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Capturing, storing and using variables

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    Capturing, storing and using variables

    I'm working on an application and I'm stuck on a point (or two) havingto do with variables. I know how to create a variable, save data to it, convert it from one data type to another and use the variable contents in A4 - ask the user to enter a name, save that name to a variable and use the variable to filter a report.

    I cannot get a handle on the A5 variables. I need to take user input (a name, beginning date and ending date), save them as variables, and use that data to print a report listing activity for that individual between the beginning and ending dates. In A4 that's easy. In A5 I'm banging my head against a wall. I know it doable, I just cannot figure out how to do it.

    Any help would be sincerely appreciated - my head is starting to hurt!!

    Thanks in advance.

    Dave Jampole
    Dave Jampole
    www.customalpha.com

    Women and cats will do whatever they want. The sooner men and dogs realize that, the happier they will be.


    #2
    RE: Capturing, storing and using variables

    Dave,

    I mentioned in another post that it would be helpful to check out two web sites for very helpful info, including help with your problem:

    At http://www.learn alpha.com/ Dr. Wayne has several articles related to variables. One in particular addresses "variable scoping", which is what you are dealing with.

    Also, Jim Chapman's "Virtual Classroom" articles at http://www.alphaforum.com/
    address using variables in layouts and all sorts of other useful stuff.

    In A5 you declare what type of variable you are creating. "Global" variables are equivalent to A4 variables; once declared, they stay active throughout your A5 session and are available everywhere (except maybe in the expression builder window of operations). In your script you would declare the variable like this:

    dim global myvariable as c 'makes myvariable a global character variable

    You can also set a variable, global or otherwise, in form design. In the top menu bar, if you click on Form, the drop down menu has a "Variables" choice where you can set a variable for use with that form. If you make it global, it can be used elsewhere.

    As far as getting user input for your variables, check out the "ui_" Xbasic commands in the Xbasic manual. You can also create a form that opens as dialog (that's probably to common way to do it) so that the user can type in the contents for each variable. Chapter 22 of the Xbasic manual discusses such forms.

    Once you get your beginning and ending dates into the variables and want to use them to filter reports or whatever, you can use the BETWEEN() function in your filter expression for this.

    By the time I typed all this, I'll bet you got five other, more succinct answers.

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