April FOCUS Friday: XFOCUS/FOCUS file internals; DEFINE FUNCTION revisited; avoiding issues with date-time fields and missing values

April - the cruelest month, the month of taxes, the true end of winter  - but also the month of another thoughtful and inspiring FOCUS Friday. This month the FOCUS language gurus will be digging into the XFOCUS/FOCUS file internals, the DEFINE FUNCTION command, and avoiding issues with Date-Time fields and Missing values in MAINTAIN. 

XFOCUS/FOCUS File Internals 

Every FOCUS and WebFOCUS user has access to the XFOCUS and FOCUS file systems. These hierarchical database structures support concatenation, multiple forms of internal and external indexing, and are easy to create and use, especially as temporary file systems. This session will introduce you to the internals of these 2 structures, the capabilities that they offer you, and the uses where they can provide efficient and effective solutions for you. 

DEFINE FUNCTION Revisited

Do you have a set of DEFINE expressions that you consistently use to perform certain calculations?   If this is the case we will show you how to convert the DEFINE expressions into a FUNCTION which will make calling them easier and allow everyone to use the same calculations.

Avoiding Issues with Date-Time fields and Missing values

The Maintain language allows you to equate fields with different formats to each other and can perform automatic format conversions.  Date-Time fields with missing values can pose unique challenges.  We will show how to avoid any issues.

Speakers