Release 10.1A: OpenEdge Development:
Progress 4GL Reference

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,,"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 500 fields.