Drawing custom objects with XFRX#DRAW

Scripts written in the rectangle comment field

Alternatively, the script can be entered into the comment field of the rectangle. This technique is available for VFP 8.0 and higher, but its usage is limited for VFP 8.0 because the comment field is small and only a limited amount of text can be entered into it.

The script is entered between #UR SCRIPT BEGIN and #UR SCRIPT END lines.

These scripts are neither named not registered. The content between these lines is supposed to accept the XFRX#DRAW object reference parameter and is evaluated via EXECSCRIPT( ) function.

Example:

When inside of the rectangle-bound script, the coordinates origin is shifted: 0,0 represents the upper left hand corner of the rectangle.

Converting rectangle-bound objects to pictures

The content of the rectangle-bound scripts can be alternatively rendered as a picture, which is then placed to the output. To do this, add PICTURE clause to the #UR SCRIPT BEGIN or #UR SCRIPT NAME <script name> line in the comment field.

The PICTURE can optionally be followed by a DPI value, representing the DPI (dots per inch) of the picture created. The default DPI is 96, which is suitable for previewing on screen, but you may want to increase the DPI value to increase the picture quality.

You can also specify the picture type by adding TYPE clause followed by one of the following values: BMP, JPEG (JPG), PNG, TIFF (TIF) and EMF. The default picture type is JPG.

Sending parameters to named scripts

The named scripts can optionally accept further parameters. The parameters are specified via PARAMETERS clause followed by the parameters, which are evaluated at the time of report processing.

Example:

DEFINE CLASS myXFRXScripts as Custom
   PROCEDURE fancyRectangle
      LPARAM m.oXFD, m.boxwidth, m.boxheight
      *
      * This script draws little boxes around the bounding rectangle.
      * The height and width of the rectangles can be sent as parameters.
      * The default width and height is 5 points. (1 point = 1/72 inch).
      *
      IF EMPTY(m.boxwidth)
         m.boxwidth = 5
      ENDIF
      IF EMPTY(m.boxheight)
         m.boxheight = m.boxwidth
      ENDIF

      m.oXFD.setUnit("pt")
      m.loBox = m.oXFD.getBoundingRectangle()
      m.oXFD.setColor(0,0,0)

      LOCAL m.i
      FOR m.i = 0 TO INT(m.loBox.nwidth/m.BOXWIDTH)-1
          m.oXFD.setColor(0,0,0,INT(RAND()*256),INT(RAND()*256),INT(RAND()*256))
          m.oXFD.drawRectangle(m.i*m.BOXWIDTH, 0, m.BOXWIDTH, m.boxheight,1,1)
          m.oXFD.setColor(0,0,0,INT(RAND()*256),INT(RAND()*256),INT(RAND()*256))
          m.oXFD.drawRectangle(m.i*m.BOXWIDTH, ;
                              INT(m.loBox.nheight/m.boxheight-1)*m.boxheight, m.BOXWIDTH, m.boxheight,1,1)
      ENDFOR

      FOR m.i = 1 TO INT(m.loBox.nHeight/m.boxheight)-2
          m.oXFD.setColor(0,0,0,INT(RAND()*256),INT(RAND()*256),INT(RAND()*256))
          m.oXFD.drawRectangle(0, m.i*m.boxheight, m.BOXWIDTH, m.boxheight,1,1)
          m.oXFD.setColor(0,0,0,INT(RAND()*256),INT(RAND()*256),INT(RAND()*256))
          m.oXFD.drawRectangle(int(m.loBox.nwidth/m.BOXWIDTH-1)*m.BOXWIDTH, ;
                               m.i*m.boxheight, m.BOXWIDTH, m.boxheight,1,1)
      ENDFOR
   ENDPROC
ENDDEFINE

XFRX#DRAW functions

This chapter gives a brief list of properties and methods implemented in the XFRX#DRAW class. For detailed description if the properties, methods and their parameters please see the XFRX#DRAW class reference on page 92).

XFF document navigation

Whenever you draw anything to a XFF document, the drawing is always added on top of  the “current page”. The current page is stored in a readonly property CurrentPage nReportPageNo. The total number of pages is stored in PageCount property. To navigate on the pages, use GoTop(), GoBottom() and GoToPage(nPageNo) methods.

Adding pages

AddPage() method creates a new page at the end of the document. You can either specify the size of the new page or use the same size as the current page.

Coordinates units

The default unit is Point (1/72 inch). You can use setUnit(cUnit) method to switch to a different unit. The available units are: centimeters (cm), inches (in), points (pt) and pixels (px).