Hi,

I found this calculation on FileMaker's web site and it's the coolest thing since pork chops on a stick. It formats Social Security numbers with hyphens so you don't have to manually enter them. I understand most of it but would like to understand it all. Here it is:

left(SocSec, 3)&"-"&middle(SocSec,4,2)&"-"&right(SocSec,4)

Ok, I understand that the first part of this calculation takes the first 3 digits in a social security number and places them to the left of the first hyphen. The opposite happens in the last part of the calculation with the last 4 digits of the social security number. What I don't understand is what the number "4" in the [color:"blue"]middle(SocSec,4,2) does. The 2 obviously is the 2 digits surrounded by the hyphens. What's that 4 doing?

Also, does anyone have a suggestion on a good book/reference manual for FileMaker Pro? I am pretty good with the basics but calculations just boggle my mind. I would like a book that really examines how Filemaker calculations work (and what all the different functions do) from the perspective of a relative newbie.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Joe

middle(SocSec,4,2)

The 4 designates the character to start on.

A really good book that will immediately help you understand calculations and lots else is Scriptology by Matt Petrowsky and John Mark Osborne. Its a little out of date (covers thru version 4), but still really useful. They have loads of techniques and example files. www.scriptology.com

I use "Special Edition Using FileMaker Pro 5" in addition to Scriptology. Scriptology is great and goes deep into several areas, but also leave some other areas untouched. I recall that Amazon had a package deal on both these books a month or so ago - but the current version of Scriptology is meant to be getting a bit hard to get hold of now.

Boy, they don't exactly give Scriptology away ($80.00 at amazon) do they? I already have Using File maker Pro Special Edition but haven't really had much time to dig into it.

Thanks,

Joe

Thanks for the info slstorgher,

How come you don't have to tell the left and the right what charactor to start on? For instance:

left(SocSec,1,3)

or

right(SocSec,5,4)

Joe

left( means the left most characters ---- same with right( being the right most characters