SELECTS: Decoding a Value From a Stack

Syntax: How to Decode a Value From a Stack

target SELECTS (code, result, code, result, ... [ELSE default])

where:

target: Is a valid expression. It can be either a field name or a variable that resolves to a single stack cell.
code: Is the value for which SELECTS searches. Once the value is found, the input expression is assigned the corresponding result. The comma between the code and result is optional.
result: Is the value assigned when the input expression has the corresponding code.
default: Is the value to be assigned if the code is not found among the list of codes. If the default is omitted, a space or zero is assigned to non-matching codes.

Example: Decoding Values With SELECTS

The following computes a user-defined field based on the values in a stack:

COMPUTE Square = Stk(Cnt).Number SELECTS (1 1, 2 4, 3 9);

Because SELECTS is a binary operator, it can also be used in an expression:

COMPUTE Square_Plus = Stk(Cnt).Number SELECTS (1 1, 2 4, 3 9) +1;

Example: Decoding a Value From a Stack

The following example uses MASK to extract the first character of the field CURR_JOBCODE in the EMPLOYEE file. Then SELECTS creates a value for the field JOB_CATEGORY:

MAINTAIN FILE Employee
Case Top
  FOR ALL NEXT EMPINFO.EMP_ID INTO EmpStack;
  COMPUTE
    DEPX_CODE/A1     = MASK(EmpStack().CURR_JOBCODE,'9$$');
    JOB_CATEGORY/A15 = DEPX_CODE SELECTS (A 'ADMINISTRATIVE'
      B 'DATA PROCESSING') ;
EndCase
END

The following table shows sample values for CURR_JOBCODE and the corresponding values for JOB_CATEGORY:

CURR_JOBCODE   JOB_CATEGORY
------------   ------------
A01            ADMINISTRATIVE
A07            ADMINISTRATIVE
A15            ADMINISTRATIVE
A17            ADMINISTRATIVE
B02            DATA PROCESSING
B03            DATA PROCESSING
B04            DATA PROCESSING
B14            DATA PROCESSING