Trying to group data on a report

[D.M. Wrider]

If I need to post this in a different forum, please forgive me and point me in the right direction.

Creating a database for a client and have one more bump to get over before I'm home free.

I'm trying to set up a report and I can't get the results I want. I know it's simply because I don't know enough about parts and summary fields, so I could use some help.

I have a number of financial entries. Let's say five of them are in January, and five are in March. When I create my report, sorting by date, it gives me January, January, January, January, January. I'd like to group all financial entires in January, so that I have a "January" heading with just the financial entries underneath. Make sense?

I'm having trouble getting it to group 1/5/06 and 1/14/06 into a "January" category.

I've looked through the FM Help and can't find what I'm looking for...

I'd like to be able to have another report to group by month and then simply have a grand total within that month as well (instead of listing all individual entries).

Any tips? I always try everything I can think of, and this one's got me stumped. It's probably something simple. :)

[mr_vodka]

Take a look at these threads and see if they help.

Thread 1

Thread 2

[D.M. Wrider]

Thanks for the links. I'd found one, and the second one gave extra help.

Unfortunately my brain hasn't wrapped around the concept yet. I'm understanding that I need several additional fields that will help group the data... but I don't know if my calculations are off or what. I made two more fields, one for month and one for year, and they show up blank, so apparently I did something wrong.

I started out with one date field called "Gift Date." It's used on the main layout and on the report.

I need someone to back up just a little and get me started from the very beginning or something. I feel silly that I haven't "gotten" it yet.

Thanks for your help - I'm most appreciative.

[mr_vodka]

Take a look at this sample file. There is also a group by year option if you need to incorporate grouping by year as well, in case you have multiple years.

Report_Date.zip

[D.M. Wrider]

Thanks a million.

My time at my computer is up for the day, but I'll try it again tomorrow. Your sample database will be a great help. I'm a visual person, so being able to see how it works will help me along.

One more question for today though - if the month field is text, how can one sort by month (not alphabetically)?

I'll be sure to let you know if I get it straightend out! :)

[mr_vodka]

Your question is answered in the sample file.

:)

[D.M. Wrider]

Ohhh, the value list! I finally saw it.

You've been so much help. Your sample was great and I've got my own report on its way to being exactly what I wanted.

Thank you so much!!