Multiple calculatins in one?

[ZakBrave]

Hi,

I'm wondering if the following is possible. So far, I've asked many people, and no one knows. This forum is my last hope.

I have 2 related files. File A has a dropdown list with about 10 choices in one field. Each of these choices is the payment conditions of a certain client.

File B has one field showing the date on which a particular job was performed, and another field that is a calculation field that should tell me when I should be paid depending upon a date calculation. The problem is, there are about 10 different payment calculations that are possible for each job. Which one to apply needs to be determined by the value selected from the dropdown list in File A. This is what I'm having problems with.

In other words, I need to have about 10 different calculations available for use in a certain calculation field, but which calculation will actually be applied will depend on the value selected in File A. Is it possible to have multiple calculations available for use in a single field, with which one being used dependent on the value selected from a list in a related file?

I hope that's clear enough....

Thank you very very much for your help,

Zachary Braverman

[email protected]

[CobaltSky]

Hello Zachary,

What you are trying to do is very possible.

There are several ways to go about it, but what I'd suggest you consider is creating a single calculation field which uses the Case function to selectively apply the ten different formulae, depending on the value which has been selected from the drop-down list. The resulting compound formula would look like this:

Case(DropDownListFieldValue = "Value1", place your first formula here,

DropDownListFieldValue = "Value2", place your second formula here,

DropDownListFieldValue = "Value3", place your third formula here,

DropDownListFieldValue = "Value4", place your fourth formula here,

DropDownListFieldValue = "Value5", place your fifth formula here,

DropDownListFieldValue = "Value6", place your sixth formula here,

DropDownListFieldValue = "Value7", place your seventhformula here,

DropDownListFieldValue = "Value8", place your eighthformula here,

DropDownListFieldValue = "Value9", place your ninth formula here,

DropDownListFieldValue = "Value10", place your tenth formula here)

---

The way this will work is such that no value will appear (ie no formula will be applied) until a value is selected from the drop-down list.

[ZakBrave]

THANK YOU very much!

Now that you've laid it out for me it seems so simple, but you'd be surprised how many people didn't know the answer to that question.

Sincerely,

Zachary Braverman

[ZakBrave]

By the way, is there a book you could recommend that gives descriptions of all the calculation and scripting functions, so I won't have to ask questions like this in the future? I have Using FileMaker Pro, which is great, but it doesn't have this kind of detailed info.

Thanks again,

Zachary Braverman

Oita, Japan

[LiveOak]

The best description of FM's functions is in the built-in FM help. Just open FM and pull down the "Help" menu. Scriptology by Matt Petrowsky and John Mark Osborne goes into the philosophy and usage of calculations and scripts, but doesn't extensive describe the use of every function.

-bd

[kennedy]

The best description of FM's functions is in the built-in FM help.

Sorry to hear that. I find it really lacking... it tells you only the most basic info... never the fringe behavior... so I am constantly having to experiment to figure it out.

For example, not one of the "Words" Text functions, nor the overview, ever defines what it uses to delimit words. Just spaces? Spaces or commas? Spaces or any punctuation? Any non-alphanumeric? Any non-alphabetic? Further, the examples never illustrate such cases. So, the only way to know is to try it and see... and hope that is well-defined behavior across all platforms.

A good set of help files or good reference manual would have saved me tremendous time this week. If anyone knows of a book that covers such basics, but covers them comprehensively... please let me know.

Thanks!

[Keith M. Davie]

"For example, not one of the "Words" Text functions, nor the overview, ever defines what it uses to delimit words. Just spaces? Spaces or commas? Spaces or any punctuation? Any non-alphanumeric? Any non-alphabetic? "

Scriptoloty, recommended above, deals with this issue. Also has info about extending characters to ASCII. This is a combo book and CD of FMPro examples and is very useful to get started. One still needs to adapt what is offered to one's own design needs.