Function that lets only one field be filed in a group

[chlowden]

Hello

I have a layout that have 75 fields. The client should only fill in one of 75 fields per record. I have read all I can but I am a real neophyte. I am unable to find a way to select all the fields that should be grouped in the layout and have an error message come up if more than one of the fields is filled in.

I am sure it is something obvious but I just can't see it.

Many thanks

[LaRetta]

If only one of the 75 field should be filled in, it sounds like each of these 75 fields represent the same 'type' of information. And that implies that your structure might be incorrect. If you would do us the honor of sharing a bit more with us, we might end up saving you some real problems down the road. I believe that each of the 75 fields should be a related record. Would you care to say more or (even better) provide a file for us to view to assist you? Otherwise, you will need to do something like this:

[color:blue]

not IsEmpty ( field1 ) + not IsEmpty ( field2 ) + not IsEmpty ( field3 ) ... + not IsEmpty ( field75 ) > 1

This will produce a 1 if more than one field has something in it. But please allow us to review your structure and be sure you aren't shooting yourself in the foot!

LaRetta :wink2:

[chlowden]

As I have no problem with feeling like a real neophyte when I present my filemaker efforts with the community, I attach my latest masterwork.

The layout in question is ENTREE and the yellow fields are the ones I am looking to group. I am sure that there is a better way of doing this much better but for me, this is 3 days of hard graft. This gives you an idea of the level I am at.

The db is a simple entries and summary system for an amateur theatre group in Paris France, with one summary by project and another being a global. There are a couple of wierd errors that I am unable to rectify but they are not important.

Any help is very welcome.

LAFRONDE_COMPTA.fp7.zip

[LaRetta]

Account name and password please?

UPDATE: Never mind, I got it with admin admin

Edited January 11, 2009 by Guest

[chlowden]

whoops.

admin

admin

or

lafronde

92120

[LaRetta]

I appreciate the file. However, I don't speak that language and can't understand the purpose of your file. Without a perspective/purpose, it is difficult to properly advise. But I CAN say that, when I see a summary on 60+ individual fields, it again affirms that your structure is probably incorrect.

There should be a related table with your _ID_PROJET, a number field (money amount?) and a text field (maybe called Type) which contains one of these words:

Energie

Fournitures administratives

Décor costumes

Copies

Autres Achats

Loyers et charges

Entretien réparations

Assurances

Compte bancaire

Documentation gle ... etc

If you change your structure, you will only need ONE summary and not one for each individual field. At this point, I might suggest that you put together a small demo file (hopefully in english) with just a few fields and then explain the purpose and reporting needs for us.

Or maybe others can jump in and assist (who speak this language) as well.

[Søren Dyhr]

not IsEmpty ( field1 ) + not IsEmpty ( field2 ) + not IsEmpty ( field3 ) ... + not IsEmpty ( field75 ) > 1

Takes a lot of writing compared to:

Count(field1;field2;field3;field4;...field75)

But if the structure was a little different, such as:

http://fmforums.com/forum/showpost.php?post/149069/

...would the aggregation simply work "over" the relation. I'm not eager about any table having 75+ fields in one table, which in my opinion is a flawed relational structure.

--sd

[Søren Dyhr]

If you throw these words into:

http://translate.google.com/

...are you getting:

Energy 

Administrative supplies 

Costume Designer 

Copies 

Other Purchases 

Rents and charges 

Maintenance repairs 

Insurance 

Bank account 

Documentation

--sd

[chlowden]

Thank you to all of you for the comments. The ENTREE layout, enters expenses & sales that the company does. The other layouts are just a summary in 2 forms, one being all the expenses, the other being a summary by project. I had been reticent to use a value list for the entries a I have no idea how to calculate all of the entries in the db. (Actually, I have only used value lists for sorting info as I use for the projet field, so I don't know how the value list can be used to distribute the amount in an entry table to right field as a sum that can be sorted by project). In short, I know that what I have done is not very elegant at all and rather cluncky and I am sure there is a much better way of doing, but I am having trouble extracting this info from the manual.

[Søren Dyhr]

but I am having trouble extracting this info from the manual.

Who wouldn't?

--sd

[chlowden]

I figure that FM is a get your hands dirty kinda app.Boy, are my hands dirty!

Edited January 12, 2009 by Guest

[Søren Dyhr]

Yes the learning curve is cunningly flat and chances are that some of the almost obvious methods could be cull de sac's. If you listen to the John Howell interview in Adatasols podcast, is it a common issue that people come to this tool without proper knowledge to normalisation, hence the need for:

http://www.filemakerbootcamp.com/

--sd

[chlowden]

Thank you for the Count script. I created another table with a similar layout, added LOOKUPs to the fields and created a button to create a new record with as script that had the Count line. I know that what I have created is not very good, but it works so I will keep as is.

I downloaded your file but I had alot of trouble understand the 'plumbing of your relationships, so I steered away from it. Too complex for me.

Edited January 15, 2009 by Guest