WHILE

WHILE

Welcome to our Knowledge Base

Documentation | Blog | Demos | Support

< All Topics
Print

WHILE

Enables repeated execution of a block of command.

Syntax

WHILE [expression]

commands

ENDWHILE

Parameters

expressionA logic expression.
If expression includes fields from the current set, then it is evaluated using the values of the specified fields in the current member of the set.
ENDWHILEMarks the end of the WHILE structure. A WHILE command must always have a corresponding ENDWHILE.
If a necessary ENDWHILE is missing, all subsequent commands in the current procedure are treated as part of the WHILE structure, and all of those commands continue to be executed as long as expression is true. When the end of the procedure is reached, the “open” WHILE command is closed.

Comments

The WHILE … ENDWHILE structure enables a block of commands to be repeatedly executed, as long as expression is logically true.

As soon as the software detects that expression is logically false, execution resumes at the first command following the ENDWHILE. To exit a loop before expression evaluates to false, use a BREAK command.

An open WHILE loop is automatically closed if

  • you exit a procedure in the middle of a WHILE structure (using a BYE, RETURN, STOP, or TRANSFORM command), or
  • a procedure ends before the ENDWHILE is encountered.

Example

% Commands to select and display form fDispEmp

%

——————————————————————-

find all Employees       % Create set of all Employees

while $setcount > 0      % Loop until end of set

  change fDispEmp from current  % Fill form with emp. data

  form display nolabel input    % Display form and start input

  if Event.EventName = “Escape”  % Check for Escape key

  return           % If so, finish

  endif

  if ThisForm.FormChanged = $true % Check if data modified

  change current from fDispEmp % Update current member

  endif

  next            % Go to next record

  let $setcount = $setcount – 1   % Decrement $setcount

endwhile

while Age > 20

 … other commands …

% Missing endwhile statement

… more commands …

last command in procedure

In the preceding example, the commands subsequent to the missing ENDWHILE command are executed as if they were a part of the WHILE structure. When the end of the procedure is reached without encountering the necessary ENDWHILE, it generates an error message.

form open fCustomers

while

 form display input

 … more commands …

 if Event.EventName = “Escape”

  break

 endif

…more commands …

endwhile

Notice in the preceding command that a BREAK (or BYE, RETURN, STOP, or TRANSFORM) command is required to exit a WHILE loop that contains no logic expression.

See Also

Boolean Expressions

Conditional Expressions

CONTINUE

Was this article helpful?
0 out of 5 stars
5 Stars 0%
4 Stars 0%
3 Stars 0%
2 Stars 0%
1 Stars 0%
5
How can we improve this article?
Please submit the reason for your vote so that we can improve the article.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

en_CAEnglish