The Data menu illustrates the wide variety of forms that Visual ProMatrix makes it easy for you to create. You’ll find forms that are typical of:
We are continually adding forms to the Sample Application’s Data menu, and the Sample Application you receive may contain more forms than shown in the illustration below.
You’ll find that the Data menu options identify what’s unique about a form. For example, “Employee Basic Data (Grid)” identifies a form based on the Visual ProMatrix Editable Grid. “Benefits (On-Form Toolbar)” identifies a form that has Form Toolbar controls placed directly on it.
Bring up each form on the Data menu. Try out the Toolbar controls.
Visual ProMatrix provides a Related Forms engine that is quite unique. We think you’ll like it. The Related Forms engine coordinates the display of parent, child, grandchild, etc. forms. Let’s show you what that means.
Select the Employee Basic Data option on the Employee menu to display that form. Click the Next arrow on the Toolbar so that the form shows Laurie Benson’s record. Select the Benefits option on the Employee menu to display the Benefits form.
Notice that when the Benefits form appears, it automatically displays the benefits records for Laurie Benson. You can tell that’s true by comparing the Employee #’s on the two forms. Click the Next arrow on the Toolbar. Notice that Laurie Benson’s next benefits record appears on the Benefits form.
Click the Parent Mode control on the Toolbar. It’s the first button from the left. The big square on the Parent Mode button should now be yellow. Click the Next arrow on the Toolbar. Notice that even though the Benefits form is active, the Next control moves you through the parent records and refreshes the parent Employee Basic Data form. When Parent Mode is on, you can change the current parent record without leaving a child form.
Your Visual ProMatrix applications can enjoy the Related Forms features you just witnessed without the need for you to write one line of Visual FoxPro code.
See the “Related Forms” chapter in the User's Guide to learn all the benefits of the Visual ProMatrix Related Forms engine and how to implement Related Forms.
After you purchase Visual ProMatrix, you’ll be able to open the Sample Application in Visual ProMatrix and use the Visual ProMatrix Object Builder to see what’s Behind the Data menu forms. For example, if you select the Employee Basic Data option on the Object Builder menu, the Visual ProMatrix Form Editor will appear. Click Edit on the Form Editor and you’ll be viewing the Employee Basic Data form in the Visual FoxPro Form Designer. With the Form Designer open you can check out the classes, properties and methods that make the form work.
After you’ve seen the Visual ProMatrix Sample Application, you’ll have a better idea of what you can do in Visual ProMatrix and what Visual ProMatrix will do for you. You’re now ready to create your first Visual ProMatrix application. All you now need to do is purchase Visual ProMatrix. Pricing and order forms are available on the ProMatrix Web.
Before you leave this chapter, we promised we would reveal where we had to insert Visual FoxPro code to create the Sample Application. Here are the places:
Have It Your Way: Don’t get the impression that every application you create with Visual ProMatrix has to look like the Sample Application. Visual ProMatrix gives you the tools to create and organize applications that fit your style. A Visual ProMatrix application is 100% Visual FoxPro. Anything you can do in Visual FoxPro, you can do in a Visual ProMatrix application.