Hello all, I'm very very new to Filemaker and just learning slowly by myself. I'm trying to set a month field that automatically enters the current month a record is being created, and I finally found the right calculations for it which is:

MonthName ( Get ( CurrentDate ) )

But I have more questions regarding this setup. I would like the result shows as the first 3-letters of the month, ie: Jan, Feb, Mar, etc.

Is there anyway to do this easily? I have searched the forum and google it, and also reading the help menu with no answer.

Also I'm planning to buy a book so can you recommend me which book is the best one for a total beginner like me?

My goal with filemaker eventually is for me to create a simple invoicing system that will record all my transactions and also somehow create a simple customer database. I hope that's not like reaching for the moon for a newbie like me.

Thank you in advance for your help.

For the date format:

Left ( MonthName ( Get ( CurrentDate ) ) ; 3 )

BTW, you might to change the CurrentDate to a Date such as creation date and use this instead.

Left ( MonthName ( CreationDate ) ; 3 )

For the recommended books, videos, classes, etc. see the Resource Topic Area and The User Groups Topic areas, for some excellent references.

HTH

Lee

Edited November 23, 200619 yr by Guest
btw and leftwords to left

Thank you Lee,

Your first example worked perfectly. I have read what the Left function do so I learn something today.

A note though, your second example regarding CreationDate doesn't work. Filemaker kept saying "the specified field cannot be found." Tried looking up CreationDate in the help menu but can't find anything about it.

CreationDate was just a generic Name I used in place of a Date Field you may have. Without knowing the names of your fields, we will often use generic names to represent the fields involved, such as AnyDate, CreationDate, YourDateHere, etc..

My choice of CreationDate was a hint at how you might do this instead of the Get Function (CurrentDate). In other words, I would use a separate date field, and the Option of Creation Date in this case. Any date field can be tied to the Creation of Record using the Options available for the Date Fields, in Define Fields.

HTH

Lee