BrowserUk:
They do, until you throw in some negative numbers. They munge the sign into the last character.
...roboticus
When your only tool is a hammer, all problems look like your thumb.
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They do, until you throw in some negative numbers. They munge the sign into the last character.
Ah yes. That's a pain to deal with.
I'll look into how much work is involved -- there is also the issue of implied decimal points -- relative to the number of times it might get used.
One question. What type character would you use for bcd?
'b' is currently free, though I can see it might be useful for something else. 'd' is used and 'c' isn't particularly mnemonic.
With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'
Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
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BrowserUk:
I've not found the implied decimal points to be a problem, as all the files I work with have them at the same position, so the normal string sort with a touch of magic to handle the sign would be adequate.
I don't really have a preference or a "gut feel" as what character would be easier to remember for this field type. I'd probably have to refer to the help text.
(I *was* going to suggest EBCDIC sorting in my original response, but you mentioned "real requirements", and I think I've cared about EBCDIC less than 10 times, so I doubt I would ever use it.)
Update: I thought I'd mention that every time I've dealt with implied decimals in my code, I tend to just treat them as integers anyway. I generally only format them with a period if I'm generating a report. If I'm just creating a summary file in a similar format, I just write them back, and the other application never knows that I just used integers internally.
...roboticus
When your only tool is a hammer, all problems look like your thumb.
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