Procedure DefineAllExtendedFields
Call: | Send DefineAllExtendedFields |
Obsolete
As of revision 17.0, extended columns are fully supported by the DataDictionary class. pbBypassDDFieldBuffer determines whether a DEO that uses extended columns should bypass updating the DD and perform updates directly against the global table buffer
When a DDO is created, DDO-field buffers are not created for text and binary fields. These types of fields are referred to as extended fields. Instead the DEOs deal directly with the table's File-Buffer (reports would do this same). Binary and Text fields rarely have validation requirements so full DDO support is not really needed. If these fields are not needed, you do not want to incur the added overhead of these fields.
When working with Business Processes that edit text fields you are going to want to have extended field support in your DDOs. If you are using a Web Application, you will also want to have extended field support.
An extended DDO field can be created for any field by sending the message DefineExtendedField passing the field number of the extended field.
Extended DD fields can be created for all text and binary fields within a Data Dictionary object by sending the message DefineAllExtendedFields. Normally, you will use this message.
Object Customer_DD is a Customer_DataDictionary Send DefineAllExtendedFields End_Object
When an extended DD field is created, an internal field object is created for this field. Once created values are moved between the file-buffer and the extended fields in the same way they are moved in and out of the normal fields. The "refresh" process moves data from the file-buffer to the DDO-Field buffer, and the "update" process moves data from the DDO-Field buffer to the file buffer. In addition, a mechanism is provided for updating the DDO-Field buffer value.
You will only use extended fields for batch updating. When you use data entry objects (DEOs) to represent text fields, the DEO always communicates directly with the data file's buffer. If an extended field exists, it will not be used as part of the visual update.