Hi,

I have 3 related tables which I would like to be able to show in a single SF Maintenance Form, I also would like to use a tree control to show all the data (pretty much like MS Outlook).

Is there a SF class that would help me out get this form started?  also how would I handle the data manipulation (adding, edit, delete) of the children records for the other two tables, since the main one will be handle by the ToolStrip control.

Thanks!

Edhy Rijo

Hi Trent,

Thanks for the explanations.

I attached an image of the form I am currently working so you can have a better idea of what I want to accomplish.

In this form I have 2 business objects CustomerBO1 and CustomerBuildingAddressBO1 (this is the child), I tried adding a 2nd MaintenanceFormToolStrip to handle the CustomerBuildingAddressBO1 but I did not find a way to attached either the BO to the TS or viceversa.  So I ended up with a Windows TS and manually add the buttons, and call the CustomerBuildingAddressBO1.Add(), etc which works fine, but I think there should be an easier way to tide a MaintenanceTS to the child BS to do this instead of manually having to control all the TS buttons state, and if this is the only way, could you please tell me how to manage buttons state (enable/disable) for the child BO?

Thanks!

Edhy Rijo

The MaintenanceFormToolStrip is designed to operate on the business objects on the form that are specified by the IncludeInFormX properties.  So, you can only have one MFTS per form (technically, you can have more than one, but they would all do the same thing). 

So, if you have a toolstrip that you would like to use on a child business object, you will need to manage the states manually.  To do so, attach to the child business object's EditingStateChanged event.  This event will tell you the editing state of the business object and you can enable/disable the buttons accordingly from within the event handler.

Hi Ben,

Thanks for the heads up on this one.  It looks like this would be a nice Enhancement Request, to have a SF ToolStrip class which can be attached to any Business Object.  Since SF already have the MaintenanceFormToolStrip, I am sure it could no take you guys a lot of time to implement this feature.

Edhy Rijo

This is why we added the IncludeInForm properties.  Attaching a BO to a specific MFTS is a total rewrite of the MFTS.  The MFTS is basically a "dumb" control and listens to the events on the form and calls methods on the SF BaseForm.  Since there was a desire for the specific BO functionality, then this is why we provided the IncludeInForm properties.  As for a child BO, we will generally create a ThemedToolStrip with a custom Add/Edit/Delete button on it and manually manage the enabled states of the buttons and maually call the Add on the child BOs.

Hi Trent,

For this very reason is that I would like to see a class to handle this kind of situation, so this way if I have several form, with several child BOs, I could simply drop as many instances of this ToolStrip class and set it to the BO I would like to have the Add/Edit/Save/Undo buttons, instead of me adding this repetitive code everytime in every project.  Productivity for developers

In Visual FoxPro, I would simply create a subclass of the MFTS and add it to  my needs, but right now, I don't have all that experience in .NET and since I am learning with SF, then I would simply try to get as many new productivity features I may miss, included in the framework via the Enhancement Request forum.

P.S.

With Ben suggestion I was able to have the toolstrip working the way I want it for the BO, even though I am learning by doing it manually, for other forms/projects I rather have a class to drop and set some properties to make it work.

Edhy Rijo