Pathmaker Programming Guide

Reading Rows
How to Operate a DB Requester Application
067868 Tandem Computers Incorporated B–5
READ EXACT Operation for a Nested Box
If a key column appears within a nested box, the end user must do the following to
request a READ EXACT operation:
1. Read or insert a row in the parent box.
2. Enter the entire value in the key column(s).
3. Press F7.
If a key column does not appear within a box and a READ EXACT operation is
requested, the application performs the READ EXACT; however, the results are
indistinguishable from a READ FIRST operation.
READ GENERIC (F8) To retrieve the first row(s) with a partial key value that matches the one entered on the
screen, the end user must request a READ GENERIC operation.
A READ GENERIC operation cannot be requested for any key column that contains
numeric values.
To perform a READ GENERIC, the end user must enter a partial key value and press
F8.
If the application accesses NonStop SQL tables, the number of characters entered on
the screen are used for comparison; however, if the application accesses Enscribe files,
when F8 is pressed, the following message is displayed on the screen and waits for a
response:
Enter compare-length (characters), F8
The end user must then enter the number of characters to be used for the compare
operation and press F8 a second time.
The application uses the specified number of characters for the compare operation and
returns the appropriate row or record. For example, suppose that the end user wants
to request a READ GENERIC operation for the following key field :
+ EMPNAME _______________________
EMPLOYEE contains rows for employees named MARGARET, MARIE, and
MARILYN. If the following partial characters are entered, the indicated records will
be retrieved:
M MARGARET returned MARIE returned on READ NEXT
MA MARGARET returned MARIE returned on READ NEXT
MAR MARGARET returned MARIE returned on READ NEXT
MARI MARIE returned MARILYN returned on READ NEXT
MARG MARGARET returned Record not found on READ NEXT
Now, suppose that an alphanumeric field from an Enscribe table appears as follows:
* EMPNUM _____