I have a layout with a portal on it and a "search" function which limits the entries shown in the portals by going back to the related table and changing the placeholder variable from 1 to 0 for all the records which should be omitted. (The relationship between the tables is established by the placeholder variable, with a 1 on the record in the layout with the portal)

I also have a search function for the table on a different layout, not with a portal, just a direct search, and with BOTH search functions I am having the SAME problem.

ALL searches work for any combination letters/numbers and give the right number of records, etc EXCEPT when I search for "at1g"; this is a crucial search that my users have to be able to do.

When you search for that, the computer returns all the records, with both search functions. Try searching for like, at1g0, or at, and you get the correct number of returns.

If it helps to know, I have the portal sorted so that the at1g records appear first...

Any help would be really appreciated. I know I left out a lot of information but this post was getting long, so let me know what else you guys need to know...

with BOTH search functions I am having the SAME problem.

Hi Cluso,

First let me say that your portal search function sounds like it is not well designed. Portal filtering should not require setting a flag field in the related table - and doing so ensures that the solution will behave *very* strangely if more than one user is searching (ie if the file is hosted on a network).

That aside, your problem sounds like index corruption on the field your two processes are searching on.

To see if that's the case, turn the indexing explicitly off for the field (including disabling the "Automatically create..." option) and close the file. Then open it again and turn indexing back on (at that point, the field's index will be rebuilt).

Then see if you still have the problem. :wink2:

I just tried un-indexing every variable in both tables, and to no avail; it still shows all the results. I'll keep messing around with it...

I am really curious about getting around this flag field I keep having to put on my layouts.

I've found ways of filtering portals on the forums by value lists, but I want to filter a portal by whatever the user wants, I guess by typing it into a field.

Is there any way of doing this?

*EDIT* - when I stopped using 1 and 0 for flag fields, and started using two random strings of numbers 10 digits long, everything worked again. Have no idea why. Something to do with the match field being one of the searched fields and the relationship between the two tables not being "exact match", probably.

Edited September 17, 200718 yr by Guest