Dim arrays & mapping fields

[Joe Chasan]

On Thu, Jul 29, 2004 at 08:24:28AM -0400, Butch Ammon wrote:
> Good morning.
> 
> "Butch" Ammon from Super Radiator Coils here....  I'm still around, but usually 
> lurking in the background.
> 
> Anyway, I have a question about DIM arrays and how filePro "sees" the array as a
> group of fields.
> 
> #1) Do the fields all have to be in sequential order?
> 
> EXAMPLE:
> (10)    A1)material1           10, allup
> (11)    A1)material2           10, allup
> (12)    A1)material3           10, allup
> (13)    A1)material4           10, allup
> (14)    A1)material5           10, allup
> 
> The above example is fine, as there are 5 fields in the associated field A1.  
> But, what happens if, 45 fields down in the key/data I realize "Oops, I needed 5
>  more fields for material.
> 
> EXAMPLE again:
> 
> (45)    A1)material6           10, allup
> (46)    A1)material7           10, allup
> (47)    A1)material8           10, allup
> (48)    A1)material9           10, allup
> (49)    A1)material10          10, allup
> 
> When defining the DIM array, will filePro "see" all 10 fields now, even if they 
> are not in sequential order?
> 
> i.e.   DIM material[10]:10
> 
> I might be wrong, I might be a complete moron, but to me, the above statement 
> says to lay out a DIM array starting at field 10 for a group of 10 fields.
> 
> Long story short and main question:  Does a DIM array absolutely have to be in 
> sequential order when mapping fields?

yes, they have to be sequential.

you could in your case use 2 arrays of 5 - and decide based on @af whether
to use array #1 (if 1 to 5) or array #2 (if 2 to 6)
 
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-Joe Chasan-                      Magnatech Business Systems, Inc.
joe at magnatechonline.com           Hicksville, NY - USA
http://www.MagnatechOnline.com    Tel.(516) 931-4444/Fax.(516) 931-1264