Dynamic functions

The dynamic property condition statement enables you to call a function that evaluates a result dynamically.

Syntax: FunctionName( PARM_0, ..., PARM_n )

The parameters for the function can be any string or number. One parameter may also be a variable or record field.

The dynamic functions include:

• lang_preference(lang)
  This function returns the current language table selection. It takes as a parameter the current language value.
  You can use it to save new language settings in the user preferences for future reference. It forces the user interface to update its language table and repaint as necessary.
  

• select(return_field, file_name, select_field, select_field_value, select_field_2, select_field_value_2)

  This function works against many records to grab a scalar value from each one to make a list. You can use it to select just one record and use an array from within that record (for example, the cap.exec array field of the operator table) to make a display list.

  This function returns the value of a field (return_filed) of a record that is from a table (file_name) and has a field (select_field) value equal to a specified value (select_field_value). The select_field_value can be a variable or a wildcard character (an asterisk). Both select_field_2 and select_field_value_2 are optional.

  The following are examples:

  • select( "subcategory", "subcategory", "category", [$category] )
  • select( "name", "operator", "name", *)
  • select( "cap.exec", "operator", "name", [$operator] )
    

Use dynamic functions

Use the following to select all the login IDs from a department to make a list:

select("name","operator","department",[$dept])

Use the following to select all the approvers for a certain group:

select("approvers","cm3groups","name",[$cm3group])