Erik Gomez

Visual FoxPro 9 Report Preview Extended

egomez — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 07:38:00 GMT

Visual FoxPro 9’s (VFP9) report preview has gone a long way since it was first introduced. Now VFP (starting with VFP8) has an object assisted report engine paving way to enhancements and providing greater control to report generation.

But what remained was the rather “outdated” albeit functional preview window toolbar and pop-up menu .Looking closely at the toolbar and pop-up menu one finds out that the icons are old (probably dating back to VFP3).

Anyway in attempt to upgrade the report preview looks (the default functionally of the preview window is enough for me, for the moment at least) so that it will blend well with my applications general look and feel, I took a look at the source code of the ReportPreview.app. My application utilizes the silk icons courtesy of Mark James of http://www.famfamfam.com, thus I wanted to use the same icons in the preview window toolbar and in pop-up menu. In order to achieve this I dove into the source code of the ReportPreview.app. I took out some parts that I did not need and added some of my own. Along the way I changed the icons so that the toolbar and pop-up menu will have a unified look with my application's standard toolbars and menus. In the toolbar, notably gone is the clunky combobox that controls the zoom. It has been replaced with the zoom in and zoom out buttons that is in sync with the pop-up menu.

The icons originally came in portable network graphics (PNG) format, but with the help of Cesar Chalom's code, I was able to convert these to BMP with pure white backgrounds suitable for VFP buttons and menus.

It does not take a lot of effort to understand the code for the ReportPreview.app. I can’t release my code as I am not sure if it’s allowed by VFP9’s EULA. Anyway, I was hoping that my little adventure will inspire some of you who feel the same way as I did regarding VFP9’s report preview window. I leave with some screenshots of my application featuring the extended ReportPreview.app.

By the way, my application utilizes Dale Dedoroy's updated Sizer2 resizer class.

Form to XML to Form

egomez — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 08:03:00 GMT

Recently an ex-colleague of mine wanted to send a VFP9 form over the internet through web. His initial method was to compress (zip) the VFP9 form files (SCX and SCT) the then launch a download process on the client side to download the zip file. But he thought why go through all the “trouble” of zipping and downloading when it would be "cooler" to send the VFP9 form files via XML. By converting the files (SCX and SCT) to strings and storing these in memo fields of a cursor and in turn convert the cursor to XML he then can send the files through the internet without zipping these first but he ran into a stumbling block. The form he wanted to send contained several ActiveX controls and using the FileToStr() function posed a problem. The form files could not be re-converted back to their original states once these have been embedded into memo fields and converted to XML using the powerful CursorToXML() and XMLToCursor() functions. His flat-mate who is incidentally my colleague mentioned to me his predicament. Since I had some slack time, I set out to try to help him. I remembered during my development of an email application I did several years ago, that email attachments are encoded/decoded to/from Base64 and then attached. So I used the same technique. I used StrToFile() to convert the files to strings and then encode these strings to Base64 using Strconv() and then the embed resulting strings to memo fields. After that convert the cursor to XML and back to cursor and to form files again and guess what it worked like a charm. Below is the code I used to achieve this.

Set Safety Off

Use In Select("cursMyForm")

Create Cursor cursMyForm (cfilename c(25),mfile m)

lcFormName = "frmMyForm"

m.cfilename = Forceext(lcFormName,"scx")
m.mfile = Strconv(Filetostr(m.cfilename),13) && encode to base64
Insert Into cursMyForm From Memvar
m.cfilename = Forceext(lcFormName,"sct")
m.mfile = Strconv(Filetostr(m.cfilename),13) && encode to base64
Insert Into cursMyForm From Memvar

Cursortoxml("cursMyForm","MyForm.xml",3,512)
Xmltocursor("MyForm.xml","cursTemp",512)

Select cursTemp
Scan
	lcNewFileName = Forceext(Juststem(Alltrim(cfilename)) + "_new",Justext(Alltrim(cfilename)))
	lcNewFile = Strtofile(Strconv(mfile,14),lcNewFileName) && decode memo then convert to file
Endscan

Visual FoxPro and MS Outlook Automation to the Rescue

egomez — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 12:43:00 GMT

After I first heard about O2 Atom Life supporting Windows Mobile 6.0, I really wanted to upgrade my O2 Atom Life’s operating system to Windows Mobile 6.0 but never found the time. To cut to the chase, I did have some slack time last Wednesday and proceeded with upgrade process. In order to back-up the contacts on my O2 Atom Life, I used ActiveSync 4.5 to sync my contacts to a new and empty MS Outlook 2003 profile. Before all of you raised your collective eyebrows on my move, let me say the following: I don’t sync the contacts in my O2 Atom Life and my MS Outlook 2003 profile. I only sync the calendar and tasks. After successfully pairing my O2 with the new and empty MS Outlook 2003 profile I proceeded to sync the contacts only. So with all the contacts from my O2 safely transferred to the MS Outlook, I followed the steps in O2’s website in upgrading my operating system to Windows Mobile 6.0. The upgrade process went without a hitch. So now after doing the usual settings on my O2 after the upgrade, I sync’d it with MS Outlook profile which contained my contacts. Again like a charm my contacts are now in my O2 sporting the Windows Mobile 6.0 operating system. Now I wanted to sync my calendar, so I close MS Outlook and opened it again this time using my usual profile and bam it hit me, I need to un-pair my O2 with the new profile and then pair it with the my usual profile. No big deal right, but since I don’t sync my contacts (with my usual profile and O2) only the calendar and tasks, I need to remove the check mark on the sync options for the contacts but by so doing effectively deleting all the contacts in my O2. So now I was in a dilemma. What should one do in such a predicament? Well, when things can’t be done using the software itself, I turn to my expertise in Visual FoxPro (VFP) and automation of MS Outlook. So here are the steps I took:

I opened MS Outlook with the new profile containing the contacts from my O2 Atom Life.
I ran a snippet of VFP code to extract all the contacts and save these as individual VCard files (extension .vcf).
Send the VCard’s from my laptop to my O2 Atom Life via Bluetooth and viola all my contacts were transferred to my O2 Atom Life.

The Visual FoxPro code snippet I used is found below:

 lnContactsFolder = 10
 lnVCardType = 6

 loOutlook = Createobject("Outlook.Application")
 loNamespace = loOutlook.GetNamespace("MAPI")
 loContacts = loNamespace.GetDefaultFolder(lnContactsFolder).Items

For Each loContact In loContacts
  lcName = loContact.FirstName + loContact.LastName
  Wait Window "Saving: " + lcName Nowait
  lcPath = Forceext("C:\temp\" + lcName,"vcf")
  loContact.SaveAs(lcPath,lnVCardType)
Next

MS Outlook To, Cc and Bcc Entry Fields when composing emails

egomez — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 01:16:00 GMT

I have been toying with the idea of mimicking MS Outlook's way of handling email addresses being keyed-in in the To, Cc and Bcc entry fields. Here is my take on that:

Public oform1

oform1=Newobject("form1")
oform1.Show
Return


**************************************************
*-- Form:         form1 (c:\temp\form1.scx)
*-- ParentClass:  form
*-- BaseClass:    form
*-- Time Stamp:   06/06/08 09:55:13 AM
*
Define Class form1 As Form


	Top = 0
	Left = 0
	Height = 128
	Width = 482
	DoCreate = .T.
	Caption = "Form1"
	Name = "FORM1"


	Add Object text1 As TextBox With ;
		FontName = "Verdana", ;
		FontSize = 8, ;
		Height = 21, ;
		Left = 12, ;
		Top = 24, ;
		Width = 458, ;
		Name = "Text1"


	Add Object edit1 As EditBox With ;
		FontName = "Verdana", ;
		FontSize = 8, ;
		Height = 49, ;
		Left = 12, ;
		Top = 60, ;
		Width = 459, ;
		Name = "Edit1"


	Procedure _selectaddr
	Lparameters oControl

	Local cSep,cText,nCntSep,nSelFr,;
		lnX,lnY,nFr,nTo,nSelLen,nAdd
	Local Array aPos(1)

	cSep = ";"
	cText = Alltrim(oControl.Value)
	nCntSep = Occurs(cSep,cText)
	nSelFr = oControl.SelStart
	Dimension aPos(nCntSep+1)
	aPos(1) = 0
	For lnX = 2 To nCntSep+1)
		aPos(lnX) = At(cSep,oControl.Value,lnX-1)
	Next

	If Right(cText,1) <> cSep
		nAdd = Alen(aPos,1)+1
		Dimension aPos(nAdd)
		aPos(nAdd) = Len(cText)
	Endif

	nFr = 0
	nTo = 0
	For lnY = 1 To Alen(aPos,1)
		If aPos(lnY) <= nSelFr
			nFr = aPos(lnY)
		Endif

		If aPos(lnY) >= nSelFr And nTo = 0
			nTo = aPos(lnY)
		Endif
	Next

	nSelLen = nTo - nFr

	With oControl
		.SelStart = nFr
		.SelLength = Iif(nSelLen<=0,1,nSelLen)
	Endwith
	Endproc


	Procedure Init
	* sample email addresses in textbox and editbox
	With This
		.text1.Value = "myemail@company.com.sg;customer@sales.com;erik@gomex.com"
		.edit1.Value = "myemail@company.com.sg;customer@sales.com;erik@gomex.com"
	Endwith
	Endproc


	Procedure text1.Click
	This.Parent._SelectAddr(This)
	Endproc


	Procedure edit1.Click
	This.Parent._SelectAddr(This)
	Endproc


Enddefine
*
*-- EndDefine: form1
**************************************************

Feedbacks are always welcome. Please feel free to use and improve the above code.

Map Network Drive

egomez — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 02:52:00 GMT

Just want to share this. This has been with me for some time now and have used this in several applications in the past. Hope that someone will find this useful.

**************************************************
*-- Form:         mapnet (d:\vfp_projects\mapnet.scx)
*-- ParentClass:  form
*-- BaseClass:    form
*-- Time Stamp:   11/20/06 11:28:12 AM
*
Define Class mapnet As Form


	Height = 108
	Width = 469
	DoCreate = .T.
	AutoCenter = .T.
	Caption = "Map Network Drive"
	ControlBox = .F.
	Closable = .F.
	Name = "MapNet"


	Add Object command2 As CommandButton With ;
		Top = 48, ;
		Left = 324, ;
		Height = 23, ;
		Width = 24, ;
		FontBold = .T., ;
		Caption = "...", ;
		TabIndex = 5, ;
		Name = "Command2"


	Add Object combo1 As ComboBox With ;
		Height = 24, ;
		Left = 48, ;
		Sorted = .T., ;
		Style = 2, ;
		TabIndex = 2, ;
		Top = 12, ;
		Width = 300, ;
		Name = "Combo1"


	Add Object label1 As Label With ;
		AutoSize = .T., ;
		Caption = "\<Drive", ;
		Height = 17, ;
		Left = 12, ;
		Top = 17, ;
		Width = 30, ;
		TabIndex = 1, ;
		Name = "Label1"


	Add Object label2 As Label With ;
		AutoSize = .T., ;
		Caption = "\<Path", ;
		Height = 17, ;
		Left = 12, ;
		Top = 48, ;
		Width = 27, ;
		TabIndex = 3, ;
		Name = "Label2"


	Add Object text1 As TextBox With ;
		Height = 23, ;
		Left = 48, ;
		TabIndex = 4, ;
		Top = 48, ;
		Width = 276, ;
		Name = "Text1"


	Add Object cmdmap As CommandButton With ;
		Top = 12, ;
		Left = 372, ;
		Height = 27, ;
		Width = 84, ;
		Caption = "\<OK", ;
		TabIndex = 6, ;
		Name = "cmdMap"


	Add Object cmdcancel As CommandButton With ;
		Top = 48, ;
		Left = 372, ;
		Height = 27, ;
		Width = 84, ;
		Caption = "\<Cancel", ;
		TabIndex = 7, ;
		Name = "cmdCancel"


	Add Object check1 As Checkbox With ;
		Top = 84, ;
		Left = 48, ;
		Height = 17, ;
		Width = 128, ;
		AutoSize = .T., ;
		Alignment = 0, ;
		Caption = "\<Reconnect at Logon", ;
		Value = .T., ;
		Name = "Check1"


	Procedure getunc
	* Program....: GetUNCPath.prg
	* Version....: 1.0
	* Author.....: Andrew Coates
	* Date.......: September 28, 1998
	* Notice.....: Copyright © 1998 Civil Solutions, All
	* Rights Reserved.
	* Compiler...: Visual FoxPro 05.00.00.0415 for Windows
	* Abstract...: Wrapper to the API call that converts a
	* mapped drive path to the UNC path
	* Changes....:
	* Originally used WNetGetUniversalName, but that
	* doesn't work under Win95 (see KB Q131416). Now uses
	* WNetGetConnection which uses a string rather than a
	* structure so STRUCTURE_HEADER is now 0

	Lparameters tcMappedPath, tnBufferSize

	* from winnetwk.h
	#Define UNIVERSAL_NAME_INFO_LEVEL 0x00000001
	#Define REMOTE_NAME_INFO_LEVEL 0x00000002

	* from winerror.h
	#Define NO_ERROR 0
	#Define ERROR_BAD_DEVICE 1200
	#Define ERROR_CONNECTION_UNAVAIL 1201
	#Define ERROR_EXTENDED_ERROR 1208
	#Define ERROR_MORE_DATA 234
	#Define ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED 50
	#Define ERROR_NO_NET_OR_BAD_PATH 1203
	#Define ERROR_NO_NETWORK 1222
	#Define ERROR_NOT_CONNECTED 2250

	* local decision - paths are not likely to be longer
	* than this - if they are, this function calls itself
	* recursively with the appropriate buffer size as the
	* second parameter
	#Define MAX_BUFFER_SIZE 500

	* string length at the beginning of the structure
	* returned before the UNC path
	* ACC changed to 0 on 9/10/98 - Now using
	* WnetGetConnection which uses a string rather than a
	* struct
	#Define STRUCTURE_HEADER 0

	Local lcReturnValue

	If Type('tcMappedPath') = "C" And ! Isnull(tcMappedPath)
		* split up the passed path to get just the drive
		Local lcDrive, lcPath
		* just take the first two characters - we'll put it
		* all back together later. If the first two
		* characters are not a valid drive, that's OK. The
		* error value returned from the function call will
		* handle it.

		* case statement ensures we don't get the "cannot
		* access beyond end of string" error
		Do Case
			Case Len(tcMappedPath) > 2
				lcDrive = Left(tcMappedPath, 2)
				lcPath = Substr(tcMappedPath, 3)
			Case Len(tcMappedPath) <= 2
				lcDrive = tcMappedPath
				lcPath = ""
		Endcase

		Declare Integer WNetGetConnection In WIN32API ;
			STRING @lpLocalPath, ;
			STRING @lpBuffer, ;
			INTEGER @lpBufferSize

		* set up some variables so the appropriate call can
		* be made
		Local lcLocalPath, lcBuffer, lnBufferSize, ;
			lnResult, lcStructureString

		* set to +1 to allow for the null terminator
		lnBufferSize = Iif(Pcount() = 1 Or Type('tnBufferSize') # "N" Or Isnull(tnBufferSize), ;
			MAX_BUFFER_SIZE, ;
			tnBufferSize) + 1

		lcLocalPath = lcDrive
		lcBuffer = Space(lnBufferSize)

		* now call the dll function
		lnResult = WNetGetConnection(@lcLocalPath, @lcBuffer, @lnBufferSize)

		Do Case
				* string translated sucessfully
			Case lnResult = NO_ERROR
				* Actually, this structure-stripping is no longer
				* required because WnetGetConnection() returns a
				* string rather than a struct
				lcStructureString = Alltrim(Substr(lcBuffer, STRUCTURE_HEADER + 1))
				lcReturnValue = Left(lcStructureString, ;
					at(Chr(0), lcStructureString) - 1) + lcPath

				* The string pointed to by lpLocalPath is invalid.
			Case lnResult = ERROR_BAD_DEVICE
				lcReturnValue = tcMappedPath

				* There is no current connection to the remote
				* device, but there is a remembered (persistent)
				* connection to it.
			Case lnResult = ERROR_CONNECTION_UNAVAIL
				lcReturnValue = tcMappedPath

				* A network-specific error occurred. Use the
				* WNetGetLastError function to obtain a description
				* of the error.
			Case lnResult = ERROR_EXTENDED_ERROR
				lcReturnValue = tcMappedPath

				* The buffer pointed to by lpBuffer is too small.
				* The function sets the variable pointed to by
				* lpBufferSize to the required buffer size.
			Case lnResult = ERROR_MORE_DATA
				lcReturnValue = getuncpath(tcMappedPath, lnBufferSize)

				* None of the providers recognized this local name
				* as having a connection. However, the network is
				* not available for at least one provider to whom
				* the connection may belong.
			Case lnResult = ERROR_NO_NET_OR_BAD_PATH
				lcReturnValue = tcMappedPath

				* There is no network present.
			Case lnResult = ERROR_NO_NETWORK
				lcReturnValue = tcMappedPath

				* The device specified by lpLocalPath is not
				* redirected.
			Case lnResult = ERROR_NOT_CONNECTED
				lcReturnValue = tcMappedPath

			Otherwise
				lcReturnValue = tcMappedPath

		Endcase

	Else

		lcReturnValue = tcMappedPath

	Endif

	Return lcReturnValue
	Endproc


	Procedure Error
	Lparameters nError, cMethod, nLine

	Messagebox(Str(nError) + 'Please chose a valid network resource to map.',;
		64,This.Caption)
	Endproc


	Procedure Init
	Declare Integer WNetAddConnection In MPR.Dll String cNetPath, String;
		cPassword, String cLocalName

	Declare Integer WNetCancelConnection In MPR.Dll String cName, Long nForce

	Declare Integer WNetGetConnection In WIN32API String cLocalName, String;
		@cNetPath, Integer @nLen
	Endproc


	Procedure command2.Click
	Local lcNetDrive

	lcNetDrive = Getdir('','Select Network Resource',;
		'Browse for Network Drive')

	With This.Parent
		lcNetDrive = .getunc(lcNetDrive)
		.text1.Value = lcNetDrive
		.text1.Refresh
	Endwith
	Endproc


	Procedure combo1.Init
	Local lnFirstDrv,lnLastDrv,lcDrive,lnCnt,lnDrvType

	lnFirstDrv = Asc('A')
	lnLastDrv = Asc('Z')

	For lnCnt = lnFirstDrv To lnLastDrv
		lcDrive = Chr(lnCnt) + ':'
		lnDrvType = Drivetype(lcDrive)
		Do Case
			Case lnDrvType = 1	And lcDrive <> 'B:' && No type
				This.AddItem(lcDrive)
			Case lnDrvType = 2	&& Floppy disk

			Case lnDrvType = 3	&& Hard disk

			Case lnDrvType = 4	&& Removable drive or network drive
				*this.AddItem(lcDrive)
			Case lnDrvType = 5	&& CD-ROM

			Case lnDrvType = 6 	&& RAM disk1

		Endcase
	Next

	loWSHNet = Createobject('Wscript.Network')
	loNetDrives = loWSHNet.EnumNetworkDrives
	For lnX = 1 To loNetDrives.Count-1 Step 2
		lcDrive = '\' + loNetDrives.Item(lnX-1) + '   ' + loNetDrives.Item(lnX)
		This.AddItem(lcDrive)
	Next

	loWSHNet = .Null.
	loNetDrives = .Null.
	Endproc


	Procedure cmdmap.Click
	Local loWSHNet,lcDrive,lcPath,lnRetVal,lcMess,llReconnect

	With This.Parent
		lcDrive = Left(Alltrim(.combo1.Value),2)
		lcPath = Alltrim(.text1.Value)
		llReconnect = .check1.Value
		If Empty(lcDrive) Or Isblank(lcDrive)
			Messagebox('Please select Drive to map.',64,.Caption)
			Return
		Endif
		If Empty(lcPath) Or Isblank(lcPath)
			Messagebox('Please select Path.',64,.Caption)
			Return
		Endif

		*	lnRetVal = WNetAddConnection(lcPath,'',lcDrive)

		loWSHNet = Createobject("Wscript.Network")
		loWSHNet.MapNetworkDrive(lcDrive,lcPath,llReconnect)
		loWSHNet = .Null.
		.Release
	Endwith
	Endproc


	Procedure cmdcancel.Click
	Thisform.Release
	Endproc


Enddefine
*
*-- EndDefine: mapnet
**************************************************

Prayer Request

egomez — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 22:33:00 GMT

It's a pity that my post after a long time is a sad one. My mother had a stroke this morning and she is being brought to the hospital as I'm typing this post. I don't have all the details yet but have spoken to my father and he told me that her blood pressure is 150/100. I feel very sad and helpless as I can't be there for my mother. Please spare some time to pray for my mother. Thanks.

Soccer in the Philippines

egomez — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 01:39:00 GMT

Read articles (about soccer in the Philippines) written by a very good friend of mine (Jack Biantan from London) at http://pinoysoccer.com/home/

To Jack :

More power to you Jack and I'm glad you have taken up writing (sports articles) again, I know how you loved to write sports related articles.

And big thanks for the England World Cup jersey you have sent

Splitter

egomez — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 15:15:00 GMT

It's been a while since I've last posted something in my weblog related to VFP. I have been using this code for a long time in one of my apps and have actually posted it in the forum sometime last year or maybe 2 years ago and just recently. Anyways, for those who might need it here it is. Some amount of work may still be required to polish this.

Public oForm
oForm = Createobject('mySplitter')
oForm.Show
Return
Define Class mySplitter As Form
	Top = 0
	Left = 0
	Height = 371
	Width = 373
	DoCreate = .T.
	Caption = "Form1"
	Name = "Form1"
	nxtwips = .F.
	nytwips = .F.
	Add Object edit1 As EditBox With ;
		Height = 62, ;
		Left = 0, ;
		Top = 5, ;
		Width = 365, ;
		Name = "Edit1"
	Add Object edit2 As EditBox With ;
		Height = 285, ;
		Left = 0, ;
		Top = 77, ;
		Width = 365, ;
		Name = "Edit2"
	Add Object shape1 As Shape With ;
		Top = 71, ;
		Left = 0, ;
		Height = 3, ;
		Width = 358, ;
		MousePointer = 7, ;
		SpecialEffect = 0, ;
		Name = "Shape1"
	Procedure _resize
	Lparameters lnYCoord
	With This
		Wait Window Transform(lnYCoord) Nowait
		lnOffset = lnYCoord - .edit1.Height - 8
		.edit1.Height = .edit1.Height + lnOffset
		.shape1.Top = lnYCoord
		.edit2.Top = lnYCoord + 4
		.edit2.Height = .Height - (lnYCoord + 8)
	Endwith
	Endproc
	Procedure shape1.Drag
	Lparameters nAction
	Wait Window Transform(nAction) Nowait
	Endproc
	Procedure shape1.MouseDown
	Lparameters nButton, nShift, nXCoord, nYCoord
	lcMsg =  'nButton = ' +Transform(nButton) + Chr(13) +;
		'nShift = ' +Transform(nShift) + Chr(13) +;
		'nXCoord = ' +Transform(nXCoord) + Chr(13) +;
		'nYCoord = ' +Transform(nYCoord)
	Wait Window lcMsg Nowait
	Endproc
	Procedure shape1.MouseMove
	Lparameters nButton, nShift, nXCoord, nYCoord
	If nButton = 1
		Thisform._resize(nYCoord)
	Endif
	Endproc
Enddefine

Therese Erika Turned Three

egomez — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 02:04:00 GMT

My daughter Therese Erika turned three last October 15 and she had the "pabitin" (those hanging toys and candies in one of the pictures here) all for herself. The "pabitin" was a gift from her Tita Jo Ann (my wife's younger sister). I can see that she enjoyed her birthday party very much. It's one of those times in my daughter's life that I missed. I may also miss having Christmas and New Year with my family this time as I'm needed at the office for some prior tasks assigned to me.

My Daughter's Battle and Victory over Stevens-Johnson Syndrome

egomez — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 15:12:00 GMT

As some of you may have known my then 2 year and 9 month old daughter battled the worst form of allergic reaction to an antibiotic. She had what was known as the Stevens-Johnson Syndrome or SJS. She was admitted to the hospital on the 6th of August 2005. Fortunately she responded very well to the medications that she was out of the hospital two weeks later.

I will not describe all of what my daughter had to endure but you can view photographs from this link: http://www.sjsupport.org/photo1.shtml. Please be advised that the photographs in this page are graphic!

Since she could not eat (her mouth had lesions as well), an IV line was needed. But every time medicines were needed to be given orally she'd cry because it meant pain in her mouth. So she'd move around and cry and bang her hands and feet. This resulted to her IV line getting dislodged almost every two days. She endured a total of 12 IV insertions and twice for blood extraction needed for a blood culture to determine if she had other allergies.

I arrived from Singapore in Bacolod last August 9, 2005 but have to shower and put on new clothes first before proceeding to the hospital. Shortly after I arrived, her IV line got dislodged and needed to be reinserted as she needs IV fluids because she is not eating or drinking anything. She was treated as if she had first degree burns. While the IV line was being reinserted, we held her down with small pillows as we couldn't use our hands because of the lesions and blisters on her skin. During this time, she cried so much and said in a harsh and pleading voice, "Mama, mama, puli na ta, kapoy na gid ko." which translates to "Mommy, Mommy, let's go home, I'm very tired." I was telling myself if only I could trade places with her. But it was a battle that she must fight and win on her own. All we could do was to pray for her, try to make her as comfortable as possible and give her whatever medicines she needs.

I know the doctors attributed her quick recovery to the early detection and diagnosis that what she had was SJS as well as the medicines that was given to her. But I truly believe that it was largely because of the prayers and concern from all the people I know personally and from those whom I’ve known only here at www.foxite.com .

Thus I would like to thank them. To everybody here at www.foxite.com but most especially to Eric den Doop and Simon Arnold (for the concern), Boudewijn Lutgerink (for the distant Reiki treatments), Sivaramakrishnan, Lucy and Dale (for the prayers).

To all my batchmates/e-group mates at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DBSM84/ but most especially to Boy and Chita (for visiting), Joy (for calling), to Pangga, Maricor, John, Bernard and Noel (for the emails and prayers) and to Elrie (for facilitating my return ticket). To my relatives for their prayers and concern.

To Melissa for calling, praying and offering to take care of us if there was a need to bring my daughter to the U.S. for treatment.

To my parents, Mama and Papa, my brother TG and my sister Janet (for assisting and staying with us in the hospital).

To my in-laws, Dad, Mom, Jo Ann, Gani, Jun-jun, Jam-jam, Cristy, Ritchel for all the support, care and prayers.

To Tita Cita, for the bubble toy which gave my daughter so much joy that she forgot about the pain in her mouth that she started eating for the first time since she was confined in the hospital.

My thanks goes out most specially to my brother-in-law, Pep, for the financial support.

To my flat mates here in Singapore, Manong Boy, Chris, Carlo, Elaine, Grace and Rina for their prayers.

To Dr. Arroyo, Dr. Gallaga, Dr. Almais-Tan and Dr. Montilla for doing their best. To the nurses at Station 5, Marietta, Salve, Rose and Glenn as well as the other staff for helping us with all our needs during my daughter’s confinement.

To our friends, Tin-tin and Rodney, Vina and Maritess D. and Maritess C., for prayers and for visiting. I may not be able to mention everyone who in one way or another had helped us hurdle this obstacle and for making us feel that we are not alone in this. All I can say is that you know who you are and to you all, my heartfelt thanks. It really warms my heart to know that so many people were concerned of my daughter’s well being, some of whom I even haven't met.

To the Lord Almighty, for all the blessings and the healing.

The other person who endured as much as my daughter was my wife. You see, our daughter will only sleep on my wife's chest during her ordeal at the hospital. It was as if it's the only place where my daughter could seek comfort. I could only marvel at my wife's patience in taking care of our daughter. I know that during these times she was very very tired was suffering from headaches due to lack of sleep. To my wife Tess, I love you very much and I know I can't be there always but rest assured of my constant prayers.

Stevens Johnson Syndrone (SJS)

egomez — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 03:21:00 GMT

My daughter Therese Erika (2 years 10 months old) is in the hospital right now and is suffering from Steven Johnson's Syndrone (SJS) an acute allergic reaction to an antibiotic that was prescribed for her urinary tract infection. Looking at websites about SJS I know that she is suffering so much and is in great pain. This disease is very serious that could lead to many complications. I won't mention these here as even by just thinking about the complications brings me so much pain. I truly wish I could trade places with my daughter right now. I'm planning to be there by the end of the week if not sooner. I would be very grateful if you could offer a prayer for my daughter. Thank you very much and may God bless you.

Experiencing the Power of the Net in a Personal Level

egomez — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 17:42:00 GMT

Around 3 months ago, I was tasked to look for manpower out-sourcing companies in the Philippines. In the course of my search I found two websites listing an IT services company whose contact person's name sounds familiar. After sometime I realized that the contact person of the said IT services company was an old college friend, whom I last saw in April of 1989. Imagine, after 16 years, I was able to get in-touch with her. Luckily one of the sites listed her maiden name and the other the contact information, if not then I could have not known that it was her. Here are the two site's I've mentioned :

http://www.eitsc.com/softdev_cytronics.html

http://www.itnetcentral.com/directory/profile.asp?id=453

It was the first time I experienced the power of the internet in a personal level. Anyway, in case some of our mutual friends would like to reach her, here are her contact details:

Josephine Bernadette P. Panganiban

VP - Systems and Services

CYTRONICS INTERNATIONAL, INC.

3/F Basic Petroleum Building,

104 Carlos Palanca Jr. Street,

Legaspi Village, Makati City

Phone: 867-1338 867-1340

Fax: 867-1339

Heeding the Call

egomez — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 17:02:00 GMT

I was reading Craig Boyd's Visual FoxPro Community Action and decided to heed to his call. I'm now preparing some materials on Microsoft Visual FoxPro that I would like to discuss with computer students in my high school Alma Mater, Don Bosco Technical Institute in Victorias City, Philippines. I will be having my annual vacation late December 2005 (before the Christmas) until mid-January 2006. This will give me some time to visit my high school Alma Mater. You see Don Bosco Technical Institute has a rather unique high school curriculum where-in students in the 3rd and 4th year high school are grouped (it's called a section) into three. One section is taking up basic electronics subjects, then the other is computer and mechanics. It is in this school where I got hold of my first computer, the TRS-80. The computer section curriculum is usually basic computer concepts, computer programming using Microsoft Visual FoxPro and some introduction to computer aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAMM). My plan is to be able to have an informal talk to these students about computer programming in general and specifically Microsoft Visual FoxPro as one of the best tools in data-centric desktop applications development and hopefully instill in these young minds to be interested in using Microsoft Visual FoxPro when they reach college and if they decide to be computer programmers, use Microsoft Visual FoxPro as their main computer language of choice in developing data-centric applications.

I expect difficulties and challenges in completing this endeavor. Some of these are :

coming up with a comprehensive set of materials that is brief and easily digested by high school students
gaining the support of the school administration and the faculty
hardware and software requirements
availability of books and other types of resources on Microsoft Visual FoxPro

Hopefully I can overcome these challenges in due time.

This is just a very small step, but it can be a start of something big that will benefit not only these high school students but all Microsoft Visual FoxPro developers in general. The xbase language and eventually Microsoft Visual FoxPro as well as the Microsoft Visual FoxPro community, especially here at www.foxite.com have been very good to me. I guess this is my way of saying "THANK YOU". It is my fervent wish that this small step will ripple throughout the Microsoft Visual FoxPro community and eventually turn into a "giant wave" that will improve the state of Microsoft Visual FoxPro and elevate it into even greater heights.

Of Visual FoxPro, Python and Dabo

egomez — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 00:14:00 GMT

I've been messing around with Python and the Dabo framework for sometime now to realize that Python is a great open source programming language and Dabo is surely a very strong and well written data-driven framework. Since the authors have strong backgroud and extensive experience in Visual FoxPro, the Dabo framework have a touch of Visual FoxPro in it that will make it attractive to Visual FoxPro developers. But don't get me wrong, I'm still climbing the Python/Dabo learning curve and will not abandon Visual FoxPro. But with Python/Dabo your app will run in Linux/Unix and Mac OS'es as well as Windows without any rewrite. It will open new possibilities for me as a developer. As with anyone who had the opportunity to work abroad, being multi-lingual is a very valuable asset. I guess this is also very true for a software developer in an ever changing computer landscape.

Naturaly, in learning a new programming language finding and getting hold of good books is a given. So yesterday I visited a popular computer bookstore here in Singapore. I was pleasantly surprised that there were at least 10 titles on Python on the shelf. So while I'm at it I decided to look for books on Visual FoxPro, but to my dismay I could not find any. I'm not whining about this, it's just that it can get to you sometimes. Well, I guess then it's up to us to continue doing our part in making Visual FoxPro well known by creating great Visual FoxPro applications and to share to everyone about the power of Visual FoxPro. One more thing, keep on blogging about Visual FoxPro for it is a very powerful means that we can let the world know about Visual FoxPro.

YPops!

egomez — Sun, 29 May 2005 19:17:00 GMT

When I first started out using the net and got my first free email account, I used www.yahoo.com as it was the more famous web portal offering free web-baed email service. At that time it also offered free pop mail access your yahoo.com email account but decided to terminate it sometime later. It was a good thing to have (pop mail access) as you can check to your emails from virtually any email client. Well, yahoo still offers free pop mail access in its different country domains (i.e. yahoo.com.sg) but not from yahoo.com. Anyway, while searching the net for some way to have pop mail access to my yahoo.com emails, I came across YPops!, actually it was suggested to me a collegue. I've been using it with Mozilla's Thurderbird and Microsoft's Outlook XP for sometime now with no problems. You can find the instructions on how to configure the YPops! for use with the different email client applications here.