Formatting value lists taken from existing fields

[supertech]

I have a drop down list for "part numbers" in upper case & "description" in title case in an inventory database containig over 17,000 records. Can I format the drop down lists to show in caps lock or title case? Some people who have entered data have entered them in all different case formats so the drop down list looks very messy.

[aldipalo]

I just tried it on a test file and it worked fine. If, in layout mode, you set the field to TitleCase, even though the data will look as it was entered in the ValueList, once chosen it will appear in TitleCase. I noticed you are using FM 8.5, If you have/had advanced you could use a custom function. David Kachel at Codemasters has a neat one call UniversalCapitalizer. It will reset all the funky data entry into TitleCase. If you have access to a copy of Advanced you may want to try that. It's really great since it no longer matters how a data entry person, or me , puts the data in. It is formatted properly.

hth

[LaRetta]

I believe the issue is wanting the Value List to display consistent formatting ...

Title Case only affects the DISPLAY of the text in a field. Value list display is based upon the FIRST record and its field data, ie, if record 1 contains "this is text" and record 2 contains "THIS IS TEXT" then the value list will display "this is text". If you want the value list to control the display of data (and also insert correctly formatted data into the field when selected), you need to either 1) change the field data to make it appear as you wish or 2) create a calculation and then base your value list upon that.

For instance, to achieve Title Case in the value list, you need a calculation which is [color:green]Proper (theField) or if you want upper is [color:green]Upper (theField). This will make the entries uniform.

Personally, I would reformat the data using the calculations I gave and then, by using a popup instead of a dropdown, restricting Users from entering anything other than already selected values (which are correctly formatted). But then ... I have control issues. Alot of people don't like popup and prefer dropdown but, dropdown gives free rein to Users to type whatever they wish - that drives me crazy. Popup allows only specific entries or blank - no junk gets into your fields.

LaRetta

[supertech]

Thank you LaRetta. That calculation works perfectly! I used that calculated field to create a new value list attached to the old filed. Thank you for your help. My database just got that one bit better again Thanks for your input and every else.