Mask for Zip Codes

[Ray]

Hi Everyone
I have a customer form with a zip code field I made a mask
of 00000-0000 and I want it to be 00000 only if the zip code
is 5 I tried to make a conditional mask and cant get it to work

Any help
Thank you
Ray

[Ohlen Cartmell]

RE: Mask for Zip Codes

Ray,
I suggest you make 2 fields; 1 for the first 5 and another for the last 4. Then you can concatenate the fields for letters, reports, labels making printing of the - dependent on whether there is anything in the 4 character field. It's easier to put fields together than it is to separate them later.
Ohlen

[Geoffrey Hollander]

RE: Mask for Zip Codes

Ray,

If your customer uses these ZIP codes for addressing and/or mailing purposes, they will want to keep their ZIP in a single 10 chatacter field. First of all, that's what every piece of PC mailng/CASS coding and PAVE presort application is going to be looking for when processing. If your ZIP field isn't set up that way, some one will have to convert it in the mailing process.

If you are writing an expression for a conditional field you might make it (or the equivalent statements if using the Field Rules section): if(len(alltrim(ZIP)) = 5, 00000, if(len(alltrim(ZIP)) = 10, 00000-0000, [place alternative here])); you could also include 9 digit strings (ZIP's missing the "-") with: if(len(alltrim(ZIP)) = 5, 00000, if(len(alltrim(ZIP)) = 9, 00000-0000, if(len(alltrim(ZIP)) = 10, 00000-0000, [place alternative here])).

If you try to make a conditional field conditional on itself (a logical way to format your data) Alpha Five won't recalculate the new value when you leave the field and move on. If you were to go back to that field and then move on once again, it will recalculate correctly. It will only work the way you expect if you are basing your conditional calculation on info contained in another field. (Frustrating, I know, but I'm told that this will be corrected in version 5.)

It's also possible that you could write it in XBasic as an OnDepart or OnChange event for that field, but I haven't tried it myself.

Once agian, if your client is going to use the ZIP for mailing, the table will still have to be CASS coded by you or the mailing house before it can be processed anyway. If you are doing this in house, just have your data entry people enter the 5-digit ZIP and the coding software will put the correct +4 extension, standasrdize the address, add carrier routes and lines of travel, etc. (most people don't accurately know their +4's anyway).

If you are having the mailing house do this, tell them to give your client back a file with the ID's, address(es), cities, states, and ZIP's. Post the new addressing data back into the table using the ID's (original and returned) as the link between your tables. Bada Boom, Bada Bing, it's clean, correct and updated -- not only with correct ZIP+4's, but also with correctly written addresses, etc.

Hope I didn't get too far off the topic...

Best regards,

Geoff Hollander

[Ohlen Cartmell]

RE: Mask for Zip Codes

Hi Geoff,
Can you input into 2 separate fields (for ease of use) and then combine them into a calculated field for mailing or is that not practical?

[Robert Picard]

RE: Mask for Zip Codes

Hi Ray

I don't use a mask. What I use is a field rule event CanWriteField. Here is the code.

''converts U.S. and CANADIAN postal codes to the correct format
option nobreak
option strict
dim shared a_field_value as c
dim code as c 'temporary or local variable

code=a_field_value

''converts U.S. and CANADIAN postal codes to the correct format
option nobreak
option strict
dim shared a_field_value as c
dim code as c 'temporary or local variable

code=a_field_value

select
case LEN(remspecial(code))=9
code=substr(remspecial(code),1,5)+"-"+substr(remspecial(code),6,4)
case isalpha(code).and.len(remspecial(code))=6
code=substr(upper(remspecial(code)),1,3)+" "+substr(upper(remspecial(code)),4,3)
case len(remspecial(code))=5
code=substr(remspecial(code),1,5)
case else
code=a_field_value
end select
a_field_value=code
end

[Robert Picard]

RE: Mask for Zip Codes

oops....! Sorry about the slopy paste job.

Robert