sorting records

[elvis_impersonating_penguin]

ok.. when i do a search i want the records to sort by 3 fields, first the year, then the month, and then the day..

makes sense.. seems easy enough.. but here is the catch.. i am writing out the months not using numbers to represent them.. i want the to show up in chronilogical order not alphabetical.. can this be done.. i know i can do it in file maker by telling it to sort according to the order of a value list.. but is there a way to do this in CDML or will i have to go back and have the months represented by numbers?

[elvis_impersonating_penguin]

ok here is what i was thinkin' i create a calculation field that says if the month field has january in it to display 1 in the calculation field, february would be 2.. and so on and so on... now how would i do this..

[Vaughan]

Nope.

Create a custom value list and type the month names int he order they should be -- January.. December. Go back into the sort dialog, click on the month field and select the option to sort by custom order based on value list, and choose the list from the menu.

Done.

Well, you could do it with a calculation field if you want (use the Month[date] function). But this method illustrates the method of getting records to sort in a user-defined order, which is an issue that pops up occasionally -- and not just with months.

[This message has been edited by Vaughan (edited December 20, 2000).]

[elvis_impersonating_penguin]

i was able to figure out a way to do it on my own.. i knew how i could sort them in file maker.. i needed a way to be able to sort them buy the date when using web companion to view the database in a web browser and using the search function.. i couldn't simply tell it to sort by the field because it would put them in alphabetical order.. not chronilogical.. i didn't think you could sort by a user defined value list when viewing in a web browser...

anyway.. i found a way to do it.. i use a calculation field to change the months into numbers. (using the CASE calculation) then i sort the records by this field.. it works just like i need it too.

thanks for the help anyway,

B-man

[This message has been edited by bman (edited December 20, 2000).]