SDDS_table: Address of the SDDS_TABLE structure for the data set.
parameter_index: The integer index of the parameter in the data set. Returned by
SDDS_DefineParameter or obtained from SDDS_GetParameterIndex.
return value: On success, returns a non-negative integer giving the SDDS data type; this will be one of the
constants (defined in SDDS.h) SDDS_LONGDOUBLE, SDDS_DOUBLE, SDDS_FLOAT,
SDDS_LONG, SDDS_ULONG, SDDS_SHORT, SDDS_USHORT, SDDS_CHARACTER, or
SDDS_STRING. On failure, returns -1 and records an error message.