Subject Re: Eliminate a character in a field From Andy Taylor <andy.taylor.1959@outlook.com> Date Sun, 11 Sep 2022 11:54:05 +0100 Newsgroups dbase.getting-started Mervyn, Nice to see you have retained your grasp of XDML. :-) However, I'm going to do a Romain on you... use tablename replace all fldname with stuff(fldname,3,1,'') use 3 lines instead of 5 chortle, Andy > On 2022/09/10 21:47, Mervyn Bick wrote: > >> Untested but the following should sort out the entire table. Make a >> back up first. >> >> >> use tablename >> scan >> fldname = stuff(fldname,3,1,'') >> endscan >> use > > Oops.  All that will do is place the revised string in a memory variable > named fldname as many times as there are records. :-( > > This was done in a hurry last night as the power was due to be cut off > at 22:00 for 2 hours.  Immediately after posting the message I shut down > the computer.   By the time I had realised that there was an error there > wasn't enough time to reboot and post a correction. > > It's a long story but South Africa has an inadequate supply of > electricity.  Skimping on preventative maintenance over the years has > resulted in plant being totally unreliable and breakdowns are a regular > occurrence. Eskom, our national supplier, has instituted a system of > rolling blackouts to keep the grid from collapsing completely.  It lends > new meaning to the term "Darkest Africa". :-( > > Our schedule for load shedding depends on how much plant has failed at > any given time but the slots in our area for yesterday and tomorrow are > 06:00 - 08:30, 14:00 - 16:30 and 22:00 - 00:30. > > > The code should have been > > use tablename > scan > replace fldname with stuff(fldname,3,1,'') > endscan > use > > > Mervyn. > >