In another post recently BruceR stated "If you have to ask questions about repeating fields you shouldn't be using them".

Case(
YourRepNumberField [ Get ( CalculationRepetitionNumber ) ] = 1 ; gPicture1 ;
YourRepNumberField [ Get ( CalculationRepetitionNumber ) ] = 2 ; gPicture2
)

Oh, I didn't realize ... snip...

Albeit it was short and maybe rude to the reader, the advise is good. In other words, be aware that their pitfalls to using them, and that in the end, there is probably a better way to go then to use them.

And, just to keep this on topic, I have worked on a legacy database that contained many repeating fields. Originally created to process input only manually, I was asked to add the ability to import data from another source. Data had to be inserted into the second repetition field, something not possible (that I know of) during the initial import process.

I was looking for a simple formula to pull a value from the data in the first field (the second value from a long list of values) and push it into the second repetition...any ideas on this? I ultimately wrote a script to run on the found set of imports that manhandled the data into the second rep, but it was hardly the elegant solution I sought.

I'm now thinking of writing a recursive custom formula to do the trick, something that didn't occur to me at the time, but I'm keen to know of other ideas.

You can use an auto-enter calc that you trigger to set the rep.

Let([
trigger = TriggerField;
rep = Get(CalculationRepetitionNumber);
result = If(rep =2; GetValue(OtherField;2); ThisField
];
result
)

..snip.. I do know firsthand of Mr. Brusanowksi's work and let me assure you he is anything but a beginner...the skill level on his profile shows Expert level, and there's no reason to dispute that claim.

P.S. And I've actually got "Expert" set in my preferences but it's displaying "Novice" for some reason, at least on my screen. Trust me; I've been doing this for 15 years and have written 2 systems for 2 different Canadian provincial governments, an international music festival, and about 30 other systems, at least. I have a pretty good handle on FileMaker, just not repeating fields! :-)

• Brian Said:

I can't make a judgement on his abilities or skill lever yet, not enough posts to go by, and he is the one asking the questions, and not providing assistance.

Skill Levels can be misleading. We have had many discussions about their use in the past. I think that most of us use it as an indication of how much detail we need to provide the person we are assisting, and whether they can adopt a solution based on their platform, operating system, and their version and edition of FileMaker. However, the Skill Level can be based on their database knowledge, and not their knowledge of FileMaker.

If indeed he is as good as you say, the Forum will be blessed to have another strong FileMaker Developer involved helping our members out.

BTW, what is your Skill Level?

The Novice is set automatically by the system based on your number of posts. I believe it is an indicator of your Forum knowledge, not your FileMaker Ability.

Below is your profile, and it shows as you selected it.

As an Expert, then I know you are aware of the Table View options for sort. So are you using a List View, or a portal?

Lee

See if this helps:

your skill level is tied to how often you contribute to the discussion

"I'm answering the question asked and not trying to judge the questioner's reason for asking".

Had you spent some time contributing to the forum, you would have noticed that more often than not answering the question as asked is a disservice to the person asking.

I want to do alternate sorting with my list window column headers, so that when you click a header once, it sorts the list ascending by the field below it; click it again, descending, and I want to show an up or down arrow in each column to indicate this.

But if you'd said "why do you want to do that?", it would have been frustrating to me.

Either way, the formula won't work

But if you'd said "why do you want to do that?", it would have been frustrating to me. Not everyone here needs to be taught; some of us are at a level that there are just gaps in our knowledge, things we've never had to deal with, and it would be nice if there was some way to differentiate, rather than painting everyone with the same brush.

• Lee Smith Said:

Hi Lee,

I appreciate your response, and do understand that repeating fields are to be employed with caution. However, I do know firsthand of Mr. Brusanowksi's work and let me assure you he is anything but a beginner...the skill level on his profile shows Expert level, and there's no reason to dispute that claim.

There's just nothing useful in efen's reply. It does not help anyone...it doesn't even convey the warning that we should be careful using repeating fields. It's an insult, pure and simple, a personal attack.

You most definitely do not know that and you cannot claim to know Efen's state of mind or purpose. You're claiming to be a mind reader in a case where many other less onerous intentions are quite possible.

I never claimed to read efen's mind; I claimed that his response was an insult. That was my interpretation. Also, the OP was insulted, ergo, it was an insult.

...efen's reply. It does not help anyone...it doesn't even convey the warning that we should be careful using repeating fields.

The reply may be succinct but it warns - obliquely I admit - in the words of another poster(an experienced developer) against using repeating fields. It most certainly was not intended to be an insult or personal attack, but if you consider it as such then I probably won't be able to dissuade you, whatever I state.