Question:
In Windows 95, all data represented in a tabular or table format can be sorted by clicking on the column heading. If you click once, it is in ascending order and if you click the same column again, it sorts in descending order.

Can this look and behavior be duplicated in Centura?

Answer:
First, I presume you know how to create a table window and how to populate it. If not, I would recommend you contact Centura Software Corporation and plan to attend one of its training courses. These courses are cost effective because you will learn in a week what would take you probably six months to learn on your own.

Second, the table window must be set up to capture for a click on a column header (gray area at top of each column). This is accomplished by setting a table flag on (TRUE); usually this is done at the time the child table window is created, but it could be done at any time you specify.

At the Message Action section of the table window:

On SAM_CreateComplete  Call SalTblSetTableFlags(hWndForm, TBL_Flag_SelectableCols, TRUE)     

Third, now that the table is able to capture for a click on a column header, you may use another message at the table window’s Message Action section. When the customer clicks on a column header, it will be directed to this block of code and we will call a function we have created named ColumnSort. This function is expecting a number as a parameter, and conveniently enough, wParam in this case contains the column’s window handle in the form of a number. (Window Handle is a unique address given to each window object such as a push button, data field, column and so on when they are created?Windows takes care of assigning this for you):

On SAM_ColumnSelectClick  Call ColumnSort(wParam)

Now we will turn our attention to creating the function. This should be defined as a local function within the table window:

     01 Function: ColumnSort     02   Description: Sample solution to question for inquiry.com     03   Returns     04   Parameters     05           Number: nColHandle     06   Static Variables     07           Boolean: bSortOrder     08           Number: nPreviousColumn     09   Local variables     10           Window Handle: hWndClickedCol     11           Number: nIdClickedCol     12   Actions     13           Set hWndClickedCol  = SalNumberToWindowHandle( nColHandle     14  )     15           Set nIdClickedCol = SalTblQueryColumnID( hWndClickedCol )     16           ! the sort order is a numeric value of either 0 or 1.  The     17             constants are     18           ! TBL_SortIncreasing (1) and TBL_SortDecreasing (0).     19           If nIdClickedCol = nPreviousColumn     20                   Set bSortOrder = NOT bSortOrder     21                   ! Don’t use FALSE – the code would not toggle     22  between Ascending and Descending.     23           Else     24                   Set bSortOrder = TRUE     25           Call SalTblSortRows( hWndForm, nIdClickedCol, bSortOrder )     26           Set nPreviousColumn = nIdClickedCol

Code review:

     Line  Explanation     05 – defines our parameter which is passed as wParam.     07 – defines a static Boolean that will toggle the sort sequence          between Ascending and Descending     08 – defines a static numeric variable which will keep track of the          previously used column id.     10 – defines a local window handle, used for conversion.     11 – defines a local number which will contain the column id.     13 – Take the number passed to the function and convert it to a window          handle.     15 – take the window handle and find the column ID     19 – compare the column id clicked with the previous column id     20 – if they are the same – toggle the Boolean bSortOrder     24 – if they are NOT the same, set bSortOrder = TRUE     25 – Sort the column in Ascending order     26 – Move the value of the current column to the variable          nPreviousColumn 

This code is well suited to migration into a class library. This will allow all your table windows to have this type of functionality and you don’t ever have to think about this code again.