Focal Point Banner


As of December 1, 2020, Focal Point is retired and repurposed as a reference repository. We value the wealth of knowledge that's been shared here over the years. You'll continue to have access to this treasure trove of knowledge, for search purposes only.

Join the TIBCO Community
TIBCO Community is a collaborative space for users to share knowledge and support one another in making the best use of TIBCO products and services. There are several TIBCO WebFOCUS resources in the community.

  • From the Home page, select Predict: WebFOCUS to view articles, questions, and trending articles.
  • Select Products from the top navigation bar, scroll, and then select the TIBCO WebFOCUS product page to view product overview, articles, and discussions.
  • Request access to the private WebFOCUS User Group (login required) to network with fellow members.

Former myibi community members should have received an email on 8/3/22 to activate their user accounts to join the community. Check your Spam folder for the email. Please get in touch with us at community@tibco.com for further assistance. Reference the community FAQ to learn more about the community.


Focal Point    Focal Point Forums  Hop To Forum Categories  WebFOCUS/FOCUS Forum on Focal Point     Redefine a field in focus load (mainframe)

Read-Only Read-Only Topic
Go
Search
Notify
Tools
Redefine a field in focus load (mainframe)
 Login/Join
 
Thao
Member
posted
Hi,
I currently have a field A defines in Focus Load (mainframe) as A5. I have a request from a user that wants to add a field B that redefines field A as A7. How do I do?
Please advise. Thank you so much!


Thao-
 
Posts: 7 | Registered: October 22, 2007Report This Post
Leah
Virtuoso
posted Hide Post
I don't know about FOCUS loads, but redefining a smaller field with a larger is not something most programming languages accept. Or is the field the load is going into larger now?


Leah
 
Posts: 1317 | Location: Council Bluffs, IA | Registered: May 24, 2004Report This Post
M Cavanaugh
Member
posted Hide Post
Thao,
There is no need for a new physical field in your database.

You have two (2) options using DEFINE.

1. Have the customer code the following into their FOCUS code:
DEFINE FILE xxx
NEWFIELD/A7 = OLDFIELD;
END

2. Add a new DEFINE (virtual) field to the existing FOCUS MASTER. This can be done with any MASTER and does not have to be a FOCUS database - please check your FOCUS doc for the coding details in your environment.
Here is a simple example from the mainframe environment:
DEFINE NEWFIELD/A7 = OLDFIELD;

Have fun!
Michelle


WebFOCUS Production: UNIX 7.7.03M
WebFOCUS Test: UNIX EDASERVE 7.7.05 Client 8.0.01
 
Posts: 28 | Location: Connecticut USA | Registered: August 29, 2006Report This Post
PBrightwell
Master
posted Hide Post
The question I have is much the same as Leah's, Why would anyone want to do that? You will still be getting the same 5 characters. If the size of the field is actually changing and it is a Focus database you need to unload the data into a flat file, change the master and reload.


Pat
WF 7.6.8, AIX, AS400, NT
AS400 FOCUS, AIX FOCUS,
Oracle, DB2, JDE, Lotus Notes
 
Posts: 755 | Location: TX | Registered: September 25, 2007Report This Post
cburtt
Platinum Member
posted Hide Post
Thao,

Regarding M Cavanaugh's option #2, adding a DEFINE statement (at the bottom) of a *.mas to create a virtual column in the table and thereby offer a reformatted version a 'real' column specified earlier:

The name you give the DEFINEd column can be important. If you name it differently than the column upon which it is based, then both fields will appear in the various developer tools that list fields in a master. If you give it the same name as the base field, then only the DEFINEd field will show in a tool's list of fields. This enables you, if you wish, to completely hide all knowledge of the base field and restrict reports to accessing the data only in the revised format as specified by the DEFINE.

Sometimes this is quite useful.

Chris Burtt


WIN/2K running WF 7.6.4
Development via DevStudio 7.6.4, MRE, TextEditor.
Data is Oracle, MS-SQL.
 
Posts: 154 | Location: NY | Registered: October 27, 2005Report This Post
Thao
Member
posted Hide Post
Thank you...thank you all. M Cavanaugh's option #2 is worked perfectly.
 
Posts: 7 | Registered: October 22, 2007Report This Post
Thao
Member
posted Hide Post
Thanks Michelle. I applied option #2 to my focus load and it worked as expected. You're so good. Thanks again. You made my day!
Thao-

quote:
Originally posted by M Cavanaugh:
Thao,
There is no need for a new physical field in your database.

You have two (2) options using DEFINE.

1. Have the customer code the following into their FOCUS code:
DEFINE FILE xxx
NEWFIELD/A7 = OLDFIELD;
END

2. Add a new DEFINE (virtual) field to the existing FOCUS MASTER. This can be done with any MASTER and does not have to be a FOCUS database - please check your FOCUS doc for the coding details in your environment.
Here is a simple example from the mainframe environment:
DEFINE NEWFIELD/A7 = OLDFIELD;

Have fun!
Michelle
 
Posts: 7 | Registered: October 22, 2007Report This Post
  Powered by Social Strata  

Read-Only Read-Only Topic

Focal Point    Focal Point Forums  Hop To Forum Categories  WebFOCUS/FOCUS Forum on Focal Point     Redefine a field in focus load (mainframe)

Copyright © 1996-2020 Information Builders