REPEAT Command Dialog Box

This section describes the fields in the REPEAT command dialog box. For more information on using REPEAT commands, see REPEAT Command.

 

The dialog box includes the following fields:

Select Objects to Repeat

The Select area is used to identify the n-ary relationship that you want to use to repeat the section. At the first level of the tree control are the commands that are in the context of the REPEAT command. When you expand one of these you will see N-ary relationships for that class of objects. To select one of these, simply click on the name.

The remaining options are unary relationships. When you expand any of these lines, you will be given additional n-ary (and possibly unary) relationships as choices.

Where Is A

The Where Is A list box lets you limit the results of the REPEAT command to only those objects in a particular class. To choose a class from the Where Is A list box, click the left mouse button in the box, and choose the class you want.

Name

The Name text-entry box is used to specify a name for your repeated section. Every REPEAT command must have a name, and the name must be unique within the current scope. The name can consist of letters, numbers, and underscores. By default, the name of the REPEAT command will match the name of the class listed in the Where Is A list box.

Create Hyperlink Address

When you select this check box, SoDA will create a unique Word bookmark as part of every linked section. Use this option in conjunction with the Create Hyperlink option in the DISPLAY Command Dialog Box to create hypertext cross-references. When you save the document as HTML these cross-references will become hypertext references and anchors.

And Where (Advanced)

The And Where area (visible only when Advanced is checked) lets you limit the results of the REPEAT command to only those objects that satisfy a given expression. To create an expression, choose "Click here to add" below the Left Operand. In the tree control, select the attribute that will serve as the left half of the expression. Use the Operator column to choose an operator. Finally, choose "Click here to add" below the Right operand. The right operand can be a literal or another attribute.

When adding a second And Where expression, be sure the Logical Operator is set to the value you want ("And" or "Or").

To remove an And Where expression, right-click the row you want to remove and choose Delete.

Order By (Advanced)

The Order By area is used to specify how resulting document sections are to be ordered. By default, no sorting is done, i.e., sections are created based on the order the objects are returned by the domain. To insert a sort key, choose "Click here to add" in the Key column. In the tree control, select the attribute that will serve as the sort key.

Choose "Alphanumeric" for alphabetically ordered sections; choose "Numeric" for numerically ordered sections.

Choose "Reverse Order" for reverse alphabetical or numeric order.

Choose "Ignore Case" and SoDA will not consider case when ordering.

If you check the "Unique Only" box, only one of the objects for which all the keys compare equally will be produced.

Prompt

The Prompt (for Filter) field enables SoDA users to perform real-time filtering, during the SoDA generation process, for REPEAT and LIMIT commands.

This new flexibility means that you can generate a template multiple times, each with a different set of filtering criteria, without having to explicitly open the REPEAT / LIMIT commands involved.

To define a Prompt for Filter, click the Advanced checkbox and then click the Prompt column (the right-most column). When Prompt for Filter is enabled, the field is populated with an asterisk ("*"), and the Right Operand field is disabled.

Each REPEAT command and each LIMIT command can get its own individual set of filter prompts.

When a template that contains prompt commands is generated, a dialog box displays requesting information for the Right Operand. A prompt will be displayed for each command defined for to prompt.