I'm working with a nutritionist to prototype an FMP database that will be used to evaluate patient lab test results. It has a large number of rules, which are applied to the lab results that are imported into the database. The kicker is that the rules are often changing - hence a primary design issue is

That sounds pretty neat. I tried an example (attached).

I think the hard part is a screen layout that makes it clear to the user what they need to do. I added value-lists to help out with that. Also, I changed the "most complex" expression to be an OR of two ANDs - I think the symmetry makes it clearer what is going on.

The expression is created in the "Condition" variable for easy debugging, and at the Evaluate() I mention all the fields that can be used, so it will update automatically when the bloodCount changes.

With my example, rather than specifying "NONE", you just leave a line blank and it is dropped out of the Condition by the calculation. The calculation should be able to be extended easily if you need 3 ORs.

Also, notice for the ANDs you are required to fill in the top value if you want to use that AND, you can't fill in only the second condition of the AND.

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Thanks for your "vision" of what I can do; I look forward to studying it tonight - I'll let you know what I think - until then a BIG, BIG THANKS for taking a stab at it.

I'll be in touch,

Mark L.

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Sorry for the slow response - I've just been swamped.

Your coding was excellent and well thought through. Your additional "symentry" change to the equation did add more to it - great idea. I tip my hat to you.

When I reviewed the basic logic with the nutritionist - although the logic was basically what he had asked for -we both realized his thought process/logic actually is different than what he had previously specified. Now it's back to the drawing board to represent the process he goes through in evaluating lab results! I'll keep you posted on the next step if you are interested.

My sincere thanks,

Mark L.

Thanks Mark.

Keep us appraised of your progress - I'm sure we're all curious to hear how your "expert system" from within FileMaker works out.