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                    *          DB/C Newsletter          *
                    *             June 2004             *
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                              News and Comments

     DB/C DX 13.1 is nearing completion.  We will begin formal beta
testing in July, so if you are interested in participating in testing,
contact us at support@dbcsoftware.com.

     When DB/C programmers begin investigating a conversion of their
character mode programs to GUI, the first thing they usually try to do is
to replicate the login and menu programs.  Interestingly, the menu navigation
aspect of an application is one of the areas where there is a significant
difference between typical character mode and GUI programs.

     This month's newsletter provides a short overview of a very simple
sample program that provides the login and main menu functions in a GUI
DB/C DX program.  The sample program and menu data file can be found
at our web site under the heading "Sample GUI menu program". 

                                                     don.wills@dbcsoftware.com

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                       A Sample GUI Main Menu Program

     Graphical user interface (GUI) programs are very different from character
mode programs.  At the user interface level, the actions and reactions of a
user are quite different.  And the optional use of the mouse introduces a
random nature to the handling of actions.  These user interface attributes
cause major structural differences between GUI and character mode programs.

     Countering these differences is the desire to make the GUI programs
work as much the same as existing KEYIN/DISPLAY programs as possible.  This
is desirable to minimize the shock of change for existing users.

     The GUI/character-mode differences are very evident in the main menu
functions of most business-oriented applications.  In fact, many graphical
application systems actually dispense with the whole concept of a main menu.
That's usually not acceptable for traditional DB/C DX based applications.

     The sample GUI main menu program provides two primary functions.  The
first is to display a user name and password login dialog.  The second
function is the main menu navigation with selection/execution of programs.

     The login dialog is completely contained within the routine named
'showroutine' which is at the bottom of source file ('menu.prg').  We won't
discuss it further other than to point out that you must enter 'pass' in the
password field to successfully login.

     The menu navigation function is handled via two adjacent list boxes.
The left listbox contains the high-level menu options.  The right listbox
contains the lower-level menu options that are associated with the selected
item in the left listbox.  The lines in the right listbox are repopulated
as the selected line changes in the left listbox.  It's much easier to
understand visually than it is to describe in words.

     The items in the menus, along with the programs to be executed, are
contained in a separate text file.  This file is named 'menudemo.txt'.
Here are the contents of that file:


       1Main Processing
       2Enter Orders
       XORDER
       2Enter Payments
       XPAYMENT
       2Enter Credits
       2Month End Processing
       1File Maintenance
       2Customer File
       2Order File
       2Inventory File
       1Reports
       2Sales Analysis
       2Inventory Report

The first character is '1', '2' or 'X'.  '1' signifies that the following
text is a high-level menu item.  '2' signifies that the following text
is a low-level menu item associated with the previous '1' record.  The
'X' signifies that the following text is the name of a program to chain
to when the previous '1' or '2' menu item is double clicked.

     There is nothing special about the actual DB/C DX code.  It runs fine
in DB/C DX 13.0 or later.  And it has a lot of room for improvement.

     If you find any bugs, or have any comments or suggestions for
enhancements, please direct them to dbctalk.


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                          DB/C DX Class Schedule

   Class:     DB/C DX Fundamentals
   Date:      September, 2004
   Location:  to be determined

For information, send email to admin@dbcsoftware.com.


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