Field data Assignment

[Elon Close]

Let Summary be a field name with value "TEXT"
Local Temp
Summary = "TEXT"
Temp=Summary
message "Temp = "+Temp

;This will fetch from the field Summary the value TEXT and display it  
properly.

Summary = "NewText"  ; puts the value NewText into the field
Temp = "MoreText"        ; puts the value MoreText into the variable  
Temp

; Note: Temp when used above to fetch data, fetches from the field.
; After the assignment if will forever be a variable and will store  
or fetch data from the variable location.
Temp = Summary ; will again allow fetches from the field Summary.
======================================================================== 
=

Question: is there a way to store a data item in a field *without*  
using the actual field name?

The simple assignment changes the character of the variable name. And  
the assign( function does the same.

This came up because I had 11 fields from which data was fetched and  
stored and rather than write explicit code for each field, it was  
simple to write a ShortCall section of code and thus eliminate a lot  
of duplicate code. The Field name can easily be put into a variable  
and data fetched in the ShortCall. But the storage of results cannot  
be done by that variable, it turns into a local variable.

Not a big problem, and easy to work around, but it does raise the  
above question. One can easily imagine a subroutine for which it  
would be nice to not have to furnish in that routine the explicit  
field names, but instead use a temporary FileGlobal, or subroutine  
argument.

Elon
erclose at dakotacom.net