COMMAND OBJECT - SET OUTPUT PARAMETER

Hi experts,

I discovered the Data Environement Object, and I can't really get it to work my way.

First what I want it to get the Max Value of a field, and I was hoping to accomplish this with a single call to the command like:

MySort = MyDE.MyCommand (MyParent)

MyTable (table name) has the following fields:

MyId, MyName, MyParent, MySort

I would like to get the maximum value of the MySort field grouped by MyParent. I would like to do this all in the Data Environement (Command object) and not in the database directly. I will tell you what I did, and you please tell me where I went wrong ...

1. I created a Command Object and used a SQL-statement like:

SELECT MyTable.* FROM MyTable ORDER BY MyParent, MySort

Resulting Recordset:

MyId     MyName             Parent     Sort
0     MyGroups     0     0
6     Main1             0     1
7     Main2               0     2
1     Main3             0     4
5     Main4             0     5
2     Main5             0     6
3     Sub1             1     1
4     Sub2         1     2


2. I grouped it by MyParent.

3. I put the aggregate to Max (field: MySort)

Now the result is:

My parent / My Sort
0  /  6
1  /  2

4. In order to get a parameter I change the SQL to:

SELECT tblGroups.* FROM tblGroups WHERE GrpParent = ? ORDER BY GrpParent, GrpSort

Now the code looks like:

MyDE.ByParent (MyParent)

MyDE = Data Environement Object name
ByParent = Command objects - grouping name
MyParent = Variable that contains a parameter value


That's what I want. Then I thought I need only 1 value to be returned, not a recordset. I was thinking of adding a output parameter, and uncheck the "recordset returning" checkbox on the advanced tab of the command object properties.

How can I put an output parameter at design-time?
How can I access this value now? In code I mean.
How can I set the default value to "1" in case there are no records that match the criteria?
How can I add the value "1" to the returned value in the command object itself?

The command name is MyCommand.
The Grouping name is ByParent
The Aggregate name is MaxSort

I hope you understand.

Thanks ...

BL