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Autofind Field Property

Obsolete

Refer to the Field_Options property in the DataDictionary class.

See Also

Purpose

To execute an automatic find eq (equals) on an entry_item command.

Syntax

set field_options field
file.field to dd_autofind

or

entry_item
file.field
{autofind
[... option]
}

File.field must have a Main Index in the definition of file.

What It Does

Autofind performs a find eq (equals) by the main index of file.field when an entry_item is executed on field. If a record is found whose value in the main index of file.field exactly matches the values in the item and any other items whose fields participate in the index, it is displayed on the screen. If no such record is found, the cursor exits the item normally and no record is moved into the buffer. No error will be declared.

set field_options field vendor.id_code to dd_autofind

When the cursor exits any item attached to Field id_code in File vendor after typing a value into it, DataFlex will search the main index for id_code in Database File vendor and display the record whose index value matches those in the screen buffer for the fields that make up the index. If there is no vendor record with a matching id_code index value, the cursor proceeds normally to the next item and no error is reported.

Notes

  • Autofind uses the Main Index for file.field to search by.

  • Do not use autofind with a file.field whose Main Index is non-unique, since the absence of the record number in the entry will prevent an exact match. Where you wish to find by a non-unique index, use autofind_ge.

  • Where you are autofinding by a multi-segment index, place the autofind option on the last entry_item command that addresses a field that participates in the index. For autofind to work, it is necessary that values be in the screen buffer for all segments of the index, although it is not necessary that they be addressed by entry_item commands in the same order as they are in the index. The file definition for file must specify the search index as the Main Index for file.field.

  • If you want to execute an automatic find ge (greater than or equal to) command, use autofind_ge.

  • If entry_item commands address another file(s) to which file is related as child, data from related record(s) in the parent file(s) will also be found and displayed.

  • If used together with findreq, autofind will require users to enter a valid existing key before continuing.