The present invention provides a conversion method for converting numeric multi-dimensional
database dimension members to textual representations. The conversion is specifically
designed to enable the textual representations of the numeric dimension members
to be properly sorted and converted back into numeric representations with accuracy.
All numeric and date data is transformed during conversion, such that the textual
representation of the numeric and date data is properly sorted as a text string,
in the same order as it would be sorted as a number. The present invention also
provides a means for accurate reverse-conversion (i.e., from textual representation
to numeric representation) by first converting into text the information necessary
to support the precision required by the relevant convention of the numeric representation.
The present invention also provides a convention for determining the data type
of the textual representations of values of various data types. The textual representation
of mixed types is configured so that the sort order of different data types and
the text string for numeric types will sort by value independent of the numeric data-types.
