In our framework we have two ways to set filter: One is generic set filter form. It has an editbox and three buttons: Set Filter (this button invokes VFP GextExpr to set filter), Apply and Clear. This form requires some basic VFP knowledge to write a filter expression.

In lots of cases, however, we use an option based form. This form is table driven, e.g. we have a special table, where we describe all possible filters for each particular form. It gives us flexibility of adding new filters per user's demand. We have similar table-driven mechanism for ordering (and yet another generic one).

You can contact me directly, if you're interested in such implementation...

BTW, in our framework we're using SET FILTER TO command, which I think is a main disadvantage of our framework. It's currently table-oriented instead of views-oriented. This means, that our applications are not scalable...

I have some ideas how to improve our framework and allow it to work with views as well, but we never get to this stage of development... I hope we'll do soon...

>I have a need to provide filtering of a file after which the user wishes to browse (use NEXT/PREVIOUS buttons) and textboxes, etc ... on a form. I am about to begin to create it in a very direct, laborious manner (the only way I know) putting prompts with with textboxes and allowing for AND/OR options with "Begins with", "Contains" options etc ... for each field.
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>It occurs to me that this probably has already been done on a much higher level. Maybe even something that can be used just as it is (I must be dreaming).
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>Any good news out there ?