My suggestion is to do it right ion the first place so it does not create a potential future problem, i.e. check the string length first or better yet, read the entire string and then check the length when parsing it. I have an application similar to this in which I import vales from "fixed" field file and I normally read the entire string every time, it does not take any more effort and I am sure that even the "blank" fields are read. With "comma separated" files, I read the string length and then parse it accordingly.
Javier, Javier Valencia, PE O: 913-829-0888 H: 913-397-9605 C: 913-915-3137 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Doug Hamilton Sent: Friday, March 06, 2015 5:30 PM To: RBASE-L Mailing List Subject: [RBASE-L] - SGET best practices This is a question on best practices and prudent programming. I'm importing text data from a Big Company for updating a client's item table. It's a fixed field text file and the specs for the data file specify max line length of 700 characters. The test file I'm using is 15K lines (8.5 Mb). I import the data into a temp table: CREATE TEMP TABLE `RawPkgSpecTmp` + (`RowNbr` INTEGER, + `PkgSpecData` TEXT (700), + `ColLength` = (SLEN(PkgSpecData)) INTEGER) AUTONUM RowNbr IN RawPkgSpecTmp USING 1 --Load data LOAD RawPkgSpecTmp FROM PkgSpec.TXT + AS FORMATTED USING PkgSpecData 1 700 I cursor through the RawPkgSpecTmp table a row at a time for processing, loading the column PkgSpecData into the variable vPkgSpecData, then using SGETs to extract relevant data. Most of the rows are 446 characters, I assume there's a CR at the end of the data, not position 700. Occasionally the data length is 668 characters and there is a clump of data at position 661 that I need. So the question is: Is it safe to always do a SET VAR vXtraPartNbr = (SGET(.vPkgSpecData,8,661)) even if there are only 446 characters in vPkgSpecData? Or, for safety, should I check the length of the row first: IF vColLength = 668 THEN SET VAR vXtraPartNbr = (SGET(.vPkgSpecData,8,661)) ENDI to make sure I'm not wandering off into the data-hinterlands that could back to bite me someday? R:Base doesn't seem to mind - vXtraPartNbr is an expected null when the data is short and there aren't any apparent issues, messages or error messages. Just asking, FMI. Doug p.s. This question came about because I was getting "Out of Dynamic Space" errors. The error was related to a subsequent command and totally unrelated to the SGET. But it got me wondering... --- RBASE-L =======================3D=======================3 D= TO POST A MESSAGE TO ALL MEMBERS: Send a plain text email to [email protected] (Don't use any of these words as your Subject: INTRO, SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, SEARCH, REMOVE, SUSPEND, RESUME, DIGEST, RESEND, HELP) =======================3D=======================3 D= TO SEE MESSAGE POSTING GUIDELINES: Send a plain text email to [email protected] In the message SUBJECT, put just one word: INTRO =======================3D=======================3 D= TO UNSUBSCRIBE: Send a plain text email to [email protected] In the message SUBJECT, put just one word: UNSUBSCRIBE =======================3D=======================3 D= TO SEARCH ARCHIVES: Send a plain text email to [email protected] In the message SUBJECT, put just one word: SEARCH-n (where n is the number of days). In the message body, place any text to search for. =======================3D=======================3 D=
