Introduction

Stonefield Systems Group Inc. is pleased to announce the immediate availability of Stonefield Database Toolkit (SDT) for Visual FoxPro.

Stonefield is a leading developer of add-on products for FoxPro. They established an international reputation for high-quality tools and solid support with products such as Stonefield AppMaker, a powerful application development framework. For Visual FoxPro, they took their knowledge of data dictionaries and data-driven programming techniques and combined it with a deep understanding of Visual FoxPro's database container to create SDT.

What is SDT?

Visual FoxPro provides something FoxPro developers have needed for years -- a built-in data dictionary. Visual FoxPro's data dictionary provides table and field validation, field captions, triggers, even table and field comments.

Unfortunately, many things are missing from the data dictionary, such as structural information necessary to create or update table structures at client sites and useful information such as the InputMask for fields (like the PICTURE in FoxPro 2.x) or captions for tables. Also, the tools Visual FoxPro provides to manage the database container itself are less robust than you'd expect. For example, table and field name changes aren't propagated throughout the database, resulting in orphaned database objects. Moving a table to a different directory or changing the DBF name causes the database to lose track of the table.

SDT overcomes these limitations and many others we've found in Visual FoxPro, and provides additional functionality that serious application developers need!

There are three aspects to SDT:

1. It enhances the tools Visual FoxPro provides to manage the database container.
2. It provides the ability to define extended properties for database objects and set or obtain the values of these properties at run-time.
3. It includes a class library you can add to your applications to provide database management functions at run-time, including recreating indexes, repairing corrupted table headers, and updating table structures at client sites.

SDT automatically propagates table and field name changes throughout the database container, and updates both the database and DBF header when a DBF is moved or renamed.

SDT adds structural information to the data dictionary so you can create tables and indexes or update their structures whenever necessary. SDT includes other extensions as well, defining information such as InputMasks, ToolTip text, and more.

You can even define your own custom properties whenever you need to. Define security levels, usage information, captions in other languages ... anything is possible. Get these values at run-time to create truly data-driven applications. Change the property in one place, and every form, program, or report that uses it changes instantly.

SDT's class library provides methods to manage databases and tables at run-time. For example, open a database and all its tables with a single function call. The SetRelation method automatically sets up all defined relations for a given table.

The most useful class library methods are:

• Reindex, which recreates indexes from their data dictionary definitions
• Repair, which repairs corrupted table headers
• Update, which creates or updates table structures according to their data dictionary definitions

AutoSize Builder

As you're probably aware, VFP has extensive drag and drop capabilities. One popular use of this is dragging a field from a table (either in the DataEnvironment of a form or from the Database Designer) and dropping it onto a form. This creates a control (for example, a Textbox) with the ControlSource property automatically set to the field. However, this ability quickly loses its luster when you discover a few things about the new control:

• The size of the Textbox isn't based on the size of the field, so you have to manually resize it.
• The name of the Textbox is Text1 for the first dragged field, Text2 for the second, and so on. You have to assign more meaningful names manually (such as “txt” followed by the name of the field).
• The control always belongs to a VFP base class: Checkbox for Logical fields, Editbox for Memo fields, Oleboundcontrol for General fields, and Textbox for all other field types. There's no ability to specify your own class or even any other base class. For example, Spinner might be a more logical choice for a Numeric field.
• If you want a label to appear beside the control to give the user an idea of what the control is for, you have to create it yourself. Typically, you'll want to use the field's data dictionary Caption as the Caption for the label, but again you must type it manually.

Fortunately, another wonderful type of tool VFP provides is the way around these limitations: the builder. A builder is a program that extends VFP's design environment. Most of the builders that come with VFP modify the properties of form controls, but builders aren't limited to that. For example, the Referential Integrity Builder generates a lot of code in the stored procedures of a database to maintain referential integrity between tables.

SDT includes a builder called AutoSize that overcomes the limitations VFP imposes when dragging a field to a form. AutoSize has the following features:

• You can specify which class to use for the control, either generically (by field type) or specifically for a given field.
• The new control is automatically sized as appropriate for the field and class.
• The control name starts with the prefix you define, followed by the name of the field.
• AutoSize will (optionally) automatically create a label to the left of the control. The label's
• Caption is set to either the data dictionary Caption for the field (if there is one) or the field name (slightly processed to make it more presentable).

AutoSize will boost your productivity immensely by eliminating a lot of manual steps in creating forms.

Codebook Compatible

SDT is Codebook Compatible. A consortium of developers, including Flash Creative Management (the Visual FoxPro Codebook), MicroMega (FoxFire!), and Neon Software (FoxExpress), announced this new program at the 1995 Microsoft FoxPro Developer Conference. “Codebook Compatible” means developers of third-party add-ons for Visual FoxPro agree to use a standard set of data dictionary extensions. Since all Codebook Compatible add-ons use the same set of standards, you can mix and match the best features of any set of products to come up with the feature set your application needs.

Licensing Information

Stonefield Database Toolkit includes royalty-free source code for all routines. One copy is required for each developer using it; special site license pricing is available.

Return to Database Toolkit Main Page
Stonefield Database Toolkit Features
Version 6 Features
A Review form FoxTalk