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# How To Create a Menu with a Variable Pad

Article ID: 113812

Article Last Modified on 6/29/2004

APPLIES TO

- Microsoft Visual FoxPro 3.0 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Visual FoxPro 5.0 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Visual FoxPro 6.0 Professional Edition
- Microsoft FoxPro 2.0
- Microsoft FoxPro 2.5b for MS-DOS
- Microsoft FoxPro 2.5a
- Microsoft FoxPro 2.5b for MS-DOS
- Microsoft FoxPro 2.6 for MS-DOS
- Microsoft FoxPro 2.5b
- Microsoft FoxPro 2.5a
- Microsoft FoxPro 2.5b
- Microsoft FoxPro 2.6 Standard Edition

This article was previously published under Q113812

## SUMMARY

This article demonstrates how to make a menu choice vary with the contents of a database field by using the Menu Builder and very little code.

## MORE INFORMATION

Use one of the following examples, depending on your version of FoxPro.

### FoxPro 2.x Example

The following steps show how to create a menu that contains a pad whose name equals the CITY field of the current record in SALESMAN.DBF, one of the sample databases provided with FoxPro.

1. In the Command window, issue the following commands to set the default working directory to the TUTORIAL subdirectory and open the SALESMAN.DBF database:

             SET DEFAULT TO C:\<FoxPro directory>\TUTORIAL
             USE SALESMAN

2. In the Command window, type the following command to display the database's structure:

             DISPLAY STRUCTURE

   Note that the database contains a character field called CITY.
3. In the Command window, type the following command to create a menu design called CHGPAD:

             CREATE MENU CHGPAD

4. In the Prompt box, type the following text:

   `\<"+alltrim(city)+"`

   ### Notes

   - Lowercase is not required above, but it will make searching for this text later in the generated code easier.
   - "\<" tells FoxPro to highlight the first letter of this menu pad and use it as a hot key (this will be the first letter of the city's name). ALLTRIM(CITY) removes leading and trailing spaces from the contents of the CITY field.
   - The quotation marks are used in anticipation of the menu code that will be generated by the Menu Builder (see the DEFINE PAD statement in step 8).
5. Choose Options, then Pad Name, and enter CityPad for the pad name. Choose OK to close the Pad Name dialog box. Choose OK again to close the Options dialog box.
6. To generate the menu-code file CHGPAD.MPR, choose Generate from the Program menu. Choose Yes when asked if you want to save the menu design CHGPAD.MNX, and then choose Generate in the subsequent dialog box.
7. Press ESC to close the menu-design window.
8. In the Command window, view the generated menu code by typing:

             MODIFY COMMAND CHGPAD.MPR

   Look for the following DEFINE PAD statement in the code:

             DEFINE PAD CityPad OF _MSYSMENU PROMPT "\<"+alltrim(city)+"" ;
             COLOR SCHEME 3

   Note that the item entered in the Prompt box during menu design (\<"+alltrim(city)+") was inserted in the menu code. The two quotation marks you typed in were needed to close off the two quotation marks automatically inserted by the Menu Builder. This results in the concatenation of CITY as a field, not as the word "CITY".
9. Select the above line of code, copy it to the Clipboard by pressing CTRL+C, and press the ESC key to return to the Command window.
10. In the Command window, type "MODIFY COMMAND CHGPAD" (without the quotation marks), and then type the following program lines (you can paste the DEFINE PAD line below from the Clipboard by pressing CTRL+V):

               SET DEFAULT TO C:\<FoxPro directory>\TUTORIAL
               USE SALESMAN
               GO TOP              && Go to 1st record
               DO CHGPAD.MPR       && Display CHGPAD menu with 1st record's city
               WAIT WINDOW "The menu pad shows the first record's city...press ;
                  the SPACEBAR"

               SKIP                && Go to 2nd record; redefine pad for its city
               DEFINE PAD CityPad OF _MSYSMENU PROMPT "\<"+alltrim(city)+"" ;
               COLOR SCHEME 3
               WAIT WINDOW "The menu pad shows the next record's city...press ;
                  the SPACEBAR"

              SET SYSMENU TO DEFAULT  && Restore system menu

11. Press CTRL+W to exit and save this program as CHGPAD.PRG.
12. In the Command window, type the following command to execute the program:

               DO CHGPAD

You can apply the above technique to a screen by placing the aforementioned DEFINE PAD statement in the screen's READ-level SHOW clause; this way, whenever SHOW GETS is used to refresh a screen's GET fields (for example, when displaying another record), the menu pad will be updated to reflect the new record's city.

### Visual FoxPro Example

1. In the Command window, issue the following commands to set the default working directory to the TUTORIAL subdirectory and open the EMPLOYEE.DBF database:

             SET DEFAULT TO C:\VFP\SAMPLES\DATA
             USE EMPLOYEE

2. In the Command window, type the following command to display the database's structure:

             DISPLAY STRUCTURE

   Note that the database contains a character field called CITY.
3. In the Command window, type the following command to create a menu design called CHGPAD:

             CREATE MENU CHGPAD

4. In the Prompt box, type the following text:

   `\<"+alltrim(city)+"`

   ### Notes

   - Lowercase is not required above, but it will make searching for this text later in the generated code easier.
   - "\<" tells FoxPro to highlight the first letter of this menu pad and use it as a hot key (this will be the first letter of the city's name). ALLTRIM(CITY) removes leading and trailing spaces from the contents of the CITY field.
   - The quotation marks are used in anticipation of the menu code that will be generated by the Menu Builder (see the DEFINE PAD statement in step 8).
5. Choose Options, then Pad Name, and enter CityPad for the pad name. Choose OK to close the Pad Name dialog box. Choose OK again to close the Options dialog box.
6. To generate the menu-code file CHGPAD.MPR, choose Generate from the Menu menu. Choose Yes when asked if you want to save the menu design CHGPAD.MNX, and then choose Generate in the subsequent dialog box.
7. Press ESC to close the menu-design window.
8. In the Command window, view the generated menu code by typing:

             MODIFY COMMAND CHGPAD.MPR

   Look for the following DEFINE PAD statement in the code:

             DEFINE PAD CityPad OF _MSYSMENU PROMPT "\<"+alltrim(city)+"" ;
             COLOR SCHEME 3

   Note that the item entered in the Prompt box during menu design (\<"+alltrim(city)+") was inserted in the menu code. The two quotation marks you typed in were needed to close off the two quotation marks automatically inserted by the Menu Builder. This results in the concatenation of CITY as a field, not as the word "CITY".
9. Select the above line of code, copy it to the Clipboard by pressing CTRL+C, and press the ESC key to return to the Command window.
10. In the Command window, type `MODIFY COMMAND CHGPAD`, and then type the following program lines (you can paste the DEFINE PAD line below from the Clipboard by pressing CTRL+V):

               SET DEFAULT TO C:\VFP\SAMPLES\DATA
               USE EMPLOYEE
               GO TOP              && Go to 1st record
               DO CHGPAD.MPR       && Display CHGPAD menu with 1st record's city
               WAIT WINDOW "The menu pad shows the first record's city...press ;
                  the SPACEBAR"

               SKIP                && Go to 2nd record; redefine pad for its city
               DEFINE PAD CityPad OF _MSYSMENU PROMPT "\<"+alltrim(city)+"" ;
               COLOR SCHEME 3
               WAIT WINDOW "The menu pad shows the next record's city...press ;
                  the SPACEBAR"

              SET SYSMENU TO DEFAULT  && Restore system menu

11. Press CTRL+W to exit and save this program as CHGPAD.PRG.
12. In the Command window, type the following command to execute the program:

               DO CHGPAD

You can apply the above technique to a form by placing the aforementioned DEFINE PAD statement in the form's refresh property; this way, whenever you move to the next record in the table, the menu pad will be updated to reflect the new record's city.

Keywords: kbhowto kbcode kbbuilder KB113812