Creating and Managing Projects

VPM Enterprise provides options that let you create and manage projects. You can create new projects from the VPME starter application or from a copy of an existing VPME project. You can open, close and delete projects, and you can view basic information about every project VPM Enterprise has created for you.

New Project

When you select New Project on the VPME File menu, VPM Enterprise creates a fresh starter application for you. Simply fill in the New Project dialog with an application name, a version number and an application prefix (see Application <Prefix> File Names), and VPME will build a starter application in just a few seconds. You use VPM’s builders and tools to complete your application.

Tip: The New Project option can only be performed if you have not opened a project since entering VPME. If you have opened an existing project in VPME, you must exit and re-enter VPME without opening a project before selecting New Project.

Copy Project

Instead of beginning a new application with a fresh VPME starter application, you can begin a new application with a copy, or clone, of one of your existing VPME applications. When you select Copy Project on the VPME File menu, VPM Enterprise creates a copy of an existing VPME project for you. The files in the project you choose to copy are copied to new project directories. From that point, you use VPME’s builders and tools to modify and complete your new application.

See the Copy Project in the Starting a New Application chapter for the details about copying projects.

Open Project

Select Open Project on the VPME File menu to open an existing project for further development. When you select Open Project, you see a list of the projects you have opened previously. The list is in descending order by the date and time you last opened each project.

You can open a project by double-clicking on the project name, by selecting the project name and pressing Enter, or by clicking the Open button.

If the project you want to open is not listed, press the Find button to locate the project definition file. Project definition files can be identified by their “PJD” file extensions. Project definition files are located in project home directories. The Find project dialog shows only files with a PJD extension. When you find the PJD file of the project you want, double-click it or highlight it and click Open.

Close Project

The Close Project option on the VPME File menu closes the open project.  You do not normally need to close projects.  VPM Enterprise automatically closes a project when you open another project and when you exit VPM Enterprise. However, if you want to close the open project without opening another project or exiting VPM Enterprise, the Close Project option is the place to do it.

Delete Project

Select the Delete Project option on the VPME File menu to delete a project. When you select Delete Project, VPM Enterprise lists your projects in the Select Project dialog.

Select the project you want to delete by double-clicking it, by highlighting it and pressing Enter, or by clicking Select. If the project is not listed, use the Find button to locate it. You find a project by locating its project definition, or PJD, file.

After you select the project to delete, VPM Enterprise displays the Project Selected for Deletion dialog.

The purpose of the Project Selected for Deletion dialog is to show you basic information about the project you are about to delete so you can make sure that you have selected the correct project for deletion.

Click the Delete button and VPM Enterprise will delete the project. 

All references to the project in all VPME files are removed. All of the project’s directories and files are deleted, except that:

·       If a directory in the project is being shared with another project, that directory and its files are not deleted.

·       If a file in the project is being shared with another project, the file is not deleted. Files can be shared through the Data Builder/Manager.

Moving Projects

Use the Directories option on the Options menu to move an open project to a different drive or directory. When you change a project directory by changing a drive letter or directory name on the Directories dialog, VPM Enterprise will move the files in the project directory to the new directory identified by the new drive letter or directory name. If the new directory does not exist, VPME will create it.

If You Move a Project Manually

If you don’t use the Directories option to move a project to a new drive or directory but instead move the project manually (say, via the Windows Explorer), use the Find button on the Open Project dialog to locate the project definition file. Project definition files can be identified by their “PJD” file extensions.  Project definition files are located in project home directories. The Find project dialog shows only files with a PJD extension.  When you find the PJD file of the project you want, double-click it or highlight it and click Open. The project will open in VPM, and the VPME pointers to the project will be set to the project’s new location.

Manually Adjusting VPM's Pointers to a Project

You should never need to manually adjust VPM’s pointers to a project, but if for some reason you do, you should know that VPME stores information about a project’s location in the following places:

1.   The path to a project’s home directory is stored in the PJD_LOC memo field in the SSYSPLOG.DBF table in the \VPME91\DATA directory.

2.   The paths to a project’s home and subdirectories are stored in the MHOMEDIR, MDATADIR, MMENUDIR, MPRGDIR, MRPTDIR, MFORMDIR and MPLIBDIR memo fields in the project definition file  (SVPMPROJECTDEFINITION.PJD) table in the project’s home directory.

3.   The paths to an application’s New Tables and New Reports directories as well as user selected directories are stored in the MNEWDBFDIR, MNEWRPTDIR and MPATH memo fields in the SVPMAPPLICATIONDEFINITION.APD table in the project’s home directory.

 

More:

Application <Prefix> File Names