MicheleC

Beautiful! Did not know about this, it's just what I needed. Thank you!

I've inherited a FM database, so I don't know all the ins and outs of how it was created. I *think* I have two tables that are not used anywhere, and that I can delete them, but (of course) I want to be sure. Per the Relationship graph, they don't have any relationship with any other tables. Is there an easy way to tell whether these tables and their data are entirely unconnected with the rest of the system, and are ok to delete?

Aha. But what is a TO? Update: Tested with repeating fields, doesn't work. Only the first value is displayed. Workarounds? Never mind. Thanks

Is it possible to put a portal in a layout in database B that displays data from database A? I don't want the information to be editable from database B, just visible there. To (perhaps) complicate things further, the data I want to pull in and display is stored as a repeating field in database A. Possible or no?

Thanks, everyone. I am aware that it's a second occurrence and not an actual copy of the table, and after investigating various other options -- or rather the lack thereof -- I think this is the right way to go in this case. This will be the first time in seven years we've had to do this in our database, so I'm actual kind of pleased that our design hasn't needed it until now

Are there any drawbacks to creating a second occurrence of a table? I have hunted around through documentation and help and I can't find a concise discussion of what the negative impacts of it might be.

That worked a treat -- thanks!

OK, my last question turned out to have an idiotically simple solution, so I'm hoping this one does too. I have a Funds table, listing the various pots of money which can be used to purchase a given item. Each fund has a fund_name. There is also a fund_active field indicating whether the fund is still open for use, with values YES/NO. I have a Purchases table. When a record is created for a new purchase, one of the fields is "Fund" indicating the fund used to purchase the item. This field is a drop down value list, which is set to "Use values from field Funds::fund_name". Currently, this drop down shows ALL the fund names in the Funds table, and the list is getting really long. I would like it to limit the drop-down value list to only those funds whose fund_active is set to YES. This seems like it should be easy. I've look at a few postings about conditional value lists and they all seem like overkill for what I want to do.

Using v12 now. Have updated. Thanks. Alas, I have no such check box in my layout setup... Well heck. That's it! I was in List view -- I couldn't tell because the form basically fills the entire screen, so I didn't see any of the others above/below it. Wow do I feel dumb. Thanks

I assume you have related your Sales table to your Show Dates table. Is there just one item in the Sales table for each Show Date? If so, let's say that field is called Total, then on your Show Dates layout, if you insert the field Sales::Total you can enter sales information right there on the Show Dates layout. Is that what you want to do? However, if that IS what you want to do, why bother keeping Sales in a separate table?

I have a database with a number of layouts. Each has the same logo at top left, a title in caps, and then a 1-pt line box surrounding the fields. For consistency's sake I want all these things in the exact same location on each page. In Layout Mode I have used the Inspector to check the location of all these items (for example, the logo is at 0,0) and they are identical across all layouts.  However, when I'm in regular mode and I click through the layouts, on ONE layout everything is shifted about 2 pts to the right, and there is a tiny gap all down the left side -- see screen caps (hope they're big enough). This gap is NOT visible when I look at it in Layout mode. I have checked the Body and Header locations and they're set the same as all the other layouts.  This is driving me nuts not being able to figure it out. Help?

Sadly, I have no idea what any of that means. Could you be more specific? What is "Advanced"? What is a "DDR"? How do I create one? I'm not sure I understand how renaming and sorting my fields will tell me where they are used, could you elaborate?

Is there an easy way to check whether a field is used in any scripts and/or present on any layouts? I have a database that's been around for quite a while and I suspect that some of the fields are no longer used/needed. I've determined that we don't directly need the data in these fields (either it's captured better elsewhere, or it was for a workflow that no longer exists), but before I go deleting them I want to be sure that they aren't (1) present on a layout somewhere or (2) used in a script.

I see. I also just found this in the Help: "If your file is shared, only the host's changes to global field data are saved. Changes are saved only when the file is closed." So that explains that. It isn't quite how I would have expected a global variable to behave, but there is some logic to it. You're right that an auto-entered serial number would be more convenient, but the string we want to create actually depends on a different variable, which can have one of two values (i.e. string1_001 or string2_001). Hence my trying to calculate it myself. I may just drop the idea and go with the auto-enter anyway. It creates a different issue down the road, but I think I can come up with a workaround. Thanks for your feedback.

I have a script that works fine for me but is not working (or at least, part of it is not working) for someone else on a different workstation. Any thoughts on why this might be happening? The script creates a new record and sets a bunch of field values automatically. The part that appears to not be working involves: a.) incrementing a global variable b.) concatenating that new value with some other stuff c.) putting the result into a field in the new record Everything seems to work except the incrementing. I can't figure out why it works for me but not for someone else. The database doesn't have any security or login restrictions on it. Ideas?

OK, that makes sense. So in trying to make it easier I was actually making it harder! Will take a shot at doing it that way. Thanks.

Oh I see. Well, I want to then find the record(s) with that most-recent date, sort them based on a different field (in case there are more than one), get the last one in that sort order, and then display some info from it in a custom dialog. Maybe I'm making it too hard. I suppose I could simply sort ALL the records by date and then just go to the last one. I thought of that but it seemed overkill to sort everything just to find one record. But maybe that would that be a better approach?

Sure -- I have 2000+ records; each one has an accession date. I'm trying to find the most recent accession date across all records. I thought Max was the way to go but apparently not (and now I'm not even sure I understand what Max does LOL!). Thanks --

Not trying to be dense but I don't understand what's meant by Cartesian, nor by a "summary-type field," and when I search the list of functions I find no mention of a "Maximum" function.

I'm trying to get the most recent date in a particular field, across all my records. The field is Accessions:accession_date. The field is set to Date type. The date is not calculated, it's manually entered into the field when a new record is created (in some cases the field is empty when the accession date is unknown). I tried Max (Accessions:accession_date) but every time I run the script, I get the date of the record I'm currently sitting on, not the max date of all records. What am I doing wrong?

w00t! You guys are great (and speedy) -- works like a charm, thanks :

I have two tables, Collections and Restrictions, which are related via a unique ID string (CollectionID). For most of the records, the ID is numeric but for a few it's alpha. When viewing the Collection table, I have a script that when activated should display a dialog box showing related information from the Restrictions table. Not all collections have restrictions, so the script looks like this: [color:blue]If [Restrictions::CollectionID] Show Custom Dialog [ Title: Collection::collection_title&" -- "&Restrictions::restr_type; Message: Restrictions::restr_text; Buttons: "OK"] End If When the ID is numeric, it works great. When the ID is alphabetic, it doesn't work. Is the test I'm using only for numeric data? What do I need to change so that it works? Thanks!

Sorry, I can't view this graphic (gives me a 404 error). Can you send it to me directly at mrrothen@syr.edu ?

Thanks - but how do you export without it's being on the layout? When I set up the XML export I have a list of fields on the left to choose from. The date variable I set does not show up on this list. When I add it to the layout, it does show up on this list. What am I missing?

I haven't been able to find a way to export the field unless it's displayed; if you can tell me how to do this I'd be grateful. When I do the XML export (or any export), I have a list of fields down the left to choose from. The date variable I created is not listed. When I add it to the layout, it is listed.