Field names in table changing case

[noviceuser]

hello,

i looked on the settings dialog box for an option to try and fix this, but i can't find one.

when i create a table and type in a field name like Order_ID, it gets changes to Order_Id, when i save the table. what is causing the case of the name to change?

the other thing that i noticed is that i type in Orders (1st letter cap) for the table name. when the table is displayed on the control panel, it is all lower case. why is this happening?

any help would be greatly appreciated.

thank you
tracy

[Stan Mathews]

Re: Field names in table changing case

I don't believe the dbf format supports those options.

[Ray in Capetown]

Re: Field names in table changing case

Hi Tracy
These conventions in Alpha are fixed "behind the scenes" - there is use to be had when you get used to identifying the type of object the name refers to.
You have control over how they appear to the user in your own app;-\
Fieldnames - in any form or browse (not default) you can set the field titles and column headings to any wording and format
Form titles - In the form properties (in Edit mode) select the Window tab, near the bottom there is a "caption" field

[noviceuser]

Re: Field names in table changing case

hi stan,
wow, i had no idea. i don't recall anything like this happening in any other database.

thank you
tracy

I don't believe the dbf format supports those options.

[noviceuser]

Re: Field names in table changing case

hi ray,

i'm not sure that i understand what you are saying. are you saying that on purpose alpha5 changes the case? if so, i don't see the point of that.

i haven't gotten to creating forms or browses, but it is good to know that i can at least control it there, but more than likely, i won't need to display the ID fields there.

thank you
tracy

[csda1]

Re: Field names in table changing case

Hi Tracy,

All fields in a Dbase compatible table file are stored as Uppercase in the actual DBF file. This is just how the file format was originally created. There is an Alpha Five specific long name (up to 24 characters) version, that if used, extends the name by storing that longer version in the Alpha Five data dictionary for that table, however, other programs (e.g. Excel), only use the names as stored in the actual DBF file.

Alpha displays field names as lowercase except the 1st letter of all words (with an underscore as a delimiter) are displayed as uppercase.

Alpha could potentially store the extended name as mixed case (e.g. AbcDef) , but it does not in any version and just stores it internally in the extended name as all uppercase, but still displays it as it would for the actual field name

[noviceuser]

Re:(resolution) Field names in table changing case

i don't know what to make of this. it is what it is. it is just more work having to type in how you want the field heading/title to appear on forms and reports some place else besides the table. it would be helpful if all of this was consolidated.

tracy

[CALocklin]

Re: (resolution) Field names in table changing case

Yes - it is what it is.

As a novice A5 user you might want to check out my Alpha Five Naming Recommendations web page.

There is a lot of info in there about how various names (form names, variable names, etc.) are handled in A5 along with suggestions for the naming format - and, most importantly, the reasons for those suggestions. Even if you decide to use a different naming format, you should at least understand the implications of what you are doing.

Also, as a novice user you may not fully appreciate the ability to run text searches on A5 code and expressions but it can be a significant help when debugging or updating an app. Note that I'm talking about searching CODE, EXPRESSIONS, FIELD RULES, etc. - not data. Alpha has a built-in routine for searching things in the Code tab but that's an incomplete solution because it ignores all the field rules, events inside layouts (layout events, button events, field events, etc.), calculated field expressions, filter expressions, etc. The complete solution is to purchase and use either A5_Doc (I believe it's still available from Alpha) or my AIMS_App_Analyzer to retrieve the code/expressions from the whole application and then use the search routine included in A5_Doc or the AIMS_App_Analyzer. The A5_Doc program will also create printed documentation. The AIMS_App_Analyzer does not create any printed documentation but has a number of automated searches so you don't have to look up then type (correctly) every form name, report name, index name, etc. in order to update the result file. I decided I didn't need printed documentation because every time I printed documentation it was (A) never used and (B) usually outdated within days due to an update.

[Tim Kiebert]

Re: (resolution) Field names in table changing case

i don't know what to make of this. it is what it is. it is just more work having to type in how you want the field heading/title to appear on forms and reports some place else besides the table. it would be helpful if all of this was consolidated.

tracy

http://wiki.alphasoftware.com/Field+...scriptive_Name

[CALocklin]

Re: Field names in table changing case

Your mention of the Default Descriptive Name made me think of something else, Tim. No matter what I've tried in the past to get a good name - either the field name or a default descriptive name, it seems like I always ended up having to change most of those names when displaying as a field label. Things like "first and last name" or "city, state, and zip" often end up getting combined into one label, you can't have a field name with blank spaces in it, some names need to be changed (especially in browses) because they are just too long, and many other names just don't 'work' as good field labels on some forms. I guess that's part of the reason I'm comfortable now with limiting field names to 10 characters and also putting an "f" on the end - the "extra" work to rename field labels on forms was almost non-existent because I ended up changing most of them anyway.

[Tim Kiebert]

Re: Field names in table changing case

Cal, I agree completely. Reading between the lines of your reply being productive in this game (which I am not in fulltime) is about forming habits. One of mine now is after creating the the fields using your naming convention I go through the fields in the field rule editor and add the default discriptive names. Do I sometimes change them to suit the situation? yep. But at least most of the time they are more human readable.

As with learning any new tool it takes time to learn the quirks and form the habits that work best for you. At work we just installed and commisioned a new packaging line. Part of that commisioning was training 3 people to operate the line. They were all trained by the same two technicians from the supplier. After three weeks all three operators do things slightly differently but still get the job done.

[CALocklin]

Re: Field names in table changing case

This is TOTALLY off the topic of Alpha but your comment about starting a new line and your signature line "A complex system that does not work is invariably found to have evolved from a simpler system that worked just fine" reminded me of a situation that I hope those of you out there who are or have been in a production situation will enjoy....

I used to work at a company that built manual transmission clutches. Putting the rivets into the clutch discs to hold the friction material to the backing plates was a strictly manual operation and, due to the size of the rivets, the job was best suited to women with small hands (typically oriental but that wasn't an issue). So they decided to automate the process because someone convinced them that an automated system would be much faster and initial testing showed this to be true. Eventually they implemented the new equipment and a few workers got their lay off notice. Unfortunately for the company, they discovered that the equipment was really fast - until one of those little tiny rivets got put in crooked. Then somebody had to come over and fix it manually and usually scrap the friction facing that was damaged by jamming a rivet in wrong. It didn't take long at all to figure out that the new, automated equipment was actually running slower overall and creating more scrap than the old manual system. They spent a few months trying to resolve the issue and finally scrapped the new system and started hiring back as many of the previous employees as they could.biggrin.gif

[Tim Kiebert]

Re: Field names in table changing case