a large find list, how to use

[frogg609]

I need to search a Filemaker database I have for 400 email addresses. I have the addresses in excel, but don't know any easy way to make 400 find requests in Filemaker. Any hep would be appreciated.

[Ender]

There's a couple ways this could be done, but what's the goal here? Do you want to have a found set of the matching records? What about those that are not found? Or do you just need to know if they exist in the larger file already?

[frogg609]

i know they all exist, what i need to do is pull these 400 records, and seperate them from the rest so i can send them all a letter.

[Ender]

I'm not sure why you're not just using FileMaker for your larger file, and marking a field (or using a related file) to indicate the addresses that are part of this mailing group. Then you'd just find for that group.

However, if that's not an option, you could add a global text field to the group's file and define a relationship between the group's file and the larger contact file's ID field (you'd need to make it a FileMaker file.)

Then use a Copy All Records script step to copy the email addresses (unless you have a better ID that can be matched in the larger contact file too.) This Copy All Records step must be performed on a layout that only has the email address (or record ID) on it. Then paste this into the global (on another layout,) and use a Go to Related Records [ Show ] step to jump to the matching records in the larger contact file.

[frogg609]

"Go to Related Records [ Show ] step to jump to the matching records in the larger contact file"

how do i set this up?

[Ender]

"Go to Related Records" is a script step available for scripts in ScriptMaker. You'd add that step to a new script and select the relationship described above. Then check the option to only show related records.

[frogg609]

when i perform the "go to related records" it only pulls up one, not all of the records.

[Ender]

Do you have it defined on the relationship with the global? Perhaps you can post zipped clones of the problem files.

[frogg609]

i included the external file that held the bad email addresses, and i also included the main file. i took out all of the data, but basically what i need to happen is thus:

Bad emails from the bad email DB need to match up with bad emails from the main DB, giving me a list of 400 or so addresses so that I can print form letters for people.

bademails.zip

[Ender]

You had the global in the wrong file. Try this.

Archive.zip

[frogg609]

i don't see what that global is doing though. it's just that one email address duplicating itself over and over.

[Ender]

No, the global is a multikey on the parent side of the relationship.

[frogg609]

i see it works, but i don't understand what it's doing. so i can use this in the future, an explanation would be great.

thanks for your help.

[Ender]

A multi-key allows OR matches in the relationship. If the parent file has records in the found set with IDs:

123 - Bob

142 - Elane

173 - Jordon

and you want to see all the related records from Bob OR Elane OR Jordon, then putting the IDs into one field, separated by returns, will create a multi-key, that can then be used in a relationship. We used Copy All Records to grab the keys for the found set, but a loop would work too. The multi-key would then be:

123

142

173

Then using a relationship between this global with it's multikey, and the related file's ID field, we can see all the related records for any of those IDs. The Go to Related Records [] script step puts these related records in the found set.