For Statement

Format

for ʃcounter inʅ multiple_occurring_group ʃwhere conditionʅ do
// statements
endfor;

Description

The for statement executes one or more statements repeatedly within a loop for each occurrence of a multiply occurring group. The multiple_occurring_group can be a form, roster, record, item, relation, or even a dictionary (following a selcase function call). The multiply occurring group controls how many times the for loop is executed. An optional logical condition, referencing items in the group, can be supplied to restrict the cases processed by the loop.

The numeric variable counter contains the number of the current occurrence being examined. It cannot be changed inside the loop, but it can be referenced. Its starting value is 1 and its ending value is determined by the number of occurrences of the group. It is possible to declare a variable local to the loop by adding numeric before the counter variable.

If the group name is a record, item, or relation, then the appropriate keyword record, item, or relation can be used before the name.

The for statement should be coded outside of the group it references. In the example below, note that the code is executed in PROC QUEST. It should not be located in PROC PERSON_REC_EDT or in a procedure for any of the data items within the person record.

Example

PROC QUEST

numeric pointer_spouse;
numeric pointer_oldest_child;

for numeric occurrence_number in PERSON_REC_EDT do

if RELATIONSHIP = 2 then
pointer_spouse = occurrence_number;

elseif RELATIONSHIP = 3 then
if pointer_oldest_child = 0 or AGE > AGE(pointer_oldest_child) then
pointer_oldest_child = occurrence_number;
endif;

endif;

endfor;