The portable subfile option for importing data files

[Seamus BROWNE]

C. Glass asked a question last week concerning a list of sequential numbers.

Forgive me if this is old hat but I did check the powerh-l archive with
Google 
and did not see anything on using Portable subfiles for Importing data. 

Personally I would have used a mix of 
1. Basic on a PC for creating the subfile
2. FTP
3. The Quiz SET SUBFILE PORTABLE option 
4. MPE, with some file manipulation options 

Basically the idea is to create a (dummy) portable data subfile.
Then substitute the dummy file with the required list of numbers file.

Adavantages : 	
1. One fell swoop, for the list of numbers.
2. It illustrates a method for importing external data to PH from
	other file systems, (e.g. datafiles from Web forms,)
	without creating dictionary defined files.

Cognos says the PORTABLE SUBFILE option is for simplifying 
"intermachine transfer". 
OK, and it works both ways: Export **and** Import.
I am not an experienced PH user, apart from a bit of Quiz.  
Perhaps you guys use this method routinely, but the few PH programmers 
I have spoken to don't use the SUBFILE PORTABLE option.

So here's my two cents.

**********************


:purge Million
:purge Millionq
:purge Million ,temp
:purge Millionq ,temp

:QUIZ
can cle
set def 
set sub name Million portable
def number packed * 6   = 1
rep number 
go
EXIT


 
:listf million@ ,2
 FILENAME  CODE  ------------LOGICAL RECORD-----------  ----SPACE----
                  SIZE  TYP        EOF      LIMIT R/B  SECTORS #X MX
 
MILLION   647      80B  FA          13         13  16       16  1  *
MILLIONQ  648       8B  FA           1         10  32       16  1  2
 
 

:print million

;Subfile created by QUIZ 819C on 26/09/2001
 
Element NUMBER Numeric Size 7                                        &
  Leading Sign "-"                                                   &
  Significance 1                                                     &
  Picture "^^^^^^^"                                                  &
  Heading  "NUMBER"
 
Subfile MILLION Organization Direct
 
Record MILLION
  Item NUMBER Datatype Portable Zoned Size 8
; end source

:print millionq

+0000001

The Millionq is a dummy file in the sense that it will soon be purged, but
we need to look at the way the number is stored, so that we can make an
ascii file with 999999 sequential "numbers" in that same format.
i.e.
"+0000001"
"+0000002"
...
"+0999999"
 
So we make the file MillionX that has an on each line an ascii string
representing a signed number, as in the MillionQ file.
Basic Example :

CLEAR
zero$ = "00000000"
OPEN "c:\MillionX" FOR OUTPUT AS 1

DO UNTIL ctr = 999999
        ctr = ctr + 1
        ctr$ = RTRIM$(LTRIM$(STR$(ctr)))
        lenctr = LEN(ctr$)
        myline$ = "+" + MID$(zero$, 1, 7 - lenctr) + ctr$
        PRINT #1, RTRIM$(LTRIM$(myline$))
LOOP
CLOSE



FTP the MillionX file to the 3000, if necessary.
Now substitue the original (Quiz) Millionq file with the new (Basic)
Millionq.

:purge millionq
:build millionq;rec=-8,,f,ascii;code = 648 ;disc = 1000000
:file d = millionq
:fcopy from = millionx; to =*d

HP31900A.05.04 FILE COPIER (C) HEWLETT-PACKARD CO. 1999

*200*WARNING: FROMFILE RECSIZE IS 80 BYTES, TOFILE RECSIZE IS 8 BYTES.
CONTINUE OPERATION (Y OR N) ?y
  (Reply Y to the RECSIZE question.)

EOF FOUND IN FROMFILE AFTER RECORD 999998
 
999999 RECORDS PROCESSED *** 0 ERRORS
END OF SUBSYSTEM


:listf million@     ,2


FILENAME  CODE  ------------LOGICAL RECORD-----------  ----SPACE----
                  SIZE  TYP        EOF      LIMIT R/B  SECTORS #X MX

MILLION   647      80B  FA          13         13  16       16  1  *
MILLIONQ  648       8B  FA      999999    1000000  32    31264 34  *
MILLIONX           80B  FA      999999     999999   3   312512  * 26



Now you have a PH usable subfile. Million still has the original dictionary.
MillionQ has the data, even though the file length has changed.

If you want to get back to something less unusual, why not create a 
normal subfile from the portable file.

QUIZ
Acc *million
set rep lim 1000000
set sub name toto keep
rep sum all
Go 


:listf toto ,2

FILENAME  CODE  ------------LOGICAL RECORD-----------  ----SPACE----
                  SIZE  TYP        EOF      LIMIT R/B  SECTORS #X MX

TOTO      644       8B  FA      999999    1000000  32    31264 34 32


Toto is a regular Quiz subfile, MPE filecode = 644.

Sorry once again if this is a run-of-the mill PH procedure.

Seamus Browne