Creating basic forms

A basic form is like a draft that you refine until you have exactly what you want. After you create the basic form, you enhance the form to make data entry fast and to present the data usefully.

StepsTo create a basic form:

  1. Click the New button in the PowerBar.

  2. Select the Object tab, the Form icon, and click OK.

    The New Form dialog box displays the data sources and form styles you can choose.

  3. Choose the data source for the form:

    Data source

    Pick this data source when

    Quick Select

    The data is from tables that are connected through a key, and you need only to sort and limit data.

    SQL Select

    Your data is from tables that are not connected through a key, or you want more control over the SQL SELECT statement generated for the data source.

    Query

    The data has been defined as a query.

    For complete information about using each data source and defining the data for the form, see “Selecting a data source”.

  4. Choose a form style, then click OK.

    You can choose one of the built-in form styles of InfoMaker or a custom form style developed in your organization using PowerBuilder.

  5. Define the data, then click OK.

    NoteIf you are told the form is not updatable After defining the data for the form, you might see a message box telling you that the form is not updatable. For information about these situations, see “Defining data so that a form can update a database”.

    InfoMaker generates the basic form and displays it in the Form painter Layout view. The following illustration shows the basic form for the freeform form using all columns in the Customer table:

    Shown is the basic form for the freeform form as it displays in the Form painter Layout view. Left aligned text fields display data for all columns in the Customer table, such as Customer I D, First Name, and Last Name. Each field has a label to its left.
  6. Save the form.

    For information, see “Saving the form”.

  7. Run the form.

    For information, see “Running forms”.

At this point, you can enhance the form. For more information, see Chapter 20, “Enhancing Forms”.