On Tuesday 11 December 2007 03:24:18 am Dave Crozier wrote: > To All, > OK, the time has come to get into Dabo with avengeance - so here I am. I > guess I'll really bug you all in the near future with the regular stupid > newbie questions etc. regarding Dabo - so for that I apologise in advance. > <BG> > > I have a project here at work which would seem to be ripe for use with Dabo > as a first introduction, even though I have tracked the Dabo project from > day 1 - as Ed and Paul will know. What I have always needed is an opening > to get into the product as well as some spare time, both of which are now > available. > > The application to generate is a Timeclock system which is currently > written in VFP using native VFP 9 tables (no autoinc fields or anything > special that isn't VFP7 compatible in terms of table structures)) and a > screenshot of the front end of the application is on my website: > > www.replacement-software.co.uk/Dabo/timeclock_main_screen.png > > 1. Obviously my first question to ask is where isit best to start, but > before I start I'll explain the setup here. > > 2. Development system is Windows XP with Komodo IDE which seems to work > really well with Python as I'm used to it for PHP development even though I > do have a copy of the Wing IDE available - any comments as to the > benefits/drawbacks of each when it comes to Python would be welcome. > > 3. I have loaded the full Dabo system with SVN as well as Tortoise and can > run all the demos and application builders no problems. I have also looked > at the Wiki and taken in as much as I can without getting into some code > cutting. > > 4. Would it be better to start with the Application Wizard Generated code > and work backwards to what I want or start with a blank page and simply cut > code from scratch using the calls into Dabo? Bear in mind that I've been > used to VFP as an integrated Visual IDE for - well let's say it is probably > far too long! > > 5. Has anyone successfully managed to access VFP data (read and write) > using anything other than the PHP ADODB software > > http://phplens.com/lens/adodb/adodb-py-docs.htm > > in addition to the mxODBC software > > http://www.egenix.com/products/python/mxODBC/ > > which is a obviously a commercial package. If so, then how, and what are > the potential problems. Initially I want to use VFP tables even though I am > going to migrate the application to a full client/server setup, which > brings me to my next point regarding MsSQL. > > 6. In the Application wizard I have tried to use the MsSQL connection in > order to connect to MsSQLExpress (latest version) but had no joy. What is > the status of this feature and plans to implement - if not present already, > or am I doing something completely wrong here? > > 7. I have read John F's recent post/intro to creating a Dabo Demo using Biz > Obj's which was quite useful and hopefully by starting on this project I > can supplement the "beginners guide" with my experiences for the benefit of > all concerned. > > 8. Most of Python I am happy with so not many problems with the language > here even though I still find it difficult to get into the Python mentality > when "string slicing" where I always have to take a second look before I > plumb in the parameters, but it will come to be second nature I'm sure. > > 9. Finally, my initial attempt is to generate the Dabo equivalent of the > Timeclock application simply as a client, allowing the entry of an employee > number from the keyboard (connected to a card reader) and populating the > grid (see screen shot) with the date/time that the employee clocks in or > out as well as colouring the grid entry red if clocked out and green if > clocked in. In addition, the employee picture is shown on the screen > (before anyone else says it, the ugly one in the screen shot is me <BG>). > The second phase is then to produce the reports and the final phase to > convert the VFP employee admin program into Dabo - but first things first > and slowly but surely I guess. > > Sorry about the protracted post and that's it folks. Any comments would be > extremely welcome - good or bad! > > Regards > Dave Crozier
Great Dave I know you'll have fun! I'm not to sure about DBF's but I recall Ed saying that it could be done. I worked a little with unixODBC and found that it worked OK with the framework. At the time I was trying to get MS-SQL working (that's before we choose the current interface). But I think that working with and maybe creating a new Dabo database interface would be a little to much for the first app. I wonder if you'd be better working with MS-SQL? You said you're going to convert in the future anyway. Or you might consider one of the other supported database engines. Like Nate said, I like wing (current version is 3.0?) for an editor. Mostly, due to the great debugging it has. But I have read good things about Komodo. In my personal history with Dabo I started out with AppWizard. I'd say that was a mistake. It is not code that one can casually review and come away with understanding. Larry and I use both the ClassDesigner and hand code UI's. I took a look at your link and I think I could code it using the ClassDesigner. So I would suggest using the ClassDesigner. Even if you were to decide that hand coding was required you would have a better understanding of the UI requirements after using the ClassDesigner. Also you will need to code the coloring of the grid. Other than that I see no reason the ClassDesigner wouldn't work. Of course I'd have to see the DBC structure to determine the bizObject needs. Is the "card reader" a keyboard wedge type of device? -- John Fabiani _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/dabo-users Searchable Archives: http://leafe.com/archives/search/dabo-users This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/dabo-users/[EMAIL PROTECTED]
