Creating a concatenated report of specimens examined

[Ento]

Hello all,

I'm new to FileMaker and I am using it to record collection information associated with insect specimens I am studying (where was the specimen collected, when was it collected and by whom, etc.). I'm trying to generate a “specimens examined” report for each insect species that includes all of the collection information in a single block of text.

For example, I'd like to take the following 6 records:

 

 

and in another layout generate a text report such as this:

 

Apis mellifera

MEXICO: Chihuahua: Chihuahua: Chihuahua, 26 Aug 1978, A. Cortez (1 female; BMNH). USA: Arizona: Cochise: Tombstone, 30 Jun 1881, W. Earp (1 male; AMNH). Pima: Tucson, 4 Jul 1952, M. Davis (1 female; NMNH). Santa Cruz: Patagonia, 30 Aug 1896, J. Smith (1 female; BMNH). Texas: Brewster: Big Bend National Park, 21 May 1944, K. Marr (1 male; AMNH). Pecos: Pecos River, 25 May 1944, K. Marr (1 female; AMNH).

 

I understand the gist of calculation references and strings at a beginner level. The part I'm having trouble figuring out is how to consolidate fields if they are identical with the last. In other words, if there are 5 specimens with “USA” as the country, I only want “USA” to appear once in the report as it will act as a header for all of the USA specimens; if there are 3 specimens with “Arizona” as the state, I only want “Arizona” to appear once in the report (as in the example above).

I'd be grateful for any insight as this is well above my current skill level and I'm coming up empty on my searches.

-Ento

 

Edited April 16, 2019 by Ento

[comment]

Filemaker's built-in reporting features allow you to easily produce a report in the form of:

MEXICO:
• Chihuahua
 ...
USA
• Arizona
...
• Texas
...

by using sub-summary parts for Country, State, Locality and any other field you wish to group your records by. 

 

Creating such report as text, in the format shown in your question, would be quite challenging. If truly necessary, I would use a script for this, not calculations.