Encodings on RB 5

[Cindy]

Hi Ruslan

I'll try and make a small example tomorrow but it definitely crashes the
whole database once I change the field.

> Must work, but who knowns.
> Try to reproduce problem on small project,
> Even better to make small project that at first build table with ONE string
> field, then convert it to fixed binary.
> 
> +----
> And I want note:
> Why you use as ID such complex field?
> As ID is best something as ULONG.

The reason I use complex id fields is because my clients run their databases
across any number of workstations - maybe 30 or 40 workstations, then their
changes get transferred across to the server and then across to the other
workstations. This is so clients can work away from a server - take their
computer home and do their assessments and then come back to school and
update. Therefore, each workstation can be quite different internally but
when the client sees it, it looks the same as all the others. My id code is
then made up of a mix of a random first set of characters, followed by a mix
of date and time and a final sequential character set. This means that there
should never be a record with the same id code in the database. FoxPro used
to do this almost automatically and I brought it across from there.

All the best.

Cindy