Webmaster Forum / ColdFusion / Advanced Techniques / August 2007

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

[b]look at my code below[/b]

[Q]<!--- 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 & "&nbsp;&nbsp;">
    </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>
[/Q]

[b]and here is how i am calling the function for each situation (the table and
the dropdown):[/b]

[Q]
<table width="100%" class="managementtable">
  <tr bgcolor="#F6F6F6">
    <td>&nbsp;</td>
    <td>&nbsp;</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>
[/Q]

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