Find nulls and replace with ?

March 23, 200619 yr

another newbie question:

I would like to have a script run thru the database to find all the empty fields and replace them with ? or spaces or something.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

March 23, 200619 yr

Can you explain why you would want this? It will throw off very important things, such as searching, counting and such.

March 23, 200619 yr

Author

I know that in normal situations, this is not desired... but I have inherited a database (loosely termed) that was created in fm 3 or something and we just upgraded it to version 8. It seems flaky at best and crashes 4 -5 times a day... when a simple find is performed the system log generates errors such as:

Mar 22 16:56:37 TECH-RWILSON-MAC /Applications/FileMaker Pro 8/FileMaker Pro.app/Contents/MacOS/FileMaker Pro: CGPointApplyInverseAffineTransform: singular matrix.

Mar 22 16:56:37 TECH-RWILSON-MAC /Applications/FileMaker Pro 8/FileMaker Pro.app/Contents/MacOS/FileMaker Pro: CGPointApplyInverseAffineTransform: singular matrix

in bursts.... so I have done some things such as removed all fonts and colors and fills and all buttons are white/black. When I am in layout mode, on all blank fields the field name does not appear, but "graphic reporting" or "Powerful scripts" or "customizable buttons".... so I thought if I replaced all nulls with ? or a space, what would the fields display in the layout.

I am not sure why the errors are generating... and why the database crashes.... and I have been given the task to make a new database - stronger, better etc. But I am just beginning that task of the new database, and we need the current database until the new one is completed.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

March 23, 200619 yr

Wow. You have your hands full.

"all blank fields the field name does not appear, but "graphic reporting" or "Powerful scripts" or "customizable buttons"

You can change the display by selecting View > Show > and uncheck Sample data.

You are Mac so I would have no idea about the errors you are receiving. But upgrading vs. 3 to 8 would be a daunting task. Did you migrate your files according to Migrations pdf by letting FM convert them for you? There are many issues with a migration such as this and it is a very big subject.

Have you checked that your OS version will work with FM8? For instance, WinXP needs SP2 and 512 of RAM (I think). What Mac and Windows systems are you running? Is this through Server or Lan? Is OS sharing on? How are you configured? Answers will depend upon you providing more information. After a migration such as this one, check your File References. There are usually things to clean up. Try searching Tech Info on the errors you receive.

Hopefully others more who know Macs will step in to help you also ...

March 23, 200619 yr

ajtjazz,

Since you're on a Mac I don't know if this is applicable to your situation but when I went from v5.5 to v7 my system was crashing all over the place. I eventually discovered that the problem was a graphical object that was used on many different layouts. I deleted the object and the problem went away. Nowdays, I always try to use graphical objects made with native FM tools.

If I were you I would not mess around with the data until there is nothing else to try.

March 24, 200619 yr

Author

Thank you.... it was indeed the objects that crashed the database, so I replaced all buttons and hopefully all will stay good until the new db is completed

Again- thank you both for your help and time.

Happy Friday