What type of expression EMPTY() and ISBLANK() accepts?

[IlyaRabyy]

Colleagues,
the subject says it!
issuing

loca for not isblank(loc_code)

results in the following error:

"Unallowed phrase/keyword in command: isblank(loc_code)"

issuing

loca for not empty(loc_code)

results in the similar error

"Unallowed phrase/keyword in command: empty(loc_code)"

Details:

Visual dBase ver. 5.7;

"loc_code" is the name of the field in a table currently openedin the currently selected work area.

What am I doing wrong?

TIA!

Regards,

Ilya

 

[Mike Lewis]

Ilya,

I don't recognise that error message. It doesn't look like a standard VFP error.

Oh, wait. Did you say "Visual dBase ver. 5.7"? You surely don't mean you're Visual dBase? If you are, why are you asking the question here?

Mike

__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro articles, tips, training, consultancy

 

[IlyaRabyy]

Actually, I switched to the dBase forum here before posting... Apparently, it did not happen.
I shoulda paid more attentioon.
My apologies, Sir!

Regards,

Ilya

 

[Mike Lewis]

Acutally, it would be interesting to know the answer. As far as I know, both functions should work with all data types in VFP. I'm slightly surprised it's different in dBase.

Mike

__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro articles, tips, training, consultancy

 

[Dan Freeman]

Probably something silly like dBase wanting an alias on that field name, or not having the right alias selected.

(dBase never was known for over-clear error messages. <g>)

 

[IlyaRabyy]

I tried it with fully qualified field (i.e. EMPTY(ALIAS.FieldName)), even tried taking it in quotation marks (i.e. EMPTY("ALIAS.FieldName")) - same result: it erred.

I recall that, back in the days, FPD2, and even Clipper '87 worked much better (and were better documented) than dBase III...

Regards,

Ilya

 

[JRB-Bldr]

By doing a Google search for dBase EMPTY() I came across:

http://www.dbase.com/knowledgebase/int/arrays/array1.htm

On that link it says:
EMPTY()
This can be used on elements of an array to determine if they are really empty (undefined), or contain a value of false.

It would seem from that description that the EMPTY() function is related to use with Arrays 'elements' only - but I could be wrong.

Good Luck,
JRB-Bldr