Method calls

Method calls are similar to function calls. However, method calls have a different syntax. Also, they are more readable.

You can call this function for example:

OLAPDimension OLAPGetDimension(OLAPConnection conn, string dimName);

with this syntax:

OLAPConnection conn = OLAPCreateNamedConnection();

OLAPDimension dim = OLAPGetDimension(conn, "my_dimension");

With method calls, you can shorten this syntax and achieve the same result. To call a method, requires an instance of an object on which you want to make the operations. In this example, you must use the object conn and apply a dot . operator for method calling. The . operator gives you all possible options that you can perform on the object.

After you type the operator, you can press CTR+Space and use the IntelliSense auto-completion feature to get a list of all possible methods that can be performed on the object. The list of operations is limited to the specific object.

This is the correct syntax of method calling:

OLAPDimension dim = conn.GetDimension("my_dimension");

Method calls support chaining. That is, you can use the result of a method call for calling another operation:

int dimensionCount = connection.GetCube("ANALYSIS").GetDimensionList().Count();

string dimensionCountAsString = connection.GetCube("ANALYSIS").GetDimensionList().Count().ToString();

Chaining also enables you to eliminate temporary variables. For example, this longer syntax with the dimList variable can be shortened:

OLAPConnection connection = CreateTestConnection();

OLAPDimensionList dimList = connection.GetDimensionList();

int iCount = dimList.Count();

With method calls, you can also eliminate the dimList variable:

int iCount = connection.GetDimensionList().Count()

Example of method calls in SQL

SQLData data1 = conn.ExecuteQuery("SELECT * FROM Test_Table1");

foreach (SQLDataRow row in data1)
{
   int id = row.GetInteger("ID");
   string fn = row.GetString("FIRST_NAME");
   string ln = row.GetString("LAST_NAME");
   int ag = row.GetInteger("AGE");
   DateTime ll = row.GetDateTime("LAST_LOGIN");

   WriteLine(id + "\t" + fn + "\t\t" + ln + "\t\t" + ag + "\t\t" + ToString(ll));
}