Is there a simple means of persisting a grid's column widths? We have some columns whose data width can sometimes extend beyond the default width of the grid column. There is not enough room to display all columns in the grid though so if a user extends the width of column1 then column6 is no longer visible (without scrolling). Some users would like to see changes to grid column widths persist though. Is there a simple means of doing this? Where to store the information?

Create a table called grid_prefrence with this structure:

grd_id I
user_id I
path_name C(250)
column_name C(50)
column_order I
column_width I

Add these properties to your grid class:

*-- Set when the grid is instantiated if a
*-- configuration was found for it in the grid_preference table
lpreferencesexist = .T.
*-- An array to store the grid's default configuration
DIMENSION aprops[1,3]

Then you can add this to your grid class's init():

*** Get the grid preferences for this grid
*** and restore the grid configuration
IF THIS.COLUMNCOUNT > 0
  *** Save settings at grid instantiation
  THIS.SaveDefaultSettings()
  *** Now go get any previous settings that were saved
  THIS.RestoreGridSettings()
ENDIF

This code in SaveDefaultSettings():

*-- Save the grid properties when it is instantiated
LOCAL lnCol
WITH THIS
  DIMENSION .aprops[ .ColumnCount, 3 ]
  FOR lnCol = 1 TO .COLUMNCOUNT
    .aprops[ lnCol, 1 ] = .COLUMNS[ lnCol ].NAME
    .aprops[ lnCol, 2 ] = .COLUMNS[ lnCol ].COLUMNORDER
    .aprops[ lnCol, 3 ] = .COLUMNS[ lnCol ].WIDTH
  ENDFOR
ENDWITH

This code in RestoreGridSettings():

  *-- Configure the grid using the information saved in the Grd_Prefrence table
  LOCAL lcSQL, loCol, lnHandle
  lcSQL = [SELECT column_name, column_order, column_width FROM grid_preference WHERE path_name = ']
  lcSQL = lcSQL + SYS( 1272, THIS ) + [' AND user_id = ] + ;
    IIF( VARTYPE( oApp ) = [O], TRANSFORM( oApp.sys_user_id ), [-1] ) + [ INTO CURSOR qTmp]
  &lcSQL

  *** See if we got comething - if we didn't, this is the first time
  *** that this form has been run - we have no preferences to restore
  IF RECCOUNT( [qTmp] ) > 0
    FOR EACH loCol IN THIS.COLUMNS
      SELECT qTmp
      LOCATE FOR column_name = loCol.NAME
      IF FOUND()
        loCol.COLUMNORDER = qTmp.column_order
        loCol.WIDTH = qTmp.column_width
      ENDIF
    ENDFOR
  ELSE
    THIS.lpreferencesexist = .F.
  ENDIF

And here is code to save the current setting to the grid_prefernece table when the grid is detroyed and to restore the deault setting on right click:

  *-- Called when the grid is destroyed to write the current configuration to the grid preference table
  PROCEDURE savegridsettings
  LOCAL lcSQL, loCol, lnHandle
  IF THIS.COLUMNCOUNT > 0
    *** if we do not yet have preferences saved for this grid and this user
    *** we need to insert a record, otherwise, we update
    FOR EACH loCol IN THIS.COLUMNS
      IF THIS.lpreferencesexist
        lcSQL = [UPDATE grid_preference SET column_order = ] + TRANSFORM( loCol.COLUMNORDER )
        lcSQL = lcSQL + [, column_width = ] + TRANSFORM( loCol.WIDTH )
        lcSQL = lcSQL + [ WHERE path_name = '] + SYS( 1272, THIS ) + [' AND column_name = ']
        lcSQL = lcSQL + loCol.NAME + [' AND user_id = ] + IIF( VARTYPE( oApp ) = [O], TRANSFORM( oApp.sys_user_id ), [-1] )
      ELSE
        lcSQL = [INSERT INTO grid_preference ( user_id, path_name, column_name, column_order, column_width ) VALUES (]
        lcSQL = lcSQL + IIF( VARTYPE( oApp ) = [O], TRANSFORM( oApp.sys_user_id ), [-1] ) + [, ']
        lcSQL = lcSQL + SYS( 1272, THIS ) + [', '] + loCol.NAME + [', ] + TRANSFORM( loCol.COLUMNORDER ) + [, ] + TRANSFORM( loCol.WIDTH ) + [ )]
      ENDIF
      &lcSQL
    ENDFOR
  ENDIF
  ENDPROC


  *-- Called from the right-click of the grid to restore the grid configuration to its default
  PROCEDURE showmenu
  LOCAL lnChoice

  *** If we do not have any columns, do nothing
  IF THIS.COLUMNCOUNT > 0
    *** Define the pop-up menu for resetting the grid to the default
    STORE 0 TO lnChoice
    DEFINE POPUP Reset2Default SHORTCUT RELATIVE FROM MROW(),MCOL()
    DEFINE BAR 1 OF Reset2Default PROMPT "Reset Grid Columns"
    ON SELECTION BAR 1 OF Reset2Default lnChoice = 1

    *** Activate the menu and process the result
    ACTIVATE POPUP Reset2Default
    IF lnChoice = 1
      *** We want to delete the preferences and reinitialize the grid
      THIS.RESETTODEFAULT()
    ENDIF
  ENDIF
  ENDPROC

  PROCEDURE DESTROY
  THIS.savegridsettings()
  ENDPROC


  PROCEDURE RESETTODEFAULT
  LPARAMETERS cProperty
  ***********************************************************************
  *** Changed By.: Marcia G. Akins on 27 August 2005
  *** Reason.....: Shanghai the native method to reset the grid columns
  *** ...........: to what they were when the form was instantiated
  ***********************************************************************
  LOCAL lnCol
  WITH THIS
    FOR lnCol = 1 TO .COLUMNCOUNT
      .COLUMNS[ lnCol ].COLUMNORDER = .aprops[ lnCol, 2 ]
      .COLUMNS[ lnCol ].WIDTH = .aprops[ lnCol, 3 ]
    ENDFOR
  ENDWITH
  NODEFAULT
  ENDPROC


  PROCEDURE RIGHTCLICK
  THIS.showmenu()
  ENDPROC