One solution would be to add an extra column to the end of the table: ACTIVE_N if ACTIVE_N = 3, then you add data into a3 and b3, and so forth.
If ACTIVE_N > 6, then you go ahead and delete the appropriated field pairs to make room. Paul Quoting "NIPP, SCOTT V (SBCSI)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > I am working on an application that has a database table with two > repeating fields. The table has several fields that are uniq, and the > there > are two fields that occur 6 times i.e. a1, b1, a2, b2, ....., a6, b6. This > table is populated and updated from a Perl script that parses a file. All > of the uniq fields remain the same, but these last two fields can have up > to > 6 different values and I want to associate all 6 possibilities with this > single entry. The original INSERT statement doesn't have to worry, it > simply enters the data into a1 & b1. The problem arises when there is > another entry that needs to be made. > Assuming that the file is processed for the first time, and the > first entry places a row of data into the table, all of the uniq fields are > populated along with a1 & b1. The next match of the Primary Key, needs to > now place the non-uniq field data into a2 & b2. Likewise, the subsequent > Primary Key match needs to place this data into fields a3 & b3. This is > the > problem I am having. I am not really sure on how to script the logic to > get > the data to be inserted into the next available a# & b# filed combination. > I could test each of the a# fields, but this seems like a lot of code. > Any ideas on how to get the data into the next available field would > be most appreciated. Unfortunately, I also have to figure out how to move > data around in the event that say all 6 non-uniq fields pairs are full, and > then the 3 & 4 field pairs are removed. Maybe I don't even need to worry > about moving this data around. Once again, any suggestions would be most > appreciated. Thanks in advance. > > > Scott Nipp > Phone: (214) 858-1289 > E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Web: http:\\ldsa.sbcld.sbc.com > > >
