Dynamic return from a function based on an argument

Question

I have a function that I am using to output a nested list of
child/parent relationships
the function works wonderfully except that i want to be able
to change the way the list is displayed depending on an argument
being passed
i want the list to be displayed twice on the same page, one
with output in a table, and one with output in a drop down box
i thought the easiest way would be to create an argument that
can be used in IF statements
look at my code below
quote:
<!--- establish default values --->
<cfparam name="output" default="">
<cfparam name="catNameOutput" default="">
<cfparam name="indent" default="">
<cffunction name="GenerateCategories" access="public"
returntype="string">
<!--- this holds the outermost parent value being passed
to the function --->
<cfargument name="GenCatParent" type="uuid"
required="yes" default=0 >
<!--- this holds the nested level we are on --->
<cfargument name="level" type="numeric" required="yes"
default=0 >
<!--- this holds the output_type we need for display
purposes --->
<cfargument name="output_type" type="numeric"
required="yes" default=0 >
<!--- grab the children of the received category --->
<cfquery name="rsCategoryChildren"
datasource="webdsn">
SELECT * FROM dbo.BlogCategories
WHERE catParent = '#GenCatParent#'
ORDER BY catName ASC
</cfquery>
<cfloop query="rsCategoryChildren">
<!--- keep track of the indentation needed depending on
which level we are at --->
<cfloop from="0" to="#arguments.level#" index="i">
<cfset indent = indent & "  ">
</cfloop>
<!--- if the nest is being used in the dropdown on the
category manage page, we need to use option tags --->
<cfif arguments.output_type EQ 1>
<cfset catNameOutput = "<option value='" & catPK
& "'>" & indent & Trim(catName) &
"</option>">
</cfif>
<!--- if the nest is being used in the table on the
category manage page, we need to use table row tags --->
<cfif arguments.output_type EQ 2>
<cfset catNameOutput = "<tr>
<td>edit</td> <td>delete</td> <td>"
& indent & Trim(catName) & "</td>
</tr>">
</cfif>
<cfset output = output & catNameOutput>
<!--- reset the indentation --->
<cfset indent = "">
<!--- check for children of this child --->
<cfquery name="checkForKids" datasource="webdsn">
SELECT * FROM dbo.BlogCategories
WHERE catParent = '#rsCategoryChildren.catPK#'
ORDER BY catName ASC
</cfquery>
<!--- if there are any, call this function recursively
--->
<cfif checkForKids.recordcount GT 0>
<cfset GenerateCategories(genCatParent=catPK, level =
level +1, output_type = arguments.output_type)>
</cfif>
</cfloop>
<cfreturn output>
</cffunction>
<cfquery name="rsCategoryParents" datasource="webdsn">
SELECT * FROM dbo.BlogCategories
WHERE catParent IS NULL
ORDER BY catName ASC
</cfquery>
and here is how i am calling the function for each situation
(the table and the dropdown):
quote:
<table width="100%" class="managementtable">
<tr bgcolor="#F6F6F6">
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td>Category Name</td>
</tr>
<cfloop query="rsCategoryParents">
<cfoutput><tr> <td>edit</td>
<td>delete</td> <td>#Trim(catName)#</td>
</tr></cfoutput>
<cfset recursivecats =
GenerateCategories(genCatParent=catPK,level=0,output_type=2)>
<cfoutput>#recursivecats#</cfoutput>
</cfloop>
</table>
<!---------------------------------------------------------------------------->
<select name="select">
<option>None</option>
<cfoutput query="rsCategoryParents">
<option value="#catPK#">#Trim(catName)#</option>
<cfset recursivecats =
GenerateCategories(genCatParent=catPK,level=0,output_type=1)>
#recursivecats#
</cfoutput>
</select>
calling the function for the table and the dropdown on the
same page does not work
if the function is first called with the argument for table,
it tries to also output the table formatted code when the function
is called again (even if it is called again with the argument for
dropdown)
is there another way i can have the same function output two
different sets of data based on an argument? what am i doing wrong
thanks for your time

Answer 1

sjlsam2,
Yeah, I think the main problem you had was a scoping one. For
the second function call, the output variable already contained all
of the output code from the first function call. In fact, I
wouldn't be surprised to find that the output string for the second
function call contained the output of the first plus the output of
the second, and that it didn't render correctly on screen. A
View Source would have determined that.
Anyhow, I suggest that you VAR your output variable as
cf_dev2 suggests, and delete the three CFParam lines at the top.
Further, your recursive call would therefore need to return it's
result to the output variable, thus completing the recursive loop.
See below:
<!--- this holds the output_type we need for display
purposes --->
<cfargument name="output_type" type="numeric"
required="yes" default=0 >
<CFSet Var Output = "">
<CFSet Var catNameOutput = "">
<CFSet Var indent= RepeatString("  ",
Arguments.Level)>
<!--- grab the children of the received category --->
<cfquery name="rsCategoryChildren" datasource="webdsn">
SELECT * FROM dbo.BlogCategories
and
<!--- if there are any, call this function recursively
--->
<cfif checkForKids.recordcount GT 0>
<cfset
Output = Output & GenerateCategories(genCatParent=catPK,
level = level +1, output_type = arguments.output_type)>
</cfif>
</cfloop>
This is what I suggest with your code. HTH :)
Swift