How to choose which formula to evaluate/compute

[JetLi]

I am having problems to do some calculations on a certain formula.Here is the fist scenario:
Price= 2500, Discount=10+1 (to be supplied by user), the discounted price is (2500*10)/11= 2,272.7272
Here is another scenario:
Price=2500, Discount = -5% (again to be supplied by the user), the discounted price is 2500-(2500*.05) = 2375.
Another case is Price=2,500, Discount =+7%, 2500+(2500*.07) =2,675

My problem is how to evaluate the formula based on the supplied discount by the user(user can enter 12+1,-7%,-10% or 10+2,+8% etc, How will I determine on my app so that I can implement either the first or second formula or 3rd on the 3 scenarios?Thanks!

[Keith Hubert]

Re: How to choose which formula to evaluate/compute

Get the user to make a choice of which option they work with, say with a dialog box and radio buttons. This makes you look even more professional. you could actually display the result in the dialog before the answer is committed to the record.

[pulsoft]

Re: How to choose which formula to evaluate/compute

I was going to suggest something along the lines of Keith's reply. Why not have a user related default whole value in a drop-down selection box and a user related default decimal value in a drop-down selection box. That way the user has total control over the discount amount to be applied as and when different to their default. Less real-estate on the screen used up and easy to implement and calculate.
BTW - I do not understand the +N aspect of your requirement.

Paul

[Ray in Capetown]

Re: How to choose which formula to evaluate/compute

Jet, would I be correct in assuming a sometimes used trading method, based on discount plus?
If so , then this is applied differently eg. 30 + 5 is not 35% but an additional 5 percent on the discounted price
100.00 less 30 + 5 results in, less 30% first = 70.00 then less another 5% = 66.50 -- Not 65.00

So it cant be done smoothly with buttons. One would display the base discount (gotten from elsewhere, maybe the customer table) and user enter a field with an additional negotiated percentage. I have clients that use that in my software as a standard option.
Sometimes the base discount shows on each line item and an overall small extra percent over the whole invoice.

Customer supplies a large store, who negotiate for a large special order often to be able to offer their VAR sale profitably.

[pulsoft]

Re: How to choose which formula to evaluate/compute

Ahhh...

[JetLi]

Re: How to choose which formula to evaluate/compute

One thing that end users like in an application is that they want speed, i suggested it before to pick the mouse and click something so that the formula they want will be executed, they showed me an app made in foxpro 2.6 for DOS, and they said, can you do something like these?(they showed me the app and they just typed 12+1 and the result is computed) and I said to myself, the DOS app is really better than what I am suggesting, no mouse clicks and the result is displayed.

Ray: this is how the end users compute: 30 + 5, If a customer buys 30 boxes of milk, they will give away 5, if the price is 100, then the price is 100*30/5= 600, or they can give something like these, 100 less 5% which is 100-(100*.05)= 95.00.

[JetLi]

Re: How to choose which formula to evaluate/compute

Edit

[Ray in Capetown]

Re: How to choose which formula to evaluate/compute

Then I got it wrong - thats Quantity/price

[mronck]

Re: How to choose which formula to evaluate/compute

Well, this should not be too difficult. If you have a table with one text field and one calculated field, then you can present the text field on whatever way you want. Either a dialog box or in a form, does not matter. In the calculated field you make use of the IF statement like this:

if user enters "30+5" in the textfield then compute x*y/5 in the calculated field
if user enters "10" in the textfield then do x*.90 in the calculated field

If you want the input of the discount to be watertight, you can make a table with allowed discount models and then make your textfield in the table above a lookup to the discount table.

[Ray in Capetown]

Re: How to choose which formula to evaluate/compute

You might want to look at entering a formula - this post http://msgboard.alphasoftware.com/al...luate_template

[Ray in Capetown]

Re: How to choose which formula to evaluate/compute

I think you are indicating QUANTITY PRICE BREAKS (http://www.mightymerchant.com/home/m...ce_breaks.html) or more complex than that?

[Tom Cone Jr]

Re: How to choose which formula to evaluate/compute

Jet, the solution for you and your customer is to somehow agree on the specific ways in which the discount will be entered in your text box.

Parsing raw text is tedious but it can be done. However, if you permit your user to enter anything they want whenever they want Alpha will not be able to "translate" what they've entered.

Has there been a discussion with the client in which they've agreed to enter the desired discount in specific ways? And for each do you understand how they want it to be handled?

If so how about providing a list here, with an explanation of the desired result (and calculation).

-- tom

[JetLi]

Re: How to choose which formula to evaluate/compute

I thought of doing it the hard way, extract the first Character of the input by the end user, determine if it is a plus or minus, make a case statement to determine it.I will post on another thread on how to extract the characters before a certain character.

Edit:I managed to do it but it requires some more validations.Here is the code
dim shared to_display as C
dim shared rslt as N
dim shared extrct as C
Dim we as C
Dim allstr as C
Dim price as N
dim astr as C
dim fp as N
Dim rslt2 as N
dim rslt as N
price=ui_get_text("Discount","Enter an expression.",stored)

to_display = ui_get_text("Discount","Enter an expression.",stored)
allstr = to_display
we=substr(to_display,1,4)
if we<> "" then

we=substr(we,1,1)
extrct=substr(to_display,1,1)
if extrct="+"
rslt2=price*(val(to_display)/100)
rslt.value=price+rslt2
ui_msg_box("",rslt,UI_OK)
end
end if

if extrct="-" then
rslt2=price*(val(to_display)/100)
rslt.Value=price+rslt2
ui_msg_box("",rslt,UI_OK)
end
end if

if extrct<>"-" .AND. extrct<>"+" then
if val(we)>=1 then
fp=atc("+",to_display)
astr=substr(to_display,fp+1,3)
rslt.Value=Round(price*val(to_display)/eval(to_display),4)
ui_msg_box("",rslt,UI_OK)
end if
end if
end if

Can we please modify this more so that it will be more robust. Thanks!

[Tom Cone Jr]

Re: How to choose which formula to evaluate/compute

Jet, you're on the right track, but until you get agreement with the end user on the specifics there's no point in continuing.

Would be worthwhile asking if they'll share the foxpro code. It can be readily adapted to Alpha xbasic.

[JetLi]

Re: How to choose which formula to evaluate/compute

I will try to get that code and post it here if they will share it.