how to compare the content of a field with a certain string

[JohnC#]

i need to find how many field begin by "dem"

(dem 1;dem 2;dem 3...) i dont want to use the find mode

can you help me

[Vaughan]

I don't know of any way to perform a find...

Perhaps it's possible to create a self-join using a match with "dem" as the key...

[LiveOak]

How about a calculated field:

DemCount (calculation, number) =

Left(Field1, 3) = "dem"

+

Left(Field2, 3) = "dem"

+

Left(Field3, 3) = "dem"

.

.

.

This assumes you really mean how many Fields in a given Record contain "dem", not how many records or records and fields contain "dem". It also looks at the data in field, not the field names.

-bd