Increasing Length value for character data types

Dear Sultan,

 Options

(1) Delte the attribuite and recreate it. - be aware this will remove all existing values and change the docuement number  configuration if it is used there too. - Becareful

 (2) Contact TSG - I believe the value can be changed by manually editing several places in the Projectwise database.

Best regards

Ian Emery

Dear Ian

Its not possible to delete the attriubute because we have  tens of thousands of files.I tried manually increasing the length of the attribute in database but its not working when i update that attribute in PW Explorer with more characters.

Thanks

Sultan

Dear Sultan, 

The editing the database definition for the attribuite is not enought  - as you have seen. The column definition is cached in another table too.

 Editing your database directly like this is a "not supported action" - TSG is probablay you safest route.

Best regards,

Ian Emery

Sultan,

 Unfortunately there is no easy way to increase the size of an attribute, as Ian stated the easiest way would be to create a new attribute.  When it comes to altering your database, this does put you in an unsupported environment, so as a TSG Analyst I would highly suggest against altering your database.  The best way for you to go about this would be to either 1. create a new attribute and migrate the data over or 2. contact Bentley Professional Services to help increase your attribute size.

 Thanks,

Marty

As others have mentioned the length is stored in several database tables and you really don't want to mess with it.

 My procedure is:

• Create a new attribute matching the old called TEMP (in pw admin app)
• In the database use SQL to copy the values from the old attribute to the TEMP attribute
• Delete the old attribute (in pw admin app)
• Create a new attribute with the same name as the old attribute but with the new length you want (in pw admin app)
• Use SQL to copy the values from the TEMP attribute to the new, with correct length, attribute
• delete the TEMP attribute. (in pw admin app)

PRACTICE THIS IN A DEV DATASOURCE BEFORE DOING IT FOR REAL!

HAVE A BACKUP OF YOUR DATABASE BEFORE BEGINNING.