Is this a coding convention IF Rec.GET(x) THEN;

idiot

I'd seen a few databases whose previous customization consultants from different VARs use
IF Rec.GET(x) THEN;
Is this a coding convention for C/SIDE?

Why not just Rec.GET(x); or IF NOT Rec.GET(x) THEN ERROR(errormsg);?

The reason for asking is this would not have been a good coding practice elsewhere.

canadian_bacon

This is basically a lazy way of getting around error messages if a specified primary key doesn't exist. It can be really dangerous if the proper consideration isn't taken.

kine

It is good if you only want some related record and if it is not there, to have empty record (e.g. to show some values from that record on report). But of course, it assume that the record before this code is not initialized, else you will have previous values in the record. It means that it have meanig, but with all consequences...

kriki

I sometimes use the technique described by kine.
But if I use it I make sure the record is cleared just before it. Something like this:

CLEAR(recTheRecord);
IF recTheRecord.GET(.....) THEN ;

IF recTheRecord."Some Field" = '' THEN BEGIN
  // or field "Some Field" is blank or the record does not exist.
  ...
END;
...
...

idiot

Wouldn't this look neater & clearer?

IF NOT recTheRecord.GET(.....) THEN CLEAR(recTheRecord);...

It looks really strange to not have any conclusion after testing for a condition...

DenSter

idiot wrote:

The reason for asking is this would not have been a good coding practice elsewhere.

There are examples of bad coding practices in every language.

Personally I don't like the IF MyRec.GET THEN; construction, to me it lacks proper design attention. To me when you start using an IF statement, you have to think about actions to take for both the TRUE and FALSE legs.

On the other hand, I've used it from time to time to quicky go around an error message. When in a time crunch you don't always have the luxury to sit and think things through. As long as the code properly handles the situation it's just a means to an end really. Not very elegant, but if it works, it works.