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what expression to concatenate and capitalize?

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    #1

    what expression to concatenate and capitalize?

    Working on a report but would also apply for a form.
    I know I can concatenate (and remove unused spaces) my last name and first name fields by using the expression + and alltrim. I was also interested in making sure that those names were capitalized (first letter only).
    The expression I used to concatenate (and add a space) is:
    alltrim(Fname) + " " alltrim(Lname)
    If I want to make sure that the first letter of the Fname and Lname fields were capitalized would I use the W_upper expression or F_upper and where would I put it in the expression? Would it be something like this (which works) or is there something better?
    F_upper (alltrim(Fname)) + " " F_upper (alltrim(Lname))
    Tags: None
    #2
    Re: what expression to concatenate and capitalize?

    Hi doug,
    F_upper (alltrim(Fname)) + " " + F_upper (alltrim(Lname))
    just needs a "+" (typo I assume)----use what works and see nothing wrong with the simple being used!
    Mike
    __________________________________________
    It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know.
    It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
    Henry David Thoreau
    __________________________________________



    Comment

      #3
      Re: what expression to concatenate and capitalize?

      mike,
      thanks for your reply. The lack of the + was a typo in the post.
      However, I found that in order to get it to work my expression is:
      F_upper(NW_Lower(alltrim(Fname))) + " " + F_upper(NW_Lower(alltrim (Lname)))
      Explanation: the F_upper capitalizes the first letter of the character string; the NW_Lower changes all the letters of the string except the 1st letter to lowercase.
      This is necessary for:
      1: the scenario where the person entering the data makes it all lower case (charlie brown)
      2: the scenario where the person entering the data makes it all upper case (CHARLIE BROWN)
      This also works for cHarlie BrOwN, etc.
      By the way, is there any way to prevent a person entering data in caps, etc. I would like it so that I don't find that a report looks strange because alot of data is entered in caps.
      Thanks again
      Last edited by dlazenby; 11-01-2009, 11:11 PM. Reason: typo

      Comment

        #4
        Re: what expression to concatenate and capitalize?

        doug,
        If this is something you want to have always on any layout based on a specific table, then maybe the use of Field Rules (Transformation tab) for the table used would be the easiest way.
        Mike
        __________________________________________
        It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know.
        It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
        Henry David Thoreau
        __________________________________________



        Comment

          #5
          Re: what expression to concatenate and capitalize?

          Doug,

          I agree with Mike that it would be better to control the cases at the table level. The reason I say this is that there are many exceptions to the general rules. What about lastnames of "DeLuca", "Miller-Smith", and "McCormick". Do you want these to show up as "Deluca", "Miller-smith", and "Mccormick" on the report? Also, if you do not have a "suffix" field, then a lastname of "Phillips III" would show up as "Phillips iii".

          When these people are first entered into the system, if the user controls the letter cases to be what the people prefer, you can rely on these entries from that point forward.

          Steve

          Comment

            #6
            Re: what expression to concatenate and capitalize?

            Mentioning the exceptions brings to mind a few threads regarding this from the past....the Code Archive has something you may also want to consider from Cal Locklin.

            http://msgboard.alphasoftware.com/al...ght=capitalize
            Mike
            __________________________________________
            It is only when we forget all our learning that we begin to know.
            It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
            Henry David Thoreau
            __________________________________________



            Comment

              #7
              Re: what expression to concatenate and capitalize?

              Excellent responses. I did not think of those issues. I am not familiar with the transformation expressions so I will have to delve into that.
              I will look into that archive post also.
              Thanks again very much!

              Comment

                #8
                Re: what expression to concatenate and capitalize?

                The only really safe formatting for names is Upper (convert entire name to upper case) or Lower (convert entire name to lower case) All other options will, with any given name will become problematic.

                If you are going to use one of the formatting options, it is a lot cleaner to do it using the Field Rules Transformations option.

                Dave
                Dave Jampole
                www.customalpha.com

                Women and cats will do whatever they want. The sooner men and dogs realize that, the happier they will be.

                Comment

                  #9
                  Re: what expression to concatenate and capitalize?

                  I agree with Mike that it would be better to control the cases at the table level. The reason I say this is that there are many exceptions to the general rules. What about lastnames of "DeLuca", "Miller-Smith", and "McCormick". Do you want these to show up as "Deluca", "Miller-smith", and "Mccormick" on the report? Also, if you do not have a "suffix" field, then a lastname of "Phillips III" would show up as "Phillips iii".
                  miller-smith will come out Miller-Smith when done with the field rules transformation. Been doing this for a long time

                  phillips iii will come out Phillips Iii unless the user inputs phillips III and then it will comeout Phillips III.

                  Inputting deluca will come out Deluca unless the User changes the "l" to "L" and then it will come out as DeLuca.

                  Once saved in the dbf field that way, it will not change unless you mess with it someway.


                  .
                  Dave Mason
                  [email protected]
                  Skype is dave.mason46

                  Comment

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