setting high date and PFCMARK

[Bruce Easton]

Bruce Easton wrote yet again:
> 
> Bruce Easton wrote Thursday, April 09, 2009 1:10 PM:
> 
> Jose Lerebours wrote Thursday, April 09, 2009 12:20 PM:
> > 
> > Richard D. Williams wrote:
> > > Try this;
> > >
> > > If: dl ne ""
> > > Then: end
> > > If: q ne ""
> > > Then: goto start
> > > if:
> > > Then: cls
> > > If:  
> > > Then: input fa(4,#,g) "From Client Number "
> > > If:
> > > Then: input fb(4,#,g) "From "<fa<"to number "
> > > If:
> > > Then: input ff(8,mdy/,g) "Enter 1st date"
> > > If:
> > > Then: input ll(8,mdy/,g) "From"<ff<"to what ending date"
> > > If: fa eq "    " or fb eq "    " or ff eq "" or ll eq ""
> > > Then: msgbox "No Report Created!";exit
> > > If:
> > > Then: input popup ("22","") q(1,yesno,g) "Is this correct? 
> > (Y/N)";cls
> > > If: q ne "Y"
> > > Then: msgbox "No Report Created!";exit
> > > If:
> > > Then: lookup -  k=ff    i=h -ng
> > > *start*: If: 18 gt ll
> > > Then: goto endit
> > > If: 1 ge fa and 1 le fb
> > > Then: select
> > > If:
> > > Then: end
> > > *endit*: If:
> > > Then: dl(8,mdy/,g)="12/31/79"
> > > If:
> > > Then: lookup - k=dl i=h -nl
> > > If:
> > > Then: end
> > >
> > 
> > The first two lines of code should keep the script from asking the 
> > questions and performing the lookup more than once.
> > 
> > I would make two changes
> > 
> > (1) Add
> > if:  not -
> > then: end
> > 
> > right after the original lookup. 
> > 
> > (2) Additionally, I would not use a hard coded date to jump to 
> > possible last date, simply add a couple of years to end-date
> > 
> > then:  dl(8,mdy/,g)=ll+"1095"    'Add 3 years to end date
> > 
> > By adding the three years to end date, no matter what your 
> PFCMARK is 
> > set, it is less likely that your code will break (should it 
> be ported 
> > to a different environment or PFCMARK have an unexpected value).
> > 
> > Regards,
> > 
> > 
> > Jose Lerebours
> 
> I frequently surprised by systems where people enter dates 
> way off into the future, either by accident, and in some 
> cases, to use the date field as a marker of some kind.
> 
> Therefore, regarding Jose's point #2, it might be safest to 
> have your selection flow like so (when working w/eight- digit 
> selection dates and using lookup-dash to speed rpt):
>
> 
> Then: qq(2,*)=getenv("PFCMARK"); qs(2,.0)=qq
>   If: qs eq "0" and qs ne qq and qq ne "00"
> Then: goto XXXX  'PFCMARK missing/invalid--abort lu-dash; 
> read all recs
>   If: dl eq ""
> Then: qr(2,rj0)=qs+"0"; qr=qr-"1"; dl(8,mdy/,g)="12/31/"{qr
>   If: 
> Then: 'continue here with lookup dash technique using 'dl'
>       .....
> 
> XXXX If:  '(common selection tests without using lookup-dash)
> 
> Bruce
> 
> (augmented version :))  I didn't take into consideration as 
> Jose pointed out that someone might set PFCMARK to some 
> strange value - so I've improved the sample code above.
> 
OK, maybe one last improvement :)  - top line needs to 
allow "0" or "00", I believe.  (Although I've never tried 
to see if PFCMARK=00 or PFCMARK=0 are valid settings.)

Bruce

Bruce Easton
STN, Inc.