PM/2 Software FAQ11

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Q:  I'm trying to add a new insurance carrier and receive the error message "DBFCMX/1021 Data width error".  How do I recover from this problem?

A:  The original database structure allowed for only 3 digits for the insurance carrier numbers, and your next carrier would be no. 1000, so you�re getting an overflow error.  Fortunately the system is designed in a way that allows users to modify the databases themselves, in this case by widening the relevant data fields.  

To do this, first do a �complete� PM/2 backup.  Then close PM/2 and get the appropriate DOS prompt, e.g. C:\MGR>.  Then type in DBU [enter] to open the database utility.  Press F2, Enter, scroll down to MISC.DBF, and press Enter twice more.  Press F3, Enter and scroll down to REF_NO.  Change the Width entry to 4 (decimals 0) and press F4, Enter to save the change and confirm with Y.  Now press F2, Enter, scroll down to PATIENTS.DBF and press Enter twice more.  Press F3, Enter and scroll down to FEE2.  Change its Width entry to 4 (decimals 0).  Scroll down to FEE3 and likewise change its Width entry to 4 (decimals 0).  Press F4, Enter to save the change and confirm with Y.  Exit from DBU by pressing Esc and confirming with Y.  Now you are back at the original prompt (C:\MGR> or whatever).  Type in

     DEL MISC.CMX [enter]
      DEL PATIENTS.CMX [enter]

Close the DOS window and restart PM/2; you should now be able to enter up to 9000 more insurance companies without error.

Please note that in recent distributions of PM/2 for DOS (i.e. release 3.0 and above) the insurance carrier database already contains this modification (i.e. the width of the field is already set to 4 digits rather than 3) so that this problem cannot occur; but users of release 3.0 and above who have upgraded from earlier editions may still have the older database structure.


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