Re: Zip Code Format Mask

[Quoted] [Quoted] "Daniel Morgan" <damorgan_at_exxesolutions.com> wrote in message news:3ECAB1F9.BC0A7C8_at_exxesolutions.com...
> Aaron V wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > I'm using Forms 6i and I'm trying to set up a format mask to accept
zip
> > codes as 5 digit or 9 digit (99999-9999). I only want the first 5
digits to
> > be required. The last 4 are optional, but I want to have trailing zeros
if
> > omitted. I tried FM99999"-"0000 , which works fine if all 9 digits
are
> > entered, but with only five entered, it puts leading zeros, instead of
> > trailing, and because of fill mode, allows less than the five digits
> > required. Oh, does anyone know if zip codes ever have leading zero(s)?
(I'd
> > have to change the first 9 to a 0). Or if you've encountered this in the
> > past and written a WHEN-VALIDATE-ITEM trigger I'd appreciate a look at
it.
> >
> > Thanks in advance,
> >
> > AaronV
>
> Zip codes are not numbers they are strings in the same way that telephone
and
> social security numbers are strings not numbers. Only use numeric fields
when
> performing math and for surrogate keys.
>
> --
> Daniel Morgan
> http://www.outreach.washington.edu/extinfo/certprog/oad/oad_crs.asp
> damorgan_at_x.washington.edu
> (replace 'x' with a 'u' to reply)
>
>

    Yes, I agree the field for zip code should be stored as a character string, but only in the back-end,
 the database. I was under the impression the front end handled most of the data cleansing, and unless I'm
mistaken there are no zip codes that contain alphabetic characters.

[Quoted]     I figured this was probably a common data input, so someone had addressed this issue already, so why
re-invent the wheel. I'd rather work on my other wheels that are slightly more out of round...or learn from
 the perspective of other solutions.

Thanks Again,

AaronV Received on Thu May 22 2003 - 20:17:03 CEST