Auto Enter from a Drop Down List

[DimLibrarian]

Hey folks,

I've been pulling my hair out trying to get this to work. Here's the

prob.

I have three drop down lists with around 10 choices each. Depending on

what is chosen on each list, I want a value dropped into a fourth

field.

i.e.

Type

-this type selecting this should auto enter the number 1

-that type selecting this should auto enter the number 2

-the other type selecting this should auto enter the number 3

etc. there's three of these and i need each choice made by the user to

automatically enter the related value into the fourth field, each one

after the other, so that the values from the choices are strung

together in the fourth field.

any of this make sense?

thanks in advance for any advice,

DimLibrarian

[ESpringer]

Since I'm not sure what level you're at, I'll start with some basic questions:

(1) You have three fields, and it's not that you want automatic entry *into* these fields, but that you want whatever's selected for these fields to have an automatic impact on what displays in field #4. Yes? (It would be less confusing if you named the fields, rather than calling them "this type" "that type" and "the other", since it seems you have multiple "types of type".)

(2) You already have a relationship between each of the three initial type fields and a table with the corresponding values you want in the fourth, yes? (If you just want field 4 to show the combination of the actual data in those fields, that's even easier.)

(3) Is there a reason to think you want *auto-enter* rather than calculation?

So it would work like one of those Freudian interpretation parlor game books, where you asked someone to indicat a favorite color, favorite food, and favorite animal, and each value determines what word appears in the "diagnosis" string: You are an "Overanxious_Sensuous_Hermit" or something like that. (Sorry if the ilustration is silly, but it's more vivid than technical description.)

It seems that you're probably better off with a calculation field, specifying that field 4 should be made up of:

Field1Relation::result&" "&Field2Relation::result&" "&Field3Relation::result

or something like that. (This way the three related values would appear with spaces between. Is that what you want?)

If you want to be able to override the automatic calculation, you could have a field which is triggered by a script to do a LOOKUP of this sort of calc, but which you could then edit as needed.

Please say whether any of this is clear and relevant.

[-Queue-]

It sounds like you can make your fourth field a calculation or (auto-enter calculation with 'Do not replace existing values' deselected) something like

Case( field1 = "this"; "data1"; field1 = "that"; "data2" ; ... ) &

Case( field2 = "these"; "data3"; field2 = "those" ; "data4" ; ... ) &

Case( field3 = "another"; "anything"; field3 = "anyone"; "no one"; ... )

[DimLibrarian]

Man, you guys are good. You go right in and get all surgical about it. I'll give. This is what I'm trying to do.

I'm a librarian. We're tracking tasks. We need to make a code for the nature/channel/workgroup of the tasks. We do it by selecting the type of task (bibliographic, litigation search, etc.), the method by which it came to us (walk-in, phone call, etc.), and the practice area it came from (bankruptcy, real estate, etc.).

Each selection should spit out (consecutively, into my fourth field) a number related to each choice. This builds the code we need. So if I pick bibliographic, walk-in, bankruptcy on my three drop downs (remember, I have about 10 choices on each) I'll get the characters 123 dumped and saved into my fourth field as part of the record.

I'm a newbie at FM7, please be gentle, thanks again for all your help.

Dim

[-Queue-]

Okay, use the calculation I posted above, but substitute "this", "that", etc. with your own data and the numbers applicable to each selection in place of dataX.

Is each number to be returned based on its position in the appropriate value list? If so, we can create a much more dynamic calculation.

[DimLibrarian]

Thanks Queue, that was exactly what I needed. I got the problem licked with your help.

Thanks ESpringer for the help, your syntax helped when i was putting together the lists.

You guys are great, thanks for everything.

DimLibrarian