How to restrict number of same related records?

[sydude]

Hi-

Can someone please help me figure out how I can limit the number of times a certain field value can be created for each related record? I have no idea if I'm making any sense, but I'll give you an example:

I have two related databases. One is a "Users" database, and the other is a "Football Picks" database. The user makes multiple team picks thoughout the season, but the user should only be able to choose each team 4 times in total. How can I limit that?

Basically, the calculation or validation needs to be able to stop the entry of a value entered into a field belonging to an individual user to only a limited amount of times.

Anyone have any ideas please?

Thanks

Sy

[Vaughan]

The PatternCount() function would be helpful.

Also look into the ValueListItems() function, it is good for getting a list of data from a field in related records.

Basically you'll run a PatternCount on the string returned from ValueListItems.