The LA Fox

A Newsletter for FoxPro Application Developers in Southern California November 1995

Guest Editorial....

Data Integrity

by Larry McQuerrey

A long, long time ago, I am told, computer input

came in the form of punched cards. One key

punch operator would type from a source docu-

ment causing small slots to be punched in to paper

cards the size of a dollar bill. The cards were

passed to a second operator who would , then

type the same information on a machine called a

verifier. If the key pressed by the verifier was

different from that previously punched into the card

a bell would sound. Some operations even had a

second verifier process. Next the cards were read

into the computer and further checked. If errors

were detected, they were listed on a error report.

Many programs would refuse to process any of the

information further until all of the cards being read

were error free or at least all of the cards that were

some how related, were error free. A lot of hours

were spent in trying to insure the integrity of the

data.

Now we flash to the present. I recently received a

download from a state agency. The agency

assigned a unique identifier to each of the parties

involved in a legal action. I though I would try to

normalize the data and eliminate redundant

entries. I noticed that some of the parties were

entered twice, then some three times and one ten

times, each with a different unique identifier. Some

were entered with different abbreviations in the

name and others were identical. Some one at the

agency thought that they were all different parties.

After doing a mailing to some of the parties, we

received a phone call asking how we had associ-

ated a particular company with the address on the

envelope. It seems that this agency had entered a

(Con’t, page 2)

In this issue...

November 20, 1995, 7:30 PM - Microcomputer

Engineering Services, LLC (MES). Microcomputer

Engineering Services, LLC (MES) has been develop-

ing custom FoxPro applications for clients all over

Southern California, as well as other parts of the

country, during the last several years. MES special-

izes in system analysis/design, custom software

systems written in FoxPro, third-party add-in products,

and quality/productivity improvement. On this night,

MES will be demonstrating tips and techniques de-

veloped for applications running at several client sites,

as well as discussing user interface issues, system

design, design tools, RAD and other development

issues.

December 19, 1995, 7:30 PM - The Annual LA Fox

Christmas Party. Last year, we were very fortunate to

be treated to one of the first previews of Visual

FoxPro. Who knows what surprises await us this

year? One sure thing will be George Dvorak’s delight-

ful treats that never disappoint. Plan for an evening of

fun and friendship. (See want ad elsewhere in this

newsletter.)

January 15, 1996, 7:30 PM - Panel/Open Discussion

on Marketing and Client Relations. Due to a recent

interest in this topic, we’re looking for a group of about

(Con't, page 2)

Out and About

by Barry R. Lee

The November meeting of LA Fox will be held on

Nov. 20, 1995, at 7:30 PM at our regular meeting

place (the Torrance Airport, 3301 Airport Drive, in

Torrance). For details on how to get there, see the

map on the back page.

Savannah’s Reading List

Page 3

CLASSES.PRG

Page 4

When Perfection Isn’t Enough

Page 5

Want Ads

Page 8