Carl -

I appreciate the "suggestion"; however, I have never used the @message function because it is barely visible and somehow, no matter how important it may be, I never think to look there.  Now, if a certain designer would like to give us the option of placing a "message" OVER an LE - limiting the size of the message to the size of the LE - THAT would be a WONDERFUL enhancement for version 2.0.   lol

My date of birth and date of anniversary are on a separate (called Special Events) tab, along with the age and years.  The age/years is only important to me if the Special Events tab is in view.  Perhaps there is a way for me to program something that will work for me based on that condition.

For me, the main issue is still (as you said) that I don't want the on form change programming to be triggered based simply on the recalculation of my age and/or years LE's.

Erika -

I understand the examples you gave about wanting to execute programming based on a change in an unbound element; however, in each of the specific examples you gave, I believe that I would find it easy enough to simply have the programming execute based on element exit.  Even if the statement had to go in more than one field, that is not like having to insert programming for 77 fields.

As for your stat gflag suggestion, assuming it works for what I need, and it looks like it will, I would still have to deal with it in my age/years LE's but more importantly, in every single command button on the form (and perhaps other instances that just don't come to mind right now) and for every command button I add to the form.  Once again, that seems like a lot of extra work to me.  Nevertheless, it may not be as bad as I think and I'll certainly give it a shot.

I cannot help but feel that there has to be a better solution.  Just as the distinction has been made whether or not to give the "warning" notice when the only change is in an unbound LE, so too do I think there's a way to provide for what I want and still be allowing the individual user to make individual choices based on their individual needs - but to make doing so easier.

I mentioned earlier a "switch."  Suppose for example I could use an @LE function (not a switch but this would work too ... in switch form - I would simply follow my programming with someting like /LEB or /LEU):

@LE(Bound,Last Updated = @date )
@LE(Unbound,Last Updated = @date)

giving me a choice of whether the on-form-change programming executes only when a bound le is changed or only when an unbound le is changed.  If neither is specified - meaning I just dont use the @LE portion of the programming, then the default would be the current state of considering both bound and unbound LE's as triggering a form change.

and perhaps another option of
@LEIGNORE(Birthdate;Anniversary)

where I can chose all but the specified fields to trigger the programming.

These suggestions would not take anything away from people  who are happy now with the way things are; They would not have to learn anything new nor would they have to do anything different than what they are currently doing.  For them, everything would be just as good as it now is.

But for the customer (me and maybe even one other person - lol) who is not happy, I (or we) would have an easy-to-use, viable, means of "grabbing control."

Once again, I am looking to have the best of both worlds; flexibility (as we both agree) for the user to have control when wanted BUT coupled with ease of use in implementing that control.

Erika -

I appreciate your efforts to help me understand this and to come up with a viable solution.  Unfortunately, I am still at a loss (except that I have not yet tried the gflag approach and hope to.  Even if that doesn't make me happy in this particular case I can see that it has inherent value that I might want to use for another purpose).

With regard to command buttons, they do seem to trigger a "form change" unless - again - I am missing something and, unfortunately, I don't have a clue what that might be.

I just went to a record that does not contain a date of birth and therefore the age calucation programming did not occur.

But the instant I clicked on the command button, the Last Update field changed.  (Please remember that if I don't click on a button - and there is no date of birth, the last update field is not updated). 

Here is the code on the particular command button I pressed.  I do not see that it is affecting any bound (or unbound for that matter) field.

ar Z as int

if not @update then
{
z = @asynchshell("C:\Sesame\Data\Sounds\Cannot Use Here.wav")
STOP
}
else
if status = "deceased"
{
z = @asynchshell("C:\Sesame\Data\Sounds\Deceased.wav")
STOP
}
else
if record type = "companion"
and @isblank(Mail Name)
then
{
z = @asynchshell("C:\Sesame\Data\Sounds\Companion.wav")
throwfocus(Alt Record)
STOP
}
else
if @isblank(Mail Name)
and not record type = "companion"
then
{
z = @asynchshell("C:\Sesame\Data\Sounds\Mail Name.wav")
throwfocus(Mail Name)
STOP
}
else
if
@isblank (Address1)
or @isblank (city)
or @isblank (state)
or @isblank (zip)
then
{
z = @asynchshell("C:\Sesame\Data\Sounds\Address Incomplete.wav")
STOP
}
else
AlternateDefaultPrinter("Auto HP LaserJet 5 - Envelopes")
Newpage(950,412)
PrintString("Spencer Wulwick (MVR)", 30, 25, 0, "Arial", 14, 0)
PrintString("210 South Hale Avenue", 30, @PageExtentY(), 0, "Arial", 14, 0)
PrintString("Tampa, FL 33609-3933", 30, @PageExtentY(), 0, "Arial", 14, 0)

PrintString(Mail Name, 450, 200, 0, "BArial", 16, 0)
PrintString(Address1 + " " + Apt, 450, @PageExtentY(), 0, "BArial", 16, 0)
PrintString(City + ", " + State + "  " + Zip, 450, @PageExtentY(), 0, "BArial", 16, 0)
FinishPage()
RestoreDefaultPrinter()
 

Your suggestion to try a static text box and change the label sounds like it mght be the perfect solution, assuming that, indeed, it does not trigger an on form change event.  I searched through he program guide and do not have a clue what function I would use to accomplish the programming.  Could you point me in the right direction, please.

Thanks!

Erika -

I forgot about the "throw focus."  Most of the "conditions" simply play a sound file (instead of providing a message box with the accompanying obnoxious sound).

I have been told many times to STOP using STOP; however, it works perfectly in this instance and I simply haven't had the time to figure out the alternative way to do this.  (Perhaps on January 26th, I'll get some fresh ideas).   

@label returns the label text of the layout element, so I don't think that's the one I want.  That led me; however, to
Label(element,m) which allows me to "Assigns label m to layout element. Adds a label if none exists." and that sounds like precisely what I need.

I am very eager to try it but first I MUST work on my new Palm Pilot which I received as a gift, after having kinda wanted one for over 20 years or so.  Soon as I get it working with my address book uploaded, I am going to try this.

Thanks!

Quote:


Stop only appears to work perfectly in this instance but I can guarantee you that it is not working perfectly. Calling Stop is like driving your car into a wall doing 100 mph. You will stop and it will not be pretty. The alternative in this case is a pair of braces {} on your last else statement. The reason you were using STOP is because your code was written incorrectly and the last Else statement was only controlling the call to AlternateDefaultPrinter().

Var Z as int

if not @update then
{
	z = @asynchshell("C:\Sesame\Data\Sounds\Cannot Use Here.wav")
}
else if status = "deceased"
{
	z = @asynchshell("C:\Sesame\Data\Sounds\Deceased.wav")
}
else if record type = "companion" and @isblank(Mail Name) then
{
	z = @asynchshell("C:\Sesame\Data\Sounds\Companion.wav")
	throwfocus(Alt Record)
}
else if @isblank(Mail Name) and not record type = "companion" then
{
	z = @asynchshell("C:\Sesame\Data\Sounds\Mail Name.wav")
	throwfocus(Mail Name)
}
else if @isblank (Address1) or @isblank (city) or @isblank (state) or @isblank (zip) then
{
	z = @asynchshell("C:\Sesame\Data\Sounds\Address Incomplete.wav")
}
else
{
	AlternateDefaultPrinter("Auto HP LaserJet 5 - Envelopes")
	Newpage(950,412)
	PrintString("Spencer Wulwick (MVR)", 30, 25, 0, "Arial", 14, 0)
	PrintString("210 South Hale Avenue", 30, @PageExtentY(), 0, "Arial", 14, 0)
	PrintString("Tampa, FL 33609-3933", 30, @PageExtentY(), 0, "Arial", 14, 0)

	PrintString(Mail Name, 450, 200, 0, "BArial", 16, 0)
	PrintString(Address1 + " " + Apt, 450, @PageExtentY(), 0, "BArial", 16, 0)
	PrintString(City + ", " + State + "  " + Zip, 450, @PageExtentY(), 0, "BArial", 16, 0)
	FinishPage()
	RestoreDefaultPrinter()
} 

-Ray

Hi -

Ray, thanks so much for taking time to provide the "correct" code for my command button.  

Mark, thanks for the explanation and, especially now that Ray has given me the code - and now that I have a better and realistic reason for not using "stop," I will get it "fixed" and avoid its use.

I would strongly urge you to put stronger language in the Programmer's Guide cautioning against the use.  I would even go so far as to state that this is only available if it MUST be used in converting Q&A applications and that it should NOT be used in newly developed Sesame applications.  If the programming guide gives me the instructions for using a specific "function" (I'm referring to "stop" in this instance) then I ought to be comfortable with using it.  It is disconcerting to follow the published guide and then be told - "this is bad."

I would hope that at some point, the references to Q&A could be eliminated completely. After all, Q&A has been "dead" (even though I realize that some people are still using it) for over 10 years now.  Sesame has been out for two. At some point, Q&A users, who will convert to Sesame will be non-existent and the manuals will be cleaner and clearer if they are limited to Sesame.

Thanks.

Quote:

Ditto!