Foxpro

The Visual FoxPro Report Writer: Pushing it to the Limit and Beyond
©

By Cathy Pountney

Hentzenwerke Publishing

Published by: Hentzenwerke Publishing 980 East Circle Drive Whitefish Bay WI 53217 USA Hentzenwerke Publishing books are available through booksellers and directly from the publisher. Contact Hentzenwerke Publishing at: 414.332.9876 414.332.9463 (fax) www.hentzenwerke.combooks@hentzenwerke.com The Visual FoxPro Report Writer: Pushing it to the Limit and Beyond By Cathy Pountney Technical Editor: Dave Aring Copy Editor: Farion Grove Copyright © 2002 by Cathy Pountney All other products and services identified throughout this book are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. They are used throughout this book in editorial fashion only and forthe benefit of such companies. No such uses, or the use of any trade name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book. All rights reserved. No part of this book, or the ebook files available by download from Hentzenwerke Publishing, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without theprior written permission of the publisher, except that program listings and sample code files may be entered, stored and executed in a computer system. The information and material contained in this book are provided “as is,” without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including without limitation any warranty concerning the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of such information or material orthe results to be obtained from using such information or material. Neither Hentzenwerke Publishing nor the authors or editors shall be responsible for any claims attributable to errors, omissions, or other inaccuracies in the information or material contained in this book. In no event shall Hentzenwerke Publishing or the authors or editors be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental, orconsequential damages arising out of the use of such information or material. ISBN: 1-930919-25-5 Manufactured in the United States of America.

This book is dedicated to a very special person—my Mom. When I was in the tenth grade, I had a heart-to-heart discussion with my Mom about what I wanted to be when I grew up. I was torn between an Accountant (because I loved number crunching) and anEngineer (because I loved math and my drafting class). Mom steered me to something I had never considered—computers. Thanks, Mom. I owe my entire career to you!

v

Our Contract with You, The Reader
In which we, the folks who make up Hentzenwerke Publishing, describe what you, the reader, can expect from this book and from us.

Hi there! I’ve been writing professionally (in other words,eventually getting a paycheck for my scribbles) since 1974, and writing about software development since 1992. As an author, I’ve worked with a half-dozen different publishers and corresponded with thousands of readers over the years. As a software developer and all-around geek, I’ve also acquired a library of more than 100 computer and software-related books. Thus, when I donned the publisher’s capalmost five years ago to produce the 1997 Developer’s Guide, I had some pretty good ideas of what I liked (and didn’t like) from publishers, what readers liked and didn’t like, and what I, as a reader, liked and didn’t like. Now, with our new titles for 2002, we’re entering our fifth season. (For those who are keeping track, the ’97 DevGuide was our first, albeit abbreviated, season, the batch ofsix “Essentials” for Visual FoxPro 6.0 in 1999 was our second, and, in keeping with the sports analogy, the books we published in 2000 and 2001 comprised our third and fourth.) John Wooden, the famed UCLA basketball coach, posited that teams aren’t consistent; they’re always getting better—or worse. We’d like to get better… One of my goals for this season is to build a closer relationship with...