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Chapter 8 - Dictionary Manager / Dictionary Manager Reference

Routines / Locating Records in a Dictionary

FindRecordInDictionary

The FindRecordInDictionary function searches a dictionary for a record that matches the specified key, and returns entries with the specified attributes.

FUNCTION FindRecordInDictionary 
                           (dictionaryReference: LongInt;
                            key: Str255;
                            requestedAttributeTablePointer: Ptr;
                            recordDataHandle: Handle): OSErr;

dictionaryReference

A number that specifies a particular open dictionary.

key

A Pascal string that denotes the key to be matched.

requestedAttributeTablePointer

A pointer to a table with attributes that you can request. This parameter provides a way for you to narrow the search to specified types of entries in the record. For instance, you could use the requested attributes table to specify only the verbs in the record that matches the key.

recordDataHandle

On entry, any valid handle. Upon completion, a handle to the
requested data.

DESCRIPTION

The FindRecordInDictionary function returns, in the recordDataHandle parameter, a handle to the record data: a collection of entries matching the key
and the requested attributes. FindRecordInDictionary returns the data in
standard Dictionary Manager data format--as shown in Figure 8-2 on page 8-6 and Figure 8-3 on page 8-7.

The Dictionary Manager uses the Memory Manager procedure SetHandleSize to set the size of the recordDataHandle parameter correctly. If the Dictionary Manager cannot change the size of the handle to accommodate the returned matched data, it returns a Memory Manager error.

To limit the search to specific types of attributes, you construct a requested attributes table and pass a pointer to that table to FindRecordInDictionary. The requested attributes table consists of a byte which specifies the number of attributes, followed by a list of attribute types, as shown in Figure 8-7 on page 8-16.

• If the requestedAttributeTablePointer parameter is Ptr(-1), FindRecordInDictionary returns everything in the matching record (that is, both raw data and attributes for all entries in the record).
• If the requestedAttributeTablePointer parameter is NIL, FindRecordInDictionary returns the raw data of all the entries in the matching record, without any attached attributes.
• If the requestedAttributeTablePointer parameter is a valid pointer, FindRecordInDictionary returns only those entries in the matching record whose attributes match those in the requested attributes table. In this case, if a record in the dictionary has a key that matches the search key but no entries in the record possess the requested attributes, the returned recordDataHandle parameter references a data buffer one byte in length that contains a value of 0.

Table 8-2 lists constants for the currently defined attribute types.

Table 8-2 Defined attribute types for dictionary entries

Constant	Value	Explanation
kNoun	-1	Noun
kVerb	-2	Verb
kAdjective	-3	Adjective
kAdverb	-4	Adverb

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

FindRecordInDictionary may move memory; your application should not call this function at interrupt time.

RESULT CODES

In addition to the standard File Manager, Memory Manager, and Resource Manager errors, FindRecordInDictionary can return any of the following result codes.

noErr	0	No error
notBTree	-410	File is not a dictionary
btRecNotFnd	-415	Record cannot be found
btKeyLenErr	-416	Key length too great or equal to zero

SEE ALSO

File Manager error codes are described in Inside Macintosh: Files. Memory Manager error codes are described in Inside Macintosh: Memory. Resource Manager error codes are described in Inside Macintosh: More Macintosh Toolbox.