External data question

[jjdodger]

This is a theory question, more than a "need it now" question:

 

Can FP create an array of objects from an external data file, on record start,

that can then get parsed/walked through/etc, by another function or functions?

 

As an example, I had to do a project once, where 1 record could have 1 to 200 detail lines, and needed to build a table based on the number of detail lines. The final document was 8 pages long, with the middle 4 being the table, and if a page was blank, print "intentionally left blank" across the middle of the page. It also needed a series of totals printed as the last line of the table, calculated from the data.

 

Is this do-able? The only real example i would need to recreate this would be how to create the object, and how to iterate through it from another rule.

 

I hope this makes sense!

 

Thanks

 

Jeff

[step]

Sure, it's possible; check out the static example below. Just create the array as a JavaScript Global:

globalArray = [];

Then you can populate the array at the start of each record in OnRecordStart:

for (var i = 1; i <=5; i++)
   globalArray.push({
       'recordNumber': i,
       'fieldData': 'Value' + i
   });

 

Then your rule could walk the array:

var result = '';
globalArray.forEach(function(s) {
   result += 'recordNumber: ' + s.recordNumber + '. fieldData: ' + s.fieldData + '.<br/>\n';
});
return result;

 

Then your rule would return:

recordNumber: 1. fieldData: Value1.

recordNumber: 2. fieldData: Value2.

recordNumber: 3. fieldData: Value3.

recordNumber: 4. fieldData: Value4.

recordNumber: 5. fieldData: Value5.

[jjdodger]

Just to clarify a few minor things:

 

I do not need to declare a layout or format for the array?

will it rebuild the array on each "on record start" call?