Converting Data Types.

In Suprtool 3.7, the If command allowed comparisons between fields of
different data types. We've taken this feature one step further in our current
pre-release by allowing the Extract command to convert numeric data between
different data types. This has been a long-standing request from users who
need to move data to different environments.

The general syntax is:

     >extract field-name = expression

The "field-name" can be any field from a dataset, a self-describing file, or a
Define command. An "expression" is any numeric value, or field name, or an
arithmetic combination of the two. For example,

     >define double-field,1,4,double
     >extract double-field = packed-field + 10

If you want to update a field with the value of another field in the same
dataset, use the Update command before the Extract command.

     >update
     >extract total-cost = unit-cost * sales-qty

This will also be very handy for Suprlink users when two files store the key
field in different formats. For example, a Z6 display field to store
Customer-Number in one file, and a J2 integer field to store Cust-No in
another file.

This feature will be part of Suprtool 3.8 which is expected around April of
next year. If you would like to try a pre-release version, feel free to give
us a call.