Creating an application (basic steps)

Topic group

At the simplest level, designing an application in dBASE Plus consists of these steps:

1. Create a project that will hold all your application’s files (and any other files you need to have handy while you’re developing). Files you create while the project is open will be added to the project automatically. You may also add to the project any relevant files you’ve already created.

• If you’re creating tables from scratch, plan your tables so you can link them to one another.

• Plan your directory structure. For example, you may want to put tables in a DATA subdirectory and images in an IMAGES subdirectory.

• Use the BDE Administrator to create Borland Database Engine (BDE) aliases for all SQL databases and local tables. You can then access those databases through the BDE and through your application.

• If several forms (or reports) will be using the same data-source setup (table relationships, SQL statements, methods, and so on) create a data module so you only need to create the data-source setup once.

• Create custom form and report classes to give your application a unified look.

• Create the forms (data entry forms, dialog boxes, and so on) that make up the user interface of your application.

• Create any reports that your forms will link to or run, using the dBASE Plus Report wizard and integrated Report designer.

• Compile and build your project (choose Build | Compile from the Project Explorer).

• Test and debug, using the dBASE Plus debugger.