addExternalKey

addExternalKey(keyType:         PrimType;
               keyLength:       Integer;
               scaleFactor:     Integer;
               descending:      Boolean;
               caseInsensitive: Boolean;
               sortOrder:       Integer) updating;

The addExternalKey method of the JadeUserCollClass class adds an external key specification to a user collection that is a subclass of ExtKeyDictionary.

Use the keyType to specify the primitive type for the key. (For more details, see "Pseudo Types" and "Passing Variable Parameters to Methods", in Chapter 1 of the JADE Developer’s Reference.)

For String, StringUtf8, Binary, and Decimal keys, you must specify the keyLength parameter. This parameter is ignored for keys of other primitive types. For Decimal keys, you must also specify the scaleFactor parameter.

Set the descending parameter to true if you want keys sorted in descending order and the caseInsensitive parameter to true if case-sensitivity is not required.

For String and StringUtf8 keys, the sortOrder parameter specifies the locale identifier for the locale used to order entries in the collection. This parameter is ignored for keys of other primitive types. A value of zero (0) indicates the binary sort order.

If you require multiple keys, call the addExternalKey method to define each key in sequence. To signify that all keys have been defined, call the endKeys method.

The following preconditions apply when adding keys to a dynamic dictionary.

The collection is empty
The member type has been specified by using the setMembership method
The dictionary contains external key definitions only
The total concatenated key size does not exceed the current key size limit (512 character units)

The appropriate system exception is raised if any of these preconditions are violated.