using numbers in Text fields for Text functions

[christof]

Help. My scripting is a little rusty.

I have a text field that is only inhabited by 5-digit numbers. I want to write a script that looks at the first 2 characters in the field and fills in another field based on what they are.

I thought I could use the "Left" Text function to return the first 2 characters in the number string. Doesn't seem to work though.

Anyone suggest a method for doing this? I can post the body of the script thus far if you want to see the exact functions or syntax.

Thanks in advance.

Chris

[Vaughan]

The Left[] function should work. Text includes digits as well as letters.

Just a small thought though... the "numbers" are treated as strings of text, which might create unexpected results:

Value Left[Value, 2]

------------------------------

12345 12

10998 10

76249 76

99 99

2 2

Exactly how is the function not performing the way you expect? By "first two characters" do you mean from the left, or from the right?

[This message has been edited by Vaughan (edited January 15, 2001).]

[john.daly]

Firstly I can't see why you should want to use a script for the calculation rather than just using a calculated field. However, assuming you have good reason for doing so, I have tried it using Left(Text Field,2)* 5 as the calculation and it works perfectly regardless whether or not you specify the result as text or a number. Can you email me the script?