tomb@ufisna.UUCP (Tom Baitz) (09/25/89)
Hi, ( this is my first posting ) Since working with Informix (which I like) two problems always seem to crop up and I don't know the best way to deal with them. Problem#1: Using query by example, utilizing the construct statement, allowing a user to enter search criteria, it is not known how many records will be selected. It could be 0 to thousands, depending on how much selection criteria was entered by the user. I typically display the results of such a query on summary screens, one screen line per row retreived. If their are more records selected than I have allocated room for in the program array, I issue a message to the screen informing the user, exit out of the foreach block, and display what I have accumulated in the program array. This is not really acceptable. I can't ask the user to be more specific (he/she may have wanted to query on exactly what was entered), I can't make the program array large enough to handle all queries, I can't make the program array the same size as the screen array and still be able to page through them the way I ought to. WHAT CAN I DO? Problem#2: I have data displayed that the user can page back and forth through. It may be many screens full. The user is able to insert/delete/modify any row. Now the user hits the ESC key saying he is through and to go update the database. How does the program determine what was inserted/deleted/modified? My technique -:) has been to delete everything and reinsert it. This can't be the best way. WHAT IS? Any suggestions (get out of the business is unacceptable), ideas, solutions will be appreciated. Please E-mail any responses, as I am not able to monitor this newsgroup as often as I would like. Thanks for listening. Tommy L. Baitz ...!uunet!viusys!dpocs2!tomb