Sorting a Portal with A-Z Radio Buttons

[Mike Miles]

I have a portal with many customers.

On the same layout i would like to have 26 Radio Buttons (A-Z) and be able to view only the selected letter in the Customer portal.

Is there a way to do this. It's gotta be some sort of Sort, but i cannot figure it out.

Please Help. TIA

Mike

[Vaughan]

It's not a sort, it's done with remote keys.

In the Customers file, create a calc field that contains the letter the company is to be listed under: this might be something like "Left( Company Name ; 1 ) but you might want to make it smarter so it ignors "The" at the start of company names.

In the layout displaying the portal, have a global field. Relate this global to the calc field in customers that has the first letter. Base the portal on this relationship or TO.

[Mike Miles]

It's not a sort, it's done with remote keys.

In the Customers file, create a calc field that contains the letter the company is to be listed under: this might be something like "Left( Company Name ; 1 ) but you might want to make it smarter so it ignors "The" at the start of company names.

In the layout displaying the portal, have a global field. Relate this global to the calc field in customers that has the first letter. Base the portal on this relationship or TO.

Still lost!

I did the first part of what you said,(calc field for customer), but you lost me after that. You are very helpful, but i definitely need it spelled out for me. Please help if u can. Thanks so much.

[Genx]

... here's how it works...

Table 1 Table 2

Global field = calc field for customer

Global field... where its attached to a value list of your 26 letters...

[Lee Smith]

Maybe this simple file will help you.

A_Z_Relate_CO_Names.fp7.zip

[Mike Miles]

Lee,

Once again...your knowledge is greatly appreciated.

Mike

[Mike Miles]

Lee,

i have attched the file you sent me with one modification (Radio Buttons instead of drop down). Take a look if you don't mind.

What i would like to do as well is sort not only by the first letter, but also have an "ALL" Radio Button choice to display all customers in the portal. TIA.

Mike

A_Z_Relate_CO_Names.zip

[Lee Smith]

okay,

I made a couple of changes.

First, change your calculation of Left( to

Left(Company; 1) & "¶" & "All"

Next, change the relationship so that it sorts by company

HTH

Lee

p.s. if you need a sample let me know

[Mike Miles]

Lee,

That was it. It's perfect. Thank you , thank you.

Is there any books you can recommend to teach me both Calculations & Scripting? I have been usin FMpro for about 8-10 months. I would be lost on alot of things if it were not for this Forum.

TIA.

Mike

[Lee Smith]

Hi Mike,

I could recommend some books, but this becomes difficult due to the different skill levels they address. Better that you review the references and recommendations that are in the [color:blue] FileMaker Marketplace » FileMaker Resources Topic Area that is located towards the bottom of the Index page.

Some that are recommend are old, covering versions 3/4 and 5/6, but are still good reference books. Because they are old, you can sometimes buy them cheap at the auctions like Ebay, and Amazon.

You can not beat this Forum as a reference though.

HTH

Lee