Finding the Maximum or Minimum Value by Alphabetic Order

• Microsoft FoxPro for Windows, versions 2.5x, 2.6, 2.6a
• Microsoft FoxPro for MS-DOS, versions 2.0, 2.5x, 2.6, 2.6a
• Microsoft FoxPro for Macintosh, versions 2.5b, 2.5c

SUMMARY

This article shows three methods for finding the minimum or maximum value by alphabetic order in a field.

MORE INFORMATION

Method 1: Calculation

   CALCULATE MAX(<char_field>) TO <variable_name>

NOTE: To get the highest letter record value, replace MAX with MIN.

Method 2: Indexing

   INDEX ON <char_field> TAG <tag_name> OF <index_name>
   SET ORDER TO <tag_name>
   ***To obtain the lowest letter record value, do the following:
   GO BOTTOM
   <variable_name>=<char_field>
   ***To obtain the highest letter record value, do the following:
   GO TOP
   <variable_name>=<char_field>

Method 3: Indexing/LOCATE

   INDEX ON <char_field> TAG <tag_name> OF <index_name>
   ***To obtain the highest letter record value, do the following:
   SET ORDER TO <tag_name> ASCENDING
   LOCATE
   <variable_name>=<char_field>
   ***To obtain the lowest letter record value do, the following:
   SET ORDER TO <tag_name> DESCENDING
   LOCATE
   <variable_name>=<char_field>