As the original poster acting as go-between.  The  best I can say is that the data is for a MANMAN shop.

 

I'm also 75% sure that the user is desiring to see "NULL ITEM" in the application, or 25% sure he is trying to see  it in Quiz  or Query.

 

Will have to ask the user.



	-----Original Message----- 

	From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion on behalf of Walter Murray 

	Sent: Wed 12/14/2005 1:10 AM 

	To: [log in to unmask] 

	Cc: 

	Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] Adding a "Null Item"

	

	



	The original poster asked how to generate a "null item" in an IMAGE

	field.

	

	I think some of the responses have played fast and loose with the term

	"null item".  The first thing you have to do is define exactly what you

	mean by that.

	

	As I recall (sorry, my manuals are at work), TurboIMAGE itself has no

	concept of a null item.  So it's up to the application to decide what

	it's going to consider to be a null item.

	

	If the application is QUERY, then, yes, QUERY does have an idea of what

	a null item is.  It's going to depend on the type of the item.  I am

	guessing that QUERY will never report "NULL ITEM" on a numeric item, at

	least not on an I type item.  I think that all bit patterns in an I

	field are valid--there are no forbidden values that QUERY will consider

	to be null.  On a character field, such as type X, I think QUERY reports

	"NULL ITEM" if ALL characters in the field are the ASCII character NUL,

	that is, the character with the numeric value of 0.  How to generate a

	field full of those characters depends on the language.  In COBOL, the

	figurative constant LOW-VALUES should work nicely.

	

	Walter 

	

	Walter J. Murray

	

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