Re: Re[2]: Local variable acting static in 4GL report

Peter Neilson (peter_neilson@lendlease.com.au) wrote: : : Neil Gall wrote: : : >I seem to recall that I-4GL's report functions do not behave like true : >functions in terms of privacy of locally declared variables. Perhaps >you : could try a global tv variable instead, with something like: : > : >function report_driver() : >... : > foreach processed_row : > ... : > let tv = 0 : > output to report your_rpt(your_row.*) >... : > end foreach : > ... : >end function : >To my knowledge, global variables behave as they should in report : >functions. Sorry I couldn't tell you why though. : I have a feeling that global variables *may* not always do what you expect : within report blocks. If the report is ordered internally, the values of This is correct, and can be seen by a simple example: MAIN DEFINE rec RECORD LIKE table1.* DEFINE glob_var CHAR(1) DECLARE c1 CURSOR FOR SELECT * FROM table1START REPORT example DISPLAY "Before foreach" FOREACH c1 INTO rec.* IF rec.col1 = "x" THEN LET glob_var = "x" ELSE LET glob_var = "y" END IF DISPLAY "In foreach: ", glob_var OUTPUT TO REPORT example (rec.*) END FOREACH DISPLAY "Post foreach" FINISH REPORT example END MAIN REPORT example(rec) DEFINE rec RECORD LIKE table1.* #With this, doesn't work as expected: ORDER BY rec.col1 FORMAT ON EVERY ROW DISPLAY "In report: ", glob_var ... END REPORT --------------------------- Without the order by, you would get glob_var displayed directly after the call to example() report, eg. > Before foreach > In Foreach: x > In report: x > In Foreach: y > In report: y > In Foreach: y > In report: y > In Foreach: x > In report: x > Post foreach However, uncommenting the "order by" in the report will cause the system to collect datasets sent to the report function until the "FINISH REPORT" call, at which time it will order the data and do the "ON EVERY ROW" in that order, with glob_var containing the last value, eg. > Before foreach > In Foreach: x > In Foreach: y > In Foreach: y > In Foreach: x > Post foreach > In report: x > In report: x > In report: x > In report: x This is non-intuitive behavior to most people who expect "OUTPUT TO REPORT" to work exactly like a function call. Understanding that the report can't process the data till after it orders it may help conceptualizing what happens here. Hope this helps, Don Simon ds5419@panix.com Funk As Puck, Inc. -- Don Simon Funk As Puck, Inc. ds5419@panix.com