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The Field palette displays fields for each Query object that’s linked to an existing table, as long as the Query object’s active property is set to true. Fields available on the Field palette are linked to a table through the dataLink property.

To open the Field palette, either

Choose View|Tool Windows|Field Palette (it’s a toggle).

Right-click anywhere in the designer and choose Tool Windows|Field Palette from the context menu.

Dragging a field from the Field palette onto a form or report saves you the work of having to set its dataLink or text property manually for each component you want to link to a field in a table, although you can do it manually, if you want to.

If no active Query object exists on the form or report, the Field palette is empty, showing only the Pointer button. When you begin to design a data-aware form or a report, first add a Query object and set its sql property to the appropriate SQL statement and its active property to true. If you drag a table from the Navigator to the design surface, this automatically creates a Query object that selects all the records in that table and links the table to the form or report.

Once an active Query object exists on the form or report with its active property set to true, its fields appear on the Field palette as linked components. The type of the component depends on the data type of the field. For example, a Boolean field appears on the Field palette as a CheckBox control. To change the control type of a field, right-click the Field palette, and choose Associate Component Types from its context menu, or choose File|Associate Component Types.

If more than one Query object exists on the form or report, each table’s fields are displayed on a separate page of the Field palette.