I have'd create this algorithm for a alphanumeric numbering en PROGRESS OPENEDGE. the problem that I see is that it is totally sequential and when the sequence grows it will get much more slow. I would like to see if there is a way to rearrange function so it will be efficient no matter which number is given on the input parameters. here is the code: /* LOAN-ORDER-FUNCTION.i */ DEF VAR i-NUMBER-IN AS INT. DEF VAR o-order AS CHAR. DEF VAR cnt AS INTEGER. DEF VAR NUMERAL AS INTEGER. DEF VAR CODE-OUT AS CHAR FORMAT "X(5)". DEF VAR LETTERs1 AS CHAR EXTENT 24 INITIAL ["A","B","D","E","F","G","H","I","J","K","L","M","N","O","P","R","S","T","U","V","W","X","Y","Z"]. DEF VAR LETTERs2 AS CHAR EXTENT 26 INITIAL ["A","B","C","D","E","F","G","H","I","J","K","L","M","N","O","P","Q","R","S","T","U","V","W","X","Y","Z"]. FUNCTION BIG-NUMBER RETURNS CHAR (INPUT COMPANY AS CHAR, INPUT NUMBER-IN AS INTEGER): DEF VAR LETTER1 AS integer INITIAL 1 . DEF VAR LETTER2 AS INTEGER INITIAL 1 . DEF VAR LETTER3 AS INTEGER INITIAL 1 . DEF VAR i AS integer INITIAL 1 NO-UNDO. DEF VAR j AS integer INITIAL 1 NO-UNDO. DEF VAR k AS integer INITIAL 1 NO-UNDO. DEF VAR CODIGO AS CHAR. DEF VAR in-letter2 AS INT NO-UNDO. DEF VAR in-letter1 AS INT NO-UNDO. CNT = 0. IF NUMBER-IN < 100000 THEN RETURN COMPANY + STRING(NUMBER-IN,"99999"). REPEAT LETTER1 = 1 TO 24: DO i = 0 TO 9999: CODIGO = COMPANY + LETTERS1[LETTER1] + string(i,"9999"). IF CNT + 100000 = NUMBER-IN THEN RETURN CODIGO. cnt = cnt + 1. END. DO i = 0 TO 999: CODIGO = COMPANY + LETTERS1[LETTER1] + LETTERS1[LETTER2] + string(i,"999"). IF CNT + 100000 = NUMBER-IN THEN RETURN CODIGO. cnt = cnt + 1. END. DO letter2 = 1 TO 26: DO letter3 = 1 TO 26: DO i = 0 TO 99: CODIGO = COMPANY + LETTERS1[LETTER1] + LETTERS2[LETTER2] + LETTERS2[LETTER3] + string(i,"99"). IF CNT + 100000 = NUMBER-IN THEN RETURN CODIGO. cnt = cnt + 1. END. END. END. ASSIGN letter2 = 1 letter3 = 1. END. END FUNCTION. FUNCTION BIG-TO-NUMBER RETURNS INTEGER (INPUT codigo-in AS CHAR): DEF VAR LETTER1 AS integer INITIAL 1 . DEF VAR LETTER2 AS INTEGER INITIAL 1 . DEF VAR LETTER3 AS INTEGER INITIAL 1 . DEF VAR i AS integer INITIAL 1 NO-UNDO. DEF VAR j AS integer INITIAL 1 NO-UNDO. DEF VAR k AS integer INITIAL 1 NO-UNDO. DEF VAR codigo AS CHAR. CNT = 0. IF codigo-in < "AA0000" THEN RETURN integer(SUBSTRING(codigo-in, 2)). REPEAT LETTER1 = 1 TO 24: DO i = 0 TO 9999: CODIGO = COMPANY + LETTERS1[LETTER1] + string(i,"9999"). IF CODIGO = codigo-IN THEN RETURN CNT + 100000. cnt = cnt + 1. END. DO i = 0 TO 999: CODIGO = COMPANY + LETTERS1[LETTER1] + LETTERS1[LETTER2] + string(i,"999"). IF CODIGO = codigo-IN THEN RETURN CNT + 100000. cnt = cnt + 1. END. DO letter2 = 1 TO 26: DO letter3 = 1 TO 26: DO i = 0 TO 99: CODIGO = COMPANY + LETTERS1[LETTER1] + LETTERS2[LETTER2] + LETTERS2[LETTER3] + string(i,"99"). IF CODIGO = codigo-IN THEN RETURN CNT + 100000. cnt = cnt + 1. END. END. END. ASSIGN letter2 = 1 letter3 = 1. END. END FUNCTION. thanks in advance for your time and effort, Hugo hugoyamil@yahoo.com Puerto Rico Continue reading...