Dotan Cohen wrote:
I have abandoned using BASE and use CALC instead. Very little of my CALC
data is numeric. BASE was too hard to set up, the documentation was more
confusing than helpful.
I should add that Base does not have a native enum command, yet Calc
does! This is a widely used feature in almost everything that I do.
Hello Dotan,
Let me take a moment to discuss that statement.
But first:
I hope that this email finds you in good spirits today and I hope that
you are still in good spirits when you are done reading it. My intention
is NOT to say - You should have used Base or should not have used Calc.
I take it you created (or helped create) this spreadsheet for a client
(or friend) and they limited your choice of tool - in the end it is
always the clients choice. ( although one is not bound to take a
contract IF the customer is being unreasonable...yeah, like that
actually works)
In fact I would offer this: Most often when you find yourself asking the
question "Database vs Spreadsheet" for a project, then the best solution
is to use both.
This email will only look at Calc's Validity function and specifically
the use of a 'list' and how that compares with what is available in Base.
To start let me just hit a couple of points about what a ENUM data type is:
- It is an enumerated list
- It is an ordered list
- It is, normally, implemented in such a way as to optimize both storage
size and comparative performance.
- When applied to a table column then that column may hold exactly 1 (or
0 if you support NULLS) item from the enumerated list.
I'll just look at one point there - It is an ordered list.
A common reason for using an ENUM is when a very specific sort order is
desired, one that can not be represented by sorting using a natural sort
(say by Alphanumeric value).
Just a quick example here.
Say I have a ENUM type with the following items:
Aaron; Bob, Carol, Erin
Sorting the table on the column declared with that ENUM type would order
the output as if based on the Textual representation of the items -or in
other words- exactly in the order used in creating the list.
If I declared my ENUM type as:
Erin, Bob, Aaron, Carol
Now if I sort the table based on this column it will sort - in exactly
the same order as I entered the items in the enumerated list - again.
That difference and why you might want it may become clearer if I
declared an ENUM with this list:
Low; Medium; High
So - in Calc one can create a list of strings to check data entry
against but it is just that, a list of strings. Use the last list (Low,
Medium, High) and sort your block of cells...well, I'm sure you can see
the difference in results.
Alright, well right about now you might be saying - So what, Base
doesn't have am ENUM type anyway.
I'll try to explain why that statement is not completely accurate and
look at what features exist in the Bases form design functions that lets
one do what you do in Calc with Validity lists.
----sorry I need to break for a moment, work...drat-----
BRB,
Drew
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