I was trying to improve upon my existing code by creating a subroutine to replace code I used in every telephone number element and thought I could make use of the new command ThisElement released in version 1.0.4.

The code below was what I was using to properly format and control the data for a telephone number.
// Formats Telephone Number (not Subroutine)

var vHPhone as String    
var vNewHPhone As String 
var vhphonecount
var vhpnentered

     Vhpnentered = @num(HomePhone)
     // Writeln(Vhpnentered)
     
     vhphonecount = @num(@len(vhpnentered))
     //writeln(vhphonecount)

If vhphonecount = "10"


{
     @color(HomePhone,0,7)
     vHPhone = @Num(HomePhone)
     vNewHPhone = "(" + @Left(vHPhone, 3) + ") " + @Mid(vHPhone, 4, 3) + "-" + @Right(vHPhone, 4)
     HomePhone = vNewHPhone 
}
else
{
     @color(HomePhone,7,1)
     @msgbox("The Telephone Number needs to be Exactly 10 Digits", "The numbers you entered " +
     @num(Homephone),"is : " + Vhphonecount + " Digits Please check Home Telephone and Re-enter")
     
}   

Originally I used this code in on element change on every telephone element by copying and changing the element name.  I have since learned that the better method would be to create a subroutine or a function that will be called from each element.  So I tried creating a subroutine (see below) It does not work.


//  Formats Telephone Number with a Subroutine using ThisElement

Subroutine FormatPhone() // Name of Subroutine

// Declare Variables
var vHPhone as String    
var vNewHPhone As String 
var vhphonecount
var vhpnentered

// set Variables to empty
var vHPhone = “”   
var vNewHPhone = “” 
var vhphonecount = “”
var vhpnentered = “”

// Setting variable Vhpnentered to @num of element called from.

     Vhpnentered = @num(ThisElement)      // Writeln(Vhpnentered)

// Calculating number of digits
     
     vhphonecount = @num(@len(vhpnentered))
     //writeln(vhphonecount)

// how to handle if or if not 10 digits

If vhphonecount = "10"


{
     @color(ThisElement,0,7)
     vHPhone = @Num(ThisElement)
     vNewHPhone = "(" + @Left(vHPhone, 3) + ") " + @Mid(vHPhone, 4, 3) + "-" + @Right(vHPhone, 4)
     ThisElement = vNewHPhone 
}
else
{
     @color(ThisElement,7,1)
     @msgbox("The Telephone Number needs to be Exactly 10 Digits", "The numbers you entered " +
     @num(ThisElement),"is : " + Vhphonecount + " Digits Please check Home Telephone and Re-enter")
      
}   


End Subroutine

I placed this code in Global Code section

And in my telephone elements on element change I put FormatPhone()

I thought that this would call the subroutine named FormatPhone and pass the Element Name it was called from. I seem to be misunderstanding the correct method to create my subroutine

Can someone comfortable with Subroutines and functions please explain were I went wrong. Some of us are slow learners and need a little more help then others. (This shows the importance of the upcoming Sesame conference and Masters Seminar classes in October)

Thanks,

Robert

Quote:


That is a Rookie Error. 

I have changed these from string to integer and back a dozen times this weekend. Must of left them off by accident. I even removed the section that sets the variables to null. I will correct and see if that solves my problem

Quote:


It runs inconsistently and does not run every time. I figured I was doing something incorrect with ThisElement because my other subroutines seem to work fine. If you do not see anything flagrantly wrong with my process other then my declarations I will correct my errors and contact Tech support if my problem continues.

Thanks for the Quick Response as always You guys and gals are the best.

Just to be official I figured I would point out that while upgrading using ThisElement it was also appropriate to replace the old @color command with the improved and more consistant RGBColor() command and the replacement of  the problematic not to be used Goto with ThrowFocus()

{
     RGBColor(ThisElement,0,0,0,255,255,255)
     vHPhone = @Num(ThisElement)
     vNewHPhone = "(" + @Left(vHPhone, 3) + ") " + @Mid(vHPhone, 4, 3) + "-" + @Right(vHPhone, 4)
     ThisElement = vNewHPhone 
}
else
{
     RGBColor(ThisElement,255,255,255,255,0,0)
     @msgbox("The Telephone Number needs to be Exactly 10 Digits", "The numbers you entered " +
     @num(ThisElement),"is : " + Vhphonecount + " Digits Please check Home Telephone and Re-enter")
       Throwfocus(ThisElement)
      
}   


End Subroutine

I figured I was on a subroutine roll so I created a few more to handle some simple tasks like first letter capitalization and things like that.

I then created one that checks the validity of a zip code by counting digits and comparing information contained in your zipcode samples database. All was going well until I tried returning values to other fields based on that lookup.

In this example I had the user enter the zip code and then on element exit I want to do a lookup into the zipcode database and return the city, state, time zone, county and +4 digits if available.

I can do this easily if I place my code in all the elements and specifically name the element I want data returned to

Xlookup("C:\Sesame\Data\Samples\ZipCode.db", homezip, "zip code", "city", Homecity)
      Xlookup("C:\Sesame\Data\Samples\ZipCode.db", homezip, "zip code", "state", Homestate)
      Xlookup("C:\Sesame\Data\Samples\ZipCode.db", homezip, "zip code",  "Full county", HomeCounty)
      Xlookup("C:\Sesame\Data\Samples\ZipCode.db", homezip, "zip code",  "Time Zone", HomeTZ)

But

If I want to do this in a subroutine I can change the first parameter to ThisElement  because that stays constant but I need to specify different elements that receive the data.

Can you point me in the direction of the methods you recommend I employ to do that?

Thanks

I must be missing something  ???   Because if I understand you correctly your saying I should use @ElementName(ThisElement) to identify were the subroutine is being called from and then change the parameters accordingly:

Basically create a subroutine that tests for the element I am working with and set my variables to the ones needed something sort of like this:

Var vfrom as string
Var vcity as string
Var vstate as string
Var vzip as string
Var vcounty as string
Var vtimezone as string

Vfrom = @ElementName(ThisElement)

If Vfrom = Homezip
{
     vstate = Homestate
     vcity = HomeCity
     vzip = HomeZip
     vcounty = HomeCounty
     vtimezone = HomeTz
}
Else If Vfrom = Workzip
{
     vstate = Workstate
     vcity = WorkCity
     vzip = WorkZip
     vcounty = WorkCounty
     vtimezone = WorkTz
}
Else If Vfrom = Shipzip
{
     vstate = Shipstate
     vcity = ShipCity
     vzip = ShipZip
     vcounty = ShipCounty
     vtimezone = ShipTz
}
Else If Vfrom = Otherzip
{
     vstate = Outherstate
     vcity = OutherCity
     vzip = OutherZip
     vcounty = OutherCounty
     vtimezone = OutherTz
}

@XlookupSourceList(“C:\Sesame\Data\Samples\ZipCode.db",ThisElement,”
zipcode”,”state;city;zip;county;timezone”)

and then return the values to vstate, vcity, vzip, vcounty.vtimezone.

If  I am understanding this correctly would it not be simpler and easier to put separate code in each element or is there an advantage I am missing or am I totally going down the wrong path?

Sorry if I am being dense I am just trying to get a good grasp on the concepts not just the way to accomplish the task.

Thanks

When you say the:

(difference between a string (element name) and an element reference.)

Are you reffering to element name verses field it is bound to or ?   ???

Thanks

Sure,  I got that. The one in the quote is the literal the other is what is contained in the element.

Ok show me how I should be doing this subroutine. Sesame version 99999999.0.5 might be released by the time I get this on my own.

Thanks for the help.

Erika,

Thanks these examples are really helpful. 

This is good learning material for reverse engineering how things are done. It seems I need to confront Arrays head on. I have not really confronted them in detail yet.

Is Arrays still a topic being covered in the classes in October?

I also need to get a better understanding of  function versus subroutine. I am re-reading that section once again. Eventually it will sink in.

Finally is the reason you would make this a routine instead of a quick cut, paste and edit for each element you  would call this from mainly for better speed or is it just good programming practices to routine and function as much as possible.

Thanks again

Why does this show no errors when I test with the goto but errors with Throwfocus? Does it have something to do with the fact that goto ends the program and ThrowFocus allows the programming to finish?

What do I have wrong?

SUBROUTINE DoAssignLocationInfo()
var vName as String
var vZip as String
var vLVals as String

// checks for 5 digits in zip code

If @len(@num(ThisElement)) <>5 then

{
@Msgbox("The ZipCode Must be" , "at least five digits." , "Please correct the entry.")

     // RGBColor(ThisElement,",",",255,0,0)
      Throwfocus ThisElement
}
else

{

    vName = @ElementName(ThisElement)
    vZip = ThisElement
    vLVals = GetLocationInfo(vZip)


    If @Len(vLVals) > 0
    {
   AssignLocationInfo(vName, vLVals)
    }
}   
END SUBROUTINE

I also tried this and 2000 other possibilities


SUBROUTINE DoAssignLocationInfo()
var vName as String
var vZip as String
var vLVals as String


    vName = @ElementName(ThisElement)
    vZip = ThisElement
    vLVals = GetLocationInfo(vZip)

// checks for at least 5 digits in zip code

If @len(@num(vzip)) <> 5 then

{
     @Msgbox("The ZipCode Must be" , "at least five digits." , "Please correct the entry.")

     // RGBColor(ThisElement,255,255,255,255,0,0)
      ThrowFocus vzip
}
else

{


    If @Len(vLVals) > 0
    {
   AssignLocationInfo(vName, vLVals)
    }
}   
END SUBROUTINE

Quote:



Dang it,  I have read page 12 of the 1.0.4 supplement at least 200 times since yesterday, No Kidding.  I have tried everything with the code possible and a simple basic thing like that messes me up. (Shame on me) I was so busy looking for something wrong with the logic I missed the simplest thing.

Thanks for the help, Sorry it was for something so stupid.

The combination of the @MsgBox and the ThrowFocus may be creating an event loop, depending on where things are being called. I can't tell without seeing the rest of your code.

Regardless, you may want to consider using the alternate method of data validation that I showed you in the SBasic class, rather than creating a "trap".   

The phrase that comes to my mind is: "Control the data, not the user".

As an ancilliary: "It is better to accept a mistake than enforce one".

As an example, take phone numbers: From my phone in a office building, any of the following are legal phone numbers:

*8
3-81
011-49-222-444-111
1-800-555-1200 @ 444
1-800-555-1200 ext 4444
751-1212
(321) 123-1234
(321) 123-4444-8-1234
(321) 123-4444 or (321) 123-9999 if after noon, but before 6:00
+49-222-444-111

The variety is pretty much endless. The situation is similiar with postal codes, first and last names, currency, any unit of measurement, etc...

The irony of this seemingly untenable situation is that the humans using the computer deal with it fine, it really only becomes a problem when the programmer/designer attempts to enforce an overly narrow set of conditions on the users. In other words, the programmer tries to make the user create uniformity in data, where uniformity is actually incorrect.

If, you enforce that a phone number must be (xxx) xxx-xxxx, you will begin to see addtions, notes, and alterations appearing in less frequently used fields nearby. That reduces the value of the phone number field (which is usually only used by humans that can and do understand that "Ext" and "@" both mean "extension") and the nearby field, that starts to become nonsensical.

Very often the best thing a programmer can do to prevent typos while still allowing for the correct non-conformity of data, is to be adaptive. Check the data against a set of known good formats, if it matches none of them, ask the user if they are sure. If they are, add that "new" format to the list of known good formats.

Quote:

Excellent suggestion Mark!