i want to use columnar format for records. some fields are alpha, some are numer. i want to right align the numer and left align the others. i tried using the following:

if ($db_field_type{$col} eq "numer") {

and
if ($db_field_type{$field} eq "numer") {

but neither seemed to work. can someone tell me how to test the field type in the build_html_record section?

From what you wrote I assume each field is either alpha or numeric (and not both), in which case you don't need to test the field type, you can simply do an align=left (or right) statement in the output table.

guess i wasn't clear in my description. i have four fields in my database: three are numeric and one is alpha. i want to use the autogenerate instead of hardcoding the html. thus i need to test the field type in autogenerate routine so that it will align=right for the numeric fields and align=left for alpha field.

If I were in your shoes I would assign a "-3" to numeric fields as a form-length and then add an extra formating section to the bulid_html_record_form in the cgi.

Something like :
elsif ($db_form_len{$field} == -3) {
$output .= qq~<tr><td align=right valign=top width=20%><$font>$field:</font></td><td align=right width=80%><input type=text name="$field" value="$rec{$field}" size="$db_form_len{$field}" maxlength="$db_lengths{$field}"></td></tr>~;
}

perhaps that would be easier if i can't figure out how to refer to the field type, but that does limit other options since i would no longer be able to specify a default length. you refered to $db_form_len{$field} and $db_lengths{$field}. do you know how to refer to the field type? is it $db_field_type{$field}?

Try this.

In .cfg add variable at bottom
$db_field_types{$_} = $db_def{$_}[7];

In cgi add :
elsif ($db_field_types{$field} == "numer") {
$output .= qq~<tr><td align=right valign=top width=20%><$font>$field:</font></td><td align=right width=80%><input type=text name="$field" value="$rec{$field}" size="$db_form_len{$field}" maxlength="$db_lengths{$field}"></td></tr>~;
}

I can get the output to reformat but it is usually unconditional.

Why don't you turn auto forms off then you can format to your heart's content.

thanks for pointing me in the right direction. as it turns out the field type was already defined as a variable in the cfg file -- it's $db_sort. using that, my conditional statement works great!