Unable to add fields to a filepro file

[John Esak]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: filepro-list-bounces+john=valar.com at lists.celestial.com
> [mailto:filepro-list-bounces+john=valar.com at lists.celestial.com]On
> Behalf Of Jean-Pierre A. Radley
> Sent: Saturday, July 15, 2006 9:51 PM
> To: FilePro Mailing List
> Subject: Re: Unable to add fields to a filepro file
>
>
> John Esak propounded (on Sat, Jul 15, 2006 at 06:37:27PM -0400):
> | > [mailto:filepro-list-bounces+john=valar.com at lists.celestial.com]On
> | > Behalf Of Jean-Pierre A. Radley
> | >
> | > You don't say what version of filePro you've got there, but under
> | > 5.6.03, I **can't even get into** "Define Files" to then attempt any
> | > changes to the map, if I have files called keyjpradley.071506 and
> | > datajpradley.071506.
> |
> | Tony, your problem is probably the periods in your key/data filenames.
>
> Not just the period.  If I have keybc.de and databc.de, there's
> no problem.  If, as I noted, I have keyjpradley.071506 and
> datajpradley.071506, no go.  Some combination involving the period and
> the length of the qualifier seems to cause the balky behaviour.
>
> --
> JP

Actually, I came across this back in 1994 when I tried to develop a "hidden"
filePro file. I wanted to create a filepro file called .resin in which I was
going to keep our polyethylene resin costs. At that time I was wholly
concerned with security and the least little breach related to filePro
access intrigued me. (I was developing an in-house payroll then.. and it was
important to me to make it absolutely foolproof.)  In any case, I tried and
tried to ddefine some kind of filePro file that wouldn't be easily seen (as
some know in that current version of SCO, dot files were not seen by regular
users with typical (l)isting commands)... one had to be root or specifically
use something like "ls -a" or whatever to see them.  Anyway, I finally just
mkdir'd a .resin file in the filepro directory and found that ddefine would
not see it. So, moved to qualifiers and played around. It seemed that any
qualifier with a dot in it would not be seen by any of the qualifier
listboxes, not in *clerk or dxmaint anyhow... and that was where I needed
them. I wasn't hoping to make the qualifiers invisible by adding a dot...
just investigating.

When I asked Ken about wanting to define a filePro file with a dot as its
beggining character so as to make it relatively invisible to the casual
onlooker... he mumbled something about he didn't think that would work...
had I tried it? :-)  I knew right then it was a lost cause...  I've learned
that if Ken just has even an inkling something won't work... it won't.

So, I have stayed away from qualifiers with dots in them... and not many or
none of my filePro directories have dots either... I have long opted for the
under_bar as a preferred separator.

John Esak