Hi All,

Just wondering if there is a way in WebFOCUS other than by using "EX" to limit the scope of an amper variable.

I'd like to limit the scope of variables created within a fex (call it FOO) that is -INCLUDEd in several places. I know I can use "EX FOO" to limit the scope but I'm hoping that maybe there is something new in the language I don't know about. I imagine something cool like the BLOCKBEGIN and BLOCKEND labels in this pseudocode below:

-SET &MOUSE = 'Mickey';
-* define new scope here with BLOCKBEGIN.
-BLOCKBEGIN
-SET &MOUSE = 'Minnie';
-* end scope here with BLOCKEND.
-BLOCKEND
-TYPE &MOUSE

and lo and behold the value of &MOUSE would be 'Mickey'.

-James

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kerry,

That's not possible with WebFOCUS. However this is:

-SET &MOUSE = 'Mickey';
-* define new scope here with BLOCKBEGIN.
-BLOCKBEGIN
-SET &MOUSE_SAVE = &MOUSE;
-SET &MOUSE = 'Minnie';
-* end scope here with BLOCKEND.
-BLOCKEND
-SET &MOUSE = &MOUSE_SAVE;
-TYPE &MOUSE

So what is it you are trying to accomplish with all the stuff in the middle?
With -SET &MOUSE='Mickey'; you get the value of &MOUSE to be Mickey. I guess I'm not quite sure what you mean by "limiting the scope of variables" or why you are needing to EX FOO.
Can you give an example and explanation of how you are trying to use this?

Francis, Thanks for confirming what I thought would be the case.

Darin, The scope of a variable determines where you can access the variable in your code. The wikipedia has an explanation for local variable scope.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_variable

I was hoping that there might be an enhancement to the dialog manager that supported local scope but no such luck.

-James

Another variation on Francis' solution would be indexing the variables.

[CODE-*new file
-SET &Level = 'Top' ;
-SET &MOUSE.&Level = 'Mickey';
-* define new scope here with BLOCKBEGIN.
-BLOCKBEGIN
-SET &Level = 'Inner' ;
-SET &MOUSE.&Level = 'Minnie';
-* end scope here with BLOCKEND.
-BLOCKEND
-SET &Level = 'Top' ;
-TYPE &MOUSE.&Level[/CODE]

As you've seen from earlier posts, there are a number of ways to deal with this issue. If your variable will have a limited number of values, another approach is to use the values as labels in your -INCLUDEd focexec:

-DEFAULT &MOUSE = 'Mickey'
-GOTO &MOUSE
-*
-Mickey
.
.
-EXIT
-*
-Minnie
.
.
-EXIT
-*
etc....

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dan Satchell,

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