collins@lerouf.dec.com (Russ Collins (LEROUF::COLLINS) Valbonne) (12/17/87)
This is [mainly] to Zigurd Mednieks, or anyone else with 4D experience. - This is my first try sending to the net (my attempt to send directly to ucbvax!husc6!mit-eddie!zrm failed. For replies I think have to read them off the net. I've just started with Fourth Dimension about two weeks ago. I have a specific application I want to design, with several problem areas that are not very well handled by the documentation. I got your name from the comp.sys.mac network and you are so far the only person I've found with 4D experience. (I'm going to try to send this from our internal DECnet, for the first time... hope it works) My user wants to load a text field in File-A with one of several boilerplate texts that have previously been stored in File-B. In the File-A input layout, we want to display the File-B records and select one of them for copying in (either by double-clicking or some other way). 1. The Choice list method is ideal, but: Choice fields must be hand- typed (coded), and are limited to 30 characters. 2. I tried a Load Linked Record from File-B into a Window of the File-A layout. Double-clicking the selection here, however, copies the record to the input layout of the same file (B), still in the window. 3. File-A Input Layout File-B -------------------------- ------------------------------- [index] [code-field] [Title field] [text field.......] [Boilerplate text ........] I made File-B with a unique-number index, a Title field, and the boilerplate text field. I list the code-field and Title-field in an Included Layout. The user types determines which code-number is desired, types that into the [index] field, and the boilerplate text is copied over. * Problem: an Included Layout is up all the time, rather than popping up when needed. This precludes doing other similar operations on the same File-A input layout. Is there a neater/cleaner way to solve my problem? Another problem is that I want to sense when the cursor ENTERS a field (as for Choice list), and not when it exits a field (as for the "Modified(field)..." command. Thanks (hopefully) Russ Collins, Digital Equipment Corp., France