Builders

  • Article

Builders are tools that aid in setting properties of controls on a form. Unlike wizards, builders are reentrant, so you can reopen a builder on a particular control repeatedly.

Visual FoxPro includes a number of generic builders for many of the common form controls including grids, list boxes, combo boxes, check boxes, command groups, and option groups.

Visual FoxPro offers a wide selection of builders. For details, consult the list below.

You can use builders for some controls, for forms, for formatting controls, and for creating referential integrity between database tables.

To build a control

  • From the Form Controls toolbar, choose the Builder Lock button. Each time you add a new control to a form, Visual FoxPro displays the appropriate builder.

    -or-

  • Select a control on the form, and choose the Builder button in the Properties window.

To use the Form Builder

  • From the Form menu, choose Quick Form.

When you have several controls on a form, you can format them all at the same time with the AutoFormat Builder.

To format several controls

  1. In the Form Designer, select controls.
  2. From the Form Designer Toolbar, choose the AutoFormat button.

When a builder is displayed, select the options for each tab and then choose OK to register the changes.

In This Section

  • Application Builder
    Displays a tabbed dialog box to simplify creating and modifying forms, complex controls, and other optional elements of effective and satisfying applications.
  • AutoFormat Builder
    Allows you to apply a set of styles to selected controls of the same type.
  • Combo Box Builder
    Makes it easy for you to set properties for a Combo Box control.
  • Command Group Builder
    Makes it easy for you to set properties for a Command Group control.
  • CursorAdapter Builder
    Makes it easy for you to build CursorAdapter objects more quickly.
  • DataEnvironment Builder
    Makes it easy for you to build DataEnvironment objects that use the capabilities of CursorAdapter objects.
  • Edit Box Builder
    Makes it easy for you to set properties for an Edit Box control.
  • Form Builder
    Makes it easy for you to add fields as new controls to a form.
  • Grid Builder
    Makes it possible for you to set properties for a Grid control.
  • List Box Builder
    Makes it easy for you to set properties for a List Box control.
  • Option Group Builder
    Makes it easy for you to set properties for an Option Group control.
  • Referential Integrity Builder
    Helps you to ensure referential integrity by setting up triggers to control how records are inserted, updated, or deleted in related tables.
  • Text Box Builder
    Makes it easy for you to set properties for a Text Box control.
  • XML Web Service Builder
    Makes it possible for you to bind an XML Web service to a control on a Visual FoxPro form or to an object, such as a cursor adapter in the form's data environment, without writing code.
  • User Interface Reference
    Explains the options that appear on various dialog boxes, windows, and other user interfaces. These types of topics generally appear when you press F1 in a dialog box or window.
  • Creating Applications with the Application Framework
    Explains how to create applications with the Application Framework using the Application Wizard and the Application Builder.
  • Developing Visual FoxPro Applications
    Includes conceptual information about how to develop Visual FoxPro applications, instructions for creating databases and the user interface, and other tasks needed to create Visual FoxPro applications.
  • Programming in Visual FoxPro
    Describes how understanding object-oriented programming techniques and the event-driven model can maximize your programming productivity and enable you to access the full power of Visual FoxPro.