How do you loop through a ExternalDataFileEx table?

[cschendel]

I would like to get a set of records back from an external table using the ExternalDataFileEx object. In all the examples I've seen, people are only pulling one record/row of data back. I would like to get all the rows that match my criteria.

Here I am able to get back the first match of the Zip Code passed by the field and return the StoreName and StoreCity -- but it repeats the same record the same amount as the myStores.recordCount. I image this is because their is no record.Next type command like in other recordset languages. So, I do I simulate that behavior?

Sample Code

var myStores = new ExternalDataFileEx("C:\\data\\Stores.txt", ",")
var strZip = Field("CustZip")
var strOutput = ""

for (var i = 1; i <= myStores.recordCount; i++)
{
strOutput += myStores.GetFieldValue(LocalShops.FindRecord("ZipID", strZip), "StoreName") + Chr(10)
strOutput += myStores.GetFieldValue(LocalShops.FindRecord("ZipID", strZip), "StoreCity") + Chr(10)
}

return strOutput


The Stores.txt file looks like;

ZipID, StoreName, StoreCity
55416, ABC Corporation, Edina
55416, EFG Inc., Saint Louis Park
55417, XYZ Companies, Minneapolis
55418, QT Corp., St. Paul

Any assistance would be great!

Thanks!
Chris

[cschendel]

CORRECTION: Sample Code

var myStores = new ExternalDataFileEx("C:\\data\\Stores.txt", ",")
var strZip = Field("CustZip")
var strOutput = ""

for (var i = 1; i <= myStores.recordCount; i++)
{
strOutput += myStores.GetFieldValue(myStores.FindRecord("ZipID", strZip), "StoreName") + Chr(10)
strOutput += myStores.GetFieldValue(myStores.FindRecord("ZipID", strZip), "StoreCity") + Chr(10)
}

return strOutput

[Dan Korn]

You're on the right track, but the ExternalDataFileEx.FindRecord function only finds the first record which matches the specified field value. If you want to find multiple records which match a certain criteria, you simply need to iterate through all the records, which you're already doing, and then test for the match in each. Try this:
for (var i = 1; i <= myStores.recordCount; i++)
{
if (myStores.GetFieldValue(i, "ZipID") == strZip)
{
strOutput += myStores.GetFieldValue(i, "StoreName") + Chr(10) +
myStores.GetFieldValue(i, "StoreCity") + Chr(10);
}
}

A search of the forum for ExternalDataFileEx turns up many similar examples, such as this:
http://forums.printable.com/showthread.php?t=388 (http://forums.printable.com/showthread.php?t=388)

[cschendel]

So, simple. And I was almost there!

Thank you this works like a charm now.

Thanks for the quick response!

-c