RE: Length of smallint field

Most Informix data types have implicit casts to character types and vice versa, so there is no special command, just LET. This is an easy way using a smallint value. I think you'd be better off using the DATETIME HOUR TO MINUTE data type, but here's a smallint version: DATABASE sample MAIN DEFINE my_char CHAR(4), my_int SMALLINT LET my_int = 600 LET my_char = my_int USING("&&&&") DISPLAY my_char END MAIN This prints out: 0600 This is the datetime version. Note that the data type would prevent invalid times from being entered, so you wouldn't have to check them as rigorously. DATABASE sample MAIN DEFINE my_char CHAR(4), convted CHAR(5), my_time DATETIME HOUR TO MINUTE LET my_time = "06:00" LET convted = my_time LET my_char = convted[1,2], convted[4,5] DISPLAY my_char END MAIN This also prints out: 0600 --EEM > -----Original Message----- > From: informix-list-bounces@iiug.org [mailto:informix-list- > bounces@iiug.org] On Behalf Of monkeys paw > Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2008 10:26 AM > To: informix-list@iiug.org > Subject: Re: Length of smallint field > > Is there a function that will convert a smallint (600) > to the char string "600", which i can then preceed with > zeros? > > Ian Michael Gumby wrote: > > On Sep 10, 3:18 pm, monkeys paw <u...@example.net> wrote: > >> I have a table with a smallint field. A number is entered into > >> a 4gl form. I need it to be 0 padded, four digits wide. however, > >> the LENGTH() function doesn't work on smallint fields. So whether > >> user enters "600" or "0600", the length call below returns 0. > >> How can i get around this, i need it entered in military time > >> by the user, they must enter preceeding zero if time is less > >> that 1000, like "0900". > >> > >> let len = length(calRec.hearing_time) > >> message len > > > > Wow, an account that has been banned by Google for a TOS violation. > > > > Everett has it right. If you're using a field to enter time in a > > "military" fashion, use characters. > > Then use your after field statement to validate the entry. If a non > > numeric is entered then you can > > fix it. If they enter 6:00 you can update it to mean 06:00. > > If you need to do any calculations, you can strip leading 0's and or > > whitespace and then convert to a number and perform calculations. > _______________________________________________ > Informix-list mailing list > Informix-list@iiug.org > http://www.iiug.org/mailman/listinfo/informix-list