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NHUser
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Program Efficiency
Dec 28th, 2011 at 8:27pm
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I have a question on how best to set up my database.

I have an active database that is being used across a network.  The database contains all the manufacturing instructions we use daily.  I have over 100 elements on the form and there are over 5,000 records in the database.

Currently, I'm using 18 tab pages (each tab is a different department) to display the data.  I sometimes run into programs trying to click on an element.  I either can't activate an element, or an element on a tab different than the one displayed is activated.

I was thinking of setting up access to the data by using a bunch of different forms (one for each dept) with command buttons that would let the user to navigate from one form to another.  This would allow me to eliminate all the tabpages and limit the number of elements on each form.

Is this a good strategy for displaying large amounts of data or, will I run into functionality issues?  Will the programming be more or less efficient?
  
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Hammer
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Re: Program Efficiency
Reply #1 - Dec 28th, 2011 at 9:15pm
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It would probably be better to figure out why you are having these issues in the first place. The culprit is usually that programming is calling ThrowFocus too often and/or too aggressively. This can create a pinball machine effect that makes it hard to figure out where focus is at any given moment.
  
- Hammer
The plural of anecdote is not data.
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Rick_R
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Re: Program Efficiency
Reply #2 - Dec 29th, 2011 at 4:48am
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Keep in mind that you can use a drop-down menu to select the form (or tab).  If you do, there are some "tricks" to efficient organization. In the list assign each form a different beginning letter--preferably something related to the department, e.g.:

A - Accounting
P - Production
Q - Quality Control
S - Shipping

Users will be able to select an entry by pressing the first letter.  However, in practice many users still will use the drop down instead.  Therefore, it's best to put the items in order of frequency rather than alphabetically.

I personally don't like the look of Sesame's drop-down menus after the selection, so instead I use a combo box and just don't mention that the user could type in something new.  That way it looks the same before and after the selection.

If you keep the tabs (I'd imagine trying to pick from 18 tabs gets pretty annoying), after the drop-down selection is made, just hide all the tabs not selected.
  
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NHUser
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Re: Program Efficiency
Reply #3 - Dec 29th, 2011 at 1:49pm
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Thanks for the insight.  Right now, I use a bunch of command buttons; one for each dept.  The user clicks on the button and goes to the tab needed and I hide all the other tabs.

Besides the concern I mentioned with accessing some elements on certain tabs, I also feel that my screens are getting very busy (see attached).  I use command buttons to access a lot of documents (.pdf, Word and Excel files).

I'm trying to clean up the screens and simplify the programming.  That's why I was wondering if it is OK to move from form to form (with a form for each dept) rather than use the tabs or are there dangers in moving around with different forms?
  
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NHUser
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Re: Program Efficiency
Reply #4 - Jan 3rd, 2012 at 3:44pm
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I haven't heard an answer to my question:

Which method is better programming, using tabs or going to different forms?

Please advise.
  
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The Cow
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Re: Program Efficiency
Reply #5 - Jan 3rd, 2012 at 5:19pm
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NHUser wrote on Jan 3rd, 2012 at 3:44pm:
I haven't heard an answer to my question:

Which method is better programming, using tabs or going to different forms?

Please advise.


It depends very much on circumstance. Given how few elements you have, and no other factors, I'd recommend tabs, especially if there are some cases where the code needs data from more than one tab at a time.

Erika's point still stands. The problem is almost certainly not in the number of elements (or records), but in the SBasic code. This is easily testable. Using a COPY of your application, you can use SDesigner to remove all of the SBasic code. Then run using the code-free version of the application. If it significantly speeds up, then the number of elements or records is not a factor.
  
Mark Lasersohn&&Programmer&&Lantica Software, LLC
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