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Calculated field type problem

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    Calculated field type problem

    I have a form on which I have two fairly complex calculations for Federal Income Tax deductions. These formulas are slightly different in that one uses total gross pay to do the calculation and the other uses only a portion of the gross pay. The one for total gross pay works fine. The other one is driving me nuts because when I set it up and do an evaluation from the window where calculations are set up, it calculated fine but when I try to put that one on my form, the field properties show it as an alphabetic field, not numeric and when I start examining the properties I get a "fatal error" and the program shuts down. I don't understand why one works and the other one doesn't. Why would the program not know that it is a numeric field?
    Howard
    Montoursville, PA

    #2
    RE: Calculated field type problem

    Howard,

    I have seen this behavior when Alpha can't evaluate one of the "sub-terms" or a complicated calculation. For example suppose you have a field org_amt and you define

    tax (calculated field) as org_amt*.06

    then you define

    ttl_amt (calculated field) as org_amt + tax

    look ok so far, well it's not, it should be

    ttl_amt = org_amt + calc->tax

    and Alpha will allow you to define the first expression because the "plain" tax could be a variable which would be assigned elsewhere.

    If you look through your calculations, I think you will find something similar, or a field name mispelled, etc.
    There can be only one.

    Comment


      #3
      RE: Calculated field type problem

      Thank you for your response. I will look it over carefully. What bothered me the most is the same formula (except for the variable defining the taxable amount) works fine.
      Howard

      Comment


        #4
        RE: Calculated field type problem

        Howard,

        Take a look at the post earlier today about documenting calculated fields. See if you can cut and paste your calculations to a message here.

        Sometimes "fresh" eyes can spot a problem.

        Stan
        There can be only one.

        Comment


          #5
          RE: Calculated field type problem

          I found some minor errors that would have changed the results but nothing that caused the problem. I found that in the field properties box where the calculation is "designed", when I select "Format", I have only two choices: uppercase/lowercase. This is not the case with the other instance of the formula. Remember, too, that the calculation works correctly when I click "Evaluate"....???? The formula takes up seven lines in the properties calculation window. My major problem is: "Why does the format tab indicate that the calculation is a character field?" Also, when I try to troubleshoot the problem I get error windows (2) that shut down Alpha 5 completely. I clicked the field name to try to change it to some other field instead of the calculated field. That bombed me out! Thanks again for your assistance. I will try to copy the formula but have not had much success with cut and paste in Alpha 5. Probably due to my lack of knowledge....
          Howard

          Comment


            #6
            RE: Calculated field type problem

            If the expression box only gives you text formatting options, it doesn't recognize that the result of the formula is/should be a number.

            I am emailing you a "file compression" program separately, in hopes you can use it to post a sample of your database for examination. If you already have a compression program, then there is no reason to download the email.

            Stan
            There can be only one.

            Comment


              #7
              RE: Calculated field type problem

              For anyone following this thread, the problem is solved but the cause is still unknown. For some reason, Alpha 5 "thought" that the formula I used returned a character type, not numeric. Problem was resolved by deleting the field from the form, deleting the original calculation definition, giving the calculation a new name and copying the exact same formula that was giving the trouble to the new name. Used the new name on the form and now the calculation is correct...Go figure.

              Comment


                #8
                RE: Calculated field type problem

                I'd check the names of all variables, fields, and calculated fields to verify that I haven't inadvertantly used the same name for two or more things...

                Comment


                  #9
                  RE: Calculated field type problem

                  Thanks for your response. Problem apparently solved. See my last message on the original thread...
                  Howard

                  Comment

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