description:
Returns information about a specified parameter. This routine is the preferred alternative to
SDDS_GetParameterDefinition.
synopsis:
#include "SDDS.h"
long SDDS_GetParameterInformation(SDDS_TABLE *SDDS_table, char *field_name, void *memory, long mode, name-or-index)
arguments:
SDDS_table : Address of the SDDS_TABLE structure for the data set.
field_name: A NULL terminated string giving the name of the field that information is requested for.
These field names are identical to the names used in the namelist commands, as described
here.
memory: The address in which to place the information. Should have type data-type*
in the user's program, where data-type is the data type of the information as listed
here. Note that for STRING information,
data-type is char *. If memory is NULL, the existence and type of the
information will be verified; the type will be returned as usual.
mode: One of the following constants (defined in SDDS.h):
SDDS_GET_BY_NAME-Indicates that the next argument is a NULL-terminated character string
containing the name of the parameter for which information is desired.
SDDS_GET_BY_INDEX-Indicates that the next argument is a non-negative integer
giving the index of the parameter for which information is desired. This index is obtained
from SDDS_DefineParameter or SDDS_GetParameterIndex.
return value:
On success, returns the SDDS data type of the information. This is one of the following constants (defined
in SDDS.h): SDDS_DOUBLE, SDDS_FLOAT, SDDS_LONG, SDDS_SHORT,
SDDS_CHARACTER, or SDDS_STRING.
On failure, returns zero and records an error message.