ALFNUM Process
To access this process:
- View the Find Command screen, select ALFNUM and click Run.
- 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 <<< |
An alphanumeric field specified for conversion to numeric does not exist in the input file. Fatal; the process is exited. |
|
>>> FIELD IS ALREADY NUMERIC <<< |
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 <<< |
There are more than 64 fields in the output file. Fatal; the process is exited. |
|
|
|
|
>>> TOO MANY FIELDS TO BE CONVERTED <<< |
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.
|
