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Text Entry: _getText

Argument	Type	Description
string	C	returns the contents of the field

Details

The _getText method is inherited from the Widget class. It returns the contents of any field including the numeric types NUMLST and FIXEDLST, which can contain strings of numbers.

Note:    It is possible to obtain unexpected results between successive _setText and _getText statements. For example, suppose you sent a _setText method with the value Jelly to a field named TEXT1 that had the validation type ACTION. The next _getText method sent returns the value X and not Jelly. Another problem can occur when you send text in mixed case to a field with the CAPS attribute turned on, and the text displays in uppercase letters. Subtle differences like this can cause programming errors.  

Instead of using this method, you can also use simple SCL statements that assign text to a field or return text stored in a field. For example, if field TEXT1 contains the string hello, the following PUT statement displays TEXT1=hello and the next statement assigns hello to the SCL variable A:

   put text1=;
   a = text1;

However, SCL statements and functions do not work across Frame boundaries. Therefore, if you need to access field contents between two or more Frames, use the appropriate method instead.

Examples

• In this example, suppose the text value 25 45 82 is stored in the field TEXT1, which has the type FIXEDLST. The following statement assigns this value to the variable MYSTR:

   call notify ('text1','_get_text_',mystr);

• In this example, if the field TEXT2 contains the text jelly rolls, the following statement returns that value and assigns it to the variable MYSTR:

   call notify ('text2','_get_text_',mystr);

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