SHOW WINDOW Command

Displays one or more user-defined windows or Visual FoxPro system windows without activating them.

SHOW WINDOW WindowName1 [, WindowName2 ...] | ALL | SCREEN
   [IN [WINDOW] WindowName3   [REFRESH]   [TOP | BOTTOM | SAME]   [SAVE]

Parameters

  • WindowName1 [, WindowName2 ...]
    Specifies the name of one or more windows to display.

  • ALL
    Displays all user-defined windows.

  • SCREEN
    Displays the main Visual FoxPro window when it is hidden. You can also choose Screen from the Window menu to display the main Visual FoxPro window. You can hide the main Visual FoxPro window by clicking its close box or issuing DEACTIVATE WINDOW SCREEN, HIDE WINDOW SCREEN, or RELEASE WINDOW SCREEN.

  • IN [WINDOW] WindowName3
    Displays the window inside a parent window specified with WindowName3. The window doesn't assume the characteristics of the parent window. A window displayed inside a parent window can't be moved outside the parent window. If the parent window is moved, the child window moves with it.

    The parent window specified with WindowName3 must first be created with DEFINE WINDOW.

  • IN SCREEN
    Explicitly displays the window in the main Visual FoxPro window instead of in another window. Windows are placed in the main Visual FoxPro window by default.

  • REFRESH
    Redraws a Browse window. This option is useful on a network to ensure that you are browsing the most current version of a table. The work area for the Browse window table is selected.

    Memo-editing windows are refreshed with changes made to the memo field by other users on a network. SET REFRESH determines the interval between memo-editing-window refreshes. Refer to SET REFRESH for additional information on how data is refreshed in tables opened for shared use on a network.

  • TOP
    Places the specified window in front of all other windows.

  • BOTTOM
    Places the specified window behind all other windows.

  • SAME
    Places the specified window back into a stack of windows in the same position the window occupied before it was deactivated. SAME affects only windows that have been previously displayed or activated and then cleared from the main Visual FoxPro window with DEACTIVATE WINDOW.

  • SAVE
    Keeps an image of the window in the main Visual FoxPro window or in another window after the window is released. Normally, windows are removed from the main Visual FoxPro window after they are released. The window image can be cleared from the main Visual FoxPro window or a window with CLEAR.

Remarks

SHOW WINDOW controls the display and front-to-back screen placement of windows. If a window is hidden or hasn't been activated, SHOW WINDOW displays the window without activating it. If one or more windows are currently displayed, SHOW WINDOW lets you change the front-to-back order of the windows.

You can also display system windows, such as the Command window.

In Visual FoxPro, you can use SHOW WINDOW to display the Visual FoxPro toolbars. Use HIDE WINDOW to remove a toolbar from the FoxPro window. Toolbars must be active before they can be displayed. The following table lists the Visual FoxPro toolbars names to use in SHOW WINDOW and HIDE WINDOW. Enclose the toolbar name in quotation marks.

Toolbar Names    
Color Palette Layout Report Designer
Database Designer Print Preview Standard
Form Controls Query Designer View Designer
Form Designer Report Controls  

To show a system window, enclose the entire system window name in quotation marks.

You can't specify where output is directed to user-defined windows with SHOW WINDOW. Use ACTIVATE WINDOW to direct output to a user-defined window created with DEFINE WINDOW.

Example

The following example, a window named wOutput1 is created and displayed. Since SHOW WINDOW is used to display the window, output can't be directed to the window until it is activated.

CLEAR
DEFINE WINDOW wOutput1 FROM 2,1 TO 13,75 TITLE 'Output' ;
   CLOSE FLOAT GROW ZOOM
SHOW WINDOW wOutput1 

See Also

ACTIVATE WINDOW | DEFINE WINDOW | CLEAR Commands