Find Unique Records

[jwallace]

Is there a quick way to find only items that are unique? I don't want any duplicates, I just need to find all unique occurences of a record.

Thanks

[LiveOak]

Hmmmmmmm. There is an easy way to "view" unique values using a subsummary part in preview mode. Put the field on a layout with only a subsummary part (no body), sort by the field, and enter preview mode.

There is also a way to mark the first occurrence of a value, then find all the first occurrences. Say the field in question is called TYPE.

Create fields:

TYPE (text, indexed)

RecordID (calculation)=

Status(CurrentRecordID)

Create a self relationship:

TYPE matches TYPE

Create another field:

FIRST (calculation,number) =

RecordID = Min(TYPE::RecordID)

The field FIRST will be a "1" if the record with a particular value for TYPE is the lowest numbered record with this value. The net effect is to mark the first record for each unique value. The only shame is that you can't create a portal displaying these values as a relationship can't be based upon the field FIRST (it's already based upon a relationship and can't be indexed).

-bd

[Vaughan]

FMP makes finding duplicate records easily. It does it on a field-by-field basis though -- that is, say your database is an address book you can find all of the records with duplicate surnames or firstnames.

Enter Find mode, click into the field you want to search on, and enter the symbol "!" without the quotes. You can use the SYMBOL option menu to make it easier.

This will find the duplicate records: use the OMIT option when you find the duplicates and you'll find the uniques ones!