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Calculation error Paradox 7 and WINDOWS XP

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kenneth.copson

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Aug 23, 2004, 5:50:15 AM8/23/04
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My client now has large databases and recently sent me a screen dump of a
table(195MB) containing an inexplicable value in one of the currency fields
63,645.00!
The application has been running for 8 years but hardware and operating
systems have been upgraded over time. I seem to remember some correspondance
on incorrect calculations but I can't find it now and I don't remember if
this is a Corel, Windows or hardware issue. Can anybody help?

Bertil Isberg

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Aug 23, 2004, 6:53:28 AM8/23/04
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Kenneth
<<
63,645.00!
>>

Is the ! included in the value, or what's the problem?


--
Bertil Isberg
CTECH
FAQ newsgroup: corel.wpoffice.paradox-faq
Paradox Buglist: http://w1.826.comhem.se/~u82608896/

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kenneth.copson

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Aug 23, 2004, 12:24:32 PM8/23/04
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Bertil,

No the ! is not included. This is just an impossibly large value to be in
the field. It is impossible that the Paradox calculation can correctly
produce this number. If I force Paradox to re-calculate then it may produce
the correct answer. It is possible of course that the field gets corrupted
by some other routine and normally this is much more likely than a problem
with Paradox or Windows. I just seem to remember some time ago that there
was some problem affecting numerical values that was bouncing around between
Microsoft and Corel with neither accepting responsibility. After 8 years, 15
user sites and 100 workstations it's unlikely that we have uncovered a
traditional bug, but it is possible of course, so I'm just checking that
there are no known problems as I try to recreate the problem. The obvious
things that have changed are the Operating System (from 95 to XP over the
years) and the size of the database. The number of concurrent users has
increased and there have been some minor enhancements so it could still be a
traditional programming error.

Kenneth

"Bertil Isberg" <bertil...@retlifmapsSCB.se> wrote in message
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Tony McGuire

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Aug 23, 2004, 12:28:49 PM8/23/04
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Just posting a number that you say (after the fact) is too large is no help
to us trying to help you.

WHY can't that number be valid?

Show us the code, and tell us the parameters, that explains why that number
isn't possible.

--
--
Paradox Support http://www.thedbcommunity.com/support/

Tony McGuire
_____________

Bertil Isberg

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Aug 23, 2004, 4:09:53 PM8/23/04
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Kenneth

There was an error that was fixed in Paradox 9. Below is a decription of it.
Reading through,the text you will notice it's very old. And it's absolutely
not related to Win XP.

<Quotes>
PROBLEM:
There are reported problems regarding some calculations. They occur on some
machines, but not on others. Symptom of the problem can best be described
as: As calculation that should result in 107 will produce 1061. The last two
digits added together gives the correct result.


COMMENTS:
For a while it looked like the problem was related to Win95Plus. The problem
will only show up under Win95, but for both Paradox 5 and 7 for Win95.

Below is a description on how to test if it will occur on your PC.


DESCRIPTION:
Reported by : Jeff Vose
21 December 1995

<<<
Try this:
Create a table with a single numeric field.
Enter 2 records with the values -25.2 and 132.2
Run a calc sum query.

The correct answer of course is 107. I get 1061 on two different machines
both running Win95 (486 & pentium). Paradox DOS 4.5 and Paradox Windows 5.0
under Win3.1 work correctly.
>>>

I'm running Win95 on a Pentium 120 with Paradox 5.0 and I too got the same
exact results you quoted. I even added a 3rd record and got 1071.


WORKAROUND:
Reported by:
Dan Alder - Corel Paradox Technical Services

I've managed to come up with a possible workaround for the calculation error
issue in Paradox.

Running the code below in a script seems to fix the calc error, until you
open a form, report, or script in design mode. At that point, the error
reappears.

THIS IS NOT GUARANTEED TO WORK

method run(var eventInfo Event)
var
strTable string
endvar
strTable = ""
errorTrapOnWarnings(ON)
try
unlock(strTable, "Exclusive")
onFail
endTry
errorTraponWarnings(No)
endMethod

NEW FINDINGS 2002-04
Reported by:
Ivica Kolar <telproATkvid.hr>
Date: 25 April 2002 23:12
The problem is probably related to mouse right-click which somehow
interferes with floating point functionality.

Right mouse click which activates the issue is one done while interacting
with file lists, for example, in Project Viewer, Open File dialog box,
ObjectPAL:fileBrowserEx()...

It's not related going into design mode.
</Quotes>

--
Bertil Isberg - CTECH
Paradox buglist:
online: http://w1.826.comhem.se/~u82608896/
FAQ newsgroup: corel.wpoffice.paradox-faq

kenneth.copson

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Aug 25, 2004, 5:37:23 AM8/25/04
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Thanks for your help. In fact, I had 2 errors and certainly the second is
the error that you refer to in your note.In my case the values were 650 and
6491and I guess it's just luck or coincidence that it appears at this time
under XP. We have never seen it before.The first problem is not related, but
maybe the we have to move to Paradox 10 and then see if the problem
re-occurs. If so it must be an obscure user error that occurs every 8 years.
By the way I was confused when the second problem only happened on some
workstations and thought it must be a software level issue. The bypass which
worked in my case was to switch the order of the variables in the query
calculation putting the troublesome variable first. The problem disappeared
.... for now at least and hopefully forever when we go to Paradox 10. Thanks
again for your help.

"Bertil Isberg" <bertil.isberg@NOcomhemSPAMdotse> wrote in message
news:412a48ea$1_1@cnews...

Bertil Isberg

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Aug 25, 2004, 6:16:09 AM8/25/04
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Kenneth

<<
By the way I was confused when the second problem only happened on some
workstations and thought it must be a software level issue. The bypass which
worked in my case was to switch the order of the variables in the query
calculation putting the troublesome variable first.
>>

if you read the last part of the quotes carefully, I wouldn't be sure
you have found a bypass. I can be a coincidence.

Right clicking an object in ProjectViewer or in a File Open dialog can
be enough to make the problem show up again.

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