Forcing Zero in Social Security Number Field and Putting Cursor at Left for Data Entry

[Sami]

Problem:

Social Security number being used in a database. First problem is
that it will not permit numbers beginning in zero to be entered - it
sees it as a null or empty space from what I can tell.

Next, foreign students have & as the initial part of their SSN. How
to do this??

Finally, how do I force the cursor to the far left of the field so the
person doing data entry does not have to backspace to the beginning of
the data entry field?

Please be specific - not a sophisticated person making the program!

Thanks.

[PC Datasheet]

Social Security Numbers are not numbers even though they say they are. They are
text because they can start with 0, start with & and US SSNs have two dashes. So
you need to go to your table and change the data type of your SSN field to text.
All your problems will go away!

--
PC Datasheet
Your Resource For Help With Access, Excel And Word Applications
re******@pcdatasheet.com
www.pcdatasheet.com
<Sami> wrote in message news:4q********************************@4ax.com...

Problem:

Social Security number being used in a database. First problem is
that it will not permit numbers beginning in zero to be entered - it
sees it as a null or empty space from what I can tell.

Next, foreign students have & as the initial part of their SSN. How
to do this??

Finally, how do I force the cursor to the far left of the field so the
person doing data entry does not have to backspace to the beginning of
the data entry field?

Please be specific - not a sophisticated person making the program!

Thanks.

[Ima Lostsoul]

In article <ta*****************@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink. net>,
sp**@nospam.spam says...

Social Security Numbers are not numbers even though they say they are. They are
text because they can start with 0, start with & and US SSNs have two dashes. So
you need to go to your table and change the data type of your SSN field to text.
All your problems will go away!

--
PC Datasheet
Your Resource For Help With Access, Excel And Word Applications
re******@pcdatasheet.com
www.pcdatasheet.com
<Sami> wrote in message news:4q********************************@4ax.com...

Problem:

Social Security number being used in a database. First problem is
that it will not permit numbers beginning in zero to be entered - it
sees it as a null or empty space from what I can tell.

Next, foreign students have & as the initial part of their SSN. How
to do this??

Finally, how do I force the cursor to the far left of the field so the
person doing data entry does not have to backspace to the beginning of
the data entry field?

Please be specific - not a sophisticated person making the program!

Thanks.

ARGH That is horrid! A number is not text simply bcasue it starts with
a zero... That is (IMHO) very poor programming. You are mixing the
storage of a value with the display there of. Look in the formatting of
the controls you use to input/display the SSN and you will see how to
handle SSNs that begin with one or more 0s without bastardizing your
data.

[Sami]

How do I do this? Where would I look if you do not want to tell me,
and what is it called? Thanks.

On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 06:33:14 GMT, Ima Lostsoul <[e-mail]>
wrote:

In article <ta*****************@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink. net>,
sp**@nospam.spam says...

Social Security Numbers are not numbers even though they say they are. They are
text because they can start with 0, start with & and US SSNs have two dashes. So
you need to go to your table and change the data type of your SSN field to text.
All your problems will go away!

--
PC Datasheet
Your Resource For Help With Access, Excel And Word Applications
re******@pcdatasheet.com
www.pcdatasheet.com
<Sami> wrote in message news:4q********************************@4ax.com...

> Problem:
>
> Social Security number being used in a database. First problem is
> that it will not permit numbers beginning in zero to be entered - it
> sees it as a null or empty space from what I can tell.
>
> Next, foreign students have & as the initial part of their SSN. How
> to do this??
>
> Finally, how do I force the cursor to the far left of the field so the
> person doing data entry does not have to backspace to the beginning of
> the data entry field?
>
> Please be specific - not a sophisticated person making the program!
>
> Thanks.

ARGH That is horrid! A number is not text simply bcasue it starts with
a zero... That is (IMHO) very poor programming. You are mixing the
storage of a value with the display there of. Look in the formatting of
the controls you use to input/display the SSN and you will see how to
handle SSNs that begin with one or more 0s without bastardizing your
data.

[PC Datasheet]

<<A number is not text simply bcasue it starts with a zero>>

Can you give me one example of a number that starts with a zero?

Steve
PC Datasheet
"Ima Lostsoul" <[e-mail]> wrote in message
news:MP************************@netnews.comcast.ne t...

In article <ta*****************@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink. net>,
sp**@nospam.spam says...

Social Security Numbers are not numbers even though they say they are. They are text because they can start with 0, start with & and US SSNs have two dashes. So you need to go to your table and change the data type of your SSN field to text. All your problems will go away!

--
PC Datasheet
Your Resource For Help With Access, Excel And Word Applications
re******@pcdatasheet.com
www.pcdatasheet.com
<Sami> wrote in message news:4q********************************@4ax.com...

Problem:

Social Security number being used in a database. First problem is
that it will not permit numbers beginning in zero to be entered - it
sees it as a null or empty space from what I can tell.

Next, foreign students have & as the initial part of their SSN. How
to do this??

Finally, how do I force the cursor to the far left of the field so the
person doing data entry does not have to backspace to the beginning of
the data entry field?

Please be specific - not a sophisticated person making the program!

Thanks.

ARGH That is horrid! A number is not text simply bcasue it starts with
a zero... That is (IMHO) very poor programming. You are mixing the
storage of a value with the display there of. Look in the formatting of
the controls you use to input/display the SSN and you will see how to
handle SSNs that begin with one or more 0s without bastardizing your
data.

[Bob Quintal]

Ima Lostsoul <[e-mail]> wrote in
news:MP************************@netnews.comcast.ne t:

In article
<ta*****************@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink. net>,
sp**@nospam.spam says...

Social Security Numbers are not numbers even though they say
they are. They are text because they can start with 0, start
with & and US SSNs have two dashes. So you need to go to your
table and change the data type of your SSN field to text.
All your problems will go away!

--
PC Datasheet
Your Resource For Help With Access, Excel And Word
Applications
re******@pcdatasheet.com
www.pcdatasheet.com
<Sami> wrote in message
news:4q********************************@4ax.com...

> Problem:
>
> Social Security number being used in a database. First
> problem is that it will not permit numbers beginning in
> zero to be entered - it sees it as a null or empty space
> from what I can tell.
>
> Next, foreign students have & as the initial part of their
> SSN. How to do this??
>
> Finally, how do I force the cursor to the far left of the
> field so the person doing data entry does not have to
> backspace to the beginning of the data entry field?
>
> Please be specific - not a sophisticated person making the
> program!
>
> Thanks.

ARGH That is horrid! A number is not text simply bcasue it
starts with a zero...

Good grief! a text is not a number just because it contains only
digits. I remember learning, oh about thirty years ago, that you
should us a numeric field if you are going to add, subtract,
multiply or divide the contents thereof, else use type text.

A numeric field may also be used as a key, but you can do it with
text fields as well.
There is no guarantee that future SSNs will contain only the
characters 0 through 9.
That is (IMHO) very poor programming. You are mixing the storage of a value with the display there
of. Look in the formatting of the controls you use to
input/display the SSN and you will see how to handle SSNs that
begin with one or more 0s without bastardizing your data.

[CDB]

And as the original poster said, he must, now, include "&" in some cases.
That could be misinterpreted as a type-declaration character in a numeric
field.

Clive

"Bob Quintal" <bq******@generation.net> wrote in message
news:82******************************@news.teranew s.com...

Ima Lostsoul <[e-mail]> wrote in
news:MP************************@netnews.comcast.ne t:

In article
<ta*****************@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink. net>,
sp**@nospam.spam says...

Social Security Numbers are not numbers even though they say
they are. They are text because they can start with 0, start
with & and US SSNs have two dashes. So you need to go to your
table and change the data type of your SSN field to text.
All your problems will go away!

--
PC Datasheet
Your Resource For Help With Access, Excel And Word
Applications
re******@pcdatasheet.com
www.pcdatasheet.com
<Sami> wrote in message
news:4q********************************@4ax.com...
> Problem:
>
> Social Security number being used in a database. First
> problem is that it will not permit numbers beginning in
> zero to be entered - it sees it as a null or empty space
> from what I can tell.
>
> Next, foreign students have & as the initial part of their
> SSN. How to do this??
>
> Finally, how do I force the cursor to the far left of the
> field so the person doing data entry does not have to
> backspace to the beginning of the data entry field?
>
> Please be specific - not a sophisticated person making the
> program!
>
> Thanks.

ARGH That is horrid! A number is not text simply bcasue it
starts with a zero...

Good grief! a text is not a number just because it contains only
digits. I remember learning, oh about thirty years ago, that you
should us a numeric field if you are going to add, subtract,
multiply or divide the contents thereof, else use type text.

A numeric field may also be used as a key, but you can do it with
text fields as well.
There is no guarantee that future SSNs will contain only the
characters 0 through 9.
That is (IMHO) very poor programming.

You are mixing the storage of a value with the display there
of. Look in the formatting of the controls you use to
input/display the SSN and you will see how to handle SSNs that
begin with one or more 0s without bastardizing your data.