The ProBindingSource Designer supports the following drag-and-drop operations:

  • You can drag table and column names from the DB Structure view to a form on the Design Canvas.
  • You can drag an ABL source file containing a schema definition (for example, a ProDataSet or a temp table) from the Project Explorer view to a form on the Visual Designer Design Canvas.

Both of these operations create a new binding source object, which you can then edit if necessary.

In both cases, you can drop the selected schema elements either on a blank area of the form, or on an instance of a data-displaying control. Dropping onto a control automatically sets the new binding source object as the value of the control's DataSource property.
Note: Drag-and-drop operations from the DB Structure view or the Resources view are not supported while the ProBindingSource Designer is open. This is an inherent limitation of modal dialogs.

Follow these steps:

  1. Create or edit the container (ABL Form, ABL Dialog, or ABL MDI Form). Optionally, add the control that is to display the data. (You can add the control later if you prefer.)
  2. Select the tables in the DB Structure view, or select the ABL source file in the Resources view.

    When making selections in the DB Structure view, note the following:

    • Selecting a table also selects all of its columns.
    • Use CTRL+click to select multiple tables.
    • You can select individual or multiple columns from the same table or different tables.
  3. Drag the selection to the Design Canvas and drop it on the container. If the target control already exists, drop the selection on the control. The ProBindingSource Designer appears and displays the selected schema elements in the Available schema pane.
    If the Project Explorer view Link with Editor LinkButton.gif option is enabled, it might interfere with dragging a currently open source file onto the Design Canvas, because selecting the file in the Project Explorer view shifts focus to the editor buffer for the selected file. To avoid this problem, turn off the Link with Editor option, split the editing area so that it simultaneously shows both files, or close the source file.
  4. In the Available schema pane, select the tables and columns that you want to add to the current schema definition. When selecting the tables and columns, note the following:
    • Selecting a table also selects all of its columns.
    • You can select multiple tables. All the selected tables are added to a default top-level table called Table in the Tables pane.
    • You can select individual columns, either from a single table or multiple tables. In both cases, the selected columns are added to a default top-level table called Table.
    • You can partially select tables and its columns. The selected schema elements are added to a default top-level table called Table in the Tables pane.
  5. Click Add. The selected tables appear in the Tables pane and the columns appear in the Fields pane.
  6. If necessary, edit the schema by using any of the techniques explained in Manually defining the schema, starting with Step 4 .
  7. Click OK to save the current schema definition.