[<<Previous Entry]
[^^Up^^]
[Next Entry>>]
[Menu]
[About The Guide]
DO*
Call a procedure
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Syntax
DO <idProcedure> [WITH <argument list>]
Arguments
<idProcedure> is the name of the procedure or user-defined function
to be executed.
WITH <argument list> specifies up to 128 arguments, separated by
commas, to pass to <idProcedure>. Each argument may be a single
variable, field, array, array element, expression, or object. Arguments
can be skipped or left off the end of the list.
Description
The DO statement calls a procedure or user-defined function, optionally
passing arguments to the called routine. It performs the same action as
a user-defined function or procedure specified on a line by itself with
the exception that variables other than field variables are passed by
reference as the default. In order to pass a field variable as an
argument, enclose it in parentheses, unless you declare it with the
FIELD statement or with an alias.
In CA-Clipper, the number of specified arguments need not match the
number of specified parameters in the called procedure. If the number
of arguments is less than the number of parameters, the parameter
variables with no corresponding arguments are initialized with a NIL
value when the procedure is called. If the number of arguments is
greater than the number of parameters, they are ignored.
Also, skipping an argument within the <argument list> by leaving an
empty spot next to the comma initializes the corresponding argument to
NIL. To detect the position of the last argument passed in the
<argument list>, use PCOUNT(). To detect a skipped argument, compare
the receiving parameter to NIL.
In addition to calling a procedure or user-defined function, DO also has
an effect on compilation if you compile the current program file without
the /M option. If the CA-Clipper compiler encounters a DO statement and
the specified procedure has not already been compiled, the compiler
searches the current directory for a .prg file with the same name and
compiles it. If the file with the same name as the procedure is not
found, the called procedure is assumed to be external, and a reference
is added to the object (.OBJ) file. At link time, the linker will
search other object files and libraries for this external reference.
In CA-Clipper, DO is a compatibility statement and therefore not
recommended. Calling a procedure or function on a line by itself is the
preferred method. Since this preferred calling convention normally
passes parameters by value, you must preface an argument with the pass-
by-reference operator (@) in order to pass by reference. If you are
using DO to make a procedure call more readable, a user-defined command,
specified with the #command directive, can provide greater readability
without sacrificing the safety of variables passed as parameters.
For more information on passing parameters refer to the Functions and
Procedures section of the "Basic Concepts" chapter in the Programming
and Utilities Guide.
Examples
. This example executes a procedure with no parameters:
DO AcctsRpt
AcctsRpt() // Preferred method
. This example executes a procedure passing two constants:
DO QtrRpt WITH "2nd", "Sales Division"
QtrRpt("2nd", "Sales Division") // Preferred method
. In this example, a procedure is executed with the first
argument passed by value and the second passed by reference:
nNumber := 12
DO YearRpt WITH nNumber + 12, nNumber
YearRpt(nNumber + 12, @nNumber) // Preferred method
. Here, a procedure is invoked with skipped arguments embedded
in the list of arguments:
DO DisplayWindow WITH ,,,,"My Window"
DisplayWindow(,,,,"My Window") // Preferred method
See Also:
FUNCTION
LOCAL
PARAMETERS
PRIVATE
PROCEDURE
PUBLIC
This page created by ng2html v1.05, the Norton guide to HTML conversion utility.
Written by Dave Pearson