This tutorial's goal is to introduce
the ability to jump from one database's form to a form in another
database as a
new feature in HanDBase Forms version 4.0.This feature's main function is to allow for more complex
database
designs by allowing databases to be interrelated via forms in the edit
view.In this tutorial, the necessary
steps to configure HanDBase Forms on the handheld device to take
advantage of
this new feature will be detailed.Then,
the results of properly configuring a set of database's forms will be
examined.Finally, additional resources
will be provided should any further information be needed.
To take advantage of the ability to
jump to and from forms, HanDBase and HanDBase Forms version 4 first
needs to be
configured on the desktop.The first
step in doing so is to launch HanDBase Desktop at the following
location:
Start
Menu / All Programs / HanDBase 4/
Once running, the steps in configuring
are:
Step #1:
Once HanDBase is opened, the first
step
is to create a database or select an existing database while in list
view.For the purpose of this tutorial, a
sample
database has been created with the fields:
Database Name=Roster
Field 1 - Name=Name, Type=Text
Field 2 - Name=Gender, Type=Popup
Field 3 - Name=Grade Level, Type=Popup
Step #2:
a)Once
a database is set up with the necessary fields, the
next step is to associate a form with it to be used in edit view.
b)To
do this, choose the "forms" option on the right
side of the wheel.
c)Click
“ok” in the dialog that opens after initially creating
the database.
d)The
next action to occur will be an automatic transfer into
the HanDBase Forms program.
e)Select
"new" in the Form Browser window to create
a form for the database.
f)If
the Form Browser window is not visible, use the menu
option View / Show Form Browser to enable it.
g)The
Form Details window at the left provides the opportunity
to define the initial parameters of the form, such as the background
color,
types of buttons, etc.Once finished
with this task, move to the editing window of the Forms program.In this window, various UI (user interface)
controls such as text fields, buttons and checkboxes are able to be
defined,
associated with a field in the database and placed graphically on the
screen.
Step #3:
a)In
the next step, UI elements of labels can been created and
placed on the form to correspond to the field names in the database.The buttons positioned below the menu bar
allow for these items to be created.Move the mouse over each one to read a description of the UI
element
that pressing the button will add.
b)Start
by adding Labels to the form that match the database’s
field names.
c)Continue
by adding a text field and two popups, each that
use the respective data source for the label that they are placed
besides.
Step #4:
Once the form is created for the
"Roster" database, it will later be linked it to a second database
titled "Schedule".
a)In
HanDBase, create the "Schedule" database with
the following field structure:
Database Name=Schedule
Field 1 - Name=Name, Type=Text
Field 2 - Name=Course_1, Type=Popup
Field 3 - Name=Course_2, Type=Popup
Field 4 - Name=Course_3, Type=Popup
Field 5 - Name=Course_4, Type=Popup
Field 6 - Name=Course_5, Type=Popup
Field 7 - Name=Course_6, Type=Popup
Field 8 - Name=Course_7, Type=Popup
Step #5:
a)Following
the creation of the "Schedule" database,
again select "forms" on the right side of the resulting window and
click “ok”.
b)Once
transferred to HanDBase Forms, click “New” in the Form
Browser window to create the form.
c)Define
the parameters such as background color, and form
name in the Form Details window.
d)In
the form layout window, create UI element labels to match
each of the field names.Do this be
selecting the Labels button in the toolbar at the top of the window.
e)Next,
define a text field UI element and position it near
the "Name" label.
f)After
doing so, create pop-up UI elements that are
associated with fields from the "Schedule" database and place them
near their respective labels.
Step #6:
Since the databases with forms have
been created, the next step will be to create a UI control in each form
that
will jump from database form to database form.
a)To
add this control, open the form associated with the
"Roster" database as described above.
b)Select
the "Roster" form in the Form Browser
window and select "open".
c)Next,
add a button UI element.
d)Configure
the button as described below:
-General
Tab
oData
Source = None
oCaption
Source = Other
oCaption
= “View Schedule”
-Layout
Tab
oBe
certain to adjust the width to accommodate the width of
the label
-Actions
Tab
oAction
1 = Jump to Form in other Database
oDatabase
= Schedule
oForm
= Schedule
oRecord
= Open First Record
Note that in the Actions Tab, the
"action" has been set to "Jump to Form in Other DB".Choosing this option creates the contextual
items beneath it, in which the database to jump to is selected, along
with the
form and which record to go to.The
option can be made to open the first record, open the last record,
create a new
record, open first/last record or create.
e)Next,
create a button UI element in the Schedule database's
form.
f)Set
the action properties of the button to "Jump to
Form in other DB", database to "Roster", form to
"Roster" and Record to "Open Last Record".
Step #7:
After setting up HanDBase Forms 4 to
use the ability to jump from one form to a form in another database as
described in the previous steps, the following behaviors in the
software can be
observed:
Pressing the “View Schedule” button in
the Roster database will now jump to the form in the Schedule database.Pressing the “Back” button in the Schedule
database will jump to the form in the Roster database.
To summarize, this tutorial has
introduced jumping from one database's form to another database's form
as one
of the many new features in HanDBase Forms 4.Additional resources, if needed, can be found at:
