I want to test something out to do this I wanted to drop the column _DisplayFormat and recreate it as a computed column. This is the column that controls how full text indexing works.

Firstly EDBManager told me that I couldn't drop _DisplayFormat because its in use with the fti system, even though I was replacing it, in the same operation, with a different one of the same name. However, it did let me redefine it as a computed column which prompts me to ask - what happens to the data when I alter a column from data on disk to computed, is it zapped, or does it just hang about invisibly?

Roy Lambert

Roy,

<< Firstly EDBManager told me that I couldn't drop _DisplayFormat because
its in use with the fti system, even though I was replacing it, in the same
operation, with a different one of the same name. >>

It doesn't know this information at that point in the engine.  All it knows
is that you told it to drop a column that is being used as a filter column
in the full text indexing.

<< However, it did let me redefine it as a computed column which prompts me
to ask - what happens to the data when I alter a column from data on disk to
computed, is it zapped, or does it just hang about invisibly? >>

It's gone (but still available in the .old versions of the table files).

--
Tim Young
Elevate Software
www.elevatesoft.com