Sorting field contents entered from checkboxes

[CraigH]

In one layout of my solution, the user is presented with one field with checkboxes and is asked to select "all options that apply" (ie. selected from values in the associated value list).

In different "report" layout, I show the contents of that field presented as a standard field. The contents of the field are, of course, the values selected from the checkbox, delimited by carr. returns.

The order in which these are displayed in the report layout (in the standard field) are shown in the order that they were selected.

Question: Is there a way to display the contents of the field in a sorted fashion (ie. ignoring the order in which they were selected) ?

Thanks....

[Vaughan]

Simple answer: no.

Extremely complicated answer: yes.

The yes answer will involve parsing and sorting the field entry with a script, or using a portal and related records instead of simple checkboxes.

Other people will no doubt have even better suggestions!

[Fitch]

You'll need a calculated text field and a cup of coffee. Something like this:

-- {P} means the paragraph symbol --

Case (PatternCount (Flavors, "Sweet"), "Sweet{P}") &

Case (PatternCount (Flavors, "Sour"), "Sour{P}") &

etc. etc.

Of course this will always leave you with an extra carriage return, and the easiest way to fix that is with another calculated text field:

Left(flavorCalc, Length(flavorCalc) - 1)

[-Queue-]

See the thread 'Sorting Checkboxes' for a much easier solution that does not involve knowing the contents of the value list.