How To Search for Number of Characters In A Field

[FMjoe]

I imported data into a FileMaker Pro 7 database. I want to search a particular field and find all the records with more than 10 characters, including spaces, in it. How do I use the Length(field) function to search in that field?

[Lee Smith]

I don't think this has change in v7.

In the older version you could use the Length in a calculation like

Length(Text Field) <= 10 which will return a 1 if true and 0 if false.

HTH

Lee

[FMjoe]

so I can't get a found set of records that have more than 10 characters in a particular field?

I have thousands of records that need to be cleaned up and then imported into a new system. The new system has restrictions of how many characters can be used in a field. The old system did not. I have to capture the records that have more than so many characters in a particular field and shorten them or handle them differently.

[Lee Smith]

Yes you can, just do a find in the calculation field for 1 or 0 to find the records you are wanting to work on.

Lee

[FMjoe]

So what I do is create a calculation field with Length(field) and do my find on that field instead?

[-Queue-]

A calculation of Length(Text Field) > 9 should do it, then search for 1 on it.

You could do multiple find requests like @@@@@@@@@@, @@@@@@@@@@@, @@@@@@@@@@@@, but that would quickly become annoying.

[Lee Smith]

Uh, yeah that was your original questions wasn't it? How to use the Length(field) to isolate those fields that have more than 10 characters.

This is how I would set this up.

Two new field, g_Num and c_Length (if you have one or both of these set up, just subsitute your field names for mine.

g_Num