Long Field Name Support

Prior to 2018, attribute names within Datamine files were restricted to an 8-character maximum limit for both single- and extended-precision files. In 2018, changes were made to Studio applications and prerequisites. This introduced a potential break in compatibility with earlier versions of the above.

Long field names (>8 characters) is only permitted if your system is running in "Long Field Mode". This is managed by a switch that is run from your installed Studio application, or using the standalone utility installed by the same. If running in "Short Field Mode", all behaviour be as for legacy systems. Consult your core application's online Help for more information.

Starting with Table Editor v3.26, support for 24-character attribute names was introduced for extended-precision files to allow more verbose attribute names to be specified. Single-precision files remain bound by the 8-character maximum attribute name length, regardless of the system's operating mode.

A legacy system (8-character limit) will be referred to throughout this help file as a ‘short field’ system. A system supporting up to 24-characters will be referred to as a ‘long field’ system.

This relates to the length of the attribute name - the length of table values within records will be dictated by a column's data definition, and in this regard SP and EP are treated identically and this facility has not changed.

The extension to potential field names requires careful consideration if working within an environment with mixed long- and short-field systems in use.

Note: All modern Studio systems have long field name support by default.

Converting Precision

As EP and SP files support a different maximum attribute name length, converting a table from one precision to another will not always be possible.

You can find out more about precision conversion here.

Converting any SP file to EP file will always succeed.
Converting an EP file to an SP file will succeed if all existing attribute names are 8 characters in length or less.
If you attempt to convert an EP file to SP, and any existing attribute is greater than 8 characters in length, you will be informed that the conversion isn't possible, and it will be halted. You will need to manually edit the lengthier attribute names prior to conversion.

Note: Converting from EP to SP format is not recommended as, not only are existing data values at risk of being truncated unexpectedly, but also the resulting file will only support character names up to 8 characters in the future (unless converted back to EP).