Personally, I've never used either methods. Here is how I would do the I-descriptor:
001 I 002 IF @RECORD<12> = "" THEN OCONV(@RECORD<2>,"D4-") ELSE "*VOIDED*" Gordon J. Glorfield Sr. Applications Developer MAMSI (A UnitedHealth Company) 301-360-8839 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote on 01/27/2006 03:24:47 PM: > I've been converting dictionaries from a D3 dbms and am wondering what is > considered "best practices" in virtual attribute design. > Does one build standard "D"irect fields first then use these fields to build > virtual attributes (I-Descriptors) or should one use the direct field > references, "EXTRACT()" or "<n,n,n>", in virtual attributes? > DEPOSITED > 001 D The date of the deposit. > 002 2 > VOID > 001 D Is this a voided receipt? > 002 12 > DEPDATE > 001 I The displayed deposit date (if not voided). > 002 IF VOID = "" THEN DEPOSITED ELSE "*Voided*" > or > DEPDATE > 001 I The displayed deposit date (if not voided). > 002 EXTRACT( @RECORD, 2, 0, 0 ) ; EXTRACT( @RECORD, 12, 0, 0 ) ; > IF @2 = "" THEN @1 ELSE "*Voided*" > The obvious concern is if a direct field definition is renamed, then all > references to the old field name need to be changed. I rarely rename a > field, until I started exposing the data to other data sources and was > forced to clean up the field names. So, hopefully, this won't be an issue > in the future. > Any thoughts. > Bill Haskett > ------- > u2-users mailing list > u2-users@listserver.u2ug.org > To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/ This e-mail, including attachments, may include confidential and/or proprietary information, and may be used only by the person or entity to which it is addressed. If the reader of this e-mail is not the intended recipient or his or her authorized agent, the reader is hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender by replying to this message and delete this e-mail immediately. ------- u2-users mailing list u2-users@listserver.u2ug.org To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/