Duey, The hard space, char(255), was called that back in the DOS days when it looked like a space. In Windows, the same character is visible is often displayed, depending on the font you use.
Unlike the space, CHAR(32), RBASE never drops it as it does with some spaces. Per much discussion recently, I would avoid using it. Larry Lustig proposed something which I find to be the cleanest, simplest, and least error prone way to generate a data file SET VAR vCRLF TEXT = (CHAR(13)+CHAR(10)) SET VAR vDataLine TEXT SET VAR vDataLength INT = 512 SET VAR vPastEnd INT = (.vDataLength+1) SET VAR vTotalLength = (.vDataLength+2) OUTPUT anyfile SET VAR vLineNo INT = 1 WHILE vLineNo <= 10 THEN SET VAR vDataLine TEXT = NULL -- Build up the data line in any way you choose -- SPUT is the easiest way to insert specific data into the string at precise positions -- Most files of this type are fixed field data (each piece starts at a precise location in the line) Set var vDataLine = (SPUT(.vDataLine,.'SOME TEXT',100)) -- Repeat as necessary to insert all data in to the line. --Add CarriageReturn/LineFeed charaters to the line Set var vDataLine = (SPUT(.vDataLine,.vCRLF,.vPastEnd)) --Make sure no trash data exists beyond CR/LF Set var vDataLine = (SGET(.vDataLine,..vTotalLength,1)) --Write the line, telling RBASE not to add its own CRLF WRITE .vDataLine CONTINUE SET VAR vLineNo = (.vLineNo + 1) ENDW OUTPUT SCREEN If you were to run the code above, assuming I have no typos, you would get a file with 10 identical lines of 512 spaces with 'SOME TEXT' pasted at position 100 in each line. This method gives you total control. Exercise due care to make sure you are getting what you expect. Use a text editor with a fixed space font to check your file for correctness. Dennis McGrath ________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Heffelfinger, Duane Sent: Sunday, March 08, 2009 11:37 PM To: RBASE-L Mailing List Subject: [RBASE-L] - Re: Stripping "blanks" off the end of file lines Dennis or others, Can you expand a little bit further on the hard space? What it is? What the difference is between a hard and soft space? When I see a file with CHAR(255) it produces this character (ΓΏ) when I view the file. Is that expected? Will the IRS computers accept this as a space? I have another method that I've used for a very long time by placing a character at position 513, then stripping it using another piece of software I developed. This year I've added the state data to the irs record and would consider changing to something purely Rbase if I could get it to pass the irs computer system. Thanks for any input. Duey From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dennis McGrath Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 3:57 PM To: RBASE-L Mailing List Subject: [RBASE-L] - Re: Stripping "blanks" off the end of file lines You don't have to work that hard. Build up your text string and then use my sput suggestion to drop a hard space at position 255 and you are done! It is dead simple. You will wind up with soft blanks with a hard blank at the end. RBASE automatically fills a string with spaces when you sput beyond the length of the string. Example: Set var vtmp = 'xxx' Set var vtmp = (SPUT(.vTmp,char(255),512)) This will create a string of 3 x's followed by 508 spaces followed by a hard space. Dennis ________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Gray, Damon Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 3:47 PM To: RBASE-L Mailing List Subject: [RBASE-L] - Re: Stripping "blanks" off the end of file lines I believe I can make this work, because the last data element for each employee record is at position 489. thus I can append the required hard blanks with SPUT at position 490 to get the required 512 length. You have all be VERY helpful ... as always! ;-) ________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 1:38 PM To: RBASE-L Mailing List Subject: [RBASE-L] - Re: Stripping "blanks" off the end of file lines Oh wow, if Dennis is right then that would be a problem.... If this is a fixed-length file, with everything in the same "columns", then you could create 2 variables of 250 each and then concatenate them together. But if the individual data elements are variable in length then that wouldn't work ... Karen Damon, I just checked the docs. SFIL only works to 500 characters! Dennis
