Using the Component Gallery

The Component Gallery is a container for catalogs of software objects such as class libraries, forms, buttons, and so on. The Component Gallery also contains Visual FoxPro classes. You can use the Component Gallery to organize components into object, project, application, or other groupings. These visual groupings are dynamically customizable so that you can use, duplicate, or rearrange components among several classifications within the Component Gallery. You can access a specific component from any of the places in the Component Gallery in which you place a reference to that component. You can have several references in different catalogs or folders to a single object. For instance, a button might appear in one or more Component Gallery project categories (represented as folders), but might also be visible in a "Tools" category that holds references to all the buttons you use.

You can use the Component Gallery for all the functions provided by the separate Project Manager, Class Browser, and Form Controls toolbar. Each of the other Visual FoxPro components provides very specific focus to the projects or classes from within the special environment of either Project file or Class library. The Component Gallery allows you to manage the relationships between components and many of the behaviors of those components from an abstract design level as well as from a more intimate development perspective.

You can drag and drop components within the Component Gallery and from the Component Gallery to projects or forms. You can also change properties of objects or classes from within the Component Gallery.

The Component Gallery can contain any Visual FoxPro element, including local and remote documents, files, or folders, Automation servers like Microsoft Excel and Word, and HTML locations and files. You can also include .prg files containing code snippets, classes, wizards, builders, or art.

In This Section

  • Development Productivity Tools
    Provides information on developer tools provided for application development within the Visual FoxPro application and the language.
  • IntelliSense Overview
    Provides information on IntelliSense, which displays information in popup windows and drop-down lists that assist you with statement and function completion syntax.
  • Coverage Profiler Application
    Discusses a coverage application, which writes information about which lines of code in a file were run, and a profiler application, which provides information about which lines actually run, how many times a line is run, duration, and so on.
  • Project Manager Hooks
    Describes how you can access a project programmatically, making it possible for you to manipulate a project as an object.
  • Automating Keystroke Tasks with Macros
    Describes how you can record and save keystrokes in macros by using the Macros dialog box.
  • Productivity Tools
    Describes the different tools available to help make creating Visual FoxPro applications easier and faster.