Similarities between the VFP and VB Environment

• Establishing common VB/VFP functionality

• Comparing and contrasting VB and VFP design-time environments
• Customising the VB and VFP menu structures
• Setting Toolbar options
• Adding Toolbox tabs
• Using right-mouse functionality
• Setting properties using the Properties Window
• Adding multiple projects to the current VB session

Using Forms

• Investigating VB and VFP forms' properties and methods

• Using the VB Form Layout window
• Comparing effective custom interfaces in VB and VFP using standard and custom controls
• Designing MDI applications
• Using the Forms collection to control your application

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Building Controls

• Using custom controls to enhance your application

• Deploying the Windows common controls to provide project enhancements
• Building a simple spinner control project
• Compiling an OCX control project   

Using Wizards

• Using the Application Wizard to create SDI and MDI applications

• Incorporating the Data Form Wizard to add complex data forms to your application.
• Utilising the Class Builder to provide an object model for your application.
• Running the ActiveX Document Wizard to migrate forms in your application to ActiveX Documents

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Introduction to Data Access

• Investigating VB and VFP's data access options

• Understanding the different data object library structures
• Defining the optimal mechanism for data access

Introduction to Data Handling

• Contrasting visual methods (VFP's Data Environment) versus VB's data environment

• Manipulating the Data Control
• Using VB and VFP data-bound controls to create and display local Recordsets and remote Resultsets
• Comparing VB and VFP Grids
• Employing SQL to group and filter data rows

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Advanced Data Handling

• Building ODBC data sources using the ODBC Data Source Administrator

• Employing the UserConnection designer
• Creating Connection strings for remote data access
• Building ActiveX data handling objects
• Investigating data object library events
• Understanding multi-user concurrency issues
• Controlling Data Access
• Customising Locking
• Using Transaction Management
• Understanding Transaction Logging issues

Using Variables

• Investigating the system data types

• Comparing and contrasting VB and VFP variables
• Understanding the scope of variables in VB
• Using variable naming conventions

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Elementary Programming Techniques

• Saving and running programs

• Using in-line comments for documenting code
• Contrasting procedural and event-driven coding processes
• Developing code using conditional structures
• Creating user-defined sub and function procedures
• Using the Optional argument

Build Menu Structures for Applications

• Contrasting the VFP and VB Menu Editors

• Defining Access keys for menus
• Building Short-cut keys
• Negotiating for toolbar positioning
• Using Menu Control Arrays to simplify programming
• Incorporating Clipboard functionality into a VB menu

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Error-Handling

• Avoiding logical and syntactical errors

• Handling errors using the Err object's properties/methods
• Tracking errors in the Debug (Immediate) window
• Using Breakpoints and the Stop statement to step through code
• Using the Watch window to track and change variable values
• Check the Call Stack for currently executing procedures

Report Writers

• Using VB's data Reports to output simple data reports

• Laying out the structure of a report page
• Building multicolumn reports from ODBC data

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Advanced Report Writing

• Incorporating computed columns

• Using Aggregate functions
• Working with Cross-Tab reports

Design Queries

• Using the DAO 3.51 object library

• Programming the ADO 2.1 object library

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SQL Commands

• Investigate the SELECT statement

• Creating a database
• Using the CREATE/ALTER TABLE statement
• Building an index with the CREATE INDEX statement
• Understanding join types: Inner, Outer and Self Joins
• Carrying out multi-table joins
• Using an append query - INSERT INTO
• Updating data rows with the UPDATE statement
• Deleting data rows using the DELETE statement

Object-Centred Programming

• The Component Object Model (COM)

• Creating objects with user-defined properties and methods
• Raising events from the ActiveX Server to the Client
• Using the VB Class Builder to create user-defined properties, events and methods
• Building an ActiveX Code Component to open local Jet databases
• Extending the ActiveX Code Component to open remote data sources
• Developing the ActiveX Code Component to return resultsets
• Using the ActiveX Code Component to modify data

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The Component Object Model

• Understanding the underlying structure of ActiveX objects

• Investigating common interfaces (Unknown, Dispatch)
• Designing Polymorphic interfaces
• Building Dual interfaces
• Using Aggregation in place of Implementation Inheritance

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PARTICULARS:

Cost:	£1320 ( € 2112) excluding VAT
Platform:	Windows NT or 2000
Numbers:	Maximum of 6 people on each course at F1’s training facilities in London, Bath and Manchester