Re: Mixed Case Keys

[boothm@xxxxxxx]

on 09/19/97 at 11:31 AM, "Bill Phelps" <phelpswr@alpha.obu.edu> said:


User's have a difficult time getting the name keyed in the exact 

upper/lower case to position the list correctly.  What are some ways  to

design a logical file or the application to ignore the case 

Bill, use the field as your key, as is.  Get your users used to setting
their lookups on partial names, but case sensitive.  I am not sure of your
file size but I know that even on a fairly large file you will get the
name you want on the first panel most of the time with just a three-letter
search.  Users soon learn when they need four and five letter searches.
For example I would expect "Phe" would bring "Phelps, Bill" to the panel
without needing to hit the roll key even once.

My experience so far has been that as soon as you start making some
instances case-sensitive and other instances not case-sensitive for the
same field you create an uncertainty for the user.  And, most users can
hit the shift key pretty easily.  

That'd be my two cents worth.
----------------------------------------------------
Booth Martin       Contract Programming, Inc.
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