Use the undocumented INDIRECT keywordTag(s): Powerscript
INDIRECT declaration statement enables a function to be called indirectly by simply setting an instance or shared variable. With a simple INDIRECTed variable, we need to provide 2 functions. One to set the value and one to retrieve the value.
[instance variable]
public:
INDIRECT string i_username {of_SetUsername(*value),of_GetUsername()}
private:
string zis_username
[Powerscript functions]
function integer of_SetUsername(string as_username)
IF NOT IsNull(as_username) THEN
zis_username = upper(as_username)
END IF
RETURN 1
function String of_GetUsername()
RETURN zis_username
[test code]
// the of_SetUsername() function is called by PB
i_username = "powerbuilder howto"
// the of_GetUsername() function is called by PB
MessageBox("username", i_username)
Here some notes from Jeremy Lakeman (thanks!).
- INDIRECT variables only compile with 2 or 6 functions in the array otherwise the compiler will crash.
- Arguments that start with a * will be replaced by the appropriate value at compile time and all arguments are optional, the compiler wont complain if you don't pass one of the valid values
- Arguments can be supplied in any order
- The compiler will crash if you define a function with an unsuported argument
- Extra identifiers can be passed to each method, but only if they are valid in the context of the calling code
- The argument names are :
string *name the name of the variable (used with INDIRECT array) any *value the value being assigned long[] *args the array of array dimensions (used with INDIRECT array) - Where a value is supplied as an argument, the compiler will call any matching method. This means that you could override the set methods to allow multiple types of values to be assigned.
INDIRECT keyword when used with an array is a little bit more tricky, we need to define 6 functions.
In the following example, the INDIRECT array converts its member to uppercase. A userobject is used to hold our INDIRECT array and the 6 required functions.
[EXPORT .sru file, save into a file n_cst_indirect.sru and then IMPORT it in PB]
$PBExportHeader$n_cst_indirect.sru
forward
global type n_cst_indirect from nonvisualobject
end type
end forward
global type n_cst_indirect from nonvisualobject
end type
global n_cst_indirect n_cst_indirect
type variables
indirect string x[] {&
of_set_array(*name, *value), &
of_set_item(*name, *args, *value), &
of_get_array(*name), &
of_get_item(*name, *args), &
of_upperbound(), &
of_lowerbound()}
private:
string ix[]
end variables
forward prototypes
public function integer of_lowerbound ()
public function integer of_upperbound ()
private function any of_get_array (string s)
private function string of_get_item &
(string s, long al_dimensions[])
private subroutine of_set_item &
(string s, long al_dimensions[], string as_value)
private subroutine of_set_array (string s, string as_values[])
end prototypes
public function integer of_lowerbound ();
// provide the lower bound of the array
// can be defined with a *value argument
// but then must be called by lowerbound(x, 1)
// this method must be public
return lowerbound(ix)
end function
public function integer of_upperbound ();
// provide the upper bound of the array
// can be defined with a *value argument
// but then must be called by upperbound(x, 1)
// this method must be public
return upperbound(ix)
end function
private function any of_get_array (string s);
// return the entire array in an any variable
any la_ret
la_ret=ix
return la_ret
end function
private function string of_get_item &
(string s, long al_dimensions[]);
// get an element of the array
return ix[al_dimensions[1]]
end function
private subroutine of_set_item &
(string s, long al_dimensions[], string as_value);
// set an element of the array
ix[al_dimensions[1]]=upper(as_value)
end subroutine
private subroutine of_set_array (string s, string as_values[]);
integer i
String ls_blank[]
ix = ls_blank
// set the entire array
FOR i = 1 TO upperbound(as_values)
x[i] = as_values[i]
NEXT
end subroutine
on n_cst_indirect.create
call super::create
TriggerEvent( this, "constructor" )
end on
on n_cst_indirect.destroy
TriggerEvent( this, "destructor" )
call super::destroy
end on
To use the userobject from Powerscript :
integer i
n_cst_indirect lnv_i
String tmp[] = &
{ "the uppercase conversion", &
"was done with the", &
"INDIRECT keyword!"}
lnv_i = create n_cst_indirect
lnv_i.x[1] = "powerbuilder howto"
MessageBox("", lnv_i.x[1])
lnv_i.x[2] = "http://www.rgagnon.com"
MessageBox("", lnv_i.x[2])
Messagebox("", string(upperbound(lnv_i.x)))
lnv_i.x = tmp
FOR i = 1 TO Upperbound(lnv_i.x)
MessageBox("", lnv_i.x[i])
NEXT
The same technique but this time, our array type is long.
$PBExportHeader$n_cst_indirect.sru
forward
global type n_cst_indirect from nonvisualobject
end type
end forward
global type n_cst_indirect from nonvisualobject
end type
global n_cst_indirect n_cst_indirect
type variables
indirect long x[] {&
of_set_array(*name, *value), &
of_set_item(*name, *args, *value), &
of_get_array(*name), &
of_get_item(*name, *args), &
of_upperbound(), &
of_lowerbound()}
private:
long ix[]
end variables
forward prototypes
public function integer of_lowerbound ()
public function integer of_upperbound ()
private function any of_get_array (string s)
private subroutine of_set_array (string s, long al_values[])
private function long of_get_item (string s, long al_dimensions[])
private subroutine of_set_item &
(string s, long al_dimensions[], long al_value)
end prototypes
public function integer of_lowerbound ();
return lowerbound(ix)
end function
public function integer of_upperbound ();
return upperbound(ix)
end function
private function any of_get_array (string s);
any la_ret
la_ret=ix
return la_ret
end function
private subroutine of_set_array (string s, long al_values[]);
ix=al_values
end subroutine
private function long of_get_item (string s, long al_dimensions[]);
return ix[al_dimensions[1]]
end function
private subroutine of_set_item &
(string s, long al_dimensions[], long al_value);
ix[al_dimensions[1]]=al_value
end subroutine
on n_cst_indirect.create
call super::create
TriggerEvent( this, "constructor" )
end on
on n_cst_indirect.destroy
TriggerEvent( this, "destructor" )
call super::destroy
end on
$PBExportHeader$n_cst_indirect.sru
forward
global type n_cst_indirect from nonvisualobject
end type
end forward
global type n_cst_indirect from nonvisualobject
end type
global n_cst_indirect n_cst_indirect
type variables
indirect long x[1,2,3] {&
of_set_array(*name, *value, *eoseq), &
of_set_item(*name, *nargs, *args, *value, *eoseq), &
of_get_array(*name, *eoseq), &
of_get_item(*name, *nargs, *args, *eoseq), &
of_upperbound(*dims), &
of_lowerbound(*dims)}
private:
long ix[]
/*
indirect variables only compile with 2 or 6 functions in the array
otherwise the compiler will crash
arguments that start with a * will be replaced by the appropriate
value at compile time
all arguments are optional, the compiler wont complain if you don't
expect one of the valid values
arguments can be supplied in any order
the compiler will crash if you define a function with an unsuported
argument
extra identifiers can be passed to each method, but only if they are
valid in the context of the calling code
Eg you could pass "this" as an argument
string *name the name of the variable
any *value the value being assigned
long[] *args the array of array dimensions
long *nargs the number of elements in *args
boolean *eoseq end of sequence
used to indicate if this is the end of a dot notation
sequence
integer *dims dimension for lower or upper bound?
the compiler doesn't seem to care which named value
you actually use though
Where a value is supplied as an argument, the compiler will call any
matching method. This means that you could override the set methods
to allow multiple types of values to be assigned.
*/
end variables
forward prototypes
public function integer of_upperbound (integer al_dims)
public function integer of_lowerbound (integer al_dims)
private subroutine of_set_array &
(string as_name, long al_values[], boolean ab_eoseq)
private function any of_get_array (string as_name, boolean ab_eoseq)
private function long of_get_item &
(string as_name, long al_n_dimensions, &
long al_dimensions[], boolean ab_eo_seq)
private subroutine of_set_item &
(string as_name, long al_n_dimensions, &
long al_dimensions[], long al_value, boolean ab_eoseq)
end prototypes
public function integer of_upperbound (integer al_dims);
// provide the upper bound of the array
// can be defined with a * argument doesn't seem to care which one
// but then must be called by upperbound(x, 1)
// this method must be public
return upperbound(ix)
end function
public function integer of_lowerbound (integer al_dims);
// provide the lower bound of the array
// can be defined with a * argument doesn't seem to care which one
// but then must be called by lowerbound(x, 1)
// this method must be public
return lowerbound(ix)
end function
private subroutine of_set_array &
(string as_name, long al_values[], boolean ab_eoseq);
// set the entire array
ix=al_values
end subroutine
private function any of_get_array (string as_name, boolean ab_eoseq);
// return the entire array in an any variable
any la_ret
la_ret=ix
return la_ret
end function
private function long of_get_item &
(string as_name, long al_n_dimensions, long al_dimensions[],&
boolean ab_eo_seq);
// get an element of the array
return ix[al_dimensions[1]]
end function
private subroutine of_set_item &
(string as_name, long al_n_dimensions, long al_dimensions[], &
long al_value, boolean ab_eoseq);
// set an element of the array
ix[al_dimensions[1]]=al_value
end subroutine
on n_cst_indirect.create
call super::create
TriggerEvent( this, "constructor" )
end on
on n_cst_indirect.destroy
TriggerEvent( this, "destructor" )
call super::destroy
end on
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