I would like to know if there is any way to link a field containg keywords to a thesaurus (list of terms with synonyms and if possible multilingual). For example, I want the data base to understand that chair=armchair=chaise without having to enter the three terms each time. If the equivalence is set in a thesaurus once for all, when I search for chair, the result will aslo display records containg equivalent values.

Thank you for your replies

This is a little brutal, maybe a really nice approach will occur to me.

1) Create a thesaurus file of words that are linked. Fields would be:

WORD (text)

KEY (number)

Create a self relationship called SYN, matching KEY to KEY.

Words that are synonyms would have the same value for KEY.

2) Upon entry of a keyword, lookup or find the word in the thesaurs file. "Find" the other synonyms using from the record for the keyword using Goto Related Record (show only related records) using the relationship SYN.

3) Using a script, build a find request with the found set from the SYN file (one request for each synonym (max of 10) and perform a find.

-bd

I'd never consider a chaise lounge similar to an armchair. You ever tried lying on an armchair?

This may be a little late, but I thought I would mention it anyway.

In LiveOak's solution, you don't have to use a separate record for each word. You can put all of the equivalent words together in the WORD field of one record by separating them with a carriage returns. So, each record would then have a unique KEY, but all the equivalent words would be in the WORD field in that record. I have used this technique to speed up data entry in a simalar situation. It keeps the thesaurus file a little neater too.

BTW, this is actually an official *documented feature* of Filemaker. (Alas, I have been known to use some rather nasty undocumented glitches in Filemaker in order to get it to do what I want.)

BTW (again) I lie on my armchair all the time. I do it sideways, much like I do most things.