User Hints for NLphoneConv.fmpr.2.0 Copyright 1995, J. J. Loddder.
0 Introduction
NLphoneConv.fmpr is a FilemakerPro template for Dutch phone number conversion, to obtain phone numbers as they will be after Oct 10.
It contains no Mac programming, so it should run whenever
FilemakerPro runs.
The convertor assumes phone numbers as entered for dialing in the Netherlands. If you really need a customized version for converting numbers, as dialed from somewhere abroad, contact me.
1 Cleaning up your database files
1.1 All phone numbers beginning with +, 00, or 09, (international) will not be changed. Prepend non-NLnumbers appropriately, or select your records to exclude them from conversion.
06-numbers will not be changed, except for
06-11 -> 112, the new European emergency number.
Mobile 06 numbers (car phones etc.) will remain the same,
Free info 06 numbers will become 800 numbers,
Paying 06 numbers, (sex, lies, no videotapes yet) will become 900 numbers, but the transformation rules are yet not known.
1.2 American style letters in telephone numbers will be lost. Change these to digits before conversion. The word they spell will probably be garbled by the changes anyway.
1.3 You should add missing local area codes before conversion. Since the changes may depend on both area code and subscriber number I cannot restore missing area codes for you. It is posssible to make a special localized version on demand. See Appendix A for do it yourself.
1.4 Original formatting is irrelevant. NLphoneConv.fmpr will strip irrelevant ( )'s, - 's, spaces and all other stray characters in comments. Stray digits in comments lead to errors!
The converted number will be in the new standard formats
0XX-XXX XX XX, or 0XXX-XX XX XX.
It is possible to change this to other formats such as (0XX) XXX XX XX on demand. (This may be expensive.)
1.5 More than one phone number in a field cannot be handled. Make a second (and a third) etc phone number field, and split your fields. If you have had the forethought to separate the numbers by a recognizable symbol, (for examle / or b.g.g.), this can be done automatically, see appendix A.
1.6 Filemaker's repeating fields are not sufficiently supported by FilemakerPro itself to allow automatic conversion. Not my fault! Repeating field contents must first be separated into single fields. See appendix A for a simple automatic method of doing this.
1.8 Some error detection is built in, too long or too short phone numbers and non-existent area codes/subscriber number will be detected.
2 Conversion
2.0 The files PTTconvData and NLphoneConv.fmpr should be in the same folder. PTTconvData contains the data needed for conversion. The files are password protected against changes. An empty password will do for conversion.
2.1 Converting single numbers.
Make a copy of your NLphoneConv.fmpr file and open it. Allow FilemakerPro 2.0 or greater to convert it to the new FMPR format. (Software managers who allow incompatible file formats with the same creator code and irreversible conversion should be tarred and feathered by their users! Compare Lucky Luke, Complete works)
Create a new record from the Edit menu or with Cmd-N. Enter the phone number and press Enter (on the numeric keypad) or Tab, not Return! The phone number will be converted, with a comment that may indicate an error. Formatting is not necessary, it is sufficient to enter the digits.
The numeric keypad can be used for fast entering. The leading zero of the area code may be omitted. The single layout is fastest.
Press Cmd-N and enter the next number to be converted. The end result will be a list which can be viewed in the list layout, imported into a database, or printed.
2.2 Converting lists.
If you have a list of phone numbers (typed in a word processor and saved as text-only, or exported from any spreadsheet or database as tab-separated text) in the format number, return, number, return,........., list conversion is possible.
Clean up the list as needed. Open (a copy of) NLphoneConv.fmpr and import the list (by choosing import from the file menu) into the field TelOld. The data are NOT converted yet! To convert choose Relookup from Filemaker's edit menu. The converted numbers appearing in the field TelNew can be printed, viewed, or exported again for re-import where they came from.
For your convenience I added an empty text field, called Id@ntLab@l. It is not changed in any way. You can import any unique identifier, (serial nr, customer nr, name hash, etc) to be extra sure the phone numbers do not get mixed up between records.
2.3.1 Converting FilemakerPro files, FMPR version 1 (and 2).
Clean up the data in the file if necessary. Work on a copy, in case you do not like the conversion! No information will be lost, converted data will appear in a new field.
Open your file and be sure you are the only user having access during conversion. Select the records you want to convert. Choose Define Fields (Cmd-Shift-D) from the Select menu. In the resulting window select your phone field to convert. Change its name to TelOld, click change, done. You can also define TelOld as a new calculation field and set it equal to your phonenumber field. This is convenient if you have several phone fields to convert, or if you want to keep your familiar field name.
Create a new text field, name it TelNew. Click Done and close the file.
Open (a copy of) NLphoneConv.fmpr and import your database file. FMPRO 1.0 should report one field to import.
Do import. The data are NOT converted yet! Next put the cursor in the TelOld field and select relookup from the Edit menu. Wait and wait until the conversion is complete. Scan the C@mment field for error warnings. Close the file, reopen your database and import TelNew. You can also make TelNew (temporarily) a lookup field and relookup TelNew when TelOld matches. You can also do a relookup on Id@ntL@bel, if you have it filled.
2.3.2 Converting FilemakerPro files, FMPR version > 2 only.
In FMPRO >=2.0 you can match fields manually in the import dialog box. If you match fields manually you do not need the fields TelOld and TelNew. You can also click match fields in the import dialog box, which bring you back to the above.
2.4 Use the FastMac version on all Macs (preferred) unless you really cannot spare the longer calculation time. (You really need that old MacPlus full time all the time, right).
2.5 Count on about 4+6 sec/rec for import+relookup for SlowMac on a Plus, and on 10+12 sec/rec for FastMac on a Plus, after the initial delay.
An SE/30 is four times faster and recent Macs should be faster still.
3 Database conversion.
You need the sharer password to access the field definitions, which you can obtain from me after registration. You can then copy the calculation field definitions to your datebase and have immediate conversion of all phone numbers entered in your database files. (You can also copy your field definitions into my file and then rename it appropriately, whichever is less work.) This involves some (temporary to 10-10-95) overhead in your files. A complete description is given in the copyhelp layout in SlowMac that you can open with the password.
Appendix A
A.1 Separating multiple entries in one field with a recognizable separator (/, b.g.g., etc) can be effected by exporting the repeating field contents as tab-separated text. Create as many new fields as needed to accomodate the pieces. Next open the exported text file in an editor such as BBEdit, MS Word, or any other program capable of full ASCII substitution, and the separators can be replaced with tabs. (tab = ^t in Word, \t in BBEdit with grep on.) Save the file as text (usu auto if text to begin with) and import the contents into the new fields.
A.2 Filemaker's repeating fields are similar, in tab-separated output the repetitions are separated by (non-printing) ASCII 29 characters, which apear as squares, Replace these with tabs and re-import into separate fields. (Word: ^29 goes to ^t, BBEdit: paste the squares into the find box, replace all by \t with grep on)
A.3 The converse is also easy. Export all fields you want to join as tab-separated text, replace the tabs by ASCII 29's for a repeating field or whatever for a single field, and reimport.
A.4 Adding missing area codes or international prefixes is easy with BBEdit. Just select and export the relevant field contents, prepend the area codes, and reimport or relookup. It can also be done in FMPRO with a suitably defined calculation field.
