now what?

[7ZNJABB]

Hi Phorum,

I am using Tom's advice and got rid of the "isblank routine"; however
I have a similar problem. Using the following code, it never prints
the mesage box no matter what i enter into strt_date and end_date.


dim strt_date as d
dim end_date as d
if ("alltrim(dtoc(strt_date))")="0" then
ui_msg_box("Invalid date","Both starting and ending dates must be specified")
' end
end if
'if dtoc(end_date)

I have the second if statement commented out for test purposes.

Thank you,
efs

[Tom Cone Jr]

RE: now what?

Use dtos() not dtoc() otherwise you wind up with slashmarks in the char string.

Remember to test for the length of the trimmed string. If the length of the
trimmed string is zero the date field is blank.

From the interactive editor:
dim startdate as D
?dtoc(startdate)
= " / / "

?len(alltrim(dtoc(startdate)))
= 4.000000

?dtos(startdate)
= " "

?len(alltrim(dtos(startdate)))
= 0.000000

[martinwcole]

RE: now what?

Tom, have you found the comparison:
if field or variable={}
to be unreliable. When I first started using Alpha, 4.01, I found that to return unreliably, but now, 4.5, it saeems to always work.

[Tom Cone Jr]

RE: now what?

Martin,

I'm glad to hear it. However, I can't confirm it because I'm not using vers. 4.5 yet. (I've purchased it, but have chosen to delay distributing it to my customers. Until I do that I prefer to continue doing support and maintenance work with the same version my customers are using.)

-- tom

[martinwcole]

RE: now what?

Yes, I agree absolutely. Now - wait till we start gettting clients with XP as they buy new computers, mixed with 98 and ME!!

[7ZNJABB]

RE: now what?

Hi Tom,

I still get the message print out with the following code:

dim strt_dat as d
dim end_dat as d
if dtos(strt_dat)="".or.dtos(end_dat)="" then
ui_msg_box("Invalid date","Both starting and ending dates must be specified")
' end
end if

[JerryBrightbill]

RE: now what?

Normally, when I check for the existance of a date entry, I use

if alltrim(cdate(date_field))=""
' code to run
end if

Cdate() and dtos() should give the same result, but you still must use alltrim() to eliminate any blanks. Your original code had a problem where you used quotations. When you use quotations, everything within the quotations is considered a character string. This resulted in comparing one character string to another character expression. You would never get a match, since the character string "alltrim(dtoc(strt_date))" will never = the character string "0".

if ("alltrim(dtoc(strt_date))")="0" then

should read

if alltrim(dtoc(strt_date))="" then

To take the last code you posted and modify it, you would get

if alltrim(dtos(strt_dat))="".or.alltrim(dtos(end_dat))="" then
ui_msg_box("Invalid date","Both starting and ending dates must be specified")
' end
end if

Of course, all this fails if you have specified a starting default value for the dates.

Jerry

[JerryBrightbill]

RE: now what?

Sorry, the line

if alltrim(dtoc(strt_date))="" then

should read

if alltrim(dtos(strt_date))="" then

It is easy to get the 2 mixed up, which is why I use cdate()

Jerry

[Tom Cone Jr]

RE: now what?

From the interactive editor:

dim startdate as D
?dtos(startdate)
= " "

?alltrim(dtos(startdate))
= ""


See the difference?

-- tom

[7ZNJABB]

RE: now what?

Hi Tom & Jerry,

On the same form with the button that has the code on it, I enter the
dates before I hit the button. There are no defaults. I added the
all trim to both sides of the or gate, but it still prints the message box when when both dates are entered.

Thank you for your time and patience,
efs

[martinwcole]

RE: now what?

ver 4.5 interactive editor

dim tdate as d
?tdate
= { / / }

if tdate={}; ui_msg_box("",""); end if

the above returns correctly if the date is empty, even though it shows a value

try this in version 4.03

[7ZNJABB]

RE: now what?

Hi Martin,

First, thank you for your time and patience. It still does the same
thing with the following code:

dim strt_dat as d
dim end_dat as d
if end_dat={}.or.strt_dat={} then
ui_msg_box("Invalid Date","Both starting and ending dates must be specified.")
end if
end

Thank you again,
efs

[CraigSchumacker]

RE: now what?



EFS:
Run this in a global script, then remove the rem marks from the two dim
lines. I am assuming strt_dat and end_dat had valid date values from the
form to begin with. (You can rem out the first four lines and place the
code on the button on the form to find out their values.)
strt_dat = ctod("01/01/1980")
end_dat = ctod("01/01/1990")

'dim strt_dat as d
'dim end_dat as d

ui_msg_box("STRT_DAT",dtoc(strt_dat))
ui_msg_box("END_DAT",dtoc(end_dat))

if end_dat={}.or.strt_dat={} then
ui_msg_box("Invalid Date","Both starting and ending dates must be specified.")
end if

end
Hope this helps...
Craig

[martinwcole]

RE: now what?

Jabb, I presume you are getting the date values after you declare them - if not then try the following amendment.

dim start_date as d
dim end_date as d

loop:
start_date=ctod(ui_get_date("Enter the beginning date",""))
end_date=ctod(ui_get_date("Enter the ending date",""))
if start_date={} .or. end_date={}

'this little extra gives them a way out
'4= ui_yes_no + 16=ui_stop = (4 + 16) = 20
response=ui_msg_box("Error","error message - continue?",20)
if response = 6 'ui_yes_selected
---goto loop
else
---end
end if

end if

if start_date > end_date

response=ui_msg_box("Error","range error message - reenter?",20)
if response = 6 'ui_yes_selected
---goto loop
else
---end
end if

[martinwcole]

RE: now what?

oops!
add one more "end if" at the bottom!