Re: Best method for search

If I understand your predicament
You have ONE field.
This field could be
Canadian SSN
or
Employer id
or
SSN
or
Medicare #
or
Federal ID number

So if the field contains the value 123456789
How could you possibly know what that represents, unless
1/. You have a separate field with a code to denote what the field
represents
2/. I have completely misunderstood what you are describing

Based on past performance, 2/. is the most likely answer.
In which case, could you please rephrase the question



Alan Shore
Programmer/Analyst, Distribution
E:AShore@xxxxxxxxxxx
P:(631) 200-5019
C:(631) 880-8640
"If you're going through Hell, keep going" - Winston Churchill

midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote on 02/05/2009 11:28:16 AM:

Hi,

I'm trying to determine the best way to find data in a field. Either RPG

or SQL. First some background. We have a field called Federal ID number

that contains multiple types of numbers. There is an associated field
called Federal ID type which identifies what kind of ID number it is.

The

possible values are Canadian SIN (999-999-999), Employer ID (99-9999999),

SSN (999-99-9999) and Medicare # which has the same format as SSN. The
Federal ID number field is alphanumeric and it contains the dashes. We
have a logical file defined with Federal ID number as the key.

Now my question. Given a 9 digit number what is the best/fastest way to
find the record that matches? One option is to use RPG and format the
number 3 different ways and chain to the file 3 times. Would SQL provide

a better solution performance wise? I guess another option would be to
store the Federal ID number without the dashes in a seperate field. I'm
trying to avoid that if possible. TIA

Dean Eshleman,
MMA, Inc.

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