Alphanumeric Identifier

[stathread]

Is there a way to add a alphanumeric identifier to a dbf via foxpro? 5 digits?

Thanks

 

[dbMark]

Are you talking about renaming the file to a 5-digit number such as 12345.dbf or are you talking about specifying an alias while the table is in use?

A table can be named with all digits, but there is at least one issue that arises if the table name starts with a digit. A table alias cannot open with a digit as the first alphanumeric, so if you open the table without specifiying an alias, then VFP picks one for you. If you open "12345.dbf" in work area 1, then the alias will be "A". If you open "12345.dbf" in work area 20, then the alias will be "W20".

dbMark

 

[stathread]

no im talking about adding a field and appending a unique alphanumeric identifier to each record.

FIELDALPHANUMERIC
a8sa7
df989
ds983
fd9f8

 

[Mike Lewis]

Stathread,

Yes, this is possible. But it's not clear exactly what you need to know. Are you asking how to add a new field to an existing table? Or how to store a value in that field? Or what?

Also, do you want to do this programmatically or interactively?

Mike


__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

My Visual FoxPro site: www.ml-consult.co.uk

 

[stathread]

I am sorry i didnt know i had to fully explain since we are in a general foxpro coding forum.

I have a DBF file.

I have 1 field which is empty for all records, lets call this field ALPHANUM.

I would like to run a .PRG or just execute some code via the console which will append a DISTINCT Alpha numeric number in the ALPHANUM field.

I can do this in SQL but im not good with Foxpro. I check for duplicate alphanumeric numbers.

Thank you for your help.

 

[alvechurchdata]

I would like to run a .PRG or just execute some code via the console which will append a DISTINCT Alpha numeric number in the ALPHANUM field.

Three lines of code in Fox:

lcAlphaNum=SYS(2015)             && Get a unique id
APPEND BLANK                     && Add a new record
REPLACE alphanum WITH lcAlphaNum IN MyTable

You say that you know SQL. Do you realise that Fox runs SQL commands natively. You could say:

lcAlphaNum=SYS(2015)             && Get a unique id
INSERT INTO MyTable (alphanum) VALUES (lcAlphaNum)

Geoff Franklin

http://www.alvechurchdata.co.uk

 

[Mike Lewis]

Stathread,

You wrote:

i didnt know i had to fully explain since we are in a general foxpro coding forum.

Unfortunately, it is difficult for us to give a helpful answer unless you state your problem clearly. I appreciate the problem might seem obvious to you, but if you look back over your original post, you will realise that it's impossible to guess from that exactly what you were trying to achieve.

Anyway, Geoff has now given you a good solution.

Mike


__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

My Visual FoxPro site: www.ml-consult.co.uk

 

[Dan Freeman]

If you're going to use sys(2015), you might want to remove the leading underscore it always provides.

REPLACE ALL (fieldname) WITH SUBSTR(SYS(2015),1)

Note that uniqueness is guaranteed WITHIN A SINGLE FOXPRO SESSION ONLY. If you'll later be adding records, you must manage the uniqueness yourself.

I'm curious, though, whether you might also have some sort of pattern in mind for this alpha-numeric. That is usually the case with this sort of request.