Introduced in the 1984 ANSI M[UMPS] language standard.
This function returns information about other defined information in a data-structure, based on the collating sequence in use for that data-structure.
Assume that of global variable ^A the following elements exist (see diagram):
The code SET ID=-1 FOR K=1:1:25 SET
ID=$ORDER(^A(ID)) will cause the following values to
be assigned to the local variable ID:
"2", "3", "4", "34", "-5A",
"5A", "A", "AB",
"AD", "B", "", "-34", "-4",
"-3", "-2", "2",
"3", "4", "34", "-5A",
"5A", "A", "AB", "AD" and
"B".
| Reference | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| $ORDER(^A(-34)) | -4 | |
| $ORDER(^A(34)) | "-5A" | |
| $ORDER(^A("B")) | "" | |
| $ORDER(^A(3,1)) | 2 | |
| $ORDER(^A(3,10)) | "" | |
| $ORDER(^A(3,10,"")) | 3 | |
| $ORDER(^A(3,10,3)) | "" | |
| $ORDER(^A(-2)) | 2 | |
| $ORDER(^A("-5A")) | "5A" |
Assume that a database contains a set of customer records, organized by name of customers
^Demog("AlphaName","BAKER")=988
^Demog("AlphaName","HUSKINS")=12345
^Demog("AlphaName","ROSSMAN")=123
^Demog("AlphaName","SHIMPACH")=345
^Demog("AlphaName","SOUTHERN")=876
^Demog("AlphaName","XANDER")=1098
In order to process only a specific sub-range of that data-set, code like the following segment could be considered:
Write "Enter first letter(s): " Read start
Set name=start,done=0,index="AlphaName"
For Do Quit:done
. Do:$Data(^Demog(index,name))
. . ; Process one customer
. . Quit
. Set name=$Order(^Demog(index,name))
. Set:$Extract(name,1,$Length(start)'=start done=1
. Quit
Of course, it is always possible that there are multiple customers with the same name, in which case it would make sense to organize the data as:
^Demog("AlphaName","BAKER",988)=""
^Demog("AlphaName","HUSKINS",12345)=""
^Demog("AlphaName","HUSKINS",12399)=""
^Demog("AlphaName","ROSSMAN",123)=""
^Demog("AlphaName","SHIMPACH",345)=""
^Demog("AlphaName","SOUTHERN",876)=""
^Demog("AlphaName","XANDER",106)=""
^Demog("AlphaName","XANDER",1098)=""
Note that in this structure all information is in the subscripts, and that the data-value, equal to empty strings for all elements, is really irrelevant.
To process a sub-set, code like the following segment could be used:
Write "Enter first letter(s): " Read start
Set name=start,done=0,index="AlphaName"
For Do Quit:done
. Set cust="" For Do Quit:cust=""
. . Set cust=$Order(^Demog(index,name,cust))
. . Quit:cust=""
. . ; Process one customer
. . Quit
. Set name=$Order(^Demog(index,name))
. Set:$Extract(name,1,$Length(start)'=start done=1
. Quit
Addition in the 1995 ANSI M[UMPS] language standard (reverse traversal):
| Reference | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| $ORDER(^A(3,1),1) | 2 | |
| $ORDER(^A(3,10),1) | "" | |
| $ORDER(^A(3,10,""),1) | 3 | |
| $ORDER(^A(3,10,3),1) | "" | |
| $ORDER(^A(3,1),-1) | "" | |
| $ORDER(^A(3,10),-1) | 2 | |
| $ORDER(^A(3,10,""),-1) | 3 | |
| $ORDER(^A(""),-1) | "B" |
Examples with naked references:
$ORDER(GLVN)
SET ^ABC(1,2)="reset naked indicator"
; Naked indicator is now ^ABC(1,
SET ^(3,4)=$ORDER(^(5,6))
; 1. fetch ^(5,6) = ^ABC(1,5,6)
; 2. store ^(3,4) = ^ABC(1,5,3,4)
; Naked indicator is now: ^ABC(1,5,3,
This document is © Ed de Moel, 1995-2005.
It is part of a book by Ed de Moel that is published under
the title "M[UMPS] by Example" (ISBN 0-918118-42-5).
Printed copies of the book are no longer available.