If statement, incorrect data type

[Kim Sargent]

im trying to create an if statement for a calculated field and the field is numeric because it is used in other calculations
but true return value is character string. i can get it to work with all character but i want the false statement to be the value of that field, i can not do it, i get the error incorrect data type

any suggestions???

[Stan Mathews]

RE: If statement, incorrect data type

A statement in the form

if(expression, true result, false result)

must return the same data type for both results.

If you need to perform a calculation on one result, but evaluate the other as a character string, try something like:

if(expression,str(numerical result),"False condition was met")

then use val(str(numerical result)) in your calculation.

[Kim Sargent]

RE: If statement, incorrect data type

thank you,
i need it to return the value of the field, so im still having problems

[Stan Mathews]

RE: If statement, incorrect data type

Can you post the field names used in the if statement, their data types, and an example of the calculation (used later) which refers to the false condition result of the if statement?

[Kim Sargent]

RE: If statement, incorrect data type

IF((Organic_Nitrogen

[French]

RE: If statement, incorrect data type

Sure you can. When you need to use it in a calculation, substitute val(Organic_Nitrogen).

[French]

RE: If statement, incorrect data type

Or, you could use the STR function in your IF statement to convert the numeric Organic_Nitrogen field to a string and keep the IF statement happy.

[Kim Sargent]

RE: If statement, incorrect data type

if i convert it to string, will it still enter the value of that field, and will it still be able to use in calculating other fields?

[Kim Sargent]

RE: If statement, incorrect data type

when i use val(Organic_Nitrogen) its telling me incorrect data type.

[Stan Mathews]

RE: If statement, incorrect data type

I think what Paul means is use

IF((Organic_Nitrogen=0.01) and the "Analysis result was less then detection limit" becomes the false result, it will not cause the true condition to truncate.

From the online docs:

IF
Syntax:
Any Type Of Value = IF( LogicalExpression, TrueValue, FalseValue)
Description:
Evaluates the LogicalExpression. If the expression evaluates to TRUE, the
TrueValue is returned, otherwise the FalseValue is returned.
The TrueValue and FalseValue parameters must be of the same type (i.e.
character, date, logical, memo, or numeric). For character values, the
FalseValues's string length determines the length of the returned string. (i.e.,
IF(.T., �ABCDEF�, �XYZ�)��ABC� since �XYZ� is only 3 characters long.)

[French]

RE: If statement, incorrect data type

If you convert the field to a character type, you can use

"VAL(Organic_Nitrogen)" in a calculation where you would otherwise have simply entered "Organic_Nitrogen". The VAL function takes the contents of a character field and attempts to convert it into a numeric value.

If you wish to leave Orgainic_Nitrogen as a numeric field, then simply use the STR function in the last portion of your IF statement so that the IF statement returns a string whether the or not the IF is true or false. The STR function converts a numeric value into a character string.

[French]

RE: If statement, incorrect data type

Thank you, Stan.

[Kim Sargent]

RE: If statement, incorrect data type

Thank you both, you've been a great help, im going to call it a day, its 5pm here!

[Kim Sargent]

RE: If statement, incorrect data type

ha, now im getting "no such table"

[Stan Mathews]

RE: If statement, incorrect data type

Are your referring to your calculated field with calc-> as part of it's name? that's required to differentiate it from a variable, fieldname, tablename, etc.