ALFNUM Process

To access this process:

• Enter "ALFNUM" into the Command Line and press <ENTER>.

See this process in the Command Table.

Process Overview

Copies a file while converting given alphanumeric fields to numeric.

The new fields are given the same name as the old, and replace them in the output file. Legal characters are 0-9,+,-,., and E. Any other characters are replaced by blanks before conversion. If the resulting string can still not be converted to a legal number, then the output field will contain an absent data value.

A minimum of one explicit alphanumeric field must be in the input file for conversion, but other fields may optionally be specified, up to a maximum of 20 fields.

Input Files

Name	Description	I/O Status	Required	Type
IN	Input file containing explicit alphanumeric field(s) to be converted.	Input	Yes	Table
FIELDLST	File to supply selected fields.	Input	No	Table

Output Files

Name	I/O Status	Required	Type	Description
OUT	Output	Yes	Table	Output file containing given alphanumeric field(s) converted to numeric.

Fields

Name	Description	Source	Required	Type	Default
F1	Name of alphanumeric field to be converted.	IN	Yes	Character	Undefined
F2	Optional second explicit alphanumeric field to be converted.	IN	No	Character	Undefined
F3	Optional third explicit alphanumeric field to be converted.	IN	No	Character	Undefined
F4	Optional fourth explicit alphanumeric field to be converted.	IN	No	Character	Undefined
F5	Optional fifth explicit alphanumeric field to be converted.	IN	No	Character	Undefined
FIELDNAM	Field in FIELDLST to identify selected fields.	FIELDLST	No	Character	Undefined

Example

!ALFNUM &IN(ALPHAS),&OUT(NUMS),*F1(SAMPLENO)

The "SAMPLENO" alphanumeric field in input file alphas is converted to numeric in the output file nums.

Error and Warning Messages

Message	Description
>>> FIELD NOT IN FILE <<< >>> ERR 130 <<< ( fieldno) IN ALFNUM	An alphanumeric field specified for conversion to numeric does not exist in the input file. Fatal; the process is exited.
>>> FIELD IS ALREADY NUMERIC <<< >>> ERR 131 <<< ( fieldno) IN ALFNUM	The given field names are checked to see that they are explicit and alphanumeric. If they are not, the process exits with the above error message.
>>> TOO MANY FIELDS <<< >>> ERR 132 <<< ( 64) IN ALFNUM	There are more than 64 fields in the output file. Fatal; the process is exited.
>>> TOO MANY FIELDS TO BE CONVERTED <<< >>> ERR 133 <<< ( 20) IN ALFNUM	More than 20 alphanumeric fields have been specified for conversion to numeric. Fatal; the process is exited.
>>> WARNING - RECORD 999999 FIELD aaaaaaaa - ABSENT DATA SUBSTITUTED <<<	If a string cannot be converted to a legal number, then the record is displayed together with the above error message. The output field will contain an absent data value '-' and processing continues.