Reorder sort blanks out summary field

[jrb12]

I have a number of layouts with subsummary and trailing grand summary parts. Each layout has the sort field and a summary field in the subsummary part, then the summary field again in the trailing grand summary part. When the records are sorted by the sort field for the subsummary part, everything displays fine and correct. However when a reorder is added to the sort so that the records are reordered to be decreasing by the summary field, the summary field content goes blank in the subsummary part. It still displays correctly in the trailing grand summary part.

It doesn't matter which summary field I put on the layout, the one that is included in the reorder goes blank. I believe it displays as blank because it is not computed. A percent summary field uses one of the summary fields and that goes to zero when the records are reordered by that summary field.

Any assistance would be most appreciated.

Thanks, John.

[stanley]

John:

Summary and subsummary parts are very particular regarding sort order. If you want to display the same data sorted differently, you'll have to create a different layout for each sort order you want to use, with the sort order indicated in the part setups. Otherwise, as you're discovering, you end up with some blank fields.

-Stanley

[jrb12]

Thanks Stanley. We have many fields to sort by and that is why we have so many layouts. Each of these layouts displays the data sorted by a different field. That field is specified in the subsummary part for that layout. The layouts display all summary fields correctly when there is no reorder to the sort. Its only when the reorder is added to the sort that the reordered field goes blank.

I hope that is clearer than mud.

John.

[stanley]

John:

My point was that changing the sort type (from ascending to descending, or whatever) actually counts as a different sort order altogether, and requires another layout.

-Stanley

[jrb12]

Stanley, maybe I'm still missing it. The subsummary part just requires a sort field. It makes no mention of the direction or of whether there is a reorder to the sort. I've stripped a layout down to the sort field and one summary field. The summary displays fine when there is no reorder on the sort field but goes blank when there is a reorder on that summary field.

If its necessary to specify the reorder in the subsummary part, how is that done? I think that I've followed the help directions correctly for this sort of report. But am always willing to be in error. I generally am not good with the bleeding obvious.

John.

[stanley]

John:

Maybe I'm missing something too. What exactly do you mean when you say "reorder." How are you accomplishing this?

-Stanley

[Oldfogey]

Well, I just created a report in V7, using a sub-summary part. The sort is on Date with a sub-total of Amount (very original!)

The sub-total is fine whichever way I sort the records.

I used the 'wizard' to create the layout, which I've never done before, and it did ask me to specify ascending or descending. However, once the layout is finished, there is no way I can find to reference a sort sequence in the Part definition.

(Mind you, it did crash when I tried to print it!! )

[stanley]

The thing is, I was doing just this same thing today in 5.5, and it was doing what John is describing. Now that I try to replicate the behavior in 5.5, the sort direction doesn't seem to matter. Why it was failing this afternoon is beyond me. So, with that said, I'll take back what I was saying earlier about sort direction having an effect on the failure of subsummary parts.

Of course, I also neglected to notice that John is using FMP7, which makes me feel like this:

-Stanley

[jrb12]

Aha ... now we're getting somewhere. In the Sort Records dialog box there is a section at the bottom where you specify a reorder of a sort by one of the summary fields in the table. It is used for summary reports when you want the report grouped by the sort field but sorted by one of the summary fields. In our case we want the report sorted in decreasing order by a summary field that holds a total dollar value.

Lookup "Sorting records by subsummary values" in the help files.

John .... whose shredded the box thinking about this problem

[stanley]

Ah, yes! I knew there was something in there. Of course, I've been sitting here looking at the 5.5 sort dialog box, and wondering what was missing, or where I was supposed to be looking for that. Yes, that's the deal right there.

Now feeling like less of a

-Stanley

[jrb12]

Stanley ... thanks for attending to this ... I missed a couple of posts with my last reply. This was working in FM6 fine as there is an option there for including summary fields in the sort. You would add the subsummary sort field then next add the summary field you wanted to sort the report on and it all worked fine. But after going to 7 I can't seem to make it work.

John.