Simple yet Difficult!!

[Ted Papas]

Hi there, newbie layout puzzling question...

I 'm trying to show in a 2 row configuration data from a database, in a "calendar like" way.

For example, we want to show appointments at a given date. We get the results for that given date and we SHOULD have an appointment every 15 minutes starting from 10:00am (15 minutes is not a rule it could be 30 on occasions).

I can only manage to show each appointment time and name on a single line with the next following on the next line...

This is how the layout looks now:

Header -> Appointments for Date variable

Body -> App_Time variable - Last_Name variable - First_Name variable

What I want is to have 2 app_time and two names on a single line, then draw a line and then next line.

for example:

Header as is

Body -> App_Time Last_name First_name --- App_Time (next record though) Last_name First_name

Draw a line

Next record Next record

draw a line

etc...

How can I achieve that?

Best Regards,

[T-Square]

Getting data from a previous record is relatively easy; getting record from the NEXT one is difficult.

If your time units are all equal, you could create a calculated Appt_End field that simply adds the appointment duration to the start time. That would certainly be the easiest solution. It could also be made to work if you only have a few predictable exceptions to the durations (e.g., the time slots at 10, 12 and 2 are 1 hour, while all the rest are 15 minutes).

If they aren't equal, you might create a scripted solution that fills in the value just before loading your final display. This would probably rely on a reverse sort to set a stored value and paste it into the next record...

HTH,

David

[Ted Papas]

Maybe I complicated things the way I described my problem...

I do have the records, all I want is to display them in a 2 row configuration, instead of the single row that I have them now...

I'm sure there's got to be a simple solution to that...

[LaRetta]

In Layouts > Layout Setup and Printing tab you can designate 2 rows. But I don't think that's what you want here. You might consider using a portal. With portals, you can break the rows up however you wish; row 1 then row 2 next to it, row 3 and 4 below (right-click on portal, select Portal Format and Initial Row/Number of Rows. You can put anything in a portal; even the records from the table you are currently viewing. The only difference is that you would use a cartesian join operator between them.

[Ted Papas]

Actually that was exactly what I wanted! Thanx so much... I wasn't aware of the two column printing...

Cheers