File restructure bastardization

[George Simon]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: filepro-list-bounces at lists.celestial.com [mailto:filepro-list-
> bounces at lists.celestial.com] On Behalf Of Kenneth Brody
> Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2005 12:50 PM
> To: Don Coleman
> Cc: filePro List
> Subject: Re: FIle restructure bastardization
> 
> Quoting Don Coleman (Tue, 20 Sep 2005 12:18:22 -0400):
> 
> > I have a fP file with 16 qualifiers and a total for 51M records spread
> > across the qualifiers.  This business functions 24/7 and it presents
> > quite a disruption to have them down for any period of time.  Within
> > this file are two YESNO flag fields which are always either "Y" or left
> > blank.  Rather than attempt to restructure this file which will take
> > hours (Windows network) can I copy a modified map file (with everyone
> > out of the system) changing the edit on these two fields from YESNO to
> > either * or ALLUP?  Will the new map preserve the fields containing the
> > "Y" data?  I do realize that this is not the preferred method of
> > restructuring a file but you can see where I am going.  Doing so will
> > allow me to use various codes in those fields instead of the limitation
> > of Y,N, blank and not force me to add additional fields.
> 
> ObDisclaimer:  This is not an official endorsement by fPTech, just
> my own opinion.
> 
> Since you aren't changing the length of the fields, and the new type
> would accept the existing data as-is, with no effect on sort-order
> (in case there are indexes built on them), you could theoretically
> edit the map, changing "YESNO" to "*" or "ALLUP", even while people
> are using the file, with no ill effect.
> 
> Of course, I would highly recommend trying this out on a test file
> first.
> 
> --
> KenBrody at BestWeb dot net        spamtrap: <g8ymh8uf001 at sneakemail.com>
> http://www.hvcomputer.com
> http://www.fileProPlus.com
> _______________________________________________
> Filepro-list mailing list
> Filepro-list at lists.celestial.com
> http://mailman.celestial.com/mailman/listinfo/filepro-list

Any time I've changed a field edit from anything to an asterisk,
re-structuring does not take place.  I don't think (know?) that is true for
ALLUP.