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ALPHA Conversion RoutineLocate this document in the navigation structure

Use

The ALPHA conversion is used by default in the BW system for characteristics of type character. The ALPHA conversion routine is registered automatically when a characteristic is created. If you do not want to use this routine, you have to remove it manually.

The ALPHA conversion routine is used, for example, with account numbers or document numbers.

Features

When converting from an external into an internal format this checks whether the entry in the INPUT field is wholly numerical, whether it consists of digits only, possibly with blank spaces before and/or after. If yes, the sequence of digits is copied to the OUTPUT field, right-aligned, and the space on the left is filled with zeros ('0'). Otherwise the sequence of digits is copied to the output field from left to right and the space to the right remains blank.

For conversions from an internal to an external format (function module CONVERSION_EXIT_ALPHA_OUTPUT) the process is reversed. Blank characters on the left-hand side are omitted from the output.

Example

Input and output fields are each 8 characters long. A conversion from the external to the internal format takes place:

  1. '1234 ' → '00001234'

  2. 'ABCD ' → 'ABCD '