Trying to Concatenate First and Last Name

[Tenchi]

Maybe I'm going about this the wrong way:

I have a Student Database that stores name and address information. Each student, ideally, has a unique SSN as an identifier. Unfortunately, not all students provide a SSN.

For any student that doesn't provide a SSN, I want to check to see if the student exists in the database. I store the first and last names separately as StuFirstName and StuLastName, respectively. I want to use the field Whole_Name to add StuFirstName and StuLastName, and ensure the sum is unique with the Field Validation option.

I've been using:

Field: Whole_Name, Auto-Enter Calculation: (StuFirstName & StuLastName), Do not evaluate if all fields are empty

Validation: Unique

Display Custom Message: "This Name Already Exists"

The field order is StuLastName, StuFirstName. The calculation should be performed after data is entered in StuFirstName. The problem is that when I enter data in StuLastName, the result is calculated and only data from StuLastName is auto-entered.

What have I missed? Should I be using concatenation at all?

Thanks

[StevenB]

It looks like you're using a text field, try making it a Calculated field using the same calculation of StuFirstName & StuLastName.

Make sure you go to the Storage Options and check the box Do Not Store Calculation Results. This way it will update when the names are changed.

HTH

[The Bridge]

You're on the right track. Try this:

Make Whole_Name an indexed calculation = StuFirstName & " " & StuLastName

Make a self-join relationship, say, "Self|Matching_Name", matching Whole_Name to Whole_Name

Make the validation for StuFirstName and StuLastName:

= Count(Self|Matching_Name::Whole_Name) = 0

Hope this helps!

[Tenchi]

Thanks! That worked great!

[Tenchi]

Thanks! This is the validation I was aiming for!

This approach lends itslef well to my next hurdle: Using If... End If to hopefully display any matching records.