>So maybe I'm unaware of another use for data buffering. How can I use it to get an object reference that has a property value for each field?
For that, you would simply use SCATTER ... NAME. There is no equivalent with buffering, and to transfer data from one table to another, SCATTER ... NAME can be very useful.
What is outdated, IMO, is the use of SCATTER and GATHER just to allow the user undo vs. save functionality.
Hilmar.
Difference in opinions hath cost many millions of lives: for instance, whether flesh be bread, or bread be flesh; whether whistling be a vice or a virtue; whether it be better to kiss a post, or throw it into the fire... (from Gulliver's Travels)