[<<Previous Entry] [^^Up^^] [Next Entry>>] [Menu] [About The Guide]
 TOTAL
 Summarize records by key value to a database (.dbf) file
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Syntax

     TOTAL ON <expKey> [FIELDS <idField list>]
        TO <xcDatabase>
        [<scope>] [WHILE <lCondition>] [FOR <lCondition>]

 Arguments

     ON <expKey> defines the group of records that produce a new record
     in the target database file.  To make the summarizing operation
     accurate, the source database file should be INDEXed or SORTed on this
     expression.

     FIELDS <idField list> specifies the list of numeric fields to TOTAL.
     If the FIELDS clause is not specified, no numeric fields are totaled.
     Instead each numeric field in the target file contains the value for the
     first record matching the key expression.

     TO <xcDatabase> is the name of the target file that will contain the
     copy of the summarized records.  Specify this argument as a literal file
     name or as a character expression enclosed in parentheses.  Unless
     otherwise specified, TOTAL assumes a .dbf extension.

     <scope> is the portion of the current database file to TOTAL.  The
     default is ALL records.

     WHILE <lCondition> specifies the set of records meeting the
     condition from the current record until the condition fails.

     FOR <lCondition> specifies the conditional set of records to TOTAL
     within the given scope.

 Description

     TOTAL is a database command that sequentially processes the current
     database file, summarizing records by the specified key value and
     copying them to a new database file.  TOTAL works by first copying the
     structure of the current database file to <xcDatabase>, except for memo
     fields.  It then sequentially scans the current database file within the
     specified scope of records.  As each record with a unique <expKey> value
     is encountered, that record is copied to the new database file.  The
     values of numeric fields specified in <idField list> from successive
     records with the same <expKey> value are added to fields with the same
     names in <xcDatabase>.  Summarization proceeds until a record with a new
     key value is encountered.  The process is then repeated for this record.

     Since TOTAL processes the source database file sequentially, it must be
     INDEXed or SORTed in <expKey> order for the summarization to be correct.

     To successfully TOTAL numeric fields, the source numeric fields must be
     large enough to hold the largest total possible for that numeric field.
     If not, a runtime error is generated.

 Notes

     .  Deleted source records:  If DELETED is OFF, deleted records in
        the source file are TOTALed.  Records in the target <xcDatabase>
        inherit the deleted status of the first matching record in the source
        file, just as nontotaled fields inherit their values.  If DELETED is
        ON, however, none of the deleted source records are TOTALed.

 Examples

     .  In this example, a database file is TOTALed ON the key
        expression of the controlling index using a macro expression.  When
        the macro expression is encountered, the expression is evaluated and
        the resulting character string is substituted for the TOTAL <expKey>
        argument:

        USE Sales INDEX Branch NEW
        TOTAL ON &(INDEXKEY(0)) FIELDS Amount TO Summary

 Files   Library is CLIPPER.LIB.


See Also: AVERAGE INDEX SORT SUM
This page created by ng2html v1.05, the Norton guide to HTML conversion utility. Written by Dave Pearson