Systems Architects and Engineers specialising in the effective use of Systems Architecture, Methods and Tools since 1982

User-defined Attributes

You have six available fields for each Sphere and six for each Relationship which you can define for specific reporting or control use. You can use the following Attribute Types:

Type Size Limit Enter
Alphabetic 255 chs An (where n is an integer giving the desired size)
Small Integer +/- 32767 S
Long Integer +/- 231 - 1 I
Number 15 sig. figs N
Date   D (where the format is defined by your Windows date format).

The limit shown for an alphabetic field is the theoretical value. In practice, fields longer than about 20 characters cannot be reviewed on the standard forms although longer data can be captured in the note fields available for both sphees and relations.

Changing an Attribute Type

You must exercise care when changing the attribute types. Incompatibilities can result in data loss if you already have data recorded in these fields. The following approximate rules apply:

bulletAlphabetic may be changed to number or date fields if the contents are of an appropriate format. (For example, an alpha field which contains 01/06/98 will convert correctly to a date.)
bulletSmall Integer may be changed to an adequately sized alpha or to Long Integer or Number.
bulletLong Integer may be changed to Number.
bulletDate may be changed to an adequately sized alpha.