Summarizing a Repeating Field

[jvoldal]

Is there a way to create a field that compiles entries from a repeating field? I am using a repeating field to track companies I am working with on a particular project. Entries in the field range from Zero to one or two, or up to as many as 15 or more. Accomodating this field on my layouts requires a separate layout, but it would be useful if I could create a field to feature on my primary layout for quick reference that summarized the results of the repeating field, like the following:

[Company A; Company B; Company C; etc.]

This seems like it should be pretty simple, but is beyond may current capabilities. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

John

[sbg2]

Lets start basic here. 99.5% of the time you find yourself saying - "I need to have 0 to x repitions of this field for each record", then the field in question needs to be in a seperate file. For starters, look at the Project file in the example I have attached.

ProjectFiles.zip

[jvoldal]

Your response is very much appreciated, but I am not sure how it is helping me. The values that I would be using in the repeating field are coming from a seperate file "Companies." My problem is that the space required for the repeating field does not fit on my primary page, and it would be beneficial to be able to see those entries in some condensed form on the primary page. It seems to me that I should be able to create a field that takes the values from the repeating field for a particular record and show them with a seperator between values. Does that clarify what I'm trying to accomplish?

Thanks,

John

Edited March 23, 2006 by Guest

[bruceR]

Your response is very much appreciated, but I am not sure how it is helping me. The values that I would be using in the repeating field are coming from a seperate file "Companies." My problem is that the space required for the repeating field does not fit on my primary page, and it would be beneficial to be able to see those entries in some condensed form on the primary page. It seems to me that I should be able to create a field that takes the values from the repeating field for a particular record and show them with a seperator between values. Does that clarify what I'm trying to accomplish?

Thanks,

John

The person sending you the file - done in FileMaker 3 - illustrated the use of scrolling portals to display related information. This is something you could do if you got rid of the repeats and used a standard "child" table. You *really* should get rid of the repeats. This is a classic, very ordinary one to many relationship. If you don't know how to do that - it's time to learn.

If you move to FileMaker 8, it is possible to use a recursive custom function based on the FileMaker 8 getNthRecord feature to build your calculation, and that can be covered later. But first you should learn how to use related data, since FileMaker has been relational for a very long time now.

Edited March 24, 2006 by Guest