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A Newsletter for
FoxPro
Application Developers in Southern California
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Most organizations have scheduling demands. These scheduling problems fall into the area of operations mathematics called Integer Programming (IP) or Discrete Programming in general mathematics terms. It is called Integer or Discrete Programming because each step is a go or no-go issue rather than an analytical solution. Below I will cover three common types of scheduling problems using IP with database solutions. Once you are familiar with these basic concepts, you can use them or a combination of them to solve those really difficult scheduling problems.
The “Container Problem”
A common IP scheduling problem is called the “container problem”. It is assumed that there is a container of a fixed size and items of variable sizes that need to go into the container. This problem is encountered whenever a railroad car, plane, truck, or shipping box is packed or loaded. One example of this problem is the need to copy all of the files in a subdirectory of a hard drive onto a group of 3.5” floppies.
A solution to this problem would be to create a database table of all the files on the subdirectory along with the size of each file. Then, index by size and go to the bottom. Check to see if the largest file will even fit on the floppy. If it won’t, tell the user. If it will fit, then copy that one file to a floppy. Now subtract the file size from the available size that is left on the floppy. Now, that you know the available size that is left on the floppy, locate a file that is the same size or smaller. Now, copy that one to the floppy and keep repeating until the size left on the floppy is less than the smallest file in the database table. Then, start with a newfloppy and repeat.
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At LA Fox
October 18, 1999, 7:30 PM, Mike Vincent. Since presenting his introductory session on DBI Tech’s ActiveX Controls, Mike has discovered several cool things about this tool.
(Please see
“About
October’s Meeting”, page
9.) ActiveX controls can significantly add to the functionality and visual iinterface of your VFP applications. As you may know, there is a learning curve and some controls work better than others with VFP. He’ll provide an overview of controls from severai sources, then dflii into details of implementing some that he is using in his own projects. He’ll also share some experiences on the in and outs of managing ActiveX controls in both development and end-user environments. Don’t miss this one...
November
15, 1999, 7:30 PM, Twila Miller. Twila always
provides us with outstanding presentations. This one promises to be no different.. .“OLE Automation with MS Word and Excel”.
If she has time, she’ll also be covering some MAPI issues as
well.
December 20, 1999, 7:30 PM, The Annual
LA Fox Christmas Party. It’s that time of the year again. Come join us for merriment, good times, LA Fox fellowship, and
tasty
treats.
And what would the Christmas party be without The White Elephant Gift Exchange? So come prepared for a good time.
Elsewhere
May 14-17, 2000, VFP DevCon 2000, New Orleans
(Con't page 2) |
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Out and About
by Barry R.
Lee
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The October meeting of LA Fox will be held on Oct. 18, 1999, at 7:30 PM at our
new meet
ing place (NCR, 100 N. Sepulveda Blvd., El Segundo, CA). For details on how to get there, see the map on the back page.
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(Con't page 7)
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In this issue
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Removing Obstacles
Inter-Object Communications
FoxPro Q&A
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Page 2
Page 3
Page 6
....and much more!
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