From: fsbrn@brl.mil (Ferd S. Brundick)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: Paradox question
Date: 25 Jan 93 13:20:51 GMT
Reply-To: fsbrn@brl.mil
Organization: Army Research Laboratory

In article <1993Jan24.144529.19009@nuscc.nus.sg>, isc30158@nusunix1.nus.sg (WEE LEE SENG) writes:
|> J. D. McDonald (mcdonald@aries.scs.uiuc.edu) wrote:
|> : 
|> : 1) I can't get the "modify" or "data-entry" things on a table to
|> : come up automatically with the proper form for that table ... I
|> : have to change it manually every time with Image. How does one do this?
|> : Some sort of simple macro? 
|> 
|>  If you are thinking of using macros, you can create a script to 
|>  load the proper form and assign a key to play that script. Thus,
|>  in a way, just like a macro.

There is a much easier answer if you are using the same form all the
time.  Use Image/Pickform to select the form you want, then Image/Keepset
to tell Pdox to always use that form.  You still have to press F7 to
toggle form mode, but the form you kept is the one you'll get by
default (instead of the F form).

|> : 2) I can Ask to my heart's content and it works fine, but getting a 
|> : report on the result is a pain .. I have to COPY a report type to
|> : the Answer table by hand every time I create a new Answer .. is there some 
|> : way to make this stick .. I tried copying Answer over an old table to
|> : which I had already attached a report, but that seems to lose the report 
|> : already attached.
|> 
|>  You can try to copy the pre-designed report to the answer table instead
|>  of copying the answer table to the old table. The only restriction of 
|>  doing this is that the structure of answer table must be the same as 
|>  that of the old table.

Not quite.  The structures do not have to match exactly, but the
Answer structure must be a subset of the Old table structure.
Otherwise, you've hit the solution.  Create a report for Old table,
run your query, copy the report from Old to Answer, and run the
report.  If the structures are not identical you will get a warning in
interactive mode but not if you are running a procedure.

Forms and reports "belong" to a given table.  When you copy Answer to
Old you are also overwriting Old's forms and reports.  If you have a
complex query involving mutiple tables, Borland recommends you create
an empty table with all the correct fields.  (The easiest way to do
this is to simply run the query and rename Answer, then empty it.)
Create the report(s) you need.  In your application run the query,
copy the report form from your empty table to Answer, and run the report.

Yeah, it seems a bit odd to have an empty table floating around.  I
like to think of the table as the parent of the report forms.  When
you exit Answer is deleted, along with the report you copied to it.
Plus a brand new Answer is created every time you run a query.  So the
only way to keep the report is to attach it to an empty table.

                                        dsw, fferd
                                        Fred S. Brundick
                                        USARL, APG, MD.
                                        <fsbrn@brl.mil>
Newsgroups: comp.databases