GetItemString

Description

Gets data whose type is String from the specified buffer of a DataWindow control or DataStore object. You can obtain the data that was originally retrieved and stored in the database from the original buffer, as well as the current value in the primary, delete, or filter buffers.

Separate method names for the Web DataWindow server component Separate method names, GetItemStringEx, GetItemStringByColNumEx, and GetItemStringByColNum, are provided as alternative syntaxes for the Web DataWindow server component, which cannot use overloaded methods.

Applies to

DataWindow type	Method applies to
PowerBuilder	DataWindow control, DataWindowChild object, DataStore object
Web	Server component
Web ActiveX	DataWindow control, DataWindowChild object

Syntax

PowerBuilder

string dwcontrol.GetItemString ( long row, integer column 
	{, DWBuffer dwbuffer, boolean originalvalue } )
string dwcontrol.GetItemString ( long row, string column 
	{, DWBuffer dwbuffer, boolean originalvalue } )

Web DataWindow server component

string dwcontrol.GetItemString ( long row, string column )
string dwcontrol.GetItemStringByColNum ( long row, short column )
string dwcontrol.GetItemStringByColNumEx ( long row, short column,
	string dwbuffer, boolean originalvalue )
string dwcontrol.GetItemStringEx ( long row, string column, 
	string dwbuffer, boolean originalvalue )

Web ActiveX

string dwcontrol.GetItemString (number row, number column, 
	number dwbuffer, boolean originalvalue )
string dwcontrol.GetItemString ( number row, string column, 
	number dwbuffer, boolean originalvalue )

Argument	Description
dwcontrol	A reference to a DataWindow control, DataStore, or child DataWindow.
row	A value identifying the row location of the string data.
column	The column location of the data. The datatype of the column must be String. Column can be a column number or a column name. The column number is the number of the column as it is listed in the Column Specification view of the DataWindow painter—not necessarily the number of the column in the Design view. To get the contents of a computed field, specify the name of the computed field for column. Computed fields do not have numbers.
dwbuffer (optional)	A value of the dwBuffer enumerated datatype (PowerBuilder) or an integer (Web ActiveX) or a string (Web DataWindow) identifying the DataWindow buffer from which you want to get the data. For a list of valid values, see DWBuffer.
originalvalue (optional)	A boolean indicating whether you want the original or current values for row and column: True – Returns the original values (the values initially retrieved from the database). False – (Default) Returns the current values. If you specify dwbuffer, you must also specify originalvalue.

Returns

Returns the string value in the specified row and column. Returns the empty string (“ ”) if there is no DataWindow object assigned to the DataWindow control or DataStore or if any other error occurs.

If any argument value is null, in PowerBuilder the method returns null.

Usage

Use GetItemString to get information from the DataWindow’s buffers. To find out what the user entered in the current column before that data is accepted, use GetText. In the ItemChanged or ItemError events, use the data argument.

To access a row in the original buffer, specify the buffer that the row currently occupies (primary, delete, or filter) and the number of the row in that buffer. When you specify true for originalvalue, the method gets the original data for that row from the original buffer.

GetItemString returns a formatted value in the case of a computed column, and an unformatted value in the case of a noncomputed column. For PowerBuilder DataWindows, you can use the GetItemFormattedString method to return a formatted value, or the GetItemUnformattedString method to return an unformatted value, for any type of column.

Mismatched datatypes An execution error occurs when the datatype of the DataWindow column does not match the datatype of the method—in this case, String.

Examples

Example 1

These statements set LName to the current string in the primary buffer for row 3 of the column named emp_name in the DataWindow dw_employee:

String LName

LName = dw_employee.GetItemString(3, "emp_name")

Example 2

These statements set LName to the current string in the delete buffer for row 3 of the column named emp_name of dw_employee:

String LName

LName = dw_employee.GetItemString(3, &

		"emp_name", Delete!, false)

Example 3

The following statements set LName to the original string in the delete buffer for row 3 of the column named emp_name of dw_employee:

String LName

LName = dw_employee.GetItemString(3, &

		"emp_name", Delete!, true)