Re: Print a long field into smaller fields

On 5/1/2013 10:18 AM, Vidal, Peter wrote:

I would like to have your feedback on this thought / challenge:

I have a description field (let's call it "LongField") which is 64 characters long. I need to print this field but I have only a limited space of 20 characters. I would like to split the field in such a way that I can have it printed in this pre-printed form / column. For example:

/=========================/
LongField = "MAN BASIC W/ BUILT IN OSTOMY SUPPORT/BARRIER, MODULAR SYSTEM"

Required Printed Output:
MAN BASIC W/ BUILT
IN OSTOMY
SUPPORT/BARRIER,
MODULAR SYSTEM
/=========================/

Kurt's idea works fine, but for variety, here's another. Break the long
field into an array of words. Pass through the array, concatenating
them onto temporary fields. If the temporary field is over the limit,
use n-1.

Off the cuff:
t 64a varying
t1 64a varying

t = '';
t1 = '';
for i = 1 to max_array_elem;
t = t + array(i);
if %len(t) > 20; // reached it
// print t1;
t1 = '';
t = array(i);
endif;
t1 = t1 + array(i);
endfor;

This has a problem if any 'word' is longer than 20 bytes, but I didn't
see how you wanted that handled. Having code that breaks sentences into
words is a pretty useful thing to have.
--buck