how do i add a note/ memo object?

Question

hey guys im working on a small project that acts as a personal gym assistant as im also into lifting weights/ gym. i have a small program with 1 forms (windows application) i have a database for this too to keep track of the different weight reps sets and progress and a selection of combo boxes to choose which exercise im doing ... nothing fancy or complex just a simple app. question is though i now want to add in something that i can type a note into and for this to be saved to the database as well .... i was thinking i could add in a label called add note then when i use the click event on that label it would open up a message box .. but i know i cannot write to a message box so what can i use instead? would it be another form ? been tryign to figure out for a while but im stuck. thanks

Sam Hobbs · Answer

When you create fields in your database there should be a memo data type. A memo field is for notes; they can be multiple lines and any size up to a limit of many characters; something like 32KB. You should be able to modify the table definition and add a memo field for notes.

Sam Hobbs · Answer

This is an excellent example of why it is impractical to use this web site from a mobile phone. I predicted that situations such as this will happen with smart phones that have small displays.

Suthish Nair · Answer

:) Sam you are on fire today can you please share the documentation link. Am accessing through mobile.

Sam Hobbs · Answer

Look at the documentation. Isn't that the advice you often give? And just think about it. It is an extremely common dilemma; what happens when software drops support of something that other software uses?

Suthish Nair · Answer

So why they still provided that data type in SQL Server ?

Sam Hobbs · Answer

The documentation says very clearly that we should not write new applications using text data type for SQL Server. The only reason I am aware of that is that I researched what you said about what to use instead of memo.

Suthish Nair · Answer

Ok Text is supported in SQL Server 2008. Might future versions dont?

Sam Hobbs · Answer

Thank you Suthish for the clarification. Yes nvarchar(max) is what John wants. Note however that text will not be supported in the future.

Suthish Nair · Answer

Memo is in Access Database. You can use nvarchar(max) or TEXT datatype

John Burns · Answer

hey Sam when i checjed this over there is no 'memo' data type when creating the table in the database. any suggestions?

John Burns · Answer

cool that makes more sense now. Will give this a try dude

John Burns · Answer

hey Sam thanks for the reply. the main form i have is split into different days/ dates as i have a date picker (think thats the correct name for it) the drop down menu that allows me to select dates. and on each date i list my exercises and have the option to add a note at the bottom. not really too sure on grids yet as i havent really covered them in much detail but the other one you suggested with adding a memo field when setting up the table in the data base?

Sam Hobbs · Answer

I think you will want a memo field in the database and as Frogleg says a multiline Textbox in the form. If you do that then you don't need a separate button; you can have the Textbox on the same form as the otherr data. You certainly can use a separate form for the notes if you want to. The tricky part is if you want to show the records in a DataGridView or some other grid. You probably would prefer to have a Textbox in the form that is separate from the grid so you have more room for the notes. So is your main form going to show only one record at a time or are you going to use a grid to show multiple records? My article Database Table Update in a DataGridView without Writing Code can help to make the programming easy.

Frogleg · Answer

Panel with multiline textbox & a couple of buttons which you could hide as you like