$Oneof

The $ONEOF function is a table lookup function that can replace a series of IF conditions.

Syntax

$ONEOF('item','set',delimiter')

where:

• item is an element that might be in set.
• set is one or more items
• delimiter is the character used to separate the set items.

Example

$ONEOF('MALE','FEMALE/MALE','/') equals 1 $ONEOF('GRAY','BLACK*WHITE*GRAY','*') equals 1

• If the delimiter argument is omitted, the default delimiter value is a semicolon (;), which is used to separate items in the second argument. For example:

$ONEOF('FEMALE','FEMALE;MALE') equals 1

$ONEOF code is less confusing if you explicitly specify a delimiter value and do not accept the default delimiter value, a semicolon (;). Accepting the default value can cause confusion, because the default LINEND character is also a semicolon.

• If the second argument is null, or if the first argument is not an element of the second argument, 0 (false) is returned. For example:

$ONEOF('BOY','FEMALE;MALE') equals 0 $ONEOF(",'FEMALE;MALE') equals 0 $ONEOF('BOY',") equals 0

• You can enter null values as the following examples show.

$ONEOF(",';FEMALE;MALE') equals 1 $ONEOF(",'FEMALE;;MALE') equals 1 $ONEOF(",'FEMALE;MALE;') equals 1

• If a long string of values is used frequently, a special record containing those values can be useful. In the following example, a record is created with a field consisting of a list of departments. The list is used in the second request to locate and process records for which the department is not known.

BEGIN DECLARE %DEPT STRING LEN 50 STORE RECORD TABLE = VALS DEPT VALS = DEPT1/DEPT2/DEPT3/etc. END STORE END . . . BEGIN FIND.RECS: FIND ALL RECORDS FOR WHICH TABLE = VALS END FIND FOR EACH RECORD IN FIND.RECS %DEPT = DEPT VALS END FOR PAY.RECS: FIND ALL RECORDS FOR WHICH TYPE = PAYROLL END FIND FOR EACH RECORD IN PAY.RECS IF NOT $ONEOF(DEPT,%DEPT,'/') THEN . . .