Segment options

The segment options specify how the key will handle the contents of the selected key segment.

Descending   This option specifies the order in which the records will be sorted. If the selection is marked, records will be sorted in order of highest value to lowest (3, 2, 1 or c, b, a). If the selection isn’t marked, records will be sorted lowest to highest (1, 2, 3 or a, b, c).

Ignore Case   This selection is available only if the selected segment is a string field. The Ignore Case option specifies whether case determines how the table will be sorted. If the selection is marked, the case of the data in the key segment won’t affect the sorting process. If the selection isn’t marked, uppercase characters will have a lower value than lowercase characters for sorting purposes. This option does not apply for tables that use the SQL database type.

The following table shows how a set of last names would be sorted, depending upon how the Ignore Case option is marked.

No Length Byte   If a key segment has a string data type, Dexterity normally includes the length byte in the key. However, if your product integrates with an application that doesn’t include length bytes in keys, mark this option. For example, most (but not all) Great Plains Accounting keys don’t include the length byte. Be sure to verify whether the key you’re working with uses a length byte. If you mark No Length Byte, No Combining will be marked automatically.

No Combining   If there are two string segments next to each other in the key, Dexterity normally combines them into one. If your product integrates with an application that doesn’t combine string segments (for example, Great Plains Accounting), mark this option. This option is available only for string segments.

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