In dbsys I've changed the field format of 'Custom 5' to 'date'.
The restructuring has completed successfully, entering dates into Custom 5 works fine and the entries are listed in the lookup pane. However, clicking on an entry in the lookup pane (with date '20.4.2006') produces the error message: "DBISAM Engine Error # 11949 SQL - Date, time, or timestamp expression expected, instead found '20.4.2006' in WHERE or JOIN clause".
This does not happen with other date fields (Date, Date created/modified).
Swiss date format (using periods) doesn't seem to be the cause, as the same error occurs when I change local settings and date format to English/US ('4/20/2006') prior to starting BS7.
Biblioscape assumes Custom 5
Biblioscape assumes Custom 5 field is of string type. So the SQL generated won't work for Date field.
Changed My Custom 5 to Integer
I changed my Custom 5 field to an integer or other number (I did it a long time ago and can't remember details.) I knew full well that I may have been breaking some Bscape functionality in doing so. Sure enough the SQL generated searches that included the Custom 5 field did not work. However, the "SQL Full" search option did continue to work. This made complicated searches such as those using particular folders sometimes tedious to type out and troubleshoot but I am still glad I made the change. It really needed to be a number for the way our data is set up.
For Ref.- I am using Bscape 6.6 with Biblioremote and BiblioWeb (currently trying to look up purchase date ;)
dmcca
Is there a detailed help
Is there a detailed help file on how to use (and not to use) dbsys? Why is it possible to change string type fields to memo type (as described here http://support.biblioscape.com/node/409 for title fields) but not to change custom 5 field to date type? Is there any other field one could use as an additional date type field? (which I would appreciate very much).
Lars, change custom field
Lars, change custom field type requires the knowledge of database design and SQL, etc. For users who are not familiar with those concepts, it is better not go do it. For more information, please go to http://support.biblioscape.com/node/695
Thank you Paul. But the
Thank you Paul. But the workaround you describe does not fully serve my needs. What about adding a custom date type field to a next release of BS? One with full formating options as with the date_pub field now (long / short format etc.). One could, for example, use this field to enter the access date to a web page and then format this date according to the publisher's requirements (and, as in my case, define different output styles for German, English and French). In my opinion, this would be a better solution than using the Number field, as is now done by the 'Electronic Source' type. Actually, having written this, I think a date-type 'access date'-field should be added anyway, plus a date type field for individual use. Just a suggestion.
Lars, you are so right.
Lars, you are so right.