First, this isn't all that long -- 98 lines -- but in any case I'd
consider:
-- breaking out routines for local vs. server connection
-- breaking out a routine for when we're just counting records that
match vs. returning data
-- breaking out a routine that, given a itemList describing a set
of fields, returns the data from those fields
Some of the rest I'm still not clear on, so it's hard to say.
As I said, more art than science, but to me a routine like this is
more than five times as difficult to understand/debug/manage than the
five twenty line routines that might replace it.
Not that I haven't written my fair share of these ;-)
regards,
Geoff
On Mar 21, 2006, at 11:59 AM, Rob Cozens wrote:
Hi Geoff ,
Wow -- so what does this do?
From Serendipity Reference:
>>
The findSDBRecord command checks for the existence & locked/
unlocked status of a record with the record type and key specified
in line 1 of sdbBuffer. It can also be used to unlock a record
that was previously locked but not changed or to return a count of
the number of records with certain field contents.
findSDBRecord is undoubtedly the most complex, but also the most
powerful, SDB command. It is the only SDB command that will
retrieve information from multiple records in a single call. As
such, it is ideally suited to retrieve specified fields from a
range of records for reporting or analysis.
exactKey (boolean) defaults to true, in which case findSDBRecord
returns card id "0" if the exact key is not in the database;
otherwise findSDBRecord will return the id for the record with the
closest higher key of the specified record type.
If fieldDelimiter is empty findSDBRecord simply returns the
Revolution card id of the record in word 4 of the result. If
fieldDelimiter is not empty, itemList contains a list of field
references (one per line) to retrieve. A field reference can take
two forms:
* a number that resolves to the field's ordinal position in the
record (0 = the record key)
* an SDB field reference ([Record Type]&":"&[dataname]), which the
SDB handlers will resolve to a field ordinal.
These two forms of reference can be used interchangably EXCEPT for
record types that have no Dictionary definition in the database.
findSDBRecord then puts a delimited list of the contents of the
fields into lines 2 to -1 of sdbBuffer.
setPosition (boolean) defaults to true.
unlockRecord (boolean) defaults to false. If true and the record
was locked by this user, it will be removed from the locked record
table.
findSDBRecord can be passed search criteria that must be met before
a record is retrieved, and instructed to search forward or backward
from the key if the key's record does not meet the search criteria
until the first acceptable record is found.
searchForward (boolean) determines search direction; default is
true (forward).
searchCriteria contains one or more lines in the following format:
-- field reference,test,target,and/or
* field reference is the field's ordinal or Data Dictionary name,
as defibed above.
* tests: "=" ,"<>" ,"in", "not in", "<", ">", "<=", or ">="
* target is the result to which the item is to be compared; it must
be a value, not a reference to another field in the record
* "and" or "or" is not needed on last line of search criteria
Example search criteria (assumes the field is defined in Record
Type, "TYPE" as dataname "department"):
"TYPE:department",>,21,and
"TYPE:department",<,34
Selects only records where the value of field "department" is
between 22 and 33.
If cutoffKey is not empty, findSDBRecord will discontinue the
search when it encounters a record with a key > cutoffKey if
searching forward or < cutoffKey if searching backward; otherwise
the search will end with the first matching record if
recordDelimiter is empty or the last/first record if it is not.
If recordDelimiter is empty, findSDBRecord returns information for
the first matching record it encounters. If recordDelimiter is not
empty, findSDBRecord puts empty into sdbBuffer and returns the
number of records matching the search criteria in word four of the
rersult if the fieldDelimiter is empty; otherwise it returns the
information for each matching record found between the key passed
in sdbBuffer and cutoffKey or the last/first record of the
specified record type. This information will be found in lines 2
to -1 of sdbBuffer. (The recordDelimiter is used to delimit
individual records.)
Note that findSDBRecord will return a locked record error if the
record exists but is locked by another user.
<<
Rob Cozens
CCW, Serendipity Software Company
"And I, which was two fooles, do so grow three;
Who are a little wise, the best fooles bee."
from "The Triple Foole" by John Donne (1572-1631)
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