Designing Menus and Toolbars

  • Article

Menus and toolbars provide a structured and accessible route for users to leverage the commands and tools contained in your applications. Proper planning and design of menus and toolbars will make sure the key functionality of your applications is exposed, and users will not become frustrated as they try to use your applications. For information about customizing Visual FoxPro toolbars, see Configuring Visual FoxPro.

Users often browse menus before looking elsewhere for information about your application. If your menus are well designed, users can organize their understanding of the application by developing a mental model based on the menu organization and content alone. With the Visual FoxPro Menu designer, you can create menus that enhance the quality of your applications.

Each part of a Visual FoxPro application can have its own menu system or set of menus. The following topics describe how to create a menu system. For details about adding menus to an application, see Compiling an Application.

In This Section

  • Menu System Creation
    Much of the work involved in creating a menu system is done in the Menu designer, where you create the actual menus, submenus, and menu options.
  • Including Menus in an Application
    When you create a menu system, you can include it in your application.
  • Assigning Tasks to a Menu System
    As you create a menu system, you should consider ease of access to the system, and you must assign tasks to the system.
  • Adding Setup Code to a Menu System
    You can customize a menu system by adding setup code to it.
  • Adding Cleanup Code to a Menu System
    You can tailor your menu system by adding cleanup code to it.
  • Controlling Menus at Run Time
    Each Visual FoxPro menu has two names, and each menu item has a name and a number. Visual FoxPro uses one name in the user interface and the other name or number in the generated menu program (.mpr).
  • Creating Custom Toolbars
    If your application includes repetitive tasks that users perform frequently, you can add custom toolbars to simplify or speed up the tasks.
  • Testing and Debugging a Menu System
    You can preview a menu system as you design it, or you can test and debug it after generating the menu program.
  • Customizing a Menu System
    After creating a basic menu system, you can customize it. For example, you can create status bar messages, define menu locations, or define default procedures.
  • Creating the Interface
    Using Visual FoxPro forms, classes, controls, menus, and toolbars, you can build interfaces that help users gain access to the full potential of your programs.
  • Creating Forms
    Your application must have forms to make it possible for users to view and enter data. However, you can customize standard forms visually and programmatically to create a specialized environment for your users.
  • Working with Forms
    After creating your form, you can run, hide, or alter it in different ways.
  • Using Controls
    Controls manage the interactions between users and your application. Visual FoxPro offers a variety of controls to enhance your application interface.