I am new to FM and any help is appreciated.

I have two files, one is the main (PRA FILE) and a second file (CODE DESCRIPTION FILE).

A field in PRA is

Hi Roger,

You could do this by defining a relation from the 'CPT code' field in PRA to the 'CPT code' field in 'CODE DESCRIPTION FILE' in the 'PRA' database. Make sure both fields are set to the same datatype (numerical text)

Then define a lookup for the 'CPT Description' field in 'PRA' from the description field in the 'CODE DESCRIPTION FILE', using the relation you defined in the first step.

Hope this helps,

Regards,

Ernst.

Thanks, Ernst, for the reply. I tried that and nothing happens. Perhaps I wasn't clear in explaining..

There are two fields in main database, "CPT Code" and "Code description"

There is a separate database with a list of 500 codes (72020-Chest Xray, etc.).

The list is in a field named "Procedure"

Let's call the databases A and B. When I have data imported into A (CPT Code),

I want the field to find the match (first 5 digits of 72020-Chest XRAY) in B and copy the data to "Code Description" field in A.

In other words, I want to see 72020 in "CPT Code" and 72020-Chest Xray in "Code Description" fields.

In which database, A or B, do I do the lookup from and which field? Sorry if I am slow with this...I appreciate your time...Thanks Roger T

Alright, now I understand!

I think you first need to make a calculation field in B that extracts the CPT code from the 'Procedure' field. Lets call it 'Calc CPT Code'

The calculation of 'Calc CPT Code' would be:

Left(Procedure, 5 )

The relation that you define in database A would then have 'CPT Code' on the left, and 'Calc CPT Code' on the right side of the relation.

The lookup is also defined in database A (in the Field definitions for 'Code Description')

Remember that the lookup takes only place on the moment that a value is ENTERED in CPT Code in database A!

Hope this helps,

Regards,

Ernst

SUCCESS!!!...You have no idea the amount of time I have spent trying to solve this (simple) problem....THANK YOU VERY MUCH....Next time I am in the Netherlands, drinks on me!

Roger T