Enhancements to Visual FoxPro Editors

Visual FoxPro contains improvements made to its editor tools:

  • Search for code references and view code definitions
  • View parent and inherited code
  • Beautify code blocks
  • Printing source code syntax in color

Search for Code References and View Code Definitions

You can search for and replace code references or text using the Look Up Reference dialog box. For more information, see Searching and Replacing Code References.

You can locate and view definitions of code elements in your program files. For more information about viewing code definitions, see Viewing Code Definitions and _FOXREF System Variable.

View Parent and Inherited Code

You can now view code inherited from parent classes for objects, events, and methods, making it easier to decide whether you want to use or override the inherited code. The View Parent Code button appears in the code window only when parent classes exist. Clicking the View Parent Code button displays parent classes in bold when code exists.

If inherited code exists for methods and events appearing in the properties list of the Properties window, the class names and class libraries from which methods and events inherit code appear as follows:

Inherited cClassname ClassLibrary

You can view this inherited code by right-clicking the method or event in the properties list and selecting View Inherited Code from the shortcut menu that appears.

The View Parent and View Inherited Code features support only the viewing of parent code, not editing. You need to use the Class Browser to edit parent class code if a subclass is in use.

For more information, see Manipulating Objects and Properties Window.

Beautify Code Blocks

You can now use the Beautify tool to reformat a block of code instead of only entire files and methods. You can select the Beautify tool from the Tools menu and from the shortcut menu in the editing window of a program (.prg) file. For more information, see Formatting Code in Programs.

Printing Source Code Syntax in Color

You can now print your source code files in colors that match the appearance of code syntax in the Editing window. Visual FoxPro supports color printing for source code where color syntax appears, including programs, methods, stored procedures, and memos. To print your code files in color, you must have a color printer to select the color printing options available for your printer.

For more information, see Displaying and Printing Source Code Files in Color.

See Also

What's New in Visual FoxPro 8.0 | Language Enhancements | Data Features Enhancements | Miscellaneous Enhancements | Behavior Changes Since Visual FoxPro 7.0