Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu!quiche!bart!einstein
From: einstein@quiche.cs.mcgill.ca (Michael CHOWET)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.pascal
Subject: Re: Fields on the screen for a DataBase
Summary: Using the Goto, have an array of screen locations & a pointer to current
Message-ID: <95@bart.cs.mcgill.ca>
Date: 4 Dec 90 20:09:53 GMT
References: <259.275a4a92@zodiac.rutgers.edu>
Organization: SOCS - Mcgill University, Montreal, Canada
Lines: 48

In article <259.275a4a92@zodiac.rutgers.edu> mshah@zodiac.rutgers.edu writes:

>I need to know how I can use the direction keys to identify different fields.
>[etc..]

  I did something similar; I did a menu-driven security program for my
home PC, and the choices available through the managing utility had me up
against this same thing. ( I WAS going to do exactly what you are looking for,
but my parents decided that their company wasn't quite ready to computerize
their inventory/accounting/invoicing. But enough of that...

  About the fields... First, you need to know how to interpret the arrow
keys. I'll assume you know how, if not, just post back.

  Next, I suggest you keep an array, [ 0..Number_Of_Fields-1 ] of Record.
This record will store your X and Y coordintes (two integers, or bytes if 
memory's tight). 

  Now, before you hide under your bed at the sight of the upcoming word, give 
me chance. Now, keep a pointer (Arrrrrrgh! The P word! :-) to where you are. 
(Which field you're at). This would simply be an integer, not the built in 
pointer type. 

  Say you're at the first field, your pointer would hold 0. Hit the 
down-arrow, and the pointer jumps to 1, and you call GotoXY
with the parameters stored in your record (arr[pointer].X or .Y). 

  Now comes something a little tricky for beginners to Pascal. How do you
jump from the last field to the first? You could use an IF, but that isn't
elegant, and would probably go slower (but hey, who'd notice on a 
Cray, anyways?? :-). Instead, have you incrementer make use of a mod 
statement. The use would be something like 
  Point := ( Point + 1 ) Mod Number_Of_Fields ;

  You will probably need an if for a decrement, though.

>P.S.>  I am a beginner at programmer and I don't know how to use pointers.

  Now then, that wasn't so bad, was it?
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