I obviously don't fully understand Find mode:

[vwgtiturbo]

Hello all! I'm sure this will be a very basic inquiry for the gurus, but I can't seem to wrap my head around it...

My old FM database was a simple flat file affair, and searching was pretty much a no brainer. After rebuilding it as a relational database, I'm noticing that my searches are... impossible. Many of my fields are based on value lists, that are in turn based on related records. When I enter Find mode, and I select a dropdown that is set up in this way, I am met with "No Values Defined".

Now, it makes sense that no values are defined, as I am in Find mode and not IN a record that is related to the choices in the dropdown menu, but I suppose I am wondering how everyone else does this? Do we copy these fields, and have them linked to value lists that include ALL potential dropdown choices (versus related only), then hide the copies when not in Find mode, or am I overthinking this?

As usual, thanks in advance!

[Steve Martino]

Dropdowns based on value lists work fine for Find Mode, normally.  I don't know how your value lists, based on related records are set up.  Can you provide a small sample file?

[vwgtiturbo]

On 3/8/2018 at 9:15 AM, Steve Martino said:

Dropdowns based on value lists work fine for Find Mode, normally.  I don't know how your value lists, based on related records are set up.  Can you provide a small sample file?

I'll attempt to put something together this weekend. The database will require quite a bit of sanitizing and loading with bogus data. Thanks!

[Lee Smith]

There are a lot of examples of a Conditional Value List, 

Here is a link to three of them by Database Pros »» Resources »» Conditional Value List

There are more exhibits, some have been posted to different needs here by our members.

Let us know if you need some help interpreting these or have more questions about your need.

You will need to convert them by dropping them on FileMaker Pro's 14 application.

I forgot to mention that there are videos available for free here https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=conditional+value+list+filemaker

Have fun,

Lee

[vwgtiturbo]

On 3/9/2018 at 2:23 PM, Lee Smith said:

There are a lot of examples of a Conditional Value List, 

Here is a link to three of them by Database Pros »» Resources »» Conditional Value List

There are more exhibits, some have been posted to different needs here by our members.

Let us know if you need some help interpreting these or have more questions about your need.

You will need to convert them by dropping them on FileMaker Pro's 14 application.

I forgot to mention that there are videos available for free here https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=conditional+value+list+filemaker

Have fun,

Lee

Thank you for the resources, Lee! I will keep those references handy.

Not being able to put together a properly sanitized variant of the DB I am using (for peer review), I ended up simply creating a different layout to use for searches. For whatever reason, going into Find mode (on my usual layout) and selecting a drop down menu field was resulting in "<no values defined>". This kind of made sense; in Browse mode, these menus are based on value lists based on related records, and in Find, the context of relation seems to be removed. On the new layout, I opted for text input fields (versus the drop down menus). This allows the input of values that I am looking for.

Thanks for the attention!