Can FM search all fields in a DB?

[russconte]

Let's say I have an employee database. To save space, is it possible to set up something like a pop up menu, but the pop up menu would include all the fields in the database? For example, someone could select "city" and then in a space enter "Chicago" and then do the search.

Can FM go one better and allow multiple pop up menus like this, so I can add a button for "more" and it would bring down another popup menu with all the fields, so I can search for all employees who live in Chicago and are named Smith.

It's easy to do this in a regular FM database, just go to find mode and type the data in the necessary fields, but for lots of reasons I'm trying to save space. Can FM do searches in the way I'm asking?

Thanks!

Russ Conte

[CobaltSky]

There are a few ways to do this.

Perhaps the simplest one is to create a value list with the fieldnames you want to include in the search, plus two global text fields - one for the selected fieldname to go into (from a pop-up menu based on the value list) and a second for the search criteria.

In addition, you'll need a button which is attached to a script to execute the find.

The script should first test for valid entries in the two global fields and, if it finds them, enter find mode. Once in find mode, it should conduct a series of tests (using If command sequences) to place the contents of the second global field into the appropriate field based on the selection in the first global field.

The script should then immediately proceed to perform the find (no pause, no restore) and clear both the global fields.