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Memo fields

A memo field, by default, is placed on a form as an Entryfield displaying the word "Memo". The control used to handle memo fields is called an Editor.

To change the Entryfield to an Editor control:

  1. Delete the Entryfield that says "Memo"

  2. Click the Control Palette window

  3. Move the mouse over the controls until you find one that says "Editor" in the small "speedtip" window.

  4. Click and drag the Editor control to your form. Move and size it appropriately.

  5. Click the Inspector window and select the "DataLink" property.

  6. Click the tool button (the "wrench" button)

  7. Click the tool button in the new window

  8. Select the field and click "OK".

  9. Click "OK" again

Logical fields

In Windows applications, logical fields are normally displayed as Checkboxes, checked meaning "true" and unchecked meaning "false". The Component Builder will place Checkboxes onto a form, however, as the dBASE/DOS software did not have Checkboxes, they are not really created quite right. You can delete these controls and use the Inspector to set the text property of the Checkbox "object" instead. Since the Checkbox object defaults to a short width, and at first the text doesn't show up, widen it using the Inspector. It will look better and allow you to manipulate a single control rather than several.

Click directly on the form's surface, to give it focus, and click the Inspector. Find the mdi property (it's under the "Windows Properties" heading), and change it from T to F. "MDI" stands for "Multiple Document Interface". DOS applications were generally not "MDI", and while it was possible to write MDI applications in DOS, doing so was quite complex.

If you set the form's autoCenter property to .T., the form will be centered on the screen. If not, the form’s display is determined by it’s top and left properties.