One of the less intuitive aspects of working with DesignBais is that things aren’t always done directly. We don’t always use Field=Data to assign data to a field. We frequently need to tell the field where it needs to go to get its data, and then we load that data source as necessary.
Part 1 on Launching a URL provided details about how to launch a complex URL from a DesignBais form. In this Part 2 of 2 I’ll show you how to send e-mail from the user’s PC. The effect we’re looking for is a Click Here link which will launch the end-user’s email client, rather than sending mail from the server.
There is an issue with DesignBais v3.3 and mv.NET v2.1.4 where starting DesignBais from the startDB.asp web page consistently fails with "cannot connect"-type messages that don’t lead to any specific problem. If you have not seen this then you don’t need the solution presented here, but for some of us the problem seems chronic.
I was asked by one of my clients to provide a button on a Customer Master Maintenance form which would launch a browser window to display a map showing directions from the home office to the customer being viewed. Oh boy, a challenge! This article provides info required for doing this.
When starting work with DesignBais all of us are introduced to that initial bit of code – the big Case block that does the Gosub to handle each event. Many of us copy this template to all of our programs, then cut out what we don’t need. Some of us leave it all in there, just in case we do […]
The Graph component in DesignBais is great. The documentation might make the BASIC code for graphs look complex, but after you do it just once, you’ll realize it’s quite simple. This article discusses how to generate graphs using alternative components. As a bonus we’ll see how DesignBais can be integrated with lots of third-party products and services, to provide functionality […]
A question came up in the DesignBais forum : "Is there any way for me to find the IP Address or Hostname of the requesting machine?" There are a couple "unorthodox" ways to do this. With the information provided here you will get an idea of how to get any data into your application from other sources in your network.
DesignBais uses CSS styles to help us maintain a consistent style and color palatte throughout our applications. Too much variety decreases the professional look and feel (L&F) of the environment. But there are times where a little splash of color can be helpful. Displaying one or more images programmatically can also help to accentuate significant data.
DesignBais requires very little maintenance but here are a couple pointers.
I’m not going to actually have a new quote every week but this one from Kevin King in the U2 forum just needs to be repeated: "I think there’s a lot to be said for looking at a database like a refrigerator. Stuff goes in, stuff comes out, and if stuff stays in too long it becomes unusable. The big […]
DesignBais doesn’t have documented support for JavaScript or VBScript for customized client-side behaviors, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it. Here’s a discussion on the topic.
Using graphical elements familiar to end-users will enhance the value of your application and show that you really are taking that next step toward a real GUI. A toolbar is an example of the sort of thick-client UI feature that end-users are starting to expect in browser apps now.
When adding an image in the Form Designer, the default Image File value is DBLOGO.JPG. When referring to images, we use this original Image File value, for example: DBIMAGESPEC<1> = "DBLOGO.JPG" This presents a problem as soon as another image goes on the form and you need to refer to it in code – which DBLOGO.JPG do you want?
For fields that input and display time, the default output format is MTHS, which will show AM/PM plus the seconds. Most applications don’t require seconds, but there is no way to display data in DesignBais with a mask like MTH. A similar situation applies to dates where you want to input or display dates in a variety of formats, depending on […]
Consider referring to images indirectly, rather than using filenames directly in code.
mv.NET is a suite of three packages, one of which is the Adapter Objects library. This allows MV data to serve as a data source for ADO.NET just like any relational data source. Using the library can be very easy. In Visual Studio you can drop toolbox objects onto a form. Doing so invokes a Wizard to configure the components. […]
Greetings DesignBais developers! Nebula Research and Development recently entered into an agreement with DesignBais International to provide Professional Services to and on behalf of DesignBais International, on an as-requested basis. In case you didn’t know me before, I just wanted to introduce myself.
Rather than putting application images directly into C:\db\images, put them in a folder under that. For example: C:\db\images\MyComp. This will help with upgrades, doing mass replacement of image files, etc. The default path used by DesignBais for images is images\ (with a trailing slash and relative to the base directory which is usually C:\db\. So, when referring to images, use […]
Welcome to the first product usage tip for DesignBais on this blog! Radio buttons are mutually exclusive, round check boxes. Selecting one of them unsets all of the others. DesignBais does not yet natively support radio buttons, but we can simulate them using the image technique for toolbars and other controls (to be discussed in another tip).
DesignBais is a great product and perfectly suited to the Pick developer who doesn’t know or care about .NET, ODBC, sockets, ActiveX, Java, PHP, Perl, or any of these other tools that we discuss in public forums. I tend to say DesignBais is not for us, the geeks in the crowd, but that’s not entirely accurate.