class Form

Topic group Related topics

A Form object.

Syntax

[<oRef> =] new Form([<title expC>])

<oRef>

A variable or property in which to store a reference to the newly created Form object.

An optional title for the Form object. If not specified, the title will be "Form".

Properties

The following tables list the properties, events, and methods of the Form class. With the exception of the onClose event, all Form events require the form to be open in order to fire.

Property	Default	Description
activeControl		The currently active control
allowDrop	false	Whether dragged objects can be dropped on the Form's surface
appSpeedBar	2	Whether to hide or display the Standard Toolbar when a form recieves focus. 0=Hide, 1=Display, 2=Use the current _app object's speedBar setting.
autoCenter	false	Whether the form automatically centers on-screen when it is opened
autoSize	false	Whether the form automatically sizes itself to display all its components
background		Background image
baseClassName	FORM	Identifies the object as an instance of the Form class
className	(FORM)	Identifies the object as an instance of a custom class. When no custom class exists, defaults to baseClassName
clientEdge	false	Whether the edge of the form has the sunken client appearance
colorNormal	BtnFace	Background color
designView		A view that is used when designing the form
elements		An array containing object references to the components on the form
escExit	true	Whether pressing Esc closes the form
first		The first component on the form in the z-order
hWndClient		The Windows handle for the form's client area
hWndParent	0	When used in conjunction with the showTaskBarButton property; determines, or specifies, the hWnd property for the parent window of a form
icon		An icon file or resources that displays when the form is minimized
inDesign		Whether the form was instantiated by the Form designer
maximize	true	Whether the form can be maximized when not MDI
mdi	true	Whether the form is MDI or SDI
menuFile		The name of the form’s .MNU menu file
metric	Chars	Units of measurement (0=Chars, 1=Twips, 2=Points, 3=Inches, 4=Centimeters, 5=Millimeters, 6=Pixels)
minimize	true	Whether the form can be minimized when not MDI
moveable	true	Whether the form is moveable when not MDI
nextObj		The object that’s about to receive focus
persistent	false	Determines whether custom control, datamodule, menu or procedure files associated with a form are loaded in the persistent mode.
popupMenu		The form’s Popup menu object
refreshAlways	true	Whether to refresh the form after all form-based navigation and updates
rowset		The primary rowset
scaleFontBold	false	Whether the base font used for the Chars metric is boldface
scaleFontName	Arial	The base font used for the Chars metric
scaleFontSize	10	The point size of the base font used for the Chars metric
scrollBar	Off	When a scroll bar appears for the form (0=Off, 1=On, 2=Auto, 3=Disabled)
scrollHOffset		The current position of the horizontal scrollbar in units matching the form or subform's current metric property
scrollVOffset		The current position of the vertical scrollbar in units matching the form or subform's current metric property
showSpeedTip	true	Whether to show tool tips
showTaskBarButton	true	Whether to display a button for the form on the Windows Taskbar
sizeable	true	Whether the form is resizeable when not MDI
smallTitle	false	Whether the form has the smaller palette-style title bar when not MDI
sysMenu	true	Whether the form’s system menu icon and close icon are displayed when not MDI
text		The text that appears in the form’s title bar
topMost	false	Whether the form stays on top when not MDI
useTablePopup	false	Whether to use the default table navigation popup when no popup is assigned as the form’s popupMenu.
view		The query or table on which the form is based
windowState	Normal	The state of the window (0=Normal, 1=Minimized, 2=Maximized)
Event	Parameters	Description
canClose		When attempting to close form; return value allows or disallows closure

canNavigate

When attempting to navigate in work area; return value allows or disallows leaving current record

onAppend

After a new record is added

onChange	<workarea expN>	After leaving a record that was changed, before onNavigate
onClose		After the form has been closed

onDragEnter

When the mouse enters the Form's display area during a Drag&Drop operation

onDragLeave		When the mouse leaves the Form's display area without having dropped an object
onDragOver	<left expN> <top expN> <type expC> <name expC>	While the mouse drags an object over the Form's display area during a Drag&Drop operation
onDrop	<left expN> <top expN> <type expC> <name expC>	When the mouse button is released over the Form's display area during a Drag&Drop operation

onMove		After the form has been moved
onNavigate	<workarea expN>	After navigation in a work area
onSelection	<control ID expN>	After the form is submitted
onSize	<expN>	After the form is resized or changes windowState
Method	Parameters	Description
abandonRecord( )		Abandons changes to the current record
beginAppend( )		Starts append of new record
close( )		Closes the form
isRecordChanged( )		Checks whether the current record buffer has changed
open( )		Loads and opens the form
pageCount( )		Returns the highest pageno of any component
print( )		Prints the form
readModal( )		Opens the form modally
refresh( )		Redraws the form
saveRecord( )		Saves changes to the current or new record
scroll( )	<horizontal expN>, <vertical expN>	Programatically scrolls the client area (the contents) of a form
showFormatBar( )	<expL>	Displays or hides the formatting toolbar

The following table lists the common properties, events, and methods of the Form class:

Description

A Form object acts as a container for other visual components (also known as controls) and the data objects that are linked to them. Consequently, releasing a form object from memory automatically releases the objects it contains.

An object reference to all the visual components in a form is stored in its elements array. All of the visual components have a form property that points back to the form.

The form has a rowset property that refers to its primary rowset. Components can access this rowset in their event handlers generically with the object reference form.rowset. For example, a button on a form that goes to the first row in the rowset would have an onClick event handler like this:

function firstButton_onClick()

form.rowset.first()

Note: With the exception of the onClose event, all Form events require the form to be open in order to fire.

If the form has more than one rowset, each one can be addressed through the rowset property of the Query objects, which are properties of the form. For example, to go to the last row in the rowset of the Query object members1, the onClick event handler would look like this:

function lastMemberButton_onClick()

form.members1.rowset.last()

A form can consist of more than one page. One way to implement multi-page forms is to use the pageno property of controls to determine on which page they appear, and use a TabBox control to let users easily switch between pages. You may also use a NoteBook control to create a multi-page container in a form.

You can create two types of forms: modal and modeless. A modal form halts execution of the routine that opened it until the form is closed. When active, it takes control of the user interface; users can't switch to another window in the same application without exiting the form. A dialog box is an example of a modal form; when it is opened, program execution stops and focus can't be given to another window until the user closes the dialog box.

In contrast a modeless form window allows users to freely switch to other windows in an application. Most forms that you create for an application will be modeless. A modeless form window conforms to the Multiple Document Interface (MDI) protocol, which lets you open multiple document windows within an application window.

To create and use a modeless form, set the mdi property to true and open the form with the open( ) method. To create and use a modal form, set mdi to false and open the form with the readModal( ) method.

You can also create SDI (Single Document Interface) windows that appear like application windows. To do so, set the mdi property to false and use SHELL(false). SHELL(false) hides the standard dBASE Plus environment and lets your form take over the user interface. The dBASE Plus application window disappears, and the form name appears in the Windows Task List.

Property		Event		Method
enabled height helpFile helpId hWnd left	mousePointer pageno statusMessage systemTheme top visible width	beforeRelease onClose onDesignOpen onGotFocus onHelp onLeftDblClick onLeftMouseDown onLeftMouseUp onLostFocus onMiddleDblClick	onMiddleMouseDown onMiddleMouseUp onMouseMove onMouseOut onMouseOver onOpen onRightDblClick onRightMouseDown	onRightMouseUp move( ) release( ) setFocus( )