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Global Calc fields

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    Global Calc fields

    I am curently developping a typical invoicing system and founding myself recreating the same formulas in various areas of the DB. For expl I had to recreate the Invoice Total formula (= sum of child records) for the InvoiceFormView for the InvoiceFormEdit for the InvoiceReport, and other layouts and reports where the invoice total is needd.
    Then I thought to myself why not create the formula once at the set level and use it in all these places. I took a look at AlphaSports but didn't find any global calc fields created at set level. Before I go ahead and recreate all my formulas at global level. I though it would be wiser to get the opinion of the experienced developers on this board and see if there are any side effects to global calc fields. Thanks in advance.

    #2
    Re: Global Calc fields

    While editing/creating the set. On the toolbar is the 'xy' button. The bubble help for this even says "Global Calculated Fields..." You can also find it under the 'Set' menu item which has a sub item called.... wait for it ..... "Global Calculated Fields..." :) These are as you wish. They are available where ever the set is used. If you build a form or report based on the set the calc will show in the drag/drop list task pane.

    You can do the same while editing the structure of a table. But then they are only available to that table.

    Be carefull though of the functions you use. Since these calcs are in the context of the tables themselves functions that are marked/noted as for the report writer only may not always work as expected. You can recognize them as the ones that take a group and/or subgroup parameter. These type of functions do work in forms because the grouping work the form is doing on the records is similar to that of the report.

    Next to it is the V button for Variables where you can define variables that also follow the set where ever it goes.
    Tim Kiebert
    Eagle Creek Citrus
    A complex system that does not work is invariably found to have evolved from a simpler system that worked just fine.

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      #3
      Re: Global Calc fields

      I took a look at AlphaSports but didn't find any global calc fields created at set level
      AlphaSports is not the end all and be all of what can be done. It demonstrates several non obvious implementations of available features.

      The best advice is to examine it, learn from it, and expand on it. If I have learned anything in the past several years, it is to save the current effort, try to improve or alter it, and profit from the inevitable mistakes.

      BTW, there are several aspects of AlphaSports which I would never implement in my own work. Not the least of which are some table and field names.

      Notice the documentation admonition:

      Alpha Five recommends that table names, field names, and paths to your files start with a letter (A-Z or a-z) and be composed of letters, numbers (0-9), and underscore (_) characters.
      No mention of spaces yet AlphaSports has "invoice menu" table and "product sales summary" table and "product sales" set. The customer table has fields "Bill_Address1" and "Bill_Address1" which only differ at the 13th position in the name which will be meaningless if the data dictionaries become corrupted.

      In essence, other than to incorporate certain new features, AlphaSports has not changed since A5V4.
      Last edited by Stan Mathews; 02-19-2009, 10:07 PM.
      There can be only one.

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