• anils
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  • Registered: 2020-10-12
  • Posts: 2

Topic: Syntax for the expression in calculated field

Where can I find the allowed syntax for expressions in a calculated field?
There is no list in the manual, all it says is that scripts should be within parenthesis.
Posted topics shows only limited examples having a mixture of scripts and pure arithmetics.
Please Help

anils's Website

  • Registered: 2015-11-13
  • Posts: 652

Re: Syntax for the expression in calculated field

anils,
Welcome to MVD.
The syntax of calculated fields is SQL. So you can use available references outside of MVD. On occasion there can be subtle differences between Sqlite and MySql. So depending on the database you are using you may need to adjust the SQL syntax for the appropriate database. But this is only in rare occasions.

  • anils
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  • Registered: 2020-10-12
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Re: Syntax for the expression in calculated field

Thanks!
But it seems to be a mix of SQL and Pascal that is allowed. And as you already recognised I'm totally new to SQL and Pacal; so
1: I have not been able to find what the characters || means in MVD's calculated field expression.
2: Neither, I cannot find how to show the actual/real code of a calculated field. The expression editor of calculated fields turns out to be only a variable selecting tool. The actual code contains much more and does not appear until an error is found in running mode.

anils's Website

  • From: Philippines
  • Registered: 2018-10-23
  • Posts: 417

Re: Syntax for the expression in calculated field

Double pipe || means concatenate. It is sqlite syntax. Its counterpart on mysql is concat().
Calculated field is just like a subquery. It's like a temporary field that is another query or sum, difference of multiple fields, and so on.
Try to learn a little bit on SQL queries for you to understand more about it. As ehwagner said, sqlite and mysql are much alike for they are both SQL. There are only some difference b/w them such as that concat I said above, LPAD, RPAD which is only available in mysql, and so on.

brian