Use the Project Manager to organize and manage your files in projects. A project is a collection of files, data, documents, and Visual FoxPro objects that is saved as a file with a .pjx extension. When the Project Manager window is active, Visual FoxPro displays the Project menu on the menu bar.
The items in the Project Manager are organized in an outline-like view that you can expand or collapse. A plus sign appears next to a symbol if there are one or more items of that type in the project. Click the plus sign next to a symbol to see items in the list. Click the minus sign to collapse an expanded list.
Initially, the Project Manager appears as a separate window. You can move the container, resize it, or collapse it so that only the tabs show.
As with toolbars, you can dock the Project Manager by dragging it to the top of your screen or double-clicking the title bar. When the Project Manager is docked, it becomes part of the toolbar area of the window. You can't expand the Project Manager window when it's docked; instead, click on individual tabs to use them. You can also tear off tabs from a docked Project Manager.
When the Project Manager is docked, you can right-click on it to display a shortcut menu. In Visual FoxPro 9.0, the following options are available on the shortcut menu:
- Undock
- Restores the Project Manager to its former size and location.
- Close
- Closes the Project Manager.
- Add Project to Source Control
- If source control software is installed, adds the project to source control.
- Project Info
- Displays the Project Information Dialog Box, allowing you to view and edit information about the project and its files.
- Errors
- Opens an Error window that displays errors found when a project or application was built.
- Build
- Displays the Build Options Dialog Box. This dialog box lets you build a project or application, and you can also build an executable or Automation server.
- Refresh
- Refreshes the visual display of the Project Manager.
- Clean Up Project
- Cleans up a project by removing records marked for deletion and packing memo fields.
- Builder
- Displays the Wizard Selection Dialog Box, containing a list of wizards from which you can choose
- Help
- Opens the Help window.
You can customize your visual work area by changing your view of the Project Manager or by setting double-click to run files in the Project Manager. For more information, see Customizing the Visual FoxPro Environment.
Tabs
Display items by category. When the Project Manager is collapsed, you can tear off tabs by dragging them away from the Project Manager. To replace a tab, just drag it back to its original position, or click the Close box.
To tear off a tab, collapse the container, select a tab and drag it away from the Project Manager. When a tab is floating, you can access the options on the Project menu by right-clicking the mouse in the floating tab.
If you want the tab to always remain on top, click the pushpin icon at the top of the tab. The tab will remain on top of other Visual FoxPro windows. You can set more than one tab to be "always on top." To remove the "always on top" setting on a tab, click the pushpin icon again.
Expanding/Collapsing Button
Expands and collapses the Project Manager. When the Project Manager is collapsed you can "tear off" tabs by placing the mouse pointer over a tab and dragging it away from the Project Manager.
Items List
Lists the items contained in the project in an outline-like view. Icons appear to the left of the item to identify its type.
The symbol appears next to items that are excluded from the project.
When files are included in the project, they are compiled into a single .app file when the project is built. All included files are read-only at run time. In the Programs, Forms, Queries, or Menus group, the name of the main program file appears in bold.
Project Manager Buttons
- New
-
Creates a new file or object. This button has the same effect as the New File command on the Project menu. The new file or object's type is the same as that of the currently selected item.
Note: Files created from the File menu are not automatically included in a project. Files created from the New File command on the Project menu (or the New button in the Project Manager) are automatically included in a project.
- Add
- Adds an existing file to the project. This button has the same effect as the Add File command on the Project menu. After clicking Add, you can select multiple files by pressing the SHIFT or CTRL key in the Open dialog box while clicking files to add them.
- Modify
- Opens the selected item in the appropriate designer. This button has the same effect as the Modify File command on the Project menu.
- Browse
- Opens a table in a Browse window. This command has the same effect as the Browse File command on the Project menu, and is enabled only when a table is selected.
- Close
- Closes an open database. This command has the same effect as the Close File command on the Project menu, and is enabled only when a table is selected. If the selected database is already closed, this button changes to Open.
- Open
- Opens a database. This command has the same effect as the Open File command on the Project menu, and is enabled only when a table is selected. If the selected database is already open, this button changes to Close.
- Remove
- Removes the selected file or object from the project. Visual FoxPro asks you if you want to just remove the file from the project or if you want to remove it from the project and delete it from disk. This command has the same effect as the Remove File command on the Project menu.
- Build
- Builds a project or application and can also build an executable or Automation server. This command has the same effect as the Build command on the Project menu.
- Preview
- Displays the selected report or label in Print Preview mode. Enabled when you select a report or label in the Project Manager. This command has the same effect as the Preview File command on the Project menu.
- Run
- Runs the selected query, form, or program. Enabled when you select a query, form, menu, or program in the Project Manager. This command has the same effect as the Run File command on the Project menu.