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I Prepared A Very Large Table in MS Excel Then Copied it to a DBF Table, Why This Issue?

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    I Prepared A Very Large Table in MS Excel Then Copied it to a DBF Table, Why This Issue?

    I have a rather large table with 448 fields in it, Many of the field names are identical, except for a single letter at the end, or combination of 2 letters that makes the difference, some are character, some numeric, others are Time fields. because it was basically the same set of fields over and over except for the slight name difference, I though it would have save much time to prepare it in MS Excel then highlight and copy the fields and rows over to the DBF table in design mode. It seems to have worked perfectly fine, except, now when setting up my form actions, like, when one field change, set the value in another field based on an expression. the problem is, When I use action scripting to select the field to set the value of, I get the following message "Selected object does not have a value property", and when I use xbasic, the follows just aren't applied, but there is no error message.

    The big advantage to using Excel was that I could use the "Find and Replace" feature to change the field names in bulk. Can anyone tell me how to make the tables act normal please?

    #2
    Re: I Prepared A Very Lager Table in MS Excel Then Copied it to a DBF Table, Why This Issue?

    What is the field length?
    1st position must be Char.
    Over 8 char in a field name can cause issues.
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      #3
      Re: I Prepared A Very Lager Table in MS Excel Then Copied it to a DBF Table, Why This Issue?

      I have an app that has one table with 910 fields in it. Like you a lot of fields have very similar names with just a letter or number to differentiate between them. I have absolutely no problems with it at all and I have a lot of fields that have names of more than 8 characters in the field name.

      Depending on the scripts you are using and where, I have found that some times you must use the object name and not the field name (if different). I would first look at the properties of the offending fields on the form and verify that the object name and the filed name are the same, if not you may be able to change it or just try using the object name in the script. Example, on a form the field catalog->XL_Each should have the object name XL_Each but sometimes alpha will give it an object name of say XL_Each1. This is especially true if the field is placed on a form more than once.

      I also wonder why you "copied and pasted" from Excel into the table in design mode instead of creating an operation to build the table from the Excel file.

      Anyway, just a thought.

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        #4
        Re: I Prepared A Very Large Table in MS Excel Then Copied it to a DBF Table, Why This Issue?

        All field names and object names match on the form, and only one instance of each are on the form. Also, no names are above 10 characters long.
        I never thought about using the import operation, but now that I tried it, it doesn't work because, the Excel file have the field names running now the spreadsheet all in a single column, the field type, length and decimal are all in their own column. Therefore the Excel file has only 4 columns and 448 rows, each row being what is to become a DBF field, but apparently, that's not the format expected by the import Operation, the operation seems to be expecting each column to coincide with a DBF field. which brings me back to a halt.

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          #5
          Re: I Prepared A Very Large Table in MS Excel Then Copied it to a DBF Table, Why This Issue?

          DBF field names can only begin with a letter not a numeric. This may have something to do with your situation.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: I Prepared A Very Large Table in MS Excel Then Copied it to a DBF Table, Why This Issue?

            Originally posted by nigeldude View Post
            Therefore the Excel file has only 4 columns and 448 rows, each row being what is to become a DBF field, but apparently, that's not the format expected by the import Operation, the operation seems to be expecting each column to coincide with a DBF field. which brings me back to a halt.
            Yes, Column's are fields and rows are data so you would have to have it as 448 columns.

            Any chance you could post the excel file or the dbf file so we could look at it. Also if you could post the xbasic code you are trying to use that would help as well. If using Action Scripting, right click on each action and select "Show Xbasic" then copy that and post it here. Right now we are just all speculating based on your explanation of what is happening.

            As for the first character for a filed name not being a number. Alpha will not even let you do that as it will automatically change the number to a letter on the front of any field you try and name with a number as the first character.

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              #7
              Re: I Prepared A Very Large Table in MS Excel Then Copied it to a DBF Table, Why This Issue?

              Thanks for the offer preston, Before I do that however, tell me if this helps. I decided to try creating 2 tables, with a one to many relationship to avoid such a large table, these i did in A5, no Excel. However, I still had many fields with similar names, so I created the 1st set and copy and past, all within the A5 table designer, after I copy and past, then I edit the names to all become unique. and i ended up with the very same issue. So I now believe that Excel was not the cause of the problem, the problem seem to be, A5 simply cant handle the "pasting" of fields. even when being copied from right there inside the very same table. Am i wrong on that?

              Comment


                #8
                Re: I Prepared A Very Large Table in MS Excel Then Copied it to a DBF Table, Why This Issue?

                Suggestion

                Excel file have the field names running now (down?) the spreadsheet all in a single column, the field type, length and decimal are all in their own column.
                Save that as a CSV and use it to create the table you want using Text Mode as the table construction option.
                Then you can build your table and should have the data fields which you can import to.

                Edit
                Just seen next post.
                The problem Alpha has is when you change a lot of items and then try and save the lot in one go.
                Try changing ONE field, saving and then see what happens.
                Field rules are notoriously fickle.
                Also, compacting may help/hinder the process.

                I built a rudimentary Data Dictionary which enabled table generation automatically, so if you are interested, I'll send you a copy.
                Last edited by Ted Giles; 11-13-2014, 01:52 PM.
                See our Hybrid Option here;
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                Apologies to anyone I haven't managed to upset yet.
                You are held in a queue and I will get to you soon.

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                  #9
                  Re: I Prepared A Very Large Table in MS Excel Then Copied it to a DBF Table, Why This Issue?

                  Nigel,
                  If you are trying to split the 448 field table, may I suggest breaking them to 4 tables and use 1 filed as a connector and it can have the same name. Possibly autoincremented in the first table and connected as 1 to 1. That makes it appear as one table to browse the set. (I hate tables over 150 fields)

                  Yes, you can copy fields from one table to another. This is generally safer if pasted at the end of the table.

                  If you have 1 large table built, you could duplicate it and just delete half the fields from each or how ever you need.

                  Note: I just broke a table that was 1.3 gigs in size to 4 smaller tables because after 5 years it is just getting to big for a windows system and dbf files.
                  Last edited by DaveM; 11-13-2014, 02:07 PM.
                  Dave Mason
                  [email protected]
                  Skype is dave.mason46

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                    #10
                    Re: I Prepared A Very Large Table in MS Excel Then Copied it to a DBF Table, Why This Issue?

                    Yes Ted, I wouldn't mind seeing what that Data Dictionary looks like.

                    Dave, the copying and pasting is not working out, and all I did that last time was to create 6 fields in a totally new table, then copy and paste that 6 fields below the original 6, so, yes, it was at the end of the table.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: I Prepared A Very Large Table in MS Excel Then Copied it to a DBF Table, Why This Issue?

                      Originally posted by nigeldude View Post
                      Thanks for the offer preston, Before I do that however, tell me if this helps. I decided to try creating 2 tables, with a one to many relationship to avoid such a large table, these i did in A5, no Excel. However, I still had many fields with similar names, so I created the 1st set and copy and past, all within the A5 table designer, after I copy and past, then I edit the names to all become unique. and i ended up with the very same issue. So I now believe that Excel was not the cause of the problem, the problem seem to be, A5 simply cant handle the "pasting" of fields. even when being copied from right there inside the very same table. Am i wrong on that?
                      A5 handles copying and from one table to another pasting very well. I do it from time to time.

                      I still say there is an issue either with the form, scripts or the usages of those somehow. A5 will not allow numbers for the first char of a field name and A5 will not allow fields to have the same name within the same table so I do not think you have a problem with any of that.

                      The more actual examples of what you are trying to do that you can share here will only help us try to see what is going on. It would really help if we could see a sample of the db. Right now we are all just speculating.

                      Just to show you that I name fields with slight variations in the name (which actually means something to me), here is a shot of part of one of my tables in a app.

                      matrix.png

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: I Prepared A Very Large Table in MS Excel Then Copied it to a DBF Table, Why This Issue?

                        Given a different way like I wanted to past to word which I do often with my apps.

                        Cusno Numeric 11 0
                        Lot Character 2 0
                        Group Character 8 0
                        Scode Character 8 0
                        Date Date 8 0
                        Deliverdate Date 8 0
                        Acct Numeric 11 0
                        Status Character 1 0
                        Adv Character 20 0
                        Grade Character 2 0
                        Phorwalk Character 1 0
                        Surname Character 5 0
                        First Character 30 0
                        Mid Character 15 0
                        Last Character 50 0
                        Jr Character 2 0
                        Stnumb Character 6 0
                        Address Character 30 0
                        Pobox Character 30 0
                        City Character 30 0
                        State Character 2 0
                        Zip5 Character 5 0
                        Zip4 Character 4 0
                        County Character 20 0
                        Addyrs Character 2 0
                        Addmos Character 2 0
                        Hphone Character 14 0
                        Cell Character 14 0
                        Cell2 Character 14 0
                        Ssn Character 11 0
                        Birth Date 8 0
                        Dl Character 20 0
                        Dlstate Character 2 0
                        Wk_Phone Character 14 0
                        Xtension Character 5 0
                        Livewhere Character 1 0
                        Married Character 1 0
                        Ownhome Character 1 0
                        Mortlandlord Character 30 0
                        Dave Mason
                        [email protected]
                        Skype is dave.mason46

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