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ABL Reference
Handle Attributes and Methods Reference : ADD-NEW-FIELD( ) method
 

ADD-NEW-FIELD( ) method

Adds a field with the specified properties to the temp-table. Additional properties can be manipulated by creating a buffer-field object for this field.
This method cannot be called after TEMP-TABLE-PREPARE( ) has been called unless CLEAR( ) is called first.
Return type: LOGICAL
Applies to: Temp-table object handle

Syntax

ADD-NEW-FIELD ( field-name-exp , datatype-exp[ , extent-exp[ , format-exp
  [ , initial-exp[ , label-exp[ , column-label-exp ]]]]] )
field-name-exp
A character expression that evaluates to the name of the field to be created in the temp-table.
datatype-exp
A character expression that evaluates to the data type of the specified field.
extent-exp
An integer expression specifying the extent of an array. If extent-exp is 0, 1 or the Unknown value (?), it is ignored.
format-exp
A character expression that evaluates to the data format for the defined data type. If format-exp is "" or the Unknown value (?), it is ignored and the default format of the specified data type is used.
initial-exp
An expression that evaluates to the initial value of the defined field. initial-exp can be any compatible data type, but is usually character. If initial-exp is not entered, the default for the data type is used.
label-exp
An optional character expression that evaluates to the label of the defined field. If you do not specify a value, or you pass the Unknown value (?), label-exp defaults to the value of the field-name-exp parameter.
column-label-exp
An optional character expression that evaluates to the label of the column associated with the defined field. If you do not specify a value, or you pass the Unknown value (?), column-label-exp defaults to the value of the label-exp parameter (or the field-name-exp parameter, if the label-exp parameter is not specified).
The following example fragment adds a new character field called "abfield" which is initialized to "abc" to a temp-table:
tth:ADD-NEW-FIELD("abfield","char",0,"X(3)","abc").
Note: There is a limit to the number of fields that can be accommodated in a temp-table object. The limit depends on how large the field information (initial value, validate information, help messages, etc.) is, but you should plan on a limit of approximately 1,000 fields.