Item field for volatile content cost

   I am looking for a field we can use, not needed for our applications of
   405 CD (ie. not mess anything up by populating it).  It ought to be at
   least 5 decimal, 2 in front may be enough, ie. at least 7.5, ideally
   already on INV100 or other BPCS maintenance program. 

   I have found an available field that is 9 long no decimal, but not want to
   use something that is coded one way, but we will use another way ... too
   high a risk of human error if go that route.  I will be populating it by a
   program, for parts we manufacture, then other people will populate it for
   parts we buy for resale.

   Another idea is to create a new file, and the various programs to access
   it, which is not my favorite solution, but sometimes is neccessary.  I
   could also modify INV100 to display the field with the decimal places we
   will be using, converting vs. how it will be stored in the data base. 
   That approach could open up access to some field of the IIM item master
   not now on INV100 collection.

   Our scenario
   ==========
   We manufacture Copper Wire Harnesses.  The price of copper has become like
   the price of gasoline, on steroids.
   Almost 4.00 now
   was 2.25 beginning of March
   0.80 in recent memory
   all indications are ... rapid rise ahead, due to what's happening in Asian
   nations

   We need to pass on to our customers our increased cost of this commodity,
   without having to do continuous re-quoting, and we have a solution in the
   works, that depends on some software development by Al Mac.

   Thanks to a conversion chart by gauge (pounds of copper per thousand feet
   of copper wire) combined with vigorous BOM data extraction on selected
   item classes, I'm getting at total copper weight per end customer item & I
   want to plug that into some item field to be determined.

   Past management has not authorized aquisition of The Overview Reference
   Manual for BPCS < http://www.dssolutionsinc.com/OverviewManual.asp> which
   explains, among other things, the function of every single field of every
   single file of BPCS, which would tell me right off what field (s) safe to
   use for this and other modifications. 

   This manual used to be $ 350.00 price & is an example of something I have
   considered buying a personal copy of.  There has been trouble in the past
   when I done stuff like that ... one manager said company should pay for
   stuff like that, another manager griping about the $ cost involved, like
   when we downloaded some IBM manuals to a CD Rom which we took to a photo
   copy place to get reprinted.  Explaining to non-technical managers in
   advance why I need something technical, is not something I am good at,

   Current management is reluctant to authorize tech support resolution of
   anything they think Al Mac ought to be able to figure out.

   Yes I can do this, but some research is time consuming.
   Perhaps someone on BPCS-L can supply me with a short cut to answer I seek.

   -
   Al Macintyre
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:AlMac
   http://www.ryze.com/go/Al9Mac
   BPCS/400 Computer Janitor ... see
   http://radio.weblogs.com/0107846/stories/2002/11/08/bpcsDocSources.html