DDE with Fox Windows 2.6a and Excel 5.0 and others
Alicia Carla Longstreet
Excel will read and write the Lotus .wk1 spreadsheet format without any
trouble at all.
Excel has a help function just for users of Lotus 123. You might want
to check it out. I think Excel even has a macor for converting Lotus
macros, I know version 4.0 had it, I think 5.0 has it. I can't check
because I am using version 7.0, version 7.0 has a Lotus macro converter
but that doesn't mean 5.0 had it, although it is a good indicator.
Don't feel bad Excel is a *MUCH* *BETTER* product that Lotus.
The entire Microsoft Windows Office suite can be DDE servers, also
WordPerfect, Ami Pro, Lotus for Windows, Quattro Pro for Windows, and
most major windows applications as well.
If you really want SUPER presentations get a hold of PowerPoint, you can
DDE to it, or just create graphs and other presentations that will knock
your bosses socks off, and it is easier than a spreadsheet for
developing quality presentations and slide shows.
Excel uses a subset of Visual BASIC for its macros and has an excellent
macro recorder. You just start the recorder and do what ever it is you
want automated, save the macro and voila your done. You can easily
modify the recorded macro to eliminate mistakes. Since it uses BASIC
syntax you won't find it hard to learn.
Have fun
Alicia Carla Longstreet
John
Does anyone have any experience using DDE programs with Fox as client and
Excel as server? I really use it as Fox as master and Excel as slave.
Currently, I use Fox/Lotus 4.01 Windows to export query results to a wk1
file. Then Lotus picks up and creates flashy color charts for the bosses,
who are Doctors and Hospital admin folks who marvel at the ease with which
things can be done (as if it's easy). The trouble is - the Info Service
Department in my organization has gone to every other file server and
converted from Lotus Dos to Excel and Quattro Pro for Windows! (Its a
plot!) Excel macros are not the same as Lotus and I was wondering if anyone
has any tips/pointers about the best way to import/export/graph/print.
Also, does anyone know of any other Windows programs that support DDE? I'm
thinking in the area of graphics packages. (Down the road I'll be creating
a system to archive scanned documents and I'd like to use jpeg images or
other highly compressed formats).
Olav Bjørn Lygre
This is some sample code to get you going.(Sorry about bad language!)
copy to m:\ncc\nes\sData type xls //Copy data to a Excel file from Foxpro table
copy to m:\ncc\nes\sData1 type xls for apr_cutoff<=app.app_cutoff //Copy data to a Excel file from Foxpro table
nCount=reccount()
use
sele apr
=DDESetOption("SAFETY",FALSE)
mchannum = DDEInitiate("Excel","System") //Test if Excel is running
lStart=FALSE
IF mchannum = -1
set message to "Ok, starting Excel!" //No, start Excel
run /N1 i:\excel\excel
lStart=TRUE
mchannum = DDEInitiate("Excel","System")
endif
IF mchannum != -1
=DDEexecute(mchannum,'[open("m:\nes\reports\skurve.xlc","1")]') /Load som graphs
set message to "Ok, DDE - communication with Excel establish"
=DDEexecute(mchannum,'[print?()]') /print
if lStart
=DDEexecute(mchannum,'[quit()]') /quit if started by this app.
else
=DDEexecute(mchannum,'[close()]') /else only close file
endif
=DDETerminate(mchannum) && Close the channel
ELSE
wait window "Error !"
ENDIF
Jack Lampka
I have to agree with Alicia. The MS Office suite is a good product. My
partners and I used Access and Excel to track and report environmental
performance of a grocery chain. We designed an Access database that
tracks the necessary information and exports the data into Excel. A
Visual Basic macro in Excel uses the data to generate graphical reports
for eight stores and ten activities. Everything is done on a click of a
button.
The only thing I don't like about Access is that it doen't use Visual
Basic as its macro language.
Jack Lampka