dragging a container object at run time

Thanks for that (and for being so quick!)

I've set the DragMode property to be automatic - and I can now drag the container.

But ... I'm merely moving it around within the FORM, not to another object. When I release it, it goes back to its original position.

What's the difference between DragMode and OLEDragMode? The help topics give me the impression that I need to use OLEDragMode if I want to drag data to another application, but that it makes no difference if, as here, I'm just working within FoxPro. If I set OLEDragMode to 'automatic' and try dragging, then it doesn't work. The cursor changes to a circle with a diagonal bar, which I take to mean "don't even try it".

In the OLEStartDrag , you could create a transparent shape that covers the complete form. Set its zorder so it is at the top. Then that shape would capture all the drops and you would only have to code the dragdrop event of this shape

OK, I've managed some progress.

But let me give you some more background first. What I'm trying to do is to display some geographic data. Doesn't need to be as detailed as a full-scale GIS would give me, but I'd like to be able to display a series of places (perhaps 200-300) in their right geographic location relative to one another.

What I'd started with is a bit like tusharkanvinde's suggestion. I've got a rectangular area of  a FORM (it's actually the bottom 95% or so, with some command buttons above it) defined as a shape, named shpMAP.

I've defined a 'place' class which has position and name properties. The .INIT() code for the form includes a loop that goes through the list of places and creates one of these objects within .shpMAP for each place.

Then I've set up a .RIGHTCLICK() method for .shpMAP so that I can zoom in or out.

All of this works nicely. Looks good and works quickly.

What I then wanted to do was to be able to drag the contents of .shpMAP so as to pan north/south/east/west as necessary.

I've looked at Olaf's 'further reading' suggestion. I may be looking at a slightly different set of samples. In my 'Program Files\Visual Foxpro' folder, I've got a 'Samples\solution' folder, where thers a SOLUTION.APP. Running this I can get a 'Fun with Drag and Drop' display. That's got a nice example of a [Drag Me] command button, which has some similarities to what I'd like to do.

Spent some time exploring this. Tried to apply it to my case, but there's a problem. The [Drag Me] example works nicely, because you're trying to move the button to some other part of the FORM. In my case, I'm trying to "nudge" the display by a small amount relative to the size of the shape. And it won't work, because the dragging needs to have moved out of the original shape in order to trigger what happens next. Indeed, if I try nudging the [Drag Me] button so as to move it to a place within the original button, then it doesn't move.

So I've ended up tackling the problem in a different way. I've surrounded .shpMAP with four long thin rectangle shapes. If you click on the topmost one, the map pans north (and so on). Works fine, though probably not as elegant as dragging.

I think that I'm still going to have fun when I come to drag the places (some of them may be in the 'wrong' place and so need to be moved).

I suspect that one or more of you will say "why don't you use such-and-such a GIS". I'm slightly leery of using another program alongside my FoxPro data, beacuse I need to be able to move the data both ways, from Fox to GIS and back again. Keeping everything within the Fox side makes that simpler. And I don't need all the bells and whistles that I'd get with a full-blown GIS!

One thing that I have tried is to save the start-of-drag coordinates from a .MOUSEDOWN event, and the end-of-drag ones frrom the matching .MOUSEUP event. I can then use the difference between these to reposition the map according to how far I've dragged the map.

That works, in that the map does get repositioned. But it doesn't move during the drag itself, which looks weird!

That is why I suggest forgetting the drag-drop mechanism, and just following mouse movement.

If you use that method, you will also need to code in the mousemove event.

OK, I'm making (some) progress here.

I've given up (for the moment) on being able to drag the whole set of objects so as to pan north/south/east/west. As I said above, I've surrounded .shpMAP with four long thin rectangle shapes. If you click on the topmost one, the map pans north (and so on). Works fine, though probably not as elegant as dragging. I might go back to trying the drag when I understand more about the various methods/events.

Meanwhile, I have been trying to drag individual objects into their 'proper' position. As Olaf says, darg-and-drop isn't really menat for the moving of objects, just for moving data or files and getting a visual representation thereof.

Which probably explains why I don't find the logic terribly easy. But what does work is as follows:

(1) within the object that is to be moved, the .MouseDown() event starts the dragging process. Within this, the code calls .Drag().

(2) the confusing bit is about what happens when you take your finger off the mouse, because here you need to put some code into the .DragDrop() event of the object that's "underneath" - the one onto which you're doing the dropping.

I end up with some complications about x/y coordinates within both objects (the one that's dragged and the one onto which it is dropped) so as to get the dragged one repositioned "properly" - but I ought to be able to sort those on my own.

So, thanks to all of you - you've all suggested things and pointed me in the right direction. Accordingly, I've split the points between all of you.