INTEGER TO BLOB

version 6.0

INTEGER TO BLOB (integer; blob; byteOrder{; offset | *})

The INTEGER TO BLOB command writes the 2-byte Integer value integer into the BLOB blob.

The byteOrder parameter fixes the byte ordering of the 2-byte Integer value to be written. You pass one of the following predefined constants provided by 4th Dimension:

Note regarding Platform Independence: If you exchange BLOBs between the Macintosh and PC platforms, it is up to you to manage byte swapping issues when using this command.

If you specify the * optional parameter, the 2-byte Integer value is appended to the BLOB and the size of the BLOB is extended accordingly. Using the * optional parameter, you can sequentially store any number of Integer, Long Integer, Real or Text values (see other BLOB commands) in a BLOB, as long as the BLOB fits into memory.

If you do not specify the * optional parameter or the offset variable parameter, the 2-byte Integer value is stored at the beginning of the BLOB, overriding its previous contents; the size of the BLOB is adjusted accordingly.

If you pass the offset variable parameter, the 2-byte Integer value is written at the byte offset (starting from zero) within the BLOB. No matter where you write the 2-byte Integer value, the size of the BLOB is increased according to the location you passed (plus up to 2 bytes, if necessary). Newly allocated bytes, other than the ones you are writing, are initialized to zero.

After the call, the offset variable parameter is returned, incremented by the number of bytes that have been written. Therefore, you can reuse that same variable with another BLOB writing command to write another value.

1. After executing this code:

   INTEGER TO BLOB (0x0206;vxBlob;Native byte ordering)

• The size of vxBlob is 2 bytes

• On Macintosh vxBLOB{0} = $02 and vxBLOB{1} = $06

• On PC vxBLOB{0} = $06 and vxBLOB{1} = $02

2. After executing this code:

   INTEGER TO BLOB (0x0206;vxBlob;Macintosh byte ordering)

• The size of vxBlob is 2 bytes

• On all platforms vxBLOB{0} = $02 and vxBLOB{1} = $06

3. After executing this code:

   INTEGER TO BLOB (0x0206;vxBlob;PC byte ordering)

• The size of vxBlob is 2 bytes

• On all platforms vxBLOB{0} = $06 and vxBLOB{1} = $02

4. After executing this code:

   SET BLOB SIZE (vxBlob;100)
   INTEGER TO BLOB (0x0206;vxBlob;PC byte ordering;*)

• The size of vxBlob is 102 bytes

• On all platforms vxBLOB{100} = $06 and vxBLOB{101} = $02

• The other bytes of the BLOB are left unchanged

5. After executing this code:

   SET BLOB SIZE (vxBlob;100)
   vlOffset:=50
   INTEGER TO BLOB (518;vxBlob;Macintosh byte ordering;vlOffset)

• The size of vxBlob is 100 bytes

• On all platforms vxBLOB{50} = $02 and vxBLOB{51} = $06

• The other bytes of the BLOB are left unchanged

• The variable vlOffset has been incremented by 2 (and is now equal to 52)

BLOB to integer, BLOB to longint, BLOB to real, BLOB to text, LONGINT TO BLOB, REAL TO BLOB, TEXT TO BLOB.