Tag Archives: Query

Sometimes the API is just not enough

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Sometimes I cannot quite get want I want from Raiser’s Edge using the API. Or if I can it is very slow to get the information. For example when you get a collection of top level records, say constituents, there are filter objects which work well, you can also use the custom where clause which works when there is not a filter parameter. However what do you do when you want a combination of different areas of The Raiser’s Edge all combined into one selection.

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C++ and the API

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I am not sure how many people out there would even dream of using C++ together with the API but considering there really is no documentation out there for this type of project I thought that I would try to put together some notes on how it is possible. The API is COM based and there is no reason why you cannot use C++ (just possibly more of a question of why you would ever want to). This posting assumes a basic knowledge of C++.

Firstly why would you every want to use C++. Sometimes this is a necessity. You may be using old C or C++ legacy code that you want to integrate directly with the API. In which case here are a few tips to get you started.
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Filtering on Gifts

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One common complaint about the API is that it is poorly documented. I found that out myself when I went to use the gift filter object. This is a powerful object that allows you to filter a collection of gifts by its properties. The filter object has very many properties but very few of them are documented. There is one knowledgebase article and one FAQ entry showing how to use it.
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Adding Gifts Means Thinking User Options

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One issue that I frequency encounter was raised as a post on the forum for a similar problem:

When you create a gift you need to add a fund, campaign and appeal. The problem is that the values on the gifts are dependant on the user options of the person running the code. When I first encountered this problem I was amazed that this could have been programmed in this way.
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Old and New Relationships

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The other day I was trawling the knowledgebase for some code to quickly look up the primary organization record for a constituent. It is the sort of thing that I could have worked out myself very easily but sometimes it is just convenient to see if Blackbaud already have the code available.

I found exactly what I was looking for, or so I thought. KB BB54132: How to write code to find the Record ID for the Primary Organization relationship. Seeing the solution reminded me of the time I first took over the reigns of RE customisation developer at my first position in San Francisco.

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