Fields

On the File tab, in the Edit Data group: Use the functions on the Fields drop-down menu to summarise and update files using selected key fields.

Select Fields | Accumulate to accumulate the numeric field values in a file. How records are accumulated will depend upon the number of key fields specified (if any).

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Select Fields | Average to calculate a simple or weighted average of up to eight fields. You can do the weighing using values in other fields or by using constants you specify.

Select Fields | Extract to extract information for the Numeric and Character fields in a file and perform mathematical operations on Numeric fields. While it is optional (in cases where you want to extract a single record from the file), a key feature of this function is the ability to perform a calculation on an Extraction field while the values in up to three fields remain constant.

Select Fields | Extract Unique to find all unique values in a field and write them to an output file.

Select Fields | Generate to assign a specific text string or a numeric value to ranges of data. It can be used to group similar data into blocks for easier manipulation.

Select Fields | Increment to increment the field values in some or all of the records in a file.

Select Fields | Join to combine the values of multiple fields into a single field. It is the reverse of the Split operation. Numeric and character variables can be combined, spaces can be removed and delimiters can be inserted between the component fields.

Select Fields | Replace to search for and replace specific data in one or more fields of a file.

Select Fields | Split to split the data from a field into multiple parts, and place each component in a new field of the same record.

Select Fields | Update to combine the Replace, Increment and Calculate functions which are also available separately on the Fields menu. When you run this function, the operations you select are executed in the order they are specified in the form.

Select Fields | Validate to compare the data in the selected fields of a file against the permitted values you have set up in a check file.