Syntax

declare record record-type-name
   (extends record-type-name)?
   ((field field declaration)* | elsewhere)

You can use declare record to declare a record type.

Here is how you would declare a record type to hold a simple metadata record for a document:

  declare record document-metadata
     field stream author
     field stream title
     field stream publisher
     field integer year
     field switch in-print initial {true}

Each field in the record is itself of a particular type and is declared just as a local variable of that type would be declared, substituting the word field for the word local. Each field in a record is itself a shelf.

A record declaration by itself simply defines a record type. To create a record you must create a variable of the record type.

A record can be declared as an extension of another record type, using extends:

  declare record book-metadata
    extends document-metadata
    field stream isbn-number

An extended record type inherits the fields of its base type.

The keyword elsewhere can be used record pre-definitionto make the record name and some of the properties available without defining all of the record's properties.

Related Syntax    elsewhere    global, local, constant, field    : (field selection operator)    export, export as opaque

Related Concepts    Records    Records, extended    Records, pre-defining    Shelves    Tree data structures

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