value lists based on field - not all showing

[elvis_impersonating_penguin]

ok.. I have some value lists that are based off of fields. the problem is that any value in the field that is over a certain length, doesn't seem to want to show up in the value list. If I put these same values in a regular value list it works fine.. very odd problem.

[elvis_impersonating_penguin]

ok... i reread my post, and realized it may be a bit confusing... so, let me reword.

i have a "main menu" database with one record where I store fields that i use to create value lists. I do this because I created a "value list editor" that is easier for users to use than filemaker's built in value list editor. now when these lines in these fields get very long, that line does not show up in the value list.. quite annoying. I hope that explains it better.

[-Queue-]

Are the lines over 60 characters in length? FileMaker < 7 won't index any lines greater than 60 characters.

[elvis_impersonating_penguin]

yes some of them are over 60 characters... is there anyway to get around this crappy limitation?

[The Shadow]

FM7 indexes 110 chars of an english field.

[-Queue-]

Abbreviate where you can.

[elvis_impersonating_penguin]

yeah... I'll have to find another way... we've decided not to upgrade to 7 just yet...

[ESpringer]

You might also see whether you just want to work with a related file for the longer items. I did that with my "comments" list. Originally it was a value list, and then I realized that each comment might usefully have multiple tags and versions, abbreviations and so forth. Now, the 2-3 letter "tag" for the comment is entered by a value list from my main file, but the tag serves as a key for connecting to the real comment itself. (The value list popup for the tag can still *show* the full or abbreviated comment for better data-entry confidence.) Another advantage is that this enables my long text strings to include style info, which a value list can't do. I can also have one layout (of the record in the main file) display the whole related comment, while another layout (list view, say) can display just the tag or just an abbreviated version for easier scanning.

I realize that this wouldn't build on your current solution for editing the list, but editing an actual file of comments may be even easier than other approaches...

If you need the comment to be "static" (so that old records keep the same value even after the current list is updated), then you could use some kind of auto-enter functionality from the related field in the comments file.

[elvis_impersonating_penguin]

ok... i'm still pretty stuck, i have some ideas, but i may be over complicating this. in the long run i want a check list that has categories in it kind of. and the number of categories may need to be edited as will the number of value list items. If that doesn't make any sense, here is kind of what it needs to look like.

Category 1

    [_]check box item 1

    [_]check box item 2

    [_]check box item 3

Category 2

    [_]check box item 1

    [_]check box item 2

Category 3

    [_]check box item 1

    [_]check box item 2

    [_]check box item 3

    [_]check box item 4

in the end, everything needs to be editable, the category headings, number of category headings, check box items, number of check box items. And many check box items need to go above the 60 character indexing limit.

[Martin Trautmann]

FM7 indexes 110 chars of an english field.

In fact it's only 108 characters per line. I guess you quoted 110 from the docu?

[The Shadow]

From memory actually. A quick test shows its really 109 characters.

The attached file shows it with the "Insert from Index" dialog, if you add another "a" character to the string in both records, the two entries in the dialog drop to a single one.