I have a set of about 60 records (list derived manually) that have a blank value (at least visually) in a fee field (set as DATE/Indexed).

A script is also attached to the field that calculates value in a related area.

I'm attempting to search for these records by entering the = sign by itself but am not getting

the expected set of 60 records.

Any insights? Might the field have some non-display value like hex zeroes? or is it truly void of a value (nulls?) and so the = can't find them?

Why is a fee field set to a Date type?

Are you sure is really set to Date (ie why is a "Fee" field set to Date, shouldn't it be Number?)?

A space or tab character in a non-text field would show up on a "=" find. Perhaps the characters in the field are formatted with the same color as the background as the field?

I don't know about hex zeros.

clarification - the fee field is the date the fee was paid. Sorry - my bad.

I will check on the color by dumping the file to a UTF-16 format spreadsheet -- should show anything non-display or justified as well.

I am just trying to verify what the = operator is designed to look for.

I'm pretty sure what I'm dealing with is an absolute void of data in the field for these target records. (fields in pristine "new rcord' state - never touched by a user.) I need to know how I find an absolutely empty field using the search tools FileMaker provides me. Thanks.

Edited August 12, 200817 yr by Guest

regarding 'context issue', I am entering the = from the search layout we have. what can I check there to confirm the context is correct?(I am not the system author - I inherited it).

First thing, you should check your data. Do a find for ? to find records with invalid dates. Add a calculation field (result is Number) =

IsEmpty ( Fee )

and search for 1 (true) in this field.

If these test confirm that your data is what you think it is, then re-indexing the field might be called for.

Thank you. I will try that and see what happens.

Instead of searching for blanks ( = ), could you try searching for all records that HAVE data, then ommiting them? ( * omit records)

Was toying with that but didn't get to finish it before I left yesterday. Will try that again here soon. (multitasking is so much fun !)

Ok, guys, here is what finally worked. The field I was attempting to do " = " against in the layout was from a different table (Adopted Child)than the layout's context (Active clients).

I ended up creating a whole new Layout using the Adopted Child table as the context, then changing all the search references so the Active Clients table was the subordinate one in the relation.

Aside from 'GIGO' (the value "Russia" stored in 3 different fields!) I was successful in finding the target records.

I am still trying to fully grasp the context issue - when to use the table context and when to use the Layout context. I am not sure how to read the context as established by the creators of the database, either. If someone can give me a 50-word or less definition of how to tell which context I am working with (Table or Layout), I'm sure I will be better off next time (Thank you, Dan Weiss, for the tips on the context, and Thanks to everyone else for their suggestions, which I will be persuing for later use).

When you're searching, you are searching in the table to which the current layout belongs. If you're searching in a related field, you will find records in the current table that have a related record that meets the criteria.

See also:

http://www.fmforums.com/forum/showpost.php?post/296774/

Thank you