Attributes Types Overview

SIS Desktop 9 attribute data types are:

• String
• Long Integer (32-bit)
• Floating point
• Date
• Boolean (True/False)
• Byte
• Short Integer (16-bit)
• Long Long Integer (64-bit)
• Unsigned Byte
• Unsigned Short Integer
• Unsigned Long Integer
• Unsigned Long Long Integer
• Currency
• Single (32-bit floating point)
• Decimal

Properties can also contain arrays of the above list (including the Version 6 compatible types). Properties with these types have the suffix character '@' e.g. "MyDate@". The GetProperty, SetProperty, Evaluate and SetListProperty methods support the new property types, using COM "variants" as parameters.

At the moment, only cursor-based datasets take advantage of these new types

When setting an item’s property to null using the SetProperty method, remember these points:

• For non-cursor datasets, i.e. BDS, where the attribute is not type'@' the attribute is removed from the item.
• For non-cursor datasets where the attribute has type'@' the attribute is not removed but is given the value of a null variant.
• For cursor datasets NULL is set in the database (in cursor datasets a NULL attribute is equivalent to an absent attribute).

Attributes

Attributes are displayed in the hierarchical form of "Parent::Child::Grandchild$".

Attributes are entered in the New Attribute form, one level at a time, with each hierarchical level separated by double colons (::)

The Properties Control Bar will display the attribute hierarchy.

Schema in the Maps Control Bar displays the attribute full name with a "/" separator in place of the double colons.

The Table Window will be displayed as follows:

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