Which, in your experience, is faster: Replace Contents or Loop? I've run some tests, and over a network they seem to be the same. Running on a local machine Replace seems to win the race.

The database I'm working on contains a hierarchical list of records, and functions similar to the Finder in Mac OS: click the triangle to toggle records open & closed with in the hierarchy. The problem comes when I run a script to show all, or hide all. The field which indicates how the triangle is to be displayed must be set to either 1 or 2 (depending on whether the records are being opened or closed) for every record displayed. This can be a quite lengthy process, when displaying thousands of records.

Does anyone have a better solution to this problem? Or should I give up on the changing status of the triangle graphic for better speed.

It depends. Replace is faster in some cases, but if you're replacing on more than one field, a loop may be faster because you can enter a field, then set your data in multiple fields, then exit the record. With Replace, you'd be multiple record locking/unlocking. Try Freeze Window before your loop, that can help a lot. Also keep in mind that Replace or Loop can both fail in a multi-user setting, because a record that is in use will be skipped.

Here's an idea: use an alternate layout for show/hide all. On this layout, use a global graphic container. Or use two layouts, and just put your graphic right on the layout. Either way, no loop/replace necessary.

If you display the records in a portal, you can control which records are displayed by setting a global field on the left side of the relationship. This method doesn't use replace or a loop and is extremely fast.

-bd

LiveOak: You've got me curious. Exactly how to you set fields in multiple records with a portal but without using a Replace or loop?

LiveOak: ditto for me! Do tell!

You don't, but I thought the desired end result here was to generate a hierarchical display in a list of records, something like:

A

B

C

When you click on A

A

1

2

3

B

C

I've typically generated this display with some combination of compound and multikeys.

Sorry if this isn't the ultimate goal, I might be misunderstanding the question. Also, Vaughan and Bob give me way too much credit to know tricks they don't! .

-Brent