I have been using portal filtering for some time but came across a potential error that I am trying to resolve.

When my portal filter is empty the calculation used in the relationship defaults to "0" (zero) which shows all of the related portal records.

The problem that this creates is that any filtered fields that contain data starting with a non-alphanumeric character do not show up in the portal when the filters are blank which is not the desired result. To put it another way only items starting with 0-9 and a-z will display when the filters are blank.

So I need to switch from using "0" to using some other chacter that is lower on the indexing list. I could not find any documentation on FileMakers web site to indicate what would be the lowest character. I thought it might be based on sort order so I imported a set of ASCII characters and it sorted "!" at the top and "z" at the bottom. I tried replacing "0" with "!" in my portal filter calculation but noticed that it does not include items starting with "-" and who knows what other characters it does not catch.

So, does anyone have a character recommendation to show all related items when the portal filter is blank?

Thanks,

Steve

Well, reviewing the "Insert From Index" in my ASCII characters database I think I found the character that I want. The "Insert From Index" lists the following accent character "˛" (ASCII character 254) at the top.

I tried it in my portal filter calculation and have not noticed any missing items.

So, does anyone have a character recommendation to show all related items when the portal filter is blank?

I use "zzzAll", or something similar. But it would help to know which method you're using to filter.