Reducing first name

[wenzelj]

I need a way to reduce the full first name to the first initial or first two if the last name is the same.

ex. Smith, John

Smith, Jason

Need to show Smith, Jo and Smith, Ja

Any help would be appreciated.

FileMaker Version: 5

Platform: Windows 95/98

[Lee Smith]

Are these separate fields now, or one?

If so, you would need to use the Left Function in your calculation.

Combined Name (Calculation, Text Result) =

Last Name & Left(First Name, 2)

However, I don't think this is going to do what you really want. What if the names are Joe, John, Jon, etc.

HTH

Lee

[wenzelj]

I have namefirst, name middle, and name last fields. Trying to figure a way to reduce the first name to however many characters to signify individuality on a list... We have people with same last names and first names begin with the same letter so I need to go deeper into the first name field.

I have done the Left(namefirst and gotten the first initial. Want to calculate only first initial of namefirst on all except those that need first, second, third, etc.....

anymore help?

[Vaughan]

Sometimes you're better off prompting the user for help. Like, what happens when there are two John Smiths -- the whole names match.

OTOH, I'd consider adding another field to the mix, like their birth date, their home city or phone number...

Smith, J - Pheonix

Smith, J - New York

[QuinTech]

Vaughan is right, wenzel... asking the user for help is the best idea.

Or you could try this:

Make several calculation fields:

Last = Smith

LastF = SmithJ

LastFi = SmithJo

LastFir = SmithJoh

...

Now make a corresponding number of relationships,

Last::Last

LastF::LastF

...

For your result field, just test each relationship in order with the IsValid function and return the first result for which the relationship is invalid:

Case ( not ( IsValid ( Last::someField ) ) , LastName ,

not ( IsValid ( LastF::someField ) ) , LastName & Left ( FirstName , 1 ) ,

not ( IsValid ( LastFi::someField ) ) , LastName & Left ( FirstName , 2 ) ,

...

Thus, if there is no other Smith, the result is Smith.

If there is another Smith but no other JSmith, the result is JSmith.

If there is another JSmith but no other JoSmith, the result is JoSmith.

J

FileMaker Version: 6

Platform: Windows 95/98