Tables question

[411tech]

I am an old Foxpro Version 2.6 programmer. When programming with this product I developed a habit of NOT keeping the tables open for any length of time. I would open the table, copy the record to variables using a function called "scatter". When I was ready, I would open the table and then use the function "gather" to save the data. Back then networking was not the greatest and tables became corrupt often until I started using this type of accessing the data.

I just started on a project where some users will be using Terminal Server over 56K modems (Don't Ask). I am worried about the quality of their connections and I am afraid that the users will be disconnected dirty and therefore possibly corrupt the data.

Before I go crazy trying to figure out how to replicate these functions in Alpha, does Alpha have similar functions (looked in the Help to no avail) and if not, do you think I have reasons to be concerned?

I think the Web Server in V8 worked this way since there was no persistant connectivity between the server and client. I read somewhere that V9 has persistant connections and I will have to read up on this functionality, but for this excercise I am using the desktop.

All responses will be greatly appreciated.

[Tim Kiebert]

Re: Tables question

Barry,

I don't have any experience with TS but these two functions may be of help to you

<TBL>.RECORD_TO_VARS()
PROPERTY_RECURSE_ASSIGN()

This is an interactive session against the customer table in alphasports

dim recdata as P
dim tbl as P
tbl = table.open("customer")
?tbl.email
= "                                                            "

tbl.record_to_Vars(recdata)

?recdata.Email
= ""
recdata.Email = "[email protected]"

tbl.change_begin()
property_recurse_assign(tbl,recdata)
tbl.change_end()

?tbl.email
= "[email protected]                                                 "

tbl.close()

[411tech]

Re: Tables question

Thank you very much for the quick reply. I knew it had to be in there somewhere. Scatter / Gather basically worked the same way, but Alpha allows so much more manipulation.

For Desktop programming and remote access Terminal Server can't be beat. All processing happens locally, only the graphical screen gets updated on the remote side.

The only time data travels to & from the remote client is if you print a report locally or if you have locally attached devices such as a serial port time clock.

But when a session breaks dirty, the possibility of dirty data is increased, especially if you use attached devices.

I have a Terminal Server Desktop App that uses bar code scanners, but the scanners are really fancy keyboards!

[csda1]

Re: Tables question

Hi Barry,

If using a Terminal Server, all processing is happening locally (and typically within the same box).

There is generally no real benefit to copying the data to variables and back, except to minimize data reads and writes if you would be doing repeated multiple reads and writes to individual records.

In this respect, a terminal server acts as an extremely fast LAN.

Tables should not be left open any longer than needed is always a good technique, but I wouldn't constantly open and close a table either, as it is a high overhead operation.