ktstem

"oldfogey" (now I was taught to respect my elders), you make a great point about getting immersed in version 8 before re-design. I've worked with it, but am not completely comfortable in it. I think I've been given a lot of great advice here to push me in the right direction, I'm so thankful for that :)

hahaha, good one. I definately make my share of bad judgement calls.

Thanks for the link Ender, I'm going to sift through that this afternoon! Running both versions would not be an option for me, not because of splitting solutions up but because I don't want my users to have to remember which version of FileMaker to open to get which database they need. That will REALLY confuse those who are not tech savvy. I want everything to be ready on 8 before I take them there. I have seen and worked with how relationships are handled differently in FM8, but once again...I don't think my solutions are complex enough that this will be a big issue. I understand the concepts and can get things to work, that's what I love about FileMaker! I don't have to be an expert developer to create efficient solutions, but I'm striving to get there! I hope this doesn't sound like I'm taking a naive approach to this :)

I'm just starting my day with a BIG cup of coffee and reading your advice and trying to take it all in! I think what John said was kind of what I was thinking....convert, modify and import. I think I was getting myself all up in a bunch thinking I had to do everything at the same time. Convert, get the users on 8 and merge into one solution. I realize now that I have to take everything in steps! OH yeah and in this district, it's never take your sweet time! My boss is a Mac lover (me too) and his mentalitly follows that of Mac....out with the old and in with the new...NOW! Jump, jump, jump!! I guess I like the pace though Tricky, I will definately keep you posted of the bumps and bruises I encounter along the way! Kate :D

Hello All! I work for a school district that is happily running on FileMaker 6 Server. This summer we’ve decided that it’s time to convert to 8, we don’t want to get too behind and there NEVER seems to be a “good” time to make the jump. I’m not nervous about the conversion part, even though we haven’t been running 8, I have been working in it and already have FM8 Server running. My issue is that I’m so unsure of the best way to roll it out. See I’m not just converting the existing databases, I’m merging a lot of it together once it’s converted. For example, there is a staff roster database that I now want to make the core of it all. Then there are conference requests, field trips, work orders and much more that I want to link all together for one school-wide system (super excited). So what do you do when there are always people working in these files? Plus I have to worry about getting FileMaker 8 installed on about 200 teacher laptops. That’s JUST elementary school teachers, the rest should be taken care of according to tech support because they are getting upgraded with new software through imaging. Meanwhile my head is spinning because I’m trying to do all my “year-end” procedures! So at this point, since I wrote this all out I’m thinking is it best to let everyone run on FileMaker 6 while I convert to FileMaker 8. I can import the work they do in 6 while I’m working on 8, right? I just need a little guidance and a shove in the right direction! Thanks so much, Kate :P

As usual...I'm impressed and still have sooooo much to learn! Kate :P

Martin, Alright this is where an FM God I am not! I know I had this problem before with a leading "0" and I think I figured it out, but I'm drawing a blank this morning. I'll keep trying, but does anyone else know why this happens? Kate :P

Hi akfruit! To get (XXXXX)XXX XXX "(" & Left( Abs(Phone Number Field), 5) & ")" & Middle( Abs(Phone Number Field), 6, 3) & " " & Right( Abs(Phone Number Field), 3) To get XXXXX XXX XXX Left( Abs(Phone Number Field), 5) & " " & Middle( Abs(Phone Number Field), 6, 3) & " " & Right( Abs(Phone Number Field), 3) HTH, Kate :P

Thank you both, I don't want to limit how many characters can be entered, but I did use the length function to get the # of characters. Just used length(field). Now I can get a find off of that. How simple! Thanks again, Kate

I'm sure this is so simple, but I've never done it before! I want to find if a number field has more than 9 characters entered. Is it a find or do I have to set up a calc field? TIA, Kate : P.S. This question is for FM 6, I work in a school district where we are in the process of switching to 8!

Make sure your expiration date field is in fact set up in field definitions as a date field or else your sort won't work. HTH Kate :)

Hi Verojay! Not sure what Database A is being used for, but Database C (invoice) and Database B (address) have to have a common "key" field that is related. Then when you type the "key" from Database B into C, the address will pop through. Kate :)

Thank You!

Alrighty, it's Monday morning and I'm off to a great start!! I was playing around, clicked the "Try Default Password" when opening the file. Well, that default password gives me no rights to the database. How do I get the password prompt so that I can enter the "MASTER" password??? Kate

Try using a calc instead of a summary Sum(DB Name::Your Field)