Another way to find a record, besides tbl.fetch_find?

[georgefurnel]

Good day,

Question:
I know that I can use tbl.fetch_find in a xbasic UDF to find a record when I know the value of a field(s), but I was wondering if there is another way to find a record.

Background:
I want to test if a record exist that contains tbl.firstname = �firstname� and tbl.lastname = �lastname�. And currently I�m using rec = tbl.fetch_find(firtname +lastname) but that does not correctly check for the existence of this combination.

Kind regards
George

[Tom Cone Jr]

Re: Another way to find a record, besides tbl.fetch_find?

George, I'd use the key_exist() function after first defining an indextag based on the concatenated string values of the two fields. i.e. firstname + lastname. If the concatenated string value already exists in the list of keys in the index the function will return "True", and you'll know that a record with those field values is present. Otherwise it returns "False".

-- tom

ps. your existing approach will also work but again you need to define a compound key and then pass a search term that matches the indextag expression. If you're having trouble it's because either the index is not defined correctly, or you're passing an argument to the function that doesn't match the indextag expression. Trailing blank spaces in table fields can often cause mismatches that are not obvious. In any case, I don't favor doing it this way however because you're opening new instances of both the table and the index. Key_Exist() just opens the index.

[Jim Coltz]

Re: Another way to find a record, besides tbl.fetch_find?

A5_GET_RECORDS_IN_QUERY() is very flexible and easy to use for checking for the existence of records that match an expression.

[MikeC]

Re: Another way to find a record, besides tbl.fetch_find?

And possibly another way is to use lookup() which takes a filter and your table doesn't have to be opened.
http://support.alphasoftware.com/alp...s/LOOKUP().htm

or even lookupc() if you have an index name to use so is very similar to Tom's approach.

These actually return a field's value but all depends on what you need.

[georgefurnel]

Re: Another way to find a record, besides tbl.fetch_find?

Hmm, my initial post was not that clear. So I need to add that after determining wheter first & lastname exist in the table, I need to get something back that will allow me to update the record IF it exists.

Looking forward to your response.

Regards
George

[Tom Cone Jr]

Re: Another way to find a record, besides tbl.fetch_find?

George, if your design is using the combination of firstname + lastname to find records then I'd recommend you create a new index and use an expression to define the index key as the string of characters you get when you concatenate the two fields. You should give some thought to how you're going to arrange for the user to tell you which first and last names to search for. The input strings they supply will have to be massaged to match the structure of the expression you use in the index you define. Remember to take the trailing blanks into consideration. The new index can then be used with the fetch_find() method of the table. If this isn't making sense to you let us know. We can cobble together an example for you, just tell us how you're going to get the names from the user. Even better supply us with a working copy of your form with supporting tables.

[georgefurnel]

Re: Another way to find a record, besides tbl.fetch_find?

Good point Tom,

I was trying the "index" method etc, but because I was not getting it to work, I started looking for alternatives. I will gather my facts and post it here, for asistence from people like yourself.

Kind regards
George